Exercise After Sleep. Part One

Once awake it would be good to continue with exercise.

When done properly and with gentle intent, stretching can improve flexibility and range of motion. One reason people experience mobility issues as they age is because the body closes down from illness, trauma and stress and therefore becomes susceptible to injury.

Stretching helps decrease your chance of injury and enables you to exercise or go about your daily activities more easily. Stretching also increases blood flow to the body's 650+ muscles, which is important for many reasons - most notably because oxygen is carried by the blood: where there is oxygen, there is life.

Firstly, stand up and position yourself in front of the bed or where you have space.

With your fingers, tap on your sternum for one minute (the sternum is the breastbone in the centre of your chest) This will stimulate the thymus gland which is situated behind the sternum. When we are born the thymus is big and shrinks as we grow. It is very important for our immune system and for the functioning of other glands. When we tap every morning for one minute, we are waking it up.

Whilst standing, lightly karate chop the kidney area for 30 seconds, and then rub your hands together and place them on the kidney area for a further 30 seconds.

Make fists with both hands and hit the sacrum for 30 seconds. (The sacrum is at the base of your spine)

With an open palm pat up and down both hips, buttocks and legs 3-4 times. Repeat this motion on the outside of both shoulders and arms, concentrating on the wobbly parts.

Using the knuckles of a soft fist, tap your jaw, head and forehead.

With open palms, slap the front of your body and brush your chest with your open hands while you walk around.

“Exercise brings us clearer thinking and understanding." Dr Mirella