April 2008 - Posts

• Effective Triceps and Shoulders Stretches In the Chair

  Hello Parents,    Some more stretches.  These for your arms, shoulders and triceps.   While you’re sitting or standing you can stretch your arms and shoulders.  If you are lifting weights this is always a good idea to stretch the muscles that you just worked out. For this article we will continue to use the picture of someone who is seated.  Now we are going to stretch the Triceps (backside of the arms) and the top of the shoulder.   (Tricep Stretch)   Step One:  Push your chair back from your desk for the time of stretching.       Step Two: Uncross your legs and sit with your legs slightly open, which is chair or hip width.  Put your feet solidly on the ground.  Your hands can rest on the tops of your thighs for now.  During the stretching please breathe in and out through your nose only.       Step Three:  Take your RIGHT hand and fold it back on the shoulder blade of the same arm.  Your elbow is pointing up and your hand is resting on the shoulder but more towards the back.  Use your LEFT hand and take a hold of the elbow.  Pull the elbow straight back towards your back.  Hold for approximately 5-15 seconds.  Breath in and out only through your nose.  Release and put your hands back on your legs.  Switch Sides- Step Four:  Take your LEFT hand and fold it back on the shoulder blade of the same arm.  Your elbow is pointing up and your hand is resting on the shoulder but more towards the back.  Use your RIGHT hand and take a hold of the elbow.  Pull the elbow straight back towards your back.  Hold for approximately 5-15 seconds.  Breath in and out only through your nose.  Release and put your hands back on your legs.     New Stretch: (Shoulder and Tricep Stretch)     Step One: Take your RIGHT arm and stretch it across your chest and extend it past your Left shoulder.  Take your LEFT HAND and grab hold of the extended arm close to the elbow and pull it in towards the chest. Hold for approximately 5-15 seconds.  Breath in and out only through your nose.  Release and put your hands back on your legs.    Switch Sides- Step Two: Take your RIGHT arm and stretch it across your chest and extend it past your Left shoulder.  Take your LEFT HAND and grab hold of the extended arm close to the elbow and pull it in towards the chest. Hold for approximately 5-15 seconds.  Breath in and out only through your nose.  Release and put your hands back on your legs.     New Stretch:(Tricep and Shoulder Stretch with Your Fingers Interlocked Behind Your Back)     Step One:  For this stretch a straight backed chair without arms is necessary.  You are going to change your seating position and swivel your body and legs to the right or left so that the back of the chair is now resting against the side of your body, and elbows.    Now your arms are free.  With your arms clear of the back of the chair you are going to interlock your hands behind your back over the side of the chair.    With your arms interlocked you are going to lift them up as high as you can to the ceiling.  Do this without bending your body over.  Don’t let your head drop, keep it up.   The upward lift of the arms is a great stretch for the arms, triceps, shoulders, and chest.     Step Two:  Now as best you can with your arms still pressing upward and the fingers still interlocked behind your back, you are going to swing your hands and arms to the right and left of your body.  Move your arms back and forth which greatly adds to the stretch and releases any built up tension there in your arms and shoulders.       Step Three:  Stop moving your arms back and forth.  Now we are going to lean over the body still with the hands interlocked behind you.  Try to press your arms straight up in the back of you as you lean your body down over your legs.  Let your head down now to relax the neck muscles.  Hold for approximately 5-15 seconds.  Breath in and out only through your nose.    Release and put your hands back on your legs. These stretches are mostly warm up stretches but if your have tight arms and shoulders muscles doing just these are very effective.  You’re done!  That’s today’s lesson.   this is Yoga Kat. P.S. You can find other articles and resources by signing up for my newsletters options below   ABOUT THE CHILD AND ME! is a weekly e-zine that celebrates the bond between parents/ guardians and their children. with articles of parenting, spiritual teachings,business oppt, discussions, news and tips from the perspective of a child's yoga instructor by sending an e-mail to thechildandme@aweber.com      Circle of Peace is a weekly e-zine that promotes wellness, Yoga, Reiki, Meditation, and the spiritual discipline, and spiritual questioning. By sending an e-mail to circleofpeace@aweber.com remember to click on on the e-mail link that is sent to you to confirm your subscription.   my website is http://www.thecircleofpeace.com         Posted Apr 30 2008, 05:25 PM by Yoga Kat with no comments Filed under: relief tension, arms, yoga, shoulder stretches, tricep-stretch

• How To Do Chair Yoga Stretches To Relieve Back And Shoulder Strain.

