Full-Body Gentle Stretch Routine for Seniors and Beginners

I think we can all use a little stress relief exercise these days .

So today's workout is going to be soothing to the soul and with the added bonus of working our flexibility and improving our range of motion in our joints .

Does that sound good to you ?

It certainly sounds good to me .

The only thing you may need is a chair or even a counter , especially if you're balanced , challenged or if you have any back problems .

So let's start in prayer pose right here .

We're gonna jump into this workout .

It's gonna feel good .

It's going to get you in a happy place all while getting you a little more flexible .

Take a big breath in and do that again for me .

Big breath in and exhale .

Let's get your posture up shoulders , back , chest open and let's go into a back lunch here just like this .

Take your foot back , just a little back lunch and then come back up to prayer .

Let's do that on the other side .

Back lunch , get your heel down and back up to prayer .

Let's exhale on the way back and inhale on the way up .

Do that on the other side .

Exhale on the way back and inhale on the way up .

Good .

Let's do a couple more of those .

We're just getting warmed up here .

Get that heel down .

If you can .

Other side , keep working with your breath here .

Let's stay here for a second and take another big breath in and exhale out .

All right , let's go into that back lunge and hold it right here .

Exhale as you go back And now let's lift your heel and lower lift and lower .

See if you can come up really high on your toes , working at your own speed .

You don't have to stay with me just lifting and lowering .

Slow chest is up good .

Last one right here .

Feed back together .

Go to prayer pose , big breath in .

Exhale , back on the other foot .

Get that heel down , chest is up and let's lift and lower your heel again , up and down at your own speed .

Feels good on the calf , doesn't it keep going flowing through it ?

Let's do one more right here .

Feedback .

Get into prayer pose , big breath in .

Exhale out .

Let's move your hands .

So take your hands so your palms are up just like this .

And from here , let's go into a front lunge and let's drive one arm forward as we go , it looks like this , we're gonna exhale and inhale .

Pull back , other side , exhale and inhale , pull back again , other side , add the exhale and then inhale other side .

Excel and the inhale one more time .

Each side , keep going with your breathing , other side .

All right , when you come back , let's do a deep cleansing breath and let's go back into that front lunge and let's hold it this time .

Let's hold it right here .

Hands on your hips .

I want you to lift your toe for me and set it down .

So up with the toe and down , up and down again .

Don't worry about staying with me .

You lift at your own pace .

What feels good for your body flowing through it so you can get your toes curled even higher up .

Let's do two more last one and let's exhale back .

Hold the pose , big breath up .

An A , let's do that front .

Lunch on the other foot , hands on your hips , chest is up .

Let's do the toe motion again .

So pull your toes up and press them down and down .

Keep going .

Make sure your chest is up .

You're using good posture .

There's two , about four more .

Keep going two more .

Here's your last one .

All right .

Let's exhale back .

Feet together .

Now , take your hands and make a cross like this .

Take a big breath in and exhale .

Make sure your posture is up and we're gonna do a lunge out to the side , just a gentle one and we go , we're gonna open up that one arm right there just like that and come back .

Let's do that on the other side right there , bending your knee , your toe and your knee are both pointing out to the side .

Come back .

Let's do that again .

We are here and back right here .

Make sure you're matching your breathing with the exhale right here .

Let's take a breath in and out .

All right .

Let's do those again .

But let's try to go a little bit bigger into the move .

So , a bigger lunch here we go out to the side .

Nice big lunch here .

Opening up good and come back .

Let's do a big lunch on the other side .

Nice .

Feels good through the hips , doesn't it ?

All right .

Come back .

Big breath in and exhale posture .

Check , has your posture .

All right , we're going to go into a yoga chair pose next .

And that just means we're going to drive your hips back as if you were sitting into a chair .

I'm going to turn to the side .

You stay down in your chair pose .

But I just want to make sure you're driving your hips to the side like that .

I'm gonna come back facing you , stay there .

All right .

Let's come up and let's flow through some chairs .

So let's go forward and up .

Good hands are coming forward , hips are driving back and uh let's match your breathing , inhale down and excel , inhale down and exhale one more , inhale down and exhale .

All right .

I want to show you a chest opener next .

That just means you're gonna pull your arms back , open your chest , get your chin up just ever so slightly .

You should feel a stretch through the front , the whole front chain of your body .

So now let's go back to that chair and then we're gonna come here to this chest opener .

It looks like this .

Go down to your chair and open to your , open your chest , go down to the chair and open your chest chair and chest opener one more time .

Chairs right here , driving your hips back and chest opener .

Good .

Take a big breath in and exhale out .

Now I just want to do an arms uh shoulder circle right here like this , but let's add a sink into it .

So I want you to come up and then as your shoulders come down , you come down a little bit .

So roll back and sink into it .

Um and down good shoulders up and down .

You got it just like that up and down .

Now come back up and stay here with me .

Remember chair pose .

Let's go back to chair pose here .

So here's chair .

Remember chest opener , we're going there , chest opener .

And now let's do those shoulder rolls back up and sink into it again and sink down two more of and down .

Last one .

Uh All right , we're gonna come up and go right back into the chair post right here .

Exhale into it and now open up into the chest opener post and Now , let's get those shoulder rolls going one more time .

Let's do three more .

Sinking into it ever so slightly .

Don't go too low and last one awesome .

Come back to prayer pose right here .

