Stretch Before Bed to Soothe and Uplift Yourself After an Overwhelming Day

A typical day for someone juggling work responsibilities and family obligations can often feel much too much. The mountain of project deadlines, child health surprises, financial worries, job uncertainties, create a tremendous mental load.  We fantasize about winning the lottery and running away from it all. Amidst the chaos and to-do lists, many can forget that their health and mental state should come first. We vent and ruminate at the end of the day about how things could have gone better – the rushing from meeting to meeting, that stressful schoolteacher discussion, that super sabotaging colleague, the missed workout, and the excessive lunch, or the no-lunch-chocolate bar-fix.

It is important to practice acceptance and to transition into a positive mental state. While 9pm may be too late to smash a workout (especially when all many exhausted people want is another glass of wine) there is one thing you can do to reset today and bring tomorrow’s great resolutions closer to reality even before your head hits the pillow.

Stretch your body for at least 20 minutes every day (or every other day as a starter) to immediately flow into an experience that uplifts in several ways. While stretching is beneficial at various moments in the day, this post focuses on pre-bedtime stretching as a closing and calming practice.

Stretching is a highly effective way to release tension and achieve mental clarity. By laying on your mat devoting this short space and time to yourself, you have already carved out a physical environment free of distractions.  That alone can be hard to achieve for many people, so arriving at the right setup is already a micro achievement.  (Tip: Choose a protective, supportive mat with the right balance of comfort and connection to the floor – a terrific mat can make it surprisingly inviting to lay down and get going!)

During a static stretch held for 15 to 60 seconds, the action elongates tight muscle fibers and helps release knots and tightness.  In this process, you are also activating the relaxing parasympathetic nervous system which counteracts the stressful fight-or-flight state of handling daily battles.  Research shows that calming effects are activated through deep, slow breathing that stimulates the vagus nerve. This in turn signals the body to relax.  Simultaneously, blood flow increases, more oxygen is sent to the muscles, and endorphins that can relieve pain and generate feel-good sensations are released.

With a more stabilized mood, you are in a much better place to let go of scrambled thoughts and focus on body awareness.  This is an actual mind switch that reorients our neural pathways towards more beneficial thoughts and feelings.  Think of the last time you obsessed over a challenging situation at work repeatedly – and the moment where you switched tracks because you had to host a dinner party or play a game of tennis.  Recall how you felt at the end of the event.  More likely than not, the unpleasantness had diluted and the emotional drama felt more distant. You may even have had a solution breakthrough.  

Athletic people who already exercise intensely with admirable discipline will also greatly benefit from stretching as it infuses stillness in movement.  Quite understandably, your 60 minutes of intense running or spin class may be all the time you feel you have for your body.  And that is already a lot given the companies you run, the surgeries you perform, and the three children you tend to with mastery.  Nevertheless, stretching will give you the support you need to keep staying fit for longer, and prevent aches and pains from settling into chronic injury.  In slightly more celebrated terms, this is the pliability principle popularized by Tom Brady which emphasizes on keeping muscles long and supple, enable them to absorb and disperse forces – ultimately allowing you to achieve more while avoiding soreness and injury.  And, while people in their 20s and 30s may bounce back nonchalantly from grueling exercise, those decades of persistent imbalance will unfortunately present a health bill in your 40s onwards.

Aesthetically, the body of someone who stretches regularly (envision a seasoned yogi) is simply more elegant and powerful. Stretching enhances an upright posture and opens up the chest, correcting hunched shoulders and neck tension throughout the day.  The busier you are at work, the more likely you are to show symptoms of tech neck, rounded shoulders, and stiff hips. A beautiful and strong posture helps ignite the next day looking and feeling better from the moment you put on your clothes.  It creates an unspoken impact on people who watch you enter a room with confidence and quiet power.  

For those new to stretching, there are great free to-the-point online classes such as: Mady Morrison, Caitlin K’eli Yoga, and many more.  Find one that you like and stick with it – it is important to not get sidetracked searching endlessly for the right class!  

Paid subscriptions like Peloton, Pliability, can also be amazing sources of inspiration as they feature powerful coaches on user-friendly platforms sharing science and tips on how to use stretching to improve athletic performance, emotional well-being and longevity.