Makes Me Happy Monday ; Stretching

I have run with people that have made fun of me for my stretching routine.

I always walk a short distance, stop and stretch  … then run.

When I lived in Montclair, I walked to the park in the next block and stretched at the playground.  The park bench was the perfect height for me to throw my foot up and get a good hamstring elongation. And the curb was excellent for lengthening my achilles tendon and the plantar fascia so I wouldn’t have a run in with plantar fasciitis.

From my new home, I walk to the bus stop/turn around (which is about the same distance from my home as the park in my last neighborhood) to stretch.

I stretch before AND after I run.

And I rarely have trouble with shin splints, ham string injuries or pulled muscles.

I’m very flexible in the “forward folding” position. But, not so much with my hip flexors. I am really working on this. My goal is to one day be able to lie flat on my back in butterfly position. It may take years, but I’m working on it …. every.single.day.

Without stretching shortly after a warm up, sooner or later, there will be injury.

This is a spiritual/physical parallel, don’t you think?

I see this in every area of life. If we aren’t stretched physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually in our relationships with ourselves and others, there will be atrophy and eventually injury.

Isn’t it better to have a “warm up” and then some stretching
than to find yourself avoiding confrontation and then
*BAM*
you’re right in the middle of a crisis
that leaves you sore and wounded
because you weren’t warmed up
and you weren’t prepared?

I’m all about the warm up
… the stretch
… the prep it takes to get ready
so that people – others or yourself –
aren’t left injured by an exercise
that could have been simple
but ended up being a complicated, painful mess.

Yep …. I love stretching ….
all kinds –  physical, emotional, mental and spiritual.

Stretching makes me happy today.
What makes YOU happy this marvelous Monday morning?