Back Stretch for First Thing in the Morning

This is a wonderful yoga movement you can do at the start of every morning to loosen the back before you even get out of bed.

Hi there. I'm Krista Oakes and this is your Mindful Monday and today I wanted to give you a posture - a movement - that you can do before you even get out of the bed. The wonderful thing about taking a few moments before your feet hit the floor to move your body is it just begins to open and stretch. It gets the body the warm, it gets the blood flowing, it gets the energy moving in the body.

All you have to do while you're lying in bed is bend the knees so the feet are flat on the mattress. Let the feet be wide, the spine and the head be down, you can certainly have a pillow under your head if you want, and just let the knees kind of move from side to side with whatever range of motion is there for you. Over time the knees might get a little bit closer to the floor but they certainly don't have to. You can always roll over onto the side and draw the body back up. This is an opportunity to get that back moving, to get your breath moving, and to start your day in a really mindful conscious way. I want you to try it tomorrow morning before you get out of bed and just notice how it feels.