One of the best feelings is in the morning when you wake up, and you stretch. You know that feeling? The one where you wake up from a really deep sleep, and you have a big yawn, you throw your arms back and stretch out. This not only feels great, but is also really good for you too, so why don’t you do it more?
We all know that stretching makes you more flexible, and decreases the chance for injury, however not many people consider the other benefits to stretching. These benefits can include increased stamina, alertness, mindfulness, blood circulation and reduced stress. All of these things will obviously improve how you feel, and thus probably improve your productivity and efficiency. All of this is really great, you can be better at your job, feel better at home and be more capable of doing activities. But, there are some more benefits that aren’t often talked about or even known.
These benefits are lower blood sugar, and lower cholesterol. Both of these things seem like odd benefits for stretching, but can make a world of difference in your life. For both of these benefits you will unfortunately have to do more than do a quick wake up stretch, but you won’t have to go crazy.
A good way to feel these benefits is to do stretching exercises, such as stretching your chest, shoulders, neck, back and legs, or if you want to get a bit more structured, you can do yoga. These exercises will get your heart pumping, your blood circulating, and will help you lower your blood sugar and cholesterol.
One thing to keep in mind, is that stretching by itself will not lead to reduced cholesterol and blood sugar. This needs to be combined with a healthy diet as well. As you know, the best way is to cut out sugars, eat high-quality proteins, and eat LOTS of green veggies. This will help you flush all the bad stuff out of your system, and then focus on a healthy lifestyle that endorses healthy eating and good blood circulation. As a result, some of the plaque on the inside of your arteries will dissolve, and flushed out of your system, making it less likely that you experience any sort of cardiovascular disease.
Stretching can really better your quality of life, it improves your attention, energy, productivity and your health. There isn’t a reason why someone shouldn’t stretch, other than the fact that you may not feel like you have time. One of the best ways to make sure that you fit your stretching in is by incorporating it into your morning routine. By doing it in your morning routine you not only find time to do it, you will also get to see the health benefits, and get your blood pumping before you face the day.
So, with no excuses as to why you wouldn’t stretch, the question is, why don’t you go stretch?