Schedule for the day: 7 exercises to relax

1. When you woke up

When you wake up, do not rush to run to the shower, but sit a little on the edge of the bed and tune in to a productive day. Here are some exercises to help you.

Place your feet on the floor. Raise your heels, leaving your toes on the ground. Then lower your heels to the floor and lift your toes. Turn your heels to the right, then to the left. Roll from toe to heel several times to stretch your calves.

Massage your feet on the floor. Bend your ankles in and out to roll from the inside to the outside of your foot. Raise one foot and swing it to the right and left. The upper part of the leg is motionless, only the ankles work. Move on to the other leg.

Get on your feet. If desired, lean heavily on your feet, as if you want to stick to the floor. Slightly lean forward, leaning on your left leg. Inhale and stretch your left hand up – the palm is facing to the right, the fingers are extended. Extend your right arm and join your palms. Feel your thigh stretch. Exhale and return your arms to the position along the body. Repeat the movements, starting with the right leg and arm.

Stretch. Interlace your fingers and turn your palms towards the ceiling. As you inhale, stretch your arms up over your head. As you exhale, drop your hands. Open your palms and shake them. Later, add a rise to the tiptoes to the inhalation. If desired, you can complete the exhalation by tilting the body forward and bending your knees. This is great to ventilate your lungs.

2.On the way to work

This time can also be used to good use and continue the exercises that will give you vigor and strength. The first can be done on the way to the bus stop or metro station, and the second when you get into the transport.

Go without haste. Be fully aware of your breath: to do this, focus on the air that enters and exits through the nose. Then, for a cycle of 20 breaths, synchronize the rhythm of the steps with the breath.

This mental practice will help you close the door to your private life and open the door to your professional life. Do not stop your attention on anything, let your eyes slide freely from object to object.

Breathe in all your sensations, pleasant and unpleasant, then push them out of you, thinking: “I completely say goodbye to these moments.”

Do a self-massage. Place your left hand, palm up, on your left knee, and with the thumb of your right hand, press on the open palm, drawing spirals over its entire surface. Then massage your right palm in this way.

3. At lunchtime

In the middle of the day, many already feel tired, and after a hearty lunch, drowsiness may also appear. To restore energy, stand up and do these exercises.

Lean back slowly. Stretch your arms as low as possible behind your back, feet slightly apart. First of all, tilt your head back. Lean forward, vertebra by vertebra. You will feel the front of your neck stretch. Keep leaning back and feel your thoracic spine become more flexible. Then you will gradually reach the lumbar vertebrae. And finally, the sacrum.

Do the exercise in a way that suits you. Do not try to set records, your task is to let the vertebrae “breathe”.

Lean forward. Place your palms on the front of your thigh. Very slowly, vertebra by vertebra, lower your head, chin towards the sternum. Continue to bend, move to the thoracic region. Hands gradually slide down the thighs.

Then continue at the level of the lumbar region. Bend over slowly, dividing the movement into small portions, feeling your body. This will force your mind to slow down and think about “personal well-being.”

4.During business hours

Adjust your chair so that your wrists are slightly higher than the keyboard and your forearms are comfortably on the armrests and pointing along them: this posture ensures the correct distribution of energy throughout the spine and promotes a good metabolism. Also make sure that your feet are on the floor with more or less the entire foot.

It is important that the computer screen is lower than you – when you straighten up, your gaze should be directed a few centimeters higher than the top edge of the screen. This will keep the back of your neck flexible, and you’ll be much less likely to squint your eyes when you’re tired.

And here are a couple more exercises to cheer up that you can do while sitting at your desk.

Raise one buttock. Do not tear yourself completely away from the seat, then return it to its place. Raise the other one, lower it. Repeat this movement at an accelerated pace.

Do twists. Throw your right leg over your left, put your palms on your knee and lean your chest slightly in the same direction, turning your head to the right and looking a little over your right shoulder. Then switch legs and knees.

Stretch. Stretch your arms above your head, clasping your fingers and turning your palms up, inhaling and stretching your back. Exhale as you lower your arms and leg, and again lift your buttocks one at a time at a fast pace.

5. Before an important meeting

Negotiations with partners or a meeting with the boss are often stressful. So that emotions do not spoil the result, it is important to prepare in advance for the meeting. These exercises will help relieve stress.

Step one. Breathe in a slow rhythm – a short inhale, a longer exhale. Do at least seven inhale-exhale cycles. Then tap yourself in the middle of your chest. Then, with the fingers of the right palm, tap the inside of the left hand, performing quick reciprocating movements from the shoulder to the wrist.

Move to the right hand – 30 seconds on each hand. Warm your hands by rubbing them together, then stroke them over your torso and face.

Step Two. Inhale slowly, exhale even more slowly, and so on seven times. Tap the inside of both legs, from groin to ankle and back to groin. Finally, take a deep breath.

Step three. With your thumbs, massage your palms, paying special attention to the muscle pad at the base of the thumb – here is the point of the kidneys and adrenal glands, which helps to effectively restore strength. Also massage the base of the fingers, which corresponds to the lungs: you will calm your senses.

Then, acting on the gap between the wrist and the center of the palm, you will calm the intestines, which is often a source of anxiety. Then massage the base of the thumbs, where the points responsible for the brain are located. This will relax you and help you focus.

6. On the way home

Walk slowly, breathing through your nose and slowly exhaling, contracting the abdomen, as if trying to compress the abdominal muscles. This breathing cycle will help you bring your attention back inward. Then increase the speed a little so that the breathing becomes faster. Synchronize your thoughts with the steps: “I’m leaving work, I’m heading home, I’m getting out of my work environment.”

A few days later, it will be enough for you to invoke this feeling of “transition”, it will no longer be necessary to invoke the thoughts themselves. Release the lungs well, and then the abdomen, with each breath. Finally, relax by taking a calm step again.

Clench your fists and bend your arms tense them, and then relax, throwing your fists forward, open your palms: you seem to discard all the thoughts of this day, all the tension, the aggression that you felt. Repeat at least thrice.

Accompany thoughts of release from emotions with this gesture, even a tiny one, it will help reduce blood pressure and emotional stress.

Then slowly inhale through your nose, raising your shoulders, then slowly, slowly lower them, exhaling through your mouth. Finally, gently massage each finger of the right hand, squeezing it lightly between the thumb and forefinger of the left. Bend your fingers, then move to the other hand.

Rub your palms together and repeat the energy “washing” – warm your face with your palms. You have now made the transition. Let your thoughts wander in the present. You are returning home.

About the Expert: Gilles Didriks is a relaxation specialist.