Do You Stretch?

 

"How often do you stretch outside of when you workout?"

This is the question the massage therapist asked me after a session.

Before my massage, I mentioned how I had woken up on a few occasions with stiffness in my right hip that I attributed to the way I had slept the previous nights. She shared with me the importance of stretching for two reasons: one, because doing workouts that involve impact cardio and pounding the pavement on daily walks can make your muscles tight, and two — because women often hold tension in their hips. 

I had heard the first part about the need to help muscles recover after workouts and was guilty of rarely stretching enough for that purpose. The part about holding tension in my hips, however, was new to me. But, a deeper dive led me to more information about how hips are commonly considered a storage center for emotional stress and anxiety. Yoga is clutch for frequently working these areas out as the flowing postures and synchronistic breathing of sun salutations help move the spine and open up hip flexors. It also caused me to search for a full-body stretch routine that I could do daily.

 

This 13-Minute routine with Toni Mitchell is chef's kiss.