Keep Your Back Healthy With These Stretches For Tight Spaces
If you ever stop to really think about the different poses and postures you place your body into day after day, a common theme may start to show up to reveal itself. Many of us often end up cramming ourselves into very small, tights spaces for prolonged periods of time, and we hardly even move ourselves at all during the entire time that we are in these spaces.
In particular, many people these days are experiencing longer and longer amounts of time sitting in a car, at a desk, or on an airplane almost every single day of the week (if not every single day). This fact is not lost on doctors of chiropractic, who have seen the negative health consequences that arise in the body as a usually painful result of sitting in one cramped space for too long of a time.
In fact, back pain is quickly becoming one of the leading causes of doctor visits by patients in the United States today, and many of these patients are found to simply be experiencing poor sitting posture and not enough movement and breaks in between. I know that I am certainly guilty of spending long amounts of time at a desk or behind the wheel of a car, which is why I was so glad to come across an article by Care 2 that works to address this issue head-on, by offering some great suggestions for easy stretches to perform to break up these long periods of tension on the back and neck.
The next time you find yourself either staring at your computer screen for a while or as the passenger on a very long car ride, try this simple stretch that is meant to relieve back tension. Use both hands to clasp the seat of your chair, making sure your palms are down and your fingers are pointed at the floor. Inhale deeply, and bring your shoulder blades together - this should naturally puff out your chest a little bit. After a beat, exhale slowly, releasing the tension in your shoulders so that your belly sinks towards the back of thechair.
You can also further stretch the spinal column and relax the abdomen by performing this stretch. Inhale and focus on lengthening your spine towards the ceiling. When you exhale, gently fold forward until your chest rests on your thighs. Your arms should drop to the floor. Breathe deeply in this position for thirty seconds before raising yourself slowly back up.
Used under Creative Commons Licensing courtesy of Stuart Allen