Stress During the Holiday Season and Stretching

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The holiday season is one that can really be taxing when it comes to the stress level involved.  As much as stress can be a positive thing for us and motivate us to accomplish our goals, it can also have a negative impact on our personal balance, which is a key to manifesting a better reality for ourselves.

The affect stress has on us physically is coupled by the fact that we are often taking on chores at this time of year that are not typical of other times of the year…such as shoveling snow, slipping on ice, and lugging gifts from place to place…not to mention all that driving.  It is usually about trying to get too many things done in too short of a timespan.  Sometimes we take our health for granted assuming that we can get everything done and feel great on the day the big holiday hits.


That is exactly what makes stretching each morning around this time of year so important. I do a fair amount of sitting each day due to a fairly long drive to work and then having a desk-job, so I needed to start incorporating a stretch routine into my wake-up routine. My upper back was bothering me and it seemed to come from tension in my lower back and stomach. After verifying with my chiropractor that my pelvis was in alignment, I sought out exercises for the lower back. I found a few exercises that actually stretch muscles in the legs like hamstrings and muscles in the groin area like sitting Indian-style and pushing both knees down with the elbows, these exercises affect lower back muscles. While lying on the floor, I also bring each knee to my chest, hold for six seconds, then release and breathe deeply in and out on the release.

These exercises, along with massaging the lower back and stomach muscles, seem to greatly reduce the aches and pains I was feeling. The stretch routine serves to wake up the various muscle groups and prepares them for the stresses of the day. Even worse than enduring all the stresses of the holiday season is having to endure them alone in bed recovering from pulling something or twisting a funny way.

For those of us that do not lift things regularly, we need to keep in mind to try to lift with our legs while keeping the back straight. Avoid turning and or reaching while lifting, if at all possible.

I wish everyone a safe and healthy holiday season!

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