Myofascial Stretching and Movement

Diaphragmatic (Belly) Breathing

Learning to breathe with your diaphragm is critical for good health.  It should be your default manner of breathing during all your activities and when resting.  Make this your number one goal!

 How to do it:

• Sit quietly or lie down on your back.
• Place your hands on you belly just below your belly button.
• As you inhale feel your hands being pushed out or up by your belly.
• As you breathe in, feel your belly slowly lower.

• Find a time to sit quietly and practice for a few minutes each day.
• Practice when you are trying to fall asleep each night.

Intermediate:

• Learn to breathe with your diaphragm while standing.  Practice in line at the grocery store or while you are preparing your evening meal.

Advanced:

• Practice at all times.  Check yourself regularly to be sure you are using your diaphragm while breathing during all your daily activities.

Well Aligned Squats

A well aligned squat exercise helps to retrain your body quickly into better alignment and has a variety of additional benefits including strengthening and stretching the low back, hip and leg muscles, mobilizing the lymph and cardiovascular systems, and retrains your low back curve.

How to do it:

• Stand with your feet directly below your hips and with your toes pointing straight forward.
• Engage your thigh muscles as necessary so your knees also point straight forward.
• Start the squat by moving your butt backwards.
• Keep the weight in your heels.
• Your knees should never go past your toes.  Keep your shins as vertical as possible.
• Keep your head and chest upright.
• You can use your arms as needed to maintain your balance at first.
• Go slow and only go as low as you can comfortably maintain your balance on the way down and the way up.

• Place your hands on a table, counter or back of a chair for balance.
• Place your hands on your thighs and slide them down your legs as you squat slowly and purposefully.  Feel your knees pointing straight forward. Stand in front of a mirror if needed.
• Start by dipping down just a few inches trying to go a little bit lower each time.
• Sit down onto a chair and stand back up in good alignment and without using your hands.

Intermediate:

• Spread your arms out wide and turn your thumbs up.
• Squat down slightly lower than chair height.
• Stand in a doorway with your toes in line with the door jamb.  Place your arms on the side door jambs.  As you squat slide your arms down.  As you stand slide your arms as far up the door jamb as you can. Be sure your knees don’t extend past the door jambs!

Advanced:

• Spread your arms out wide and turn your thumbs up when you squat. When you stand raise your arms above your head.
• Place the balls of your feet on a rolled towel to add a calf stretch and challenge your balance with each squat.
• Allow yourself to come into a full squat and hold.  Focus on attempting to maintain your low back curve.  When coming up, begin the movement with your bottom moving back and up to use your gluts to perform the action.

Arc Calf Stretches

Calf stretches have a multitude of benefits and mimic normal movement of the calves during walking. They can help relax the tension in your feet and hips!

How to do it:

• Stand with your feet directly below your hips and with your toes pointing straight forward.
• Step one foot back and place the balls of the other foot up on a rolled or folded towel, book or half foam roll.
• Square up your hips/ point the hips bones forward. Make sure your low back has a nice gentle curve.
• Carefully step the back foot straight forward until you feel a stretch in the calf of the leg on the towel.  The stretch should be gentle and not intense.
• Hold the stretch until the tension releases.  This can take up to 2-3 minutes. Hold each stretch for a minimum of 1 minute. Then step a little further forward and repeat the stretch.
• Keep your head and chest upright.
• Repeat the entire process but point the toes of the foot on the towel inward about 45 degrees.
• Repeat the entire process again with the toes of the foot on the towel outward about 45 degrees.
• Repeat all with the other foot on the towel.

• Use a rolled-up towel to step on to with your front foot.

Intermediate:

• Use a more solid object to step on to with your front foot.

Advanced:

• Use a half foam roller or yoga block to step on to with your front foot.
• Add arm stretches while doing your calf stretches.

Shoulder Stretches

A good shoulder stretch will help to counteract the forward reaching we do all day long.

How to do it:

• Place your legs and low back in good alignment.
• Bring your arms out in front of you as if you are going to pick up two imaginary bottles of water on a table.
• Move your arms as if you are trying to bring the bottles of water behind you without spilling them.
• Keep your shoulders down and squeeze your shoulder blades together.
• Once your arms are as far behind you as you can move them, slowly turn your hands over moving your thumbs backward as if you are dumping out the water behind you.

