Wake Me Up: Morning Positivity - Guided Morning Wake Up & Stretch Routine

Episode Date: July 10, 2023

This morning, enjoy a positive and uplifting morning wake up routine that you can come back to time and time again to start a great day. Listen to my Spotify playlists to keep the good vibes going this morning: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6nSXshDBPub8iigdyQJlWN?si=207f42f85dbc4b97 Want to be more focused? Wish distractions would just melt away? Sign up for the WMU Focus Course! If you're interested in joining, all you need to do is sign up for the course here: https://wakemeuppod.gumroad.com/l/focus. Get ad-free access to the entire WMU catalog + bonus content + 25% discount on WMU courses by joining the WMU Premium Feed. Sign up and start your 7-day free trial at https://wakemeup.supercast.com/. Follow the show on Spotify - Apple Podcasts - Amazon - Podchaser Say hi or request an episode at www.wakemeuppodcast.com/contact. See visual guides for the yoga and stretches in WMU episodes at www.wakemeuppodcast.com/stretches. And find the podcast on Instagram and TikTok. **Only partake in the physical movements suggested in Wake Me Up episodes if you are physically able and in safe surroundings. All movements are done at the individual's own risk. Be safe, and always consult a doctor if you have any questions or concerns.** Have a wonderful day 😃 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wake Me Up is made possible thanks to the generous help of our advertisers and premium supporters. If you'd like to support Wake Me Up, listen ad-free, and get access to the entire catalog plus bonus episodes, then follow the link in the show notes to sign up for Wake Me Up premium. Now before our episode begins, here's a quick word from our sponsors. Hey there, good morning and welcome to Wake Me Up. In this episode, we'll be getting out of bed and warming our bodies and minds for a great day through some gentle stretching and positive thinking. And you can start this whether you're still in bed

or up and moving already. But whatever you're doing now, just take a second to pause. You chose to be here and to listen to this episode. And I bet you did that for yourself. So take this time just for you. Before the day begins and everything else starts pulling at your attention. And let's take a deep breath in together.

So inhale and fill all the way up, hold it at the top, and then exhale and release. Nice and easy. And remember, friend, that life isn't accomplished in a single day. So no matter how you feel right now, whether you're tired and groggy or full of energy and ready to go, you can move your life forward today. You can get one step closer to that life you dream of, that goal you're striving for, that version of yourself you hope to become, and doing that doesn't require anything grand. All it takes is a little effort, a little attention each and every day.

And over time, that will build into something beautiful. So choose today to believe in yourself just a bit more than you did yesterday. Reach just an inch farther than you did yesterday. Because if you do that every day, before long, you'll reach the stars. Let's begin to wake the body a little bit. And it doesn't matter whether you're in bed or not. If you are out of bed, though,

find your way to a comfortable place on the ground, maybe on the carpet or a mat, somewhere with a little bit of cushion. And wherever you are, lie on your back. Take a big inhale and stretch your body long, reaching your hands and your feet in the opposite direction. And as you exhale, bend your knees and bring them to your chest. Wrap your arms around and just give a gentle squeeze.

This can really help to loosen up the lower back. It also gets your legs above your heart. It's an inversion. And so it really helps to get the blood flowing and wake you up. So let's do this a couple of times, linking it with the breath, nice and slow. So inhale deeply, extending your legs and your arms out. And as you exhale, bring the knees to your chest, and just give a gentle squeeze. Last one, reach even farther this time.

Inhale, extending out long. And then exhale, bringing the knees to chest, and just giving that gentle. gentle squeeze. Now let's take one more inhale here. And this time as you exhale, wherever you are, roll over and make your way to standing up. It's time to get this beautiful day started. Now that we're all up, let's do a few more stretches to continue waking the body and the mind. And as we continue, just a quick word of warning. Don't do any of these stretches if you're not physically able to. My stretches are just suggestions.

You should feel free and encouraged to modify or do something completely different. We all have different bodies and we're moving in different spaces. So do what's right for you. We're going to start our stretching nice and easy. So make sure your feet are planted nice and firmly on the floor

and reach the crown of your head towards the ceiling. Then just let your head fall over to the right, resting over your right shoulder, and you'll feel a gentle stretch down the left side of the neck. As we stretch, make sure you continue to breathe. That's the most important aspect to help you wake up your mind and your body. Now slowly let your head roll forward, chin to chest, and continuing rolling your head over to the left side.

just resting over that left shoulder. Now roll your head back to center, chin to chest, and now just roll your head straight up, back to center. Fantastic. Now we're going to start loosening our arms and our shoulders. So inhale, reach your arms out wide, stretching as far to the sides as you possibly can. And then exhale, wrap your arms around you,

and give yourself a big hug. Once more, inhale, reaching the arms out wide, really stretching and extending across the chest. And then exhale, wrap your arms around you, and give yourself a big hug. You'll feel an opening across your back. And now you can just let all that go. Give your arms a little wiggle and just let them fall down by your sides. Now we're going to focus just on the right arm, and we're going to do some arm circles. So take your right arm and just draw big circles with it,

as if your arm were a windmill. Go nice and slow and try to work all the way around your range of motion. Once you've done a few circles in one direction, pause, and switch directions doing a few more in the opposite direction. You can relax your right arm back down, and let's switch to do the exact same thing on the left side. So just drawing those big, circles with the left arm like it's a windmill.

And don't forget to keep breathing while you're here. As we open the muscles, we want to deliver oxygen to them. Once you've done a few circles with the left arm, pause, and go in the opposite direction a few times too. Now relax both arms back down by your side. And we're going to turn to my favorite stretch, a good old forward fold. So inhale, reach your arms towards the sky. maybe stand up on your tippy toes and arch your back slightly, reaching as far as you can towards the sky.

Now exhale, fold forward at your waist, feet firmly on the ground. And just let everything hang towards the ground beneath you. Relax your neck. Relax your arms. Relax your face. And just take a few deep breaths as you sit here. resting in this forward fold. You can do whatever you'd like while you're here,

holding perfectly still, swaying side to side, bending the knees slightly, or maybe bending one knee and then the other. All right, slowly roll all the way back up to standing, one vertebrae at a time. And when you get to the top, we're going to do that forward fold one more time. So inhale and reach towards the sky,

reaching even farther than you did last time. Then exhale, fold forward at your waist. And again, just let everything hang towards the ground. Relax your neck. Relax your face. Relax your arms and your shoulders. And let's take two rounds of breath here together. So inhale, nice and slow, and then exhale, release.

Once more, inhale and exhale, release, and slowly begin to roll all the way back up to standing. Well, my friend, our time is up. I hope your body and mind are nice and warm and ready for a great day. Remember that the life you dream of isn't so far off. If you just believe in yourself a bit more today, encourage yourself a bit more today, and reach a bit farther today than you did yesterday.

If you do that, before you know it, the stars will be in your grasp. Now go out and have an absolutely fantastic day.