  Hello Parents,    Here are a few more great stretches for your back, shoulders, and arms all while sitting in the chair.  The point to most of these is to make time for your self and to do them consistently.  I suggest to all my clients and you that you will get greater benefit if you stretch at a minimum of ten minutes per day to about thirty minutes.  We can usually find a few minutes here and there during our day.  If you have less time do the minimum if you have more time, and you want to extend your stretch time, that’s all up to you.  But I’m going to giving you a starting place. (video coming soon)      Some more Easy Chair Stretches: (Seated- Modified Fish)Step One:  Push your chair back from your desk for the time of stretching.    Step Two: Uncross your legs and sit with your legs slightly open, which is chair or hip width.  Put your feet solidly on the ground.  Your hands can rest on the tops of your thighs for now.  During the stretching please breathe in and out through your nose only.     Step Three:  Move your body away from the chair back so that you have a few inches behind you and the chair.  Next place both of your hands on the chair seat behind your hips.  Put your hands close together behind you on the chair seat.     Step Four:  Arch your back and chest upward.  Look up towards the ceiling.  At this moment since you are leaning back you can breathe out of your MOUTH because any time you lean backwards that becomes a moment of release and you can breathe out of your mouth.  Hold the position for a few minutes and then release.  You can repeat as often as you like.   This stretches the arms, chest and shoulders and neck.  It releases a lot of built up chest and shoulder tension and is a great refreshing moment of recharge.     New Stretch:(Diagonal Twist)  Step One:  You can sit fully back on your chair now.        Step Two: Uncross your legs and sit with your legs slightly open, which is chair or hip width.  Put your feet solidly on the ground.  Your hands can rest on the tops of your thighs for now.  During the stretching please breathe in and out through your nose only.     Step Three:  Take your LEFT ELBOW and bring it down to the outside of your RIGHT KNEE or as close as you can get it.  Extend your arm and fingers downward by your leg.  Keep your hand open.   Now take your RIGHT ARM and hand and extend all the way up towards the ceiling.  Turn your head towards the RIGHT SHOULDER and look at the ceiling.  Hold for approximately 5-15 seconds.  Breath in and out only through your nose as you can.  Release and come back to your original seating position.  Switch sides-   Step Four:  Take your RIGHT ELBOW and bring it down to the outside of your LEFT KNEE or as close as you can get it.  Extend your arm and fingers downward by your leg.  Keep your hand open.   Now take your LEFT ARM and hand and extend all the way up towards the ceiling.  Turn your head towards the LEFT SHOULDER and look at the ceiling.  Hold for approximately 5-15 seconds.  Breath in and out only through your nose as you can.    Release and come back to your original seating position.  This is a great diagonal twist across your back, your arms, and chest. You may feel a nice release in your lower back.  You can repeat these simple exercises for as many times as you like.      New Stretch: (Forward Extension and Stretch)  Step One:  Sit with your hands palms down close to your body on the tops of your legs.  The fingers are pointing in the direction of your knees.       Step Two:  You are now going to slide your hands all the way down your legs.  Down past your knees and continue down towards your feet.  Bend your body over your legs as you do this.     Step Three:  When you reach your feet, stretch and extend your arms straight out towards the floor in front of your feet and beyond.  Keep extending outward and upward with your arms.      Step Four:  Grasp your two thumbs together as you extend your fingers out and upward. Your arms are now going to come upward off the floor. Keep extending upward.       Step Five: As you are lifting your body and arms upward from the bent over position, your arms, and hands extend upward, and continue to arch backward.  Keep your thumbs together.  Now push your chest slightly forward.  Hold for a few seconds.  Release.       Step Six: Repeat this forward extension and stretch a few times.  This stretch is really beneficial to extend the spine and back.  As an added benefit it stretches the arms, chest, and shoulders, and you get some needed oxygen to the brain. Take a few moments each day to do some of these simple stretches.  You will feel a difference in the flexibility of your spine and back, and you will feel that your mind will be clearer and sharper in just a few minutes.  Anything that you can do is better than not doing it.  This is Yoga Kat    P.S. You can find other articles and resources by signing up for my newsletters options below   ABOUT THE CHILD AND ME! is a weekly e-zine that celebrates the bond between parents/ guardians and their children. with articles of parenting, spiritual teachings,business oppt, discussions, news and tips from the perspective of a child's yoga instructor by sending an e-mail to thechildandme@aweber.com      Circle of Peace is a weekly e-zine that promotes wellness, Yoga, Reiki, Meditation, and the spiritual discipline, and spiritual questioning. By sending an e-mail to circleofpeace@aweber.com remember to click on on the e-mail link that is sent to you to confirm your subscription.   my website is http://www.thecircleofpeace.com    Posted Apr 30 2008, 05:11 PM by Yoga Kat with no comments Filed under: chair stretching, back ache, arms, yoga, tension, shoulder stretches