• Once you are reaching as far as you can, hold the stretch and wait for the muscles in the front of your body and upper arms to soften.  This can take 2-3 minutes.  Hold each time for a minimum of 1 minute.

• Move very slowly and keep your hands low.

Intermediate:

• Hold the stretch behind you through several breaths.
• With your arms stretched behind you move them up so your hands are higher than your head. Then move them back down again.  Repeat several times slowly.

Advanced:

• In addition to the movements above move your arms in front of you while keeping your shoulder blades squeezed together.  Keep your thumbs rotated out and the backs of your hands facing the ground.
• Try doing this exercise while doing squats.  Be sure your arms are in a low position when squatting and move into a higher position when standing.

Kitchen Sink or Door Knob Stretch

This stretch addresses your whole body and is easy to do. You can increase and decrease the intensity and shift the stretch to different parts of your body. This is wonderful for the shoulders and hips.

How to do it:

• Stand with your feet directly below your hips and with your toes pointing straight forward.
• Stand about an arm’s length from the sink and hold onto the edge of the sink/counter.
• Move your butt back as if you were going into a squat.
• Let your upper body come forward and down brining your head toward the sink.
• Keep a gentle curve in your low back.
• Feel the stretch in your arms, ribs, hips and legs.  Focus where you feel the stretch. Keep the stretch gentle and wait for your body to soften.  Hold for 2-3 minutes. Breathe.

• Use the sink and only stretch as far as comfortable.  Don’t push or force your body.
• Step your feet closer to the sink if there is too much stretch on your body.

Intermediate:

• Bend your knees while dropping your butt back until your arms are parallel with your back. Point the top of your head toward your hands.
• Slowly straighten your knees until you feel the stretch.

Advanced:

• Hold the sink or the door knobs (one hand on each knob on either side of the open door).
• Drop your butt back into a full squat.
• Lean back gently to stretch your shoulders.
• Rock your body gently back and forth shifting your weight from side to side.
• Slowly straighten you knees while holding the door knobs until your body is in a 90-degree angle.  Focus on your low back curve.

Upper Body Door Stretch

It is important to reach your arms up above your shoulders on a regular basis. We need to separate arm motion from rib motion for optimal breathing and reducing shoulder and neck pain.

How to do it:

• Stand with your feet directly below your hips and with your toes pointing straight forward. Make sure your low back has a nice gentle curve.
• Reach your arms up over head and reach the top of the door jamb. If you are not tall enough, reach as high as you can on the sides of the door.
• Hold onto the door jamb with your fingers.
• Adjust your rib cage down so your breast bone is perpendicular to the floor. Don’t let the bottom of your ribs flare out. Be careful not to tuck your tailbone during this step.  Maintain your low back curve.
• Slowly take a step forward to increase the stretch.  Adjust your ribs and low back as needed.

• Place your hands lower on the door jamb.  Slowly inch your hands up as you gain flexibility.

Intermediate:

• Reach to the top of the door jamb.
• Bend your knees slightly to increase the stretch.

Advanced:

• Purchase a chin up bar that installs in the door.  Hold both hands on the bar and bend your knees to begin placing more weight into your arms and shoulders.
• Continually adjust your ribs down as needed.
• Slowly increase the weight in your arms and time you can hang.

Hamstring/ Back of the Legs Stretch

Tight hamstrings are very common due to prolong sitting and poor standing and sitting postures.  This can cause a variety of problems including low back pain, pelvic floor tightness and hip discomfort.

How to do it:

• Stand with your feet directly below your hips and with your toes pointing straight forward. Make sure your low back has a nice gentle curve.
• Place your hands on a table, countertop, or something of similar height.
• Bend forward at the hips being sure to maintain your low back curve. Allow your knees to bend if you start to lose your curve.
• Find a just right level of stretch in your hamstrings and wait for them to soften.  As they do, slowly straighten your knees.
• Continually focus on maintaining the low back curve.

