We will bet you didn’t know that human beings stretch every time we yawn – or when we wake up in the morning, raising our arms above our heads, contracting and relaxing our upper torso before getting out of bed – oftentimes while yawning. You’ve seen babies, cats, dogs and other animals doing it every time they awaken – the body’s unconscious preparation for movement after a prolonged period of inactivity, and a defense against muscle tension.
The morning stretch response isn’t necessarily “stretching,” which requires thought to put into action – a brain-to-muscles type of message. Stretching requires effort, lengthening a targeted muscle of group of muscles to a limited point, and then relaxing. Morning stretching is more of a muscles-to-brain type of message – resetting muscle tension in preparation for movement. It’s a re-boot of the body’s movement system.
Of course, just like many other things, the human experience is much different than that of other animals. While we may have been programmed to stop eating when the brain signals we are full – our programmers never had to calculate the irresistibility of a carton of rocky road ice cream into our stop-eating responses. Such is the case with the morning stretch – which is no longer the innate, unconscious response to muscle tension that is used to be. It still happens, but the older and more sedentary we become, the less unconscious morning stretching occurs.
But, this movement system reset is just what’s needed to keep our muscles in peak performance condition. So, when you wake up tomorrow morning, reach, yawn and enjoy a little conscious morning stretching. Your whole body will thank you for the super-charge!
There is a reason your mother always told you to, “Sit up straight!” Although mom may not have been aware of posture’s importance in keeping you pain-free, the result is still the same. Good posture makes it much less likely that you will suffer from back, neck and shoulder pain. Our own Dr. Matthew Harkness has filmed this very short video to demonstrate the importance of good posture – especially now that many of us are working from home and spending more time sitting in front of a computer. And no, your sofa, bed and lawn chair do not qualify as appropriate chairs for working – unless you’re a streaming movie critic. (We know – EVERYONE is a streaming movie critic. 😉)
So, check it out here – and if you need help chasing those pains away, the Allied team is standing by and ready to help.
