19: 35-Min Body Gratitude Mobility & Stretch Workout

Hey everybody, I'm Amy from BodyFit by Amy, and this is your body gratitude mobility and stretch workout. In this video, we are going to be moving. We're going to get some gentle cardio, some mobility, and some flexibility and stretching. And throughout the process, I'll be leading you through some meditation and things to reflect on as we express gratitude for our bodies and the way they move. I'll be giving you lots of different options. You can take this up or down as needed. We're just here to move and be grateful. Are you ready? Let's do it. Let's start in a standing position. We're going to take our feet hip distance apart, slight bend in the knees, and we're going to start stacking our ears over our shoulders, shoulders over our rib cage, rib cage over the pelvis, Pelvis over the knees and the ankles. And then let's put one hand on our heart, one hand on our belly, and we're going to start with a full body scan. So just a body check. I want you to start at the top of your head and just work your way down in your body, in your muscles, in your bones. You can close your eyes to do it, and I want you just to notice where you may be feeling some tension, some tightness, maybe a little pain, maybe a little achy, a little creaky, um, maybe like you're holding on to some stress or some anxiety. Some fear, whatever it is. We're going to take just a minute, and I want you to start at the top of your head and work your way down. I'm going to gently talk you through it, but for the most part, I want you just to be in tune with your own body. So just take a minute, and then we'll get moving gently. We'll start at the top, and then we'll work our way down to the mat. So starting at the top of your head, all the way through, thinking about what's going on in your brain, I know for me that's where a lot of it is. The ears, your jaw— you holding a lot of tension in the jaw, neck, shoulders. What are your shoulders and upper back doing? The chest— what are you feeling right now in your chest and shoulders? Your back. Around the ribs and the abdomen where all those vital organs are. What are you holding on to? What are you feeling? The hips. Our hips can tell us so much. Hips, glutes, down into the legs. Big strong muscles around our legs and our glutes. Around the knees. How about those knees? Down through the legs into the ankles, toes, and then just feel the ground beneath you. And let's move our hands over on the side of our rib cage and just diaphragmatic breathing. Remember, it's not pushing out, it's not sucking in. It is connecting, right? So big inhale to expand. I want you to release through the pelvic floor, expand through the ribs, sides, the belly, the back. Really create that space. Exhale and connect. Just think of knitting up through the center. A few more of those. Inhale to release. Exhale to connect. We don't even have to use the word contract. I know we talk about that a lot when we're really working our core, but think about connection. Inhale to release. Exhale to connect. And one more. Inhale Release. Exhale.

Connect.

And let's start just by getting some gentle rolls of the hips. I know I was going to start with the upper body, but I'm really feeling my knees and my ankles in this moment. So you can keep it small and grounded if you need to, or take it a little bit bigger. Rolling through. And while we're doing this, I want you to be thinking about your lower body, all the different ways throughout the day that you're using it, right? Then you reverse your direction. We're not always going forward, we're not doing things in with perfect form, and that's okay. We're moving laterally, we're moving in all different planes of motion. And can you get some rolls through your ankles? Now within this, I know it requires a little balance, so feel free to grab onto the wall or reverse your direction on the ankles, or a chair. Let's take it to the knees, then you roll through, and then the hips, and back. And then same thing, other side. So ankles and reverse. And knees, trying to move through that knee joint. This one is especially tender for me today, so I'm going to give it some extra love. Reverse, and then taking it through, right through here. And then since we did that, let's take it out to a side lunge. You don't have to get super deep, but I just want you to shift your weight side to side. And again, just being aware of all the different ways that you're using your body, especially those legs, your glutes, your hips, throughout your day, throughout your week. And then can we take it to that squat and hinge? So you're just going to sit low and then drive the hips to the back. Now if you want, we're going to get to that upper body in a minute, But if you want to put the hands behind the head, what I love about this, it gives us that built-in chest opener here. You don't have to get super deep, it's mobility, so you do you. One more. And then little tap backs, all things that we do in our warmup. This time I want you to push the heel down to get— not a lunge yet, just push the heel down to get that opener right here. Now can you drop it a little more in a lunge? If that feels good for you. Ooh, that knee. Up to you. Hip opener.

One more.

We're going to go to that torso. So let's try to isolate our torso. So I want you to roll the torso. Can you go front to back? Can you try to do that without moving your hips? It's really hard to do. Place your hands on your hips, push your spine to the back. We want them to work together, that's why we train together, but trying to isolate— can you go side to side? Now it's harder than it looks. Can you make a circle again, trying not to use the hips? Feels a little weird. And reverse. I can't go that way. Can you put your hands here? And let's twist to the side without moving the hips, only as far as is comfortable. And again, I want you to notice that tightness. Bringing the hands up here, can you twist a little more? And then like we do in our warm-ups, can we go flat back down? And then round it up right here. Flat and then round.

