Been working for a while? Time to take your daily (hopefully many times a day) movement moment!
Wiggle the fingers, wiggle the toes. Focus on any aspect of your body and notice what you feel? This step should not be skipped. This is connecting your mind and body, and taking stock of where you are starting from, your baseline.
You can do the next movements seated or better yet stand. Inhale your arms up to the sky, a big full body stretch. Take your left hand, place it on the right side of your body at the rib cage. Feel two ribs next to each other. Your right arm is lifted above your head, now tip to the left, lateral flex to the left. What are those two ribs doing? How are they moving? Yes, away from each other. Bring your torso back to center. With the right arm lifted, lateral flex to the left as many times as you like imagining the ribs are yawning open as you stretch, and the closing of the two ribs bring you back to center. A lovely image I have for this rib yawning is the accordion billows opening and closing. Does that change the movement for you?
After at least 3 rounds, but preferably closer to 5 or more, lower the right arm. Notice the difference between the two sides of your torso. Is it easier to take a deep breath on the right versus the left? Does your right shoulder feel more relaxed and lower as the right side of your neck feels longer? After noticing and recording any change, please repeat the movement lifting the left arm up and lateral flexing to the right, tipping to the right. Don’t forget to use the two ribs yawning apart and together to assist you in the movement. And please get creative with your imagery. The imagery is not the goal. It’s simply a tool to improve the movement at hand. Try to do the same number of repetitions as the previous side unless you think one side would benefit from more practice than the other.
Happy ribs, happy breath, flexibility is youth, so enjoy your movements moments many times throughout the day!
Bece M. Kidder is a certified yoga instructor and recently graduated Level 2 Franklin Method educator. You can find a video supporting this article, and more information at heartdancesyoga.com