Wake Up Slow – Morning Moves

Do These Moves…Even Before You Get Out of Bed

When life’s big changes overwhelm you, and it feels like a heavy brick weighing on your chest—a common sensation when dealing with matters of the heart—Make your heart feel lighter and bring your body into balance with these morning moves to help open the front and sides of the body.

Opening through the front and sides of the body proves to be beneficial in so many ways:

  • Creates fuller breathing in the lungs
  • Improves blood flow to the spine
  • Stimulates immunity by activating the thymus gland
  • Massages the heart muscle and lungs 
  • Opens the diaphragm, and 
  • Deeply relaxes the nervous system.

Before you get out of bed, try these 3 morning moves to feel the amazing benefits!

1 Let the Air In: The Sleepy Fish

When you wake up in the morning, before you step a single foot onto the floor;

  1. Reach your arms out wide so wide that your chest lifts up.
  2. Try to keep your shoulders down and broad and feel the strength between the shoulder blades as you take a deep breath in.
  3. Take up all the space on the bed. This is your moment to breathe.
  4. Opening through the front of the body first thing in the morning brings in fresh air, wisdom, and compassion, and makes way for clear communication.

Note: This movement is a very gentle modified version of Fish pose in yoga. It focuses on opening the diaphragm, massages the heart muscle and lungs, and is known to stimulate the immune system by activating the thymus gland, the thyroid, and parathyroid.

2 Let the Light In: The Morning Crescent Moon

  1. As you breathe out, slide your arms down to your sides.
  2. Reach one hand down toward the ankle and form a crescent moon shape with your body.
  3. Repeat this on the other side.

Note: This creates space in the lungs to breathe more fully and improves circulation to the spine, chest, heart, and abdomen.

3 Let the Love In: Knees to Chest

  1. After bending to open the sides of your body, straighten the legs and then bring one knee to the chest, and then the other.
  2. Now hug both knees and breathe.
  3. As you hold your knees, relax the low back. If your knees are sensitive be sure to place the arms over the thighs to prevent any unnecessary pressure on the knees.

Note: This move stabilizes the pelvis and low back, and massages and promotes digestion and stimulates and purifies abdominal organs.