Can't Sleep? Try These Relaxing Bedtime Stretches!

Hey everybody, it's Dr. Jo and sweet Remy. Having trouble sleeping? Well I'm going to show you some great bedtime stretches and a breathing technique to help you sleep better. But step one, get your doggie out of the bed. Okay let's go. So these bedtime stretches are really going to help you relax to help you sleep better. And at the end I'm going to show you a really great breathing technique too that will really help you get to sleep. So when you are trying to relax before you go to bed, one of the easiest things to do to start off with is just some shoulder squeezes when you're sitting on the edge of the bed. Or you can do this in a chair before you actually get in a bed if your bed's really high. But just some simple shoulder squeezes. You're just going to squeeze those shoulder blades back. Imagine that someone has their hand on your spine, and you're trying to take those shoulder blades and squeeze them together. Try and keep your shoulders down so it's not coming up and squeezing back. You're trying to relax your body and just squeeze back. You can use your elbows as a guide, but you're really trying to get those muscles, those rhomboid muscles in the back to squeeze the shoulder blades together. So you can use your elbows and squeeze back, or you can just relax your arms and squeeze your shoulder blades back that way. You can do just a little pause when you're back into that position, and then relax back. So you can do this for time maybe 15-20 seconds, or you can just say I'm going to do you know five or ten. So kind of up to you, but remember this is kind of a relaxing thing to get you relaxed and comfortable and ready to go to bed. So not a whole lot, just enough to loosen up those muscles and everything. So then the next one, a lot of times when we're going to bed, one of the things that starts hurting is our neck. So stretching out the neck before you go to bed is really good to help those muscles relax so they're not tight and tense when you're trying to sleep. So an upper trap stretch is a great stretch. It stretches your upper back, it stretches the neck area, it's that triangle, the top part of that triangle, big muscle in the back. So I like just sitting on my hand. You don't have to do this if this is uncomfortable. If I'm stretching this side, I'm going to sit on this hand. I'm bringing the other hand up and over, almost where my fingers are kind of touching my ear, but my head is staying straight forward for this one. And then I'm just gently pulling directly over the side to the opposite shoulder. And I should feel that stretch kind of up in this area. I might even feel it out into the shoulder. That's where that upper trap goes into. Like I said, you don't have to sit on your hand. You can also put it behind your back. Or again, like you, like I said, you can just relax it. But if you sit on it or put your arm behind your back, that keeps that shoulder down and it gives you a little bit better stretch. But I'm going to feel the stretch even if I just have my hand down like this. So 30 seconds and then switching sides. And then 30 seconds on that side. Now ideally, you would want to do three times 30 seconds on each side. But if you're getting ready for bed, you're kind of tired, just doing one or two on each side is fine. But make sure you're doing that whole 30 seconds, not just 10 or 15 seconds because that full 30 second stretch is what helps those muscles actually relax. Then after that, you're just going to do what I call a seated roll down. This is great for the lower back, upper back and the hips. It's almost kind of like a prayer stretch, except you're doing it seated. So just give yourself some space in between. And you're just going to kind of place your hands in front in between your knees. And then just like it sounds, you're rolling down, you can go all the way to the ground, it kind of depends on how high your bed is, or if you're in the chair. And then when you're coming back up, make sure you're rolling back up as well. So this is a little bit different than something like a hamstring stretch where you're keeping your back straight, this time you're actually trying to roll that back just to kind of stretch out each segment of your back. You can do a little pause at the bottom, like more of a stretch holding there, or you can kind of do maybe five continuously, just whatever feels comfortable for you. You might not be able to roll all the way down if your back is really tight, you might only you know be able to go to right here, but that's okay, you're trying to relax those muscles. So not forcing it, just going to where it's comfortable where you're feeling a nice stretch. If you want to do that full 30 second hold, a lot of times about 20-25 seconds, you'll kind of feel it release a little bit. And then you can get that little bit further stretch if you want it. So now I'm going to go ahead and lie down. I'm kind of getting a little sleepy, getting ready for bed. And now I'm just going to do a trunk rotation. So I'm putting my knees together, I'm putting my feet together, relaxing my body. And then just like it sounds, you're kind of rotating your trunk using your legs to rotate. I'm going to rotate to one side, this is getting my hips, the side kind of the oblique area, nice stretch through the back mid back and upper back. And then this one again is going to be a full stretch for that 30 seconds. And then it's up to you how much time you want to spend on the stretching, but make sure you're doing that full 30 seconds, and then coming back up and then rotating to the other side. Again, I'm feeling that stretch like right through here in the hips as well. And then again, holding that for that 30 seconds, ideally doing three on each side. But if you just want to do one or two, that's fine in this situation, because you're kind of getting ready for bed, hopefully you're starting to get tired and relaxed. So doing the full routine is not necessary unless you're just really not tired yet. And then the next one is just going to be a simple knee to chest stretch. So again, it's kind of like it sounds, I'm going to keep my knees propped up, sometimes people like to bring one down, I like them propped up, because that just kind of helps support the back a little bit. And then you're bringing one knee up, and you're bringing it towards your chest, just like it sounds. If you have some knee issues, grabbing underneath takes a little bit of pressure off that knee, make sure that you're bringing it straight up towards you. Sometimes people want to bring it out to the side, if they have some hip issues, they get some impingement. But that's kind of changing it, you're not stretching the back and the pelvis area as much. So even if you have to stop, you know, a little bit further, try and keep it in that straight position straight up and down. And then again, this one's another 30 seconds. So holding that for 30 seconds, and then stretching the other side. So hopefully now you're starting to get a little more relaxed, maybe feeling a little tired. But if you're not quite tired yet, breathing exercise is often really, really great to help just kind of relax everything and calm it down. And a lot of studies showed that the 4-7-8 breathing technique really helps kind of relax the whole body, and really is shown to help people fall asleep faster as well. So all it is to just remember 4-7-8. So you're going to breathe in for four seconds, just a normal breathing in, then you're going to hold your breath for seven seconds. I know that might sound easy, but sometimes it's a little harder than it sounds. And then you're going to purse your lips and breathe out through your mouth for eight seconds. And a lot of times that's the hardest part, trying to get all that air out. It might be easy for some people, but sometimes it's a little tough, especially if you haven't done a lot of breathing exercises. So just breathing in for four, hold your breath for seven, and breathing out purse lips for eight. Just like that. And then repeating it. So a lot of times it'll only take maybe three or four before you really start feeling tired. Sometimes it'll do a little bit more. But if you start feeling a little lightheaded, if you haven't done these before, don't keep doing it. Don't, you know, don't make yourself uncomfortable or feel that lightheadedness. And you can work your way up to it. So if you can't get all the way that eight seconds out, don't try and force it out. But keep working on it, and you'll be able to do better and better each time. So there you have it. Those were some great bedtime stretches and a breathing technique to help you fall asleep faster. If you'd like to help support my channel, click on the link up there. And don't forget to subscribe, where friends? Yep, down there. And remember, be safe, have fun, and I hope you feel better soon.