Even if you cannot exercise every single day, even though you should, something that you should try to incorporate into your daily regime is stretching. It does not have to be for a long time, ten minutes will even do the trick, and it will actually give you a jump-start to your day. Do not think of it as loss in sleeping time, but rather think of it as a chance to give your body time to wake up and perform at its highest capabilities.

Stretching in the morning is one of the best ways to “wake” up your body and specifically, your muscles. It loosens up your body and increases the blood flow to your muscles as well as your brain. It is a chance to slowly get ready for the day and for you to operate at your most optimum level.

Here are a few ideas about some stretches that you may be interested in doing to wake up your body.

Start by sitting on the edge of your bed and placing your feet on the floor. Then bend over and bring your arms to your feet. After that, arch your back for ten seconds, rest, and repeat this as many times as you would like to.

The next stretch allows your neck to loosen up. Start on the edge of your bed and with your feet on the floor. Then, rotate your neck in a circle around your shoulder, but be careful and be gentle, and make sure that your ears are touching your shoulders. After that, repeat this motion in a counter-clockwise motion for about five times and then reverse the direction of the circular motion. This will help with getting some oxygen and blood to your brain. After this, try the next stretch– the shoulder shrug. Just like the name suggests, this stretch involves shrugging of your shoulders up to your ears over and over again.

After you have completed all of these sitting stretches, it is time to move on to the standing ones. One example of a standing stretch is to stand up, lace your fingers together, hold your hands above your head with your palms facing toward the ceiling, and then lift up and stretch your rib cage. Hold that position for ten seconds before releasing and repeating.

Morning stretches can be very beneficial to your health and exercising habits.