Issue 25: 5 minutes between meetings? How ‘bout a stretch?
You know when you procrastinate something for weeks or months, and then you finally do it, and it takes 20 minutes, and you kick yourself for being such a fuss-bucket about it?
Yeah. Me too.
A big procrastination for me lately is morning and midday movement. I know exactly how long a person needs to do a handful of stretches that will make them feel better—it’s literally my job to know—and yet, I frequently decide I’m too busy, or too lazy, or too sat-upon-by-a-sleeping-cat to actually do it.
Finally, the other day, I kicked my butt onto my mat around 10 am. I set the timer on my watch for 5 minutes, and promptly forgot I had started it. I did three sun salutations. Then I put water on to boil for tea and took the compost outside to the heap. As I was coming back in, my timer went off.
In other words, it took less than 5 minutes for me to do three sun salutations. And yes, I did them at a pretty good clip, but the takeaway here is
A sun salutation is a great full-body movement that doesn’t require any props (including workout-specific clothes, though a skirt might give you trouble);
Yes, you absolutely can do three of them in 5 minutes or less.
These days, in particular, I’m in a desk worker-heavy place, and I find I need reminders like this. I’ve sort of made the couch my “desk” as I focus on writing the first draft of a novel (so daunting!), and the result is really bad. There’s just no way to make my couch ergonomic.
That’s why, this week I’m sharing my quickie sun salutation routine. Yes, the video is a smidge more than 5 minutes because I’m explaining, but I offer three variations! You can follow along as-is, or pick your favourite version and do it three times. Stretcher’s choice!
Thanks so much for tuning in, and remember: You’ve got this!
Stay strong, calm, and kind