Wake Me Up: Morning Positivity - Morning Wake Up & Stretch for a Fantastic Day

Episode Date: March 20, 2023

This morning, enjoy a morning wake up and gentle guided stretches, in which we will embrace a mindset of openness and positivity. 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. It's been a little while since we've done one of these wake-up and stretch episodes. They are a little less popular than the other kinds of episodes here on Wake Me Up, but I know some of you really love them, so I want to make sure you all get your fill too.

This week, we'll be doing some simple practices to help create a fantastic day. It truly is in your power to conjure a great day every day. So I hope this leads you to having a great week. And you can start this episode, whether you're still in bed or up and moving already. But whatever you are doing right now, just pause and take a deep breath in. Fill your lungs all the way, expanding through the belly, hold and release. And remember that life throws unexpected things at us every day. And we don't control what those things might be.

What we do control is how we act, and more specifically, how we react to what happens. You can try to plan every minute of your day meticulously, but it's never going to work out exactly how you expected. That's what makes life fun and interesting. So don't run away from those unexpected happenings of life. Be open to them, receive them, learn from them, no matter what you might think of them as they're happening. A fantastic day comes from this mindset of openness and appreciation of the opportunity to live this unexpected thing called life. So why not make that our intention for today?

To receive whatever happens open-mindedly. To try to accept first before reacting. And to see everything as an opportunity. And for short, let's call that our fantastic day mindset. So inhale again, filling all the way up, and commit yourself to this fantastic day mindset. And then exhale and release any worries or tension that you're holding. Once more, inhaling and committing to that mindset. And then exhale and release.

Just let it all go. Great. So as you go about your day, remember the intention you set. Let it be your guide to keep you headed in the right direction towards a great day. Now, on that note, let's not let this day slip away. So take one more big inhale, hold exhale. And if you're in bed, roll over and make your way to standing up. We'll turn to some stretches to help wake and prepare the body for the day.

And just a quick note, don't do any of these stretches if you're not able to. All of the stretches I guide are just suggestions. We're all different, and we have different bodies. So feel free and encouraged

to do what's right for you and your body. If you'd ever like to see a visual guide of any of the stretches we do here on Wake Me Up, you can find a link for those in the show notes. Now let's start nice and easy with our wrists.

And you can just roll them out in big, slow circles and start with one hand so you can focus on it completely. Do a few circles in one direction, nice and slow, and then pause and do a few more in the opposite direction. Now switch hands and roll out the way. other wrist a few times. Same thing, around in big circles, nice and slow. No matter what you do with your day, we use our hands. So it's really important that we take care of them. If you haven't switched directions, you can go ahead and do that now. All right, great. Now you can relax your hands

down by your sides. Consciously drop your shoulders down and let your head fall over to the right so that it rests over your right shoulder. You'll feel a gentle stretch along the left side of your neck, and don't try to push too hard, especially in the morning because the body is not warm, and especially on the neck, because it's a very sensitive part of the body. Now let your head roll forward to center, chin to chest, and then roll over to the left, so that your neck is now over your left shoulder, and you're feeling that stretch. stretch down the right side.

And remember, as you do these stretches, try to focus on being here and now. Paying attention to your body. Everything you have to do today can wait a few more minutes. All right. Now roll your head forward again, chin to chest, and slowly bring your head back up to center.

Great. Now we're going to do one of my favorite stretches, a big forward fold. And we'll do a couple of these. So inhale, reach your hands up over your head. Reach all the way to the ceiling as far as you possibly can. And then exhale and fold forward at your waist. Let everything hang towards the ground.

And you can do anything you'd like to do here in this forward fold. You can sit perfectly still if you'd like. You can sway gently side to side. or bend one knee and then the other. Let's take one full round of breath. So inhale and exhale. Now slowly roll all the way back up to standing, vertebrae by vertebrae.

No need to rush. And when you get to the top, inhale again, reaching your hands towards the sky, maybe even standing up on your tippy toes if you'd like, and then exhale, fold forward again. as you settle back into this stretch, notice if anything feels different the second time around.

Are there any areas that maybe you want to pay a little more attention to this time? Or maybe your body is already feeling more loose. One more full round of breath. Inhale and exhale. And this time, we're not going to roll up. We're going to bend the knees and make our way. to all fours. So lower yourself to the ground,

knees and hands on the floor, hips directly above the knees, shoulders directly above the hands. And from here, we're just going to sit back into child's pose. So drop your bottom back towards your feet. Let your chest and your head relax down to the ground.

And simply allow yourself to relax here. You do so much every day. You deserve this moment just to chill out. Our body and our mind works so much better when they are prepared for what they're about to do. So give yourself a little round of applause because you've just prepared them for a great day. I'll leave you here in child's pose.

So if you'd like to go ahead and get up, you can. But if you want to rest here for longer, you can obviously do that too. And before I go, remember the intention that we set, our fantastic day mindset, to receive whatever happens open-mindedly, to try to accept before reacting, and to see everything as an opportunity. If you do that, then let there be no doubt that no matter what happens today, you will handle it with grace, you will be happier, and you will have a fantastic day. I'll be back tomorrow with a meditation that's a really wonderful way to reset your mind to have a great day.

So I hope to see you there. And until then, go out, remember your intention, and have an absolutely fantastic day. Since you're a listener of Wake Me Up, I know you recognize how important it is to stay focused. It's the only way we can achieve our long-term goals in life. And that's why I wanted to let you know about a meditation and mindfulness-based course I made that will help improve your focus. It's a really simple but powerful training series for those of you who find yourself distracted or just want to deepen your meditation practice.

The course has 14 meditations and a workshop in which we dive deep into the ideas around focus and how to improve it in our lives. If you're interested, I'd love to see you. you in the course, you can find a link to sign up in the show notes.