Yes. Flat, round.

Let's get 2 more. Can you hold this on the ground? I want you in that rounded position. So hands on the ground, little pedal of your feet. If on the ground is not right for you, hands right here or on the wall. And then bring your hands up onto your thighs. Flat back, feel that stretch, and then round through. Standing cat-cow. Soften in the knees.

Here, here. Yes, and all the way up.

Now let's take it to that upper body. So shoulders, one at a time to the back, one at a time to the front. Let's roll those wrists.

Elbows.

Let's start thinking about our upper body, all the different ways we use our upper body all day long. Whether you're lifting things, lifting people— love that, right? Shoulders. Maybe it's what you do in your job, maybe it's what you do at home. Arms. Wrist, right elbows. Can we do some big crosses here? Big chest opener stretch all the way through. Can we do those? Drive the hips to the back. I's, Y's, and T's.

Why?

I like to add the hinge with it, but if you want to just do the I's, Y's, and T's, you can. For me, it brings it all the way through. You can take your feet a little bit wider, maybe that feels better. Eyes, eyes, tease.

One more big stretch.

Yes! And let those arms drop to the back. Then just gently let your head drop, not much. And then bring your chin to your chest, let it hang there. We're going to look up to the center. We're going to look to the right, feel that neck stretch. Back to center. Look to the left. Center. Gently here. And then let's go down, center, up, but not too far. We're not going far to the back, just look up, feel that lengthening through here. Down, center, and up. And then gentle roll to the right, down through the center to the left. We're not rolling to the back, we're going to take it left Center and right. Yes.

And then back in the center.

So just little taps side to side. We're going to take it small, and within this, just a couple minutes, then we're all down on the mat. I want you first just kind of rotate the arms, just let them hang. Right, a little stretch. And then let's reach across like we do in our warm-up to get that nice big stretch. Because I love this, because we get our knees and our hips moving and our ankles. We get our shoulders, our torso, our back. Let's reach over the head. So just a few little energizers while we're thinking about Woo! Again, all the things that our bodies do, the way our bodies show up for us. Let's bring those hamstring curls up. You can start with just your lower body, can add some arms if you want. I know for me, and I think for most of us, it's easy to find the flaws in our body. It's easy to be thinking about what you can't do. Maybe that's in a workout, maybe that is you know, something physical or otherwise. It's easy to critique how we look in the mirror. I hate that that's the case, but I know for a lot of us it just happens. Even when we think we're, we're growing, we're changing, we're doing all the right things, we're shifting our mindset, but sometimes we still feel it. Maybe it is after a big life event, or let's cross our knees here. Maybe it is because of an injury or an illness or something that has changed your life, changed your body composition. Maybe it's age. It's easy to go to that place where we feel like we're at war with our body, but our body shows up for us and our body is for you. Let's take it big reach up. And then I want you to hinge all the way down the front of the leg, soft bend, and then all the way up. I'm going to move to the end of my mat. You can do the same if you want. We're going to eventually work this into an inchworm, but you don't have to. We're going to work our way down to the mat. So throughout this, I want you really to be just feeling how your body moves. And yes, maybe you still feel a little achiness or a little pain or some resistance distance or some tightness that makes certain things harder or not possible. But I want you to be thinking about all the things your body can do just by being here today, how lucky we are to move. Go ahead and take your hands down here, pedal those feet, and if you're able, we're going to move out into that inchworm. So you're walking yourself out, and again, it doesn't really matter— soft bend in the knees is what I prefer But if it feels good for you to have straight legs as you come back to get more of that stretch, you can do that. If that's not right for you, you just keep the hinge down the front of the legs and up. Feel that strong core. For a lot of us, our core is where we hold a lot in our life, right? Our core— maybe it's where we hold that tension, maybe it's again because of a life event pregnancy, postpartum, infertility, loss. We hold that right in the center, but I want you to think about how your core is showing up for you in this moment, how your body is holding you. And let's go one more. If you're not going all the way down, I want you to find your way to meet me down at the mat. Down on those knees. And I just want you to sit back into the child's pose, and you find what works for you with this. Just pressing the shoulders down, side to side, opening up the knees and the hips, and just rest your head down. So breathing into that, I'm going to come up because my microphone is in my is in my headband so you can see, but I want you to stay in that child's pose and sit back and press those shoulders down. Just one and then the other. I want you to relax the tension in your neck, even if you can't get your head all the way down, just trying to relax through that. Take a few deep breaths. Think if you can sit back into your hips. Hips are open. And I want you to just really take a moment to feel safe in your body. You are safe here. I know that sounds strange, but sometimes we don't feel safe in our bodies. Sometimes we don't feel at home in our bodies. Again, maybe it's because of a life event or a change, but I want you to really think about the center of your body, about your core, about that strength And that is physical, but that's also mental and emotional strength. You have it. It's in you. So I want you just to take a few more deep breaths in that child's pose, however is comfortable for you, and just tell yourself that you are safe. You are safe here. You are safe in your body. Your body is showing up for you. Just breathe into that. And then carefully, keeping all that in mind, coming up to all fours if that feels good for you. If you'd rather stay in the child's pose, that works too. And we're just going to roll through cat-cow. And within this, again, noticing where you feel tight. I talk about this a lot, but for me it's my lower lumbar spine. I get to about here and my low back wants to get stuck, so I'm really going to try to work through that, just being aware of that part as I breathe in and out. And again, I'm going to think about how in the center and also in my hips and my glutes, I hold a lot of tension there. But these muscles, these joints, they also keep me safe. And from here, we're going to thread one arm under into that child's pose stretch. You can lay your head down into it. Your hips can be up or down, just feeling that nice good stretch. Reach that arm over, or if it feels good for you, you can bring that arm back. Those arms that do so much for you, again, lifting, hugging. Working, protecting, creating, serving, whatever it is for you.

