My bladder is my alarm clock. It wakes me up needing to be emptied. After I get done with that part of my morning and wash my hands, I go back and sit on the end of my bed.
I close my eyes and take several deep breaths and ground myself as I wiggle my toes and fingers gently. It is time to center myself and loosen up my body.
I start with my head and work my way down, gently performing each motion 20 times to wake up the muscles and the fascia in my body.
I lift my head and look at the ceiling. I feel how tight the muscles along the side of my neck are and how the muscles along my spine contract and cause me to arch slightly as I look up. I look down until I until I see my feet, feeling the tightness in the connective tissue along the back of my neck and how it stretches as I look down. Quietly counting in my mind as I repeat these movements.
Next I turn my head from side to side. I note how far my head turns to each side and try to increase the range with each repetition. Sometimes, i gently place my index and middle fingers along my chin to stretch my neck a bit further. As I exhale, I push my jaw a little bit so the stretch becomes deeper. I relax as I inhale. Finally, I do head circles, starting with my head back and then rolling gently so that it goes to in a complete circle. I make note of the tight areas and any sore spots as my head swivels. I reverse the circle and note if those areas feel different.
Down to the shoulders next. I start with shoulder shrugs. Then I make circles with my shoulders – sometimes starting by rolling forward, other times starting with rolling them backwards. I enjoy the feeling of everything in my chest becoming less tight. I put my hands on the tops of my shoulders and move my elbows forward and back to stretch everything more.
I move my hands up over my head and stretch from one side to the other. I feel the muscles in rib cage stretch and lengthen. It feels so good and i can breath easier with each repetition.
I take lacrosse ball and roll it under the fascia of my feet. It feels so good when I do this. It loosens everything in my lower body before I even stand up and it makes everything feel better.
I stand up and begin doing a Qigong arm swing. My arms loosely swing around my body as I twist and my hands lightly thump my back. I love how I feel after doing this. Everything is moving and flowing through me and loosing up.
I do hip circles starting with my feet shoulder width apart. Enjoying the stetches on my outer thighs. Then I put my feet together and do them again. And finally I spread my feet wider than my shoulders and finish the last set. Time to move the legs.
Standing on one leg, I begin swinging my leg forward and back. Next, I lift my leg up and rotate it outwards at the hip joint and then reverse it. Again I make note of the where things are tight or sore. I move down to the knee. I kick out my calf and foot. I rotate the knee in circles – moving it forward and backwards. Then finally the foot pointing and flexing it at the ankle. All the while I’m getting better at balancing and everything is loosening up. I switch to my other leg and repeat.
Once the legs are done. I do calf raises and go up on my tippy toes. This helps loosen my calf muscles and stretch my toes in ways that they normally don’t get stretched.
The final stretch for the morning is doing some lunges and dropping my heel so it touches the floor. The back of my leg feels so good after I do this and my hamstring get looser each time I do this.
I come back to my center and ground my feet into the floor. I put my hands on my heart and do several nice deep breaths while speaking gently to myself about how thankful I am have a body that works.