• Focus on your low back curve and keep your knees straight.
• Place your hands on the table or on something even taller such as the wall.
• Slowly bend from the hips. Stop and hold when you begin to feel tightness in the back of your legs.

Intermediate:

• Hinge from your hips while maintaining the low back curve.
• Bring your upper body closer to parallel with the floor softening your knees as needed.  Continually work on straightening the knees.

Advanced:

• Instead of using a table, advance to bringing your upper body even further down while still maintaining the low back curve.  Use the seat of a chair or yoga blocks.
• Gently shift your weight side to side and back and forth.  Feel the stretch shift in your hips and knees.
• Combine this stretch with your calf stretch.  Proceed with caution.  This is intense!

Inner Thigh Stretch

Tight inner thigh muscles are very common due to prolong sitting and poor standing and sitting postures.  When these muscles are tight they can rotate the knees inward.  This can cause a variety of problems including low back pain, pelvic floor tightness or foot, knee and hip discomfort.

How to do it:

• Stand with your feet about 2-3 times wider than your hip width. Make sure your low back has a nice gentle curve.
• Place your hands on a table, countertop, or something of similar height.
• Bend forward at the hips being sure to maintain your low back curve.
• Shift your weight into your left leg bending the left knee.  Keep the right leg straight.  Continue shifting the weight until you feel a stretch in your right inner thigh.
• Find a just right level of stretch in your inner thigh muscles and wait for them to soften. This may take 2-3 minutes.  As they soften and release, slowly transfer more weight into the left leg.
• Continually focus on maintaining the low back curve. Switch sides. Repeat.

• Focus on your low back curve. Place your hands on the table or on something even taller such as the wall to maintain your balance.
• Keep a shorter distance between your feet if you have difficulty maintaining weight in one leg for 2-3 minutes.

Intermediate:

• Hinge from your hips while maintaining the low back curve.  Bring your upper body closer to parallel with the floor.
• Place our feet 2-3 times wider than your hips.
• Hold the stretch until you feel the release.  Switch sides and repeat each side 2-3 times.

Advanced:

• Instead of using a table, advance to bringing your upper body even further down while still maintaining the low back curve.  Use the seat of a chair or yoga blocks.
• Combine this stretch with your calf stretch by placing a towel under the balls of each foot.  Proceed with caution.  This is intense!

Reverse Kitchen Sink or Door Knob Stretch

This stretch addresses the front of your shoulders and chest and is easy to do where you can find a door or sink.

How to do it:

• Stand with the sink or door handles directly behind you. Take a small step forward.  You should be able to reach behind you and feel the door handles or the sink.
• Stand with your feet directly below your hips and with your toes pointing straight forward.
• Reach back and hold the sink or door handles (each handle on an open door) with your palms facing down and your thumbs facing away from you. If you are using the sink, bring your hands as close together as you can.
• Let your upper body come forward.  Take a small step forward with one foot if you need to for balance.
• Keep a gentle curve in your low back and your head upright.
• Feel the stretch in your arms and ribs.  Focus where you feel the stretch. Keep the stretch gentle and wait for your body to soften.  Hold for 2-3 minutes. Breathe.

• Use the sink and only stretch as far as comfortable.  Don’t push or force your body.
• Step your feet closer to the sink if there is too much stretch on your body.

Intermediate:

• Bring your hands closer together on the sink or use an open door and hold the handles (one hand on each knob on either side of the open door).

Advanced:

• Hold the sink or the door knobs (one hand on each knob on either side of the open door).
• Slowly bend your knees to add a gentle rotation in the shoulders with the stretch.

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Good Old-Fashioned Walking (but better)

Yes, there is a right way to walk to get the best benefit and the least amount of wear and tear on your body.  Walking in the following manner keeps your body in alignment and benefits your whole body keeping your muscles toned and your joints limber.

How to do it:

• Walk with your toes pointing forward as you step.
• Keep your feet in line with your hips.
• Land on your heel with an outstretched leg.
• Swing your arms opposite your leg stride (right foot forward with left arm forward).
• You should place an emphasis on your arm back swing.
• Your arms should be relaxed and straight.

