Today I was feeling particularly cold and tired.  The afternoon rolled around and I was in desperate need of a nap.  Unable to fit a nap in I looked over at the Halloween candy in the cupboard thinking about a temporary fix for my exhaustion.  Knowing in my heart that the fix would last only about as long as it took me to eat the candy, and in need of much more energy than that, I decided to make a better choice.

It is amazing how one good choice can help set the tone for the rest of the day.  A good choice has the power to make you feel proud of yourself and happy.  Instead of digging into the heap of leftover candy I turned the kettle on and pulled out my favorite bag of green tea.  While the kettle was heating I walked over to the office and turned on the space heater to warm the room.

Having one room, not too large in size that I can heat up nice and toasty when I get overly chilled has proven to be a great thing thus far.  I’m adjusting to the colder temperatures in Idaho and I find I can live with my house being colder if I have a place to go that I can warm up in a matter of minutes.

The heat started flowing and the sun was shining through the window.  I was on my way to reviving myself.  The kettle began to sing and I started to steep the tea.  I decided while the tea was steeping I would go into my warm room, sit near the window, and do 5 minutes of stretching.

Stretching has never played much of a roll in my life.  Other than group stretches before team sports in school or preceding and following an exercise class, I have never made a lot of room for stretching in my life.  Slowly article by article I read by Kristin Anderson on Modern Mom I began to get inspired.  I highly suggest you visit her blog and website.  I credit her words for encouraging me to stretch today when I was so desperately in need of a pick-me-up.

On my knees with my shoulders back and down I slowly rolled my neck back and forth to relieve some of the stiffness.  Moment by moment I started to feel better.  Next I moved onto stretching my back, another area that gets particularly stiff and sore, followed by a few leg stretches.  In that amount of time my body was warmed and my tea was ready to enjoy.

Not only did 5 minutes of stretching relax my body, it warmed and revived my mind and soul.  I simply let the stiffness in my body guide the way through the stretches I chose to do in those few minutes, and could not have been happier with the results.  Thank you Kristin for encouraging and inspiring me to make one good choice today that I will be sure to repeat again!


Do you feel better when you stretch?