Speaker 1: 0:06

Spending hours at your desk, in meetings or even on a meditation cushion takes a toll on your body. Today, I'll walk you through a simple routine that targets the exact muscles that get tight when you sit too long. Welcome to Roots of the Rise, with me, sarah Hope, offering bite-sized insights and practices where spiritual wisdom meets practical tools to support your health, healing and happiness. Today, I want to share a quick five-minute routine to help loosen up your body after sitting for long periods. Why now? Well, I just came off a three-day meditation retreat, which was wonderful, but let me tell you there is a lot of sitting involved. Part of what I went over at the retreat was what to do. You know simple movements you can make to keep the body from locking up and getting too tight during a meditation retreat, and it got me thinking. You know this isn't just for retreats, it's for any day. You're sitting for hours at your desk in a class or, you know, driving long distances anywhere. Really, I'll be honest, I often have a really hard time pulling myself away from the desk when I am deep in, you know, working on this podcast or prepping one of my classes, but I always know how much better I feel when I actually get up, even if it's just for a few minutes. Usually my breaks involve doing laundry, but when I actually do something like this this weekend reminded me, when I take time to do targeted stretches, it's even better. So I thought I'd offer it to you guys. If you spend most of your day sitting at a desk, in a meetings or, you know even meditating, you know your hips, spine and shoulders are paying a price. So let's go over just the simple five minute routine designed to relieve tightness, restore mobility and leave you feeling a little more energized. These stretches hit all the areas that get stiff from sitting too long, so hips, hamstrings, glutes, spine and chest. A quick note before we start everybody's body is different, so if you have knee, hip or shoulder issues really any medical restrictions move mindfully, don't push into pain and always follow your doctor's advice. These are general stretches. If anything is unclear, check a video online for guidance or double check with your doctor that it's appropriate for you.

Speaker 1: 2:34

Okay, with that disclaimer, let's start with the hip flexors, because these get really tight when you sit for long stretchers. You can do this exercise standing or kneeling. If you're standing, just take your right foot and step it forward into a lunge position. You want to bend that back knee slightly and tuck your pelvis under. Usually, as soon as you do that little pelvic tilt, you'll feel the stretch right in the front of your left hip. If you want to go a little deeper, you can drop the back knee to the floor and press your hips forward while keeping your torso tall. Another option, if you want a little balance challenge, is to stand straight up and bend the right knee and grab that right ankle with your right hand and then again tuck your pelvis under as you do so and then hold it for a few breaths before you switch sides.

Speaker 1: 3:32

Second exercise we need to hit the glutes and the piriformis with something called a figure four stretch. You can do this again seated or lying down. If you're sitting, take your right ankle and cross it over your left knee like you're making a four shape. So the right ankle to the left knee, and then you can lean forward slightly until you feel that gentle stretch in the outer hip and the glute. You can also do this lying down. You just again place your ankle on the opposite knee and you can pull your legs towards your chest, if that's available to you. One tip here. Flex your ankle so that you're bringing your toes closer to your shins to help protect the knee. Really, you know, move slowly, move carefully, stop if you feel any pain. But again, you always want to go to the point of feeling the stretch but not feeling pain. Now we'll get the spine moving side to side with a side bend Again. You can do this seated or standing. Just reach your right arm up toward the ceiling as you inhale and as you exhale, side bend gently to the left. You want to make sure that you keep that right shoulder down, don't let it creep up into your ears. You can use your left hand either on your thigh to give you a little bit of support, or you can reach towards the floor if that feels comfortable. Imagine lifting the right side of your body slightly to deepen the stretch without forcing it, feeling space expand between your ribs. You take a few breaths here and then switch sides.

Speaker 1: 5:07

Next is a spinal twist. I like doing this seated because you can use the chair back to help guide the movement and help you kind of get a little bit deeper into it. But it's not necessary. You can do it standing too. But if you're sitting then you want to still get your feet planted firmly on the floor and just gently twist to the right. You can place your left hand on your right thigh, your right hand on the chair back. If that's going to help, you can kind of bring yourself a little bit more deeply into the stretch. You can use your exhales to help you twist a little deeper, hold it for a few breaths on one side, then repeat on the other. You can also, like I said, do this standing with your feet hip width apart, twisting to each side. You can, of course, also do this lying on the floor and just either keeping, for instance, the left leg straight out in front of you and crossing the right knee over your body and allowing your spine to gently twist. That way you can do it with both knees going in one direction. You can really kind of play around with this. The idea is to just get a little bit of a twist in your spine, because that helps release tension and restore that mobility.

Speaker 1: 6:19

Finally, last one, we want to open up the chest and take the spine into extension. You can do this either, again, seated or standing. Either way, reach both arms overhead and then two ways you can do it. Bend your elbows to create a W shape, while you draw your shoulder blades gently together and lift your chest toward the ceiling. If that's tricky, you can clasp your hands behind your back and press your fists towards the floor, squeezing your shoulder blades gently together and again lifting that chest up. If it's comfortable for your neck, you can let your head fall back slightly. But again, you want to be really mindful of not straying and straining anything. Keep it gentle, no forceful arching here. And this really helps undo that rounding of the shoulders that happens when we spend hours hunched over the keyboard or our phones, and that's it. I mean just a few minutes through these stretches can make a huge difference. If you spend about 30 seconds in each position, this will take about five minutes and your body will feel looser, your posture will improve. I mean you'll leave that seated state feeling better.

Speaker 1: 7:30

I've walked you through just some very basic versions, but there are a ton of modifications out there. This is just to get you started and if you want those variations, then the terms that I use to describe each of these will help. So, doing a hip flexor stretch, doing a figure four stretch, doing the hamstring relaxation through a standing or seated forward, fold, getting a side bend to stretch the side, a spinal twist and then opening the chest and the spine into extension. So those are the terms that you would want to search if you kind of weren't sure or wanted a visual for them. You know, running through this again just takes five minutes, but your body will thank you. And if stretching isn't your thing, if you kind of are listening to this and you're like yeah, I just don't want to do that, then simply stand up and take a walk for five minutes. I mean that's enough to help you reset your posture, release some tension and clear your head. So that's all for today. Just a nice quick look at how we can reset our physical body in order to help reset our mental composure and clarity.

Speaker 1: 8:42

Thanks so much for listening. To stay connected, visit risingwithsarahcom to sign up for my newsletter and be the first to hear about retreats and other offerings that can help you live with more joy, authenticity and presence. Remember, know who you are, love who you've been and be willing to do the work to become who you want to be. Just a quick reminder this podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only. I am not a licensed therapist and nothing shared here is meant to replace the guidance of a physician, therapist or any other qualified provider. That said, I hope it inspires you to grow, heal and seek the support you need to thrive.