• How to Do Some Easy Chair Stretches At Your Desk, or at the Office

  Hello there parents,    We are under the gun and deal with more stress each and every day.  More deadlines keep us confined to our desk chair and much of the day to day activities of business are being conducted via e-mail, the computer-fax, the palm pilot, texting via phone, or blackberry, video conferencing, telecommuting, there are various updates, and a constant exchange of data and very little time for breaks and then many of us are eating our lunch without ever leaving our desk.    It’s no wonder that we have more complaints than ever about poor circulation, aching back, stiff neck, tired legs, and the lack of mobility, flexibility, and an unfocused mind.  We never leave our desk or that office chair!     Well good news for you.  I have a few great stretches that can be done in the chair or in and around the chair.  It takes anywhere from 3-7 minutes of your time.  Do you think you can spare a few minutes?  Great!   Let’s get started.  Over the next few weeks I’m going to show you many easy stretches that you can do right at your desk.  Let’s start with some:     easy and good ones for the back:     Easy back stretches: (Spinal Twist)     Step One:  Push your chair back from your desk for the time of stretching.    Step Two: Uncross your legs and sit with your legs slightly open, which is chair or hip width.  Put your feet solidly on the ground.  Your hands can rest on the tops of your thighs for now.  During the stretching please breathe in and out through your nose only.      Step Three:  Take your LEFT hand and cross it to your right knee.  Now take your right hand and hold firmly to the back of the chair.  Push your left hand against your right knee, and twist your body.  You will look over your right shoulder.  Hold for approximately 5-15 seconds.  Breath in and out only through your nose.  Release and put your hands back on your legs.     Switch Sides-- Step Four:  Take your RIGHT hand and cross it to your Left knee.  Now take your Left hand and hold firmly to the back of the chair.  Push your right hand against your left knee, and twist your body.  You will look over your left shoulder.  Hold for approximately 5-15 seconds.  Breath in and out only through your nose as you can. Release and put your hands back on your legs.  You can repeat for as long as you need to.  It helps to release the spine and back.     New Stretch: (Bending to the Side)     Step One: Sit with your legs slightly open, which is chair or hip width.  Put your feet solidly on the ground     Step Two: Take your RIGHT hand and place it on the chair seat beside your leg.  Hold on to what you find there.  You may have to shift in your seat to get some chair space on the side of you.      Step Three: Take your Left hand and arm, and bring it over your head towards your right side.  Bending now to the right, and extending your arm and palm of your hand down towards the floor near your RIGHT side.   You are stretching the left side of your body and back with this stretch by bending over to the right.   Hold for approximately 5-15 seconds.  Breath in and out only through your nose.  Release and put your hands back on your legs.  You can repeat for as long as you need to.   Switch Sides--   Step Four: Take your LEFT hand and place it on the chair seat beside your leg.  Hold on to what you find there.  You may have to shift in your seat to get some chair space on the side of you.      Step Five: Take your Right hand and arm, and bring it over your head towards your left side.  Bending now to the left, and extending your arm and palm of your hand down towards the floor near your LEFT side.   You are stretching the right side of your body and back with this stretch by bending over to the left.   Hold for approximately 5-15 seconds.  Breath in and out only through your nose as you can.  Release and put your hands back on your legs.  You can repeat for as long as you need to.      Let’s proceed with one more stretch for today.  We will maintain and use the same sitting position.      New Stretch— (Stretch your arms upward and interlock your hands over your head)     Step One:  Lift your arms over your head and extend them upward as far as you can.  Interlock your fingers.  With your fingers clasped stretch from side to side as you breathe in and out through the nose. As you can. Do that several times back and forth from the right to left.     Step Two: Now stop your arms in the middle (arms still upward with your fingers still interlocked above your head.)   Lean your arms and hands backward and push your chest slightly forward.  Hold for a few seconds.  Release.    Ahhh!!  Doesn’t that feel better already?!  By now with these simple stretches you got some blood flowing.  That is one of the key points.  It’s very important to leave your desk once and awhile too.  Continue breathing and get that oxygen to your belly if you can. (video coming soon)   Until next time.  this is Yoga Kat     You can find other articles and resources by signing up for my newsletters options below   ABOUT THE CHILD AND ME! is a weekly e-zine that celebrates the bond between parents/ guardians and their children. with articles of parenting, spiritual teachings,business oppt, discussions, news and tips from the perspective of a child's yoga instructor by sending an e-mail to thechildandme@aweber.com      Circle of Peace is a weekly e-zine that promotes wellness, Yoga, Reiki, Meditation, and the spiritual discipline, and spiritual questioning. By sending an e-mail to circleofpeace@aweber.com remember to click on on the e-mail link that is sent to you to confirm your subscription.   my website is http://www.thecircleofpeace.com        Posted Apr 30 2008, 04:45 PM by Yoga Kat with no comments Filed under: easy stretches, chair stretching, relief tension, pain, stress relief., back ache