• Lead the backswing with your pinky finger.   Your thumbs should lead the forward swing.
• As much as possible, walk on natural ground.  Solid, even ground, such as sidewalks or gym floors is next best.  A treadmill is ok but there are additional details to consider.
• Focus your attention on the back of your body as you walk.  Feel the glutes (butt muscles) as you push the ground away as you walk.  Fell the muscles in the back of your arms as you swing them opposite your feet.
• When using a treadmill, set the speed so treadmill must keep up with your rather then you keeping up with the treadmill. If you can’t feel your glutes as you walk, the treadmill is going too fast. If you are falling forward onto a bent knee, adjust your gait so you are reaching your leg out straighter as you walk.

Psoas (Belly) Stretch

The psoas stretch is no one’s favorite but it is so necessary for most of us.  Sitting and standing with a tucked tailbone, which many of us do unconsciously, leads to tight psoas muscles.  It can also tighten up with forward focused activities such as lifting or running.

How to do it:

• Lay on your tummy on the floor, bed or mat.
• Come up on your elbows.
• Lift the top of your head straight up (not back).
• Hold the stretch for 2-3 minutes or longer.  Feel your body soften.

• Lay on a bed. The softer surface will make the stretch gentler.

Intermediate:

• Lay on a harder surface to take the stretch deeper.

Advanced:

• Once you can easily hold the stretch for a few minutes, try coming up from your elbows to your hands. Keep you shoulders pressed down and away from your ears.    Relax your thigh, hip and butt muscles.
• While on your elbows try placing a 3-4-inch ball in your abdominal area. Move the ball and find tender or tight areas. Breathe slowly and deeply waiting for the areas to soften.  Move the ball and find another area.  Repeat.

Imaginary Bubble Movement Activity

This creative movement activity takes your body through a huge variety of joint and muscle movements.  These motions increase blood flow while improving joint and muscle movement.

How to do it:

• While standing, reach your arms out as far as you can in any direction.
• Imagine that just outside your fingertips is a clear bubble surrounding your entire body.
• While reaching imagine you are going to paint the inside of the bubble with your fingertips.
• Reach up, down, in front and behind you to reach as much as the bubble as possible.
• Move your arms in different patterns as you paint the bubble over and over.

• Paint the bubble while standing with the arms apart only.
• This focuses primarily on shoulder movement.

Intermediate:

• While standing place the palms of the hands together.
• Paint the bubble with the hands together.
• This small change elicits movement of the ribs and hips as you pain the bubble.

Advanced:

• Imagine the bubble extends from above your head to the ground.
• To reach the lower parts of the bubble bend your knees using good squat technique.
• Try this larger bubble with the hands apart and the hands together.

Three Phase Neck Stretch

The neck contains many small muscles that attach on the head, spine, ribs, collar bones and shoulder blades.  It is important to keep the body in good alignment when stretching the neck.  It is also important to stretch gently and slowly.

How to do it:

• Sit or stand.  Pull the shoulders back while also turning the palms up as you bring the arms back.  The relax the shoulders and arms placing your hands, palm up in your lap.
• Sit so your head is stacked over the hips and your low back curve is intact.
• Phase 1: Tip your right ear to your right shoulder.  Let the weight of your head and gravity take over.  The sensation of stretch will deepen as you breathe.  Wait at least 1 minute, preferably longer until you begin to feel your tissues yield and lengthen.
• Phase 2: Slowly bring your chin toward your right armpit until you feel the tension in your neck shift. Hold and breathe at least 1 minute.
• Phase 3: Slowly shift your chin in a diagonal line away from your armpit up and to the left until you feel the tension shift again.  Hold and breathe at least 1 minute.
• IMPORTANT:  When you end the stretch lean your entire body forward before bring your head into midline or the center of your body.  After you head is centered, return to an upright position and roll your shoulders.
• Repeat on the other side.

• Hold each phase for about a minute.  Practice breathing with your diaphragm during the stretch. Focus on feeling the tension let go.

Intermediate:

• Practice holding each phase longer for a deeper release.
• Try allowing your arm or arms hang to the side to deepen the stretches.

Advanced:

• During each phase place the opposite palm on the skin of the chest.  Press in toward your heart then down toward your belly without sliding on the skin. This will pull the fascia in the opposite direction, deepening the stretch.