Welcome to your Stand and Stretch Break.
I'm Jerry Givens,
And over the next few minutes,
I'm going to guide you through some standing postures that help counteract the effects of sitting.
When we sit for long periods of time,
It can cause chronic issues in the body,
Discomfort,
Pain,
Lack of circulation.
And so spending just a few minutes tending to those needs can help create relief in your body and also help you to regulate stress.
I'll be offering everything here in a sequence but know that you can practice each of these exercises on their own if you'd like to.
And if something doesn't feel good,
Feel free to sit that one out or adapt it if you can.
Remember to stay safe and have fun.
Standing tall,
Start with your arms down by your side.
With your next inhale,
Please sweep your arms out and overhead,
Reaching up through the fingertips,
And exhale,
Bring the arms back down.
Again,
Inhale lift the arms up.
Exhale down.
Inhale,
Lift.
Exhale lower two more inhale reaching up Exhale down.
Last one.
Reach up inhalation.
And exhale,
Release the arms down.
And notice how you feel.
So please take your feet shoulder width apart.
And then lift your left arm up and overhead,
And with the right hand,
Reach up and grab hold of the wrist,
Tractioning the left arm toward the ceiling.
Healing length along that left side.
And after a breath or two,
Go ahead and pivot the ribcage gently to the right,
Feeling length along the left side of your body.
Now take some deep breaths here.
Then inhale,
Go ahead and come back up,
Releasing the arms down.
And we'll do the other side.
Right arm lifts up and overhead.
Left hand reaches up and grabs hold of the wrist.
Traction the arm upward first.
Take a couple of breaths to feel that extension on the right side.
And then after that,
Go ahead and pivot just the rib cage to the left,
Feeling length along that right side and staying for a few breaths.
Then inhale,
Come back up,
Releasing the arms on down and feel sensation.
Standing tall once again.
With your inhale,
Please swing your arms straight up and overhead.
Exhale,
Sweep your arms back.
Then cross your arms,
Sweep them back.
Up.
Back cross back up back cross back keep going up back cross back up back cross back feeling the loosening of your shoulder joints here and swinging your arms as far as you can up back cross back up back cross back don't think about it too hard if you think about it hard here you won't know what to do with your back,
Cross,
Back.
Keep going for a little bit longer.
About halfway done now.
Breathe.
Up back cross back up back cross back Up,
Back,
Cross,
Back.
Up,
Back,
Cross,
Back.
You're almost done.
Keep going.
Up,
Back,
Cross,
Back.
Up,
Back,
Cross,
Back.
Almost there.
Up,
Back,
Cross,
Back,
And release.
Take an adjusting breath.
Feel sensation.
Standing tall with your feet underneath your hips Hands on your hips.
Take a deep breath in.
And with your exhale,
Go ahead and bring your right knee up towards your chest as high as you can,
And then put it back down.
Exhale,
Left knee up.
Inhale,
Down.
Right knee down.
Left knee down.
And we'll just keep going from side.
Just a side.
Call these marching crunches so as you lift a knee up feel a slight pull or tug at the navel Exhale up,
Inhale down.
Exhale up,
Inhale down.
Keep going.
Feeling that energy at the core.
Bring some circulation to the hips,
To the knees.
We're also getting a little bit of balance here.
So as you pick up the foot,
Try to put it right back down where you picked it up from.
Going for a little bit longer.
Try not to clench your jaw.
Almost done.
And release.
Good.
Standing tall,
Arms by your side,
Go ahead and begin to shake your hands and fingertips.
It's as if there's something on the tips of your fingers that you're trying to shake off.
And just get a little bit more dramatic with it.
Keep shaking,
Keep shaking.
Starting to take the arms out to the sides.
Shake,
Shake,
Shake,
Shake,
Shake,
Shake.
Breathe.
Shaking it off,
Whatever it is.
Shaking it off.
Might take the arms up overhead.
Reach and shake,
Reach and shake,
Reach and shake.
Again,
Breathe here.
Keep shaking,
Keep shaking,
Keep shaking.
About halfway done.
If you need to,
You can jump up and down a little bit.
It's great for circulation.
Keep shaking.
Keep hopping.
Shake,
Shake,
Shake,
Shake,
Shake,
Shake.
Breathe.
Shake,
Shake,
Shake,
Shake,
Shake.
You're almost there.
Keep going.
Shake shake shake shake shake shake shake.
And release the arms down.
Take a deep breath in and out.
Feel sensation.
You might even feel a little bit lighter.
After that.
Our next exercise will use the chair.
So turning the chair away from you,
Holding on to the back of your chair for support here,
Stack your feet underneath your hips,
Take a deep breath in,
And then with your next exhale,
Bend your knees about halfway down,
Then inhale,
Stand back up.
So we're coming into squats here.
Squatting down,
Exhale.
Inhale,
Standing up.
And just keep going at your own pace,
Using the back of the chair for support.
Of course,
If you could do this without the chair,
You don't need to use it,
But it's always nice to have a little bit of support.
Inhale,
Standing up.
Exhale,
Squatting down.
And let's hold.
Breathing here.
And then inhale,
Stand up.
And feel sensation in the legs.
Good job.
So go ahead and grab the chair and have it face away from you,
Holding onto the chair back.
Then holding onto the chair back,
Begin to walk away from your chair.
Knees bending slightly.
And allowing your heart to drop through your arms here.
Just feeling a traction in the shoulder joints.
Keep your head in line with the spine.
Don't drop it.
And please breathe here.
And when you're ready to come up,
Go ahead and keep holding onto the chair and walk forward until you're standing behind your chair.
Close your eyes for a moment and just feel sensation.
Thank you for joining in the Stand and Stretch Break.
I hope this serves you well.
I hope you feel better in your body.
And remember,
You can do these practices anytime.
So add them to your day,
Add them to your routine,
And I hope to see you again soon.
Take care.