And carefully bring that up.

Switch that to that other side. So other arm under, you can lay down on the shoulder And again, I'm not going to go all the way down because of my microphone, but you can either have that arm up and over or here, remembering that that tightness that we feel is often because of our strength and because of all that we do, right? Strength in your workouts, but also all the things that you do all day long. Of course they're going to get a little tight. That's why we got to give them the love in workouts like this. I know we don't do it often enough, but that's why. And then returning to all fours, and very carefully we're going to come in that 90-90 position. So if this is not comfortable for you, remember you can adjust it however you need to. Legs can be out or in. It's also helpful to sit on the edge of a chair or a bench or the couch and just let your knees hang off in this position. We're going to take it here and we're just going to rotate side to side. Remember, this can look a lot of different ways. You can do it totally using your core and your hips, but if you need to balance here, I actually prefer that, especially in something like this. And you can decide if you just want to be here, if you want to turn Look over your shoulder, get more of that stretch. And just at your own pace, opening up the hips. And again, the hips store a lot, right? We often hear it from our yoga instructors. I have a friend who works in a lot of, uh, bodywork and trauma. Our hips store a lot, especially as women. So maybe it's not trauma for you, maybe it is just stress or anxiety. Try to release that into the ground as you open up the hips. And remembering again, the hips aren't tight because you can't do something. The hips are tight because they're strong. The hips are tight because you do something. You do a lot of things, right? So we're just going to hold one side, and you can either be here or you can turn and look over your shoulder, and that's your first level. But if you want to, you can come into that pigeon pose. So again, that leg can be par— that can be perpendicular or in that V, which is where most of us usually are. You can rest your head all the way down, or if you'd rather, you can be up on your elbows or all the way up to get a little more of a back stretch. So wherever you are, whether that's 90-90 or pigeon, I want you to do the same thing. I just want you to take a few deep breaths into that Thinking about your hips, your pelvis, your torso, and just release it into the ground, whatever it is. And then we're very carefully going to switch that. So again, you can come up to that 90-90, turning into it here. And again, you can just sit gently, you can look over the shoulder, or if it feels good for you, getting into that pigeon. And again, it can be here or more in that V. This one is tight. Knee, taking a few deep breaths.

Release it into the ground, whatever it is.

And go ahead and turn over gently onto your back. As you're ready, come down slowly and just let your knees gently drop side to side. Let's bring the feet up, just feet on the ground, knees up. Going to bring those arms up into that goal post. And again, if that's not right for you, you can just come out into a T, but I want you to turn your palms to the ceiling, thumbs are in, either way And if you can, we're going to do those arm slides up and down. This is something a lot of us need. Even if you can't do the slides, just holding that position and really trying to relax your shoulders down into the ground. I know it's hard to do, especially as we're moving them, but allowing yourself to get that chest opener Again, rotating out and in. Wow, we get the movement. Our backs are so strong, big muscles along our spine. And again, our cores, our torso supporting so much, but our shoulders are directly connected, right? Shoulders and arms. So back to that goal post, and if you can, we're just going to rotate palms down in front and then palms up. So you're just flipping. If that's not comfortable for you— I know that's a little iffy, iffy on one of my shoulders, but I need it— if it's not, then just keep doing the slides or just hold the position here. Let's just reach the arms up over the head, big stretch. You can extend your legs out, and we're trying to make our bodies as long as you can, all the way from your fingertips down to your toes. Big stretch. And then bring the knees into your chest one at a time. Now you're trying to make our bodies small. You don't have to squeeze or contract or do too much work to get there, but just bringing your knees in however is good for you if you're able to grab them. Otherwise, just bringing them up and in. And let's just gently pull the knees in one at a time. So underneath the thigh or on top of the shin, just not on the knee joint, pulling them in one at a time right here.

