Most days, you can find me in a child’s pose on a yoga mat either at the studio, next to my bed at home or on the hardwood stretching before my ballet class. It’s nothing extravagant, and often my stretching varies from a few quick minutes before class to an hour and half before bed. No matter what time of day or where I’m at, yoga and my stretching routine have given me stability and structure during times of tumultuous change.
My stretching routine has quietly followed me through the years from my childhood home to my first year of college, in the shared space of my college dorm. I’m not exactly sure why I started over 10 years ago. As a young child, I was not naturally flexible. I couldn’t even reach my toes at a doctor’s visit. Maybe, my desire to become more flexible grew with my interest in dance. Or maybe, per my natural temperament, not being good at something ignited a spark in me to work toward becoming better. Ultimately, I think it was probably a combination. The steadiness of having something to return to and a routine that gave me purpose and kept me grounded.
I learned how to stretch from YouTube videos. Just like how the modern world has become digitalized to our fingertips, the list of videos were nothing short of abundant. I’d sit on the hard tiles in my basement each day, following tutorials and using footstools in place of yoga blocks. My initial interest turned into a habit as I realized stretching was a practice that demanded consistency and gradual work. While there are many days where stretching felt like a chore, it taught me early lessons on how to show up for myself even when I didn’t want to. And even if I wasn’t feeling up to it, the act of following through and “finishing” always made me feel better than when I had started.
There’s something restorative about being able to reset just by working through a few stretches or pedaling out your feet in a downward facing dog. As The Body Keeps The Score thoughtfully articulated and from brain science courses, stress shows up in many unconscious ways within. Whether it’s with a tight jaw or furrowed brow, chronic stress puts the body system in an overdrive fight or flight mode and restructures the brain (structurally and functionally) over an extended period of time. Personal goals of flexibility aside, having some form of movement where I can play my favorite music and decompartmentalize has done wonders to help me reconnect with myself.
Learning to take up space for myself was one of the greatest lessons I’ve learned in college. Taking up space to stretch doesn’t require any more than the length of a yoga mat. But learning that I am deserving to take up space as a person has been a lifelong journey. It’s important to take up space, give energy when deserved, and as I’ve learned from stakeholders in my life, it’s possible to hold space for more than one thing at a time.
Below are some of my favorite stretches and a 10 minute flow that have become a staple in my daily routine. Feel free to copy and paste into your browser for visuals.
- In a seated position, start with head, neck and shoulder rolls
- Ankle circles/rolls
- Cat/Cow back stretches
- Seated hamstring stretch or a pike (both legs extended with flexed and pointed feet)
- Standing forward fold
- Half Pigeon (both sides)
- Crossed leg seated forward fold (Optional: stack one knee on top of other, then switch)
- Deep lunge, then elbows on ground
- Quad stretch in lunge (grab back foot)
- Press into hamstring stretch half split
- If you can: Side split (both sides, pointed and flexed, upright and leaning/folding forward), then middle split (Optional: use props to get further)
- To finish, Bridge/Backbend
Note: I like to do roughly 30 seconds for each stretch/side.
Anne Li is a junior from Brooklyn, N.Y. majoring in Neuroscience.
