Can’t Sleep? Try These Relaxing Bedtime Stretches!
Have you ever tried to go to sleep, but you just ended up lying there and getting frustrated because sleep seems just out of reach? If so, these simple stretches and the 4-7-8 breathing technique should help relax your body and help you fall asleep fast.
Starting off on the side of the bed or in a chair, gentle shoulder squeezes, an upper trap stretch, and a seated rolldown will help loosen up tight muscles in the spine that often get over worked throughout the day.
Once in bed, trunk rotation and single knee to chest stretch are great ways to continue to relax those muscles in a lying down position.
Finally, the 4-7-8 breathing technique has been shown in research to not only relax the body, but also help people fall asleep faster.
There is some new research that shows certain isometric exercises (contracting muscles without movement) can help prevent and treat high blood pressure, or hypertension. Here are some examples.
These moderate core strengthening exercises are a progression from my beginner core exercises, and these intermediate core exercises are a great next step once the beginner ones become too easy.
Yoga at bedtime can help you fall asleep faster and sleep better. Trudy, a registered yoga teacher and fellow Physical Therapist, stops by to show me a therapeutic yoga bedtime routine.
Living with fibromyalgia and other chronic pain conditions can be an overwhelming experience, characterized by widespread pain that affects various parts of the body. One of the most beneficial approaches to help manage this pain is to incorporate gentle standing stretches and exercises into your daily routine.
Working at a desk or gaming all day can cause people to get stiff and tight in their upper body and lower body. This can also cause forward posture. These quick desk exercises will help reset muscles and keep the blood circulating in your body.
Tension headaches can cause a lot of pain. Stress is a common cause of tension headaches. Relaxing the muscles around the neck and shoulder area can help decrease the pain caused by tension headaches.
Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo, better known as BPPV, can literally stop you in your tracks. Make sure you are properly diagnosed with BPPV before trying these because vertigo symptoms can be an indication of something more serious.
PTs will often analyze your gait by watching you get up and walk across the room, but most of the time we are analyzing your gait as soon as you walk into the clinic. If you have been diagnosed with gait abnormalities, these stretches and exercises might help.
Have you ever tried to go to sleep, but you just ended up lying there and getting frustrated because sleep seems just out of reach? If so, these simple stretches and the 4-7-8 breathing technique should help relax your body and help you fall asleep fast.