Yeah, right here.

And then if it feels good to bring them both in, bring them both in. You can grab here. Otherwise, just keep alternating. From here, you can either be holding them in from here, or maybe you want to take it out and do some version of a happy baby. Hands on the inside of the legs or even at the feet, and just open through there. Let's take one leg and extend it up again, not grabbing on the joint, but flex the foot and point. Grab either below or above the knee, just pull gently as you do a little flex and point hamstring. And if you want, you can even grab with the shoulders, get a little more of a stretch. And then other side, grab underneath, bring that flexing point pulling gently towards you.

Even grounding up underneath if you want.

And last thing, we're going to let our knees drop to one side, open up through the shoulders, feel that stretch. Then we're going to cross it over a few versions of the open book. Remember, you can roll your hand across or you can open up wide, and your knees can follow however is comfortable for you. So we're opening up left arm, left leg, then right arm, left leg will follow. So at your own pace, we're just get opening, and I want you just to visualize you're opening all through your body, but you're also opening through your heart. We're really— we've released so much from this workout, and now we're going to let it in. We're going to be open. We're ready. Whatever it is we're afraid of, moving through that motion of yes, I'm ready, I'm open. To receive. And the knees to one side, open up the shoulders, look away from the knees, feel that stretch, big reach, really lengthen through those fingertips out to the side. Feel the difference from when you're just laying there to when you really try to bring the energy into your fingertips and out. And then same motion but roll your knees to the other side and lift to the other side. And again, energy through those fingertips and out. Feel that stretch. And then coming back to the center, you're just going to find a comfortable position. So that can be whatever you need it to be. If you want to have palms facing up to the ceiling, that's what I'm going to do. But if that's not comfortable for you, you can be on your side. I know some people this is a better position Even on your tummy, whatever gets you in a comfortable position. Find that now, and we're going to do that full body scan again. So starting at the top of our head, working our way down to our toes, I want you to feel how you feel. Do you feel a little bit more relaxed, a little bit more released, more connected, more engaged? Start at the top of your head. Do you feel lighter? Does your brain feel a little more clear? Down through the ears, through the jaw. I know I feel a lot less tension in my jaw just by doing the workout. We didn't even do any jaw specific, right? Your neck. Your upper back and shoulders, do you feel more open? Maybe your shoulders felt really tight and forward before, now they feel open. Your chest, how are you breathing?

Does your breathing feel deeper?

Rib cage, torso. Your core, your center, down through the arms, elbows, wrists, hands— our hands that work so hard— releasing your pelvis and your hips, down through the legs, the knees, the ankles, the toes. Just really checking in with how you feel. And then whatever position you're in, we're just going to go back to that deep breathing. I don't want you to worry too much about whether or not you're engaging your core, if it's correct diaphragmatic breathing. Just breathing. Inhale and exhale. If you can, inhale through the nose, exhale through the mouth. And I just want you to feel your body sinking into the ground. And I hope that this workout has not only allowed you to release some things that might have been weighing on you, that might have been stored in your body, but that you're also feeling more open and ready and knowing your strength and gratitude for your body, for this body, this body that shows up for you. It shows up for you when you are in good times, when you are in stress, when things are challenging in your body, whether that's medical or emotional or mental or physical, even when it feels like it's not there, your body is continuing to protect you and show up for you. And you're able to move even if it's tough sometimes, even if it doesn't go as you expected it to, even if you're not feeling as strong or as fit or as mobile or as able or as connected or as safe in your body. Your body is there for you. So if you're able from where you are, one hand on your heart, one hand on your tummy, and we're just going to thank our bodies for showing up today. I like to say it out loud. I know it seems a little cheesy— chilly because I got a little cold, but cheesy. Just say thank you, body. Thank you for all the ways you show up for me, for all the ways that you allow me to show up for others in my life, even when it's hard. Thank you, body. And you can stay here as long as you need, but I hope that you will take this feeling of gratitude, not just for your body and all the ways that you can move and be present, but just for the world around you. I hope you can take that feeling throughout the rest of your day, your week, your month. Big deep breath in and out. That was your body gratitude mobility and stretch. Great job, everybody.