Now, when was the last time you showed the sides of your torso some LOVE?? The muscles in your torso do so much work for us each day. There are muscles there that move and rotate the torso and help you sit and stand upright. These are huge jobs! We think of exercising or strengthening them (think twisting ab exercises, such as bicycles), but do you take time to lengthen them? Stretching the sides of the body feels delicious. When you open the sides of your body, you make space for breath by expanding the muscles that surround the ribs, open the chest and make space for the abdominal organs (helping with digestion).
Sound good? Great! Ready to get started? Start simply. Sit on the floor with your legs a comfortable distance apart. Flex your feet and hug your leg muscles to the bones. Press your sitting bones into the earth and gently lengthen your spine, rolling your shoulders back and descending your should blades. Now reach your arms overhead and slowly bend and lengthen the torso to the right. Try to make certain that the right side of the torso is softly "reaching" over the right leg. The idea is not to "crunch" the right side of the body while the left side is stretching. Reach your left arm along side your left hear and from the shoulder, turn your palm down (so when you look up you can see it). Extend your fingers in line with your wrist. To look up, gently turn your ribs, chest, neck and head as one unit to gaze toward your arm. Breathe at least 10 soft, slow breaths. Repeat on the other side.
I strongly encourage you to practice side bending regularly. You will feel taller and more free... and your torso will love you back.
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