Big breath in .

Exhale it out .

Do a posture .

Check how you doing you up tall ?

All right .

Let's go into a goddess pose .

And by that , I mean , I want you to get your feet wide .

Toes turned out a little bit and we're gonna sink down into it , bend your knees .

And then I want your arms here .

Two elves , one elves backwards , chest is up .

This goddess pose , come back to prayer .

Let's inhale and go back to goddess pose , inhale and now exhale a prayer .

Let's do that again , inhaled down and exhaled a prayer one more in hell and exhale five pointed star .

Let's go into that next .

Keep your feet right where they are open up your arms out to the sides , fingers spread , pull your arms back as far as you can .

Chest is out .

Core is tight , chin is tilted up and now with your legs , take them and squeeze them together .

So take the inner thigh muscles and kind of squeeze them in .

This is five pointed star right here .

Big breath and exhale good .

Let's come back to prayer pose .

Remember goddess , I want to go from goddess to five pointed star and flow through those two poses .

So let's go right into goddess with an inhale .

Here we go .

Inhale , good and exhale into a five pointed star .

Good .

Let's go back to goddess and then five pointed star , you got it inhale down goddess and here's five pointed star .

Let's do one more goddess and open up big for this five pointed star before we come back to prayer .

Post big breaths here .

Posture .

Check how you doing with your posture .

All right , let's add on a side lunch , a very gentle side lunch , side to side , just like this .

Staying with your hands in prayer for now , your knee is coming over your toe .

We're not going too deep into this just like that back and forth .

And now let's add some arms to this now that you got this .

So one arm reaches forward and then the other one reaches forward .

So it's just your arms are working with your knees , uh slow and controlled breathing and then the other side keeps switching .

Feels nice , doesn't it ?

It's very relaxing .

Moving your whole body .

Last one right here and then come back to prayer , big breath in and excel .

Remember Goddess and five pointed star .

Let's make a little flow .

We're gonna do goddess five pointed star and then we're gonna do those side twists .

So let's go into Goddess right here .

Here we go , here's goddess and then five pointed star .

And now let's do those side lunge twists .

Good back to Goddess right here .

Come back .

Goddess five pointed star , open your chest , pull your arms back .

Oh It feels good .

And now go into that side , lunge , bringing one arm forward and the other again .

Goddess open up to five point and side , lunge one on each side .

Excellent .

Come back to prayer right here .

Big breath in and out .

Feet together .

Now I want to go into a modified sun salutation .

And in this routine , we're about to do this is where you may need your chair , but at first you don't .

So let's start sun salutation modified is gonna start in prayer pose with a big breath , inhale , exhale .

And then we're gonna go to waterfall .

You're gonna swoop your arms down and back .

I'm gonna turn to the side so you can see me here .

You see how I'm reaching my arms back and my fingertips are back .

So imagine there's a waterfall behind you and your fingertips are trying to touch the water .

That's how I think of waterfall poses .

There's a waterfall behind me .

My fingers are trying to touch .

So let's go between those two poses .

Now , prayer and then up to waterfall .

Good back down to prayer .

So I want you to inhale up to waterfall this time .

Here we go , inhale and then exhale down to prayer .

Now advanced after the waterfall pose , we're going to go into a fold and that just means you're gonna tip over from the waist and you're going to hang .

Now , beginners or anybody with any kind of back problems .

This is where you're gonna use your chair .

So when we do this routine , I'll pull the chair over so you can see what I'm doing .

Sun salutation .

Let's do it together .

Prayer .

Let's go into waterfall here .

Waterfall now .

Exhale down into that fold advanced .

If you don't need the chair , you just bend over and go down and beginners , you're just going to tip right here like this into your fold .

Slowly roll your back up and let's try that again .

I'm gonna try it without the chair now .

So you can see .

So sun salutations again , prayer , big breath , inhale , exhale , let's inhale back up into waterfall .

Exhale down into a fold .

And this time I'm going all the way down when you do this fold .

Stay down here .

I know you can't see me , but just stay down here and let your neck hang long .

Let your arms just hang loosey , goosey .

Let your knees be a little soft .

It's also called rag doll pose because it's just kind of a sloppy hang .

All right .

Let's slowly start rolling back up , come back to prayer pose here and let's move on .

There's more to sun salutation , you know , part of it .

Let's learn the whole thing .

OK .

Let's , let's go on , I'll just go right into the next pose , which is the crescent one .

So let me show you what that is .

You're gonna reach 1 ft back and the other ones forward , try to get your heel down , your chest is open .

Ok ?

And then from here we're going to go into a standing downward dog and that just means you're going to be in a kind of a V shape , sort of like the chair pose .

We did .

Only your knees aren't as bent .

I'm gonna turn to the side so you can see what it looks like just like that .

Ok ?

And then we're going to come up and go into that crescent lunge on your other foot with the other foot back trying to get your heel down , both toes are pointed forward , chest is up .

And now , you know , all the poses of the sun salutation only it's kind of circular .

So after we do this pose , we actually get back into the fold .

So come with me down into a forward fold and then we're gonna come up to the waterfall pose , come with me there .

You know that one reach for the water behind you and exhale down into prayer .

It's kind of a circular little routine .

So let's do the whole sun salutation .

I'm gonna do it without the chair .

Remember if you need the chair , use it on the fold .

So here we go .

Big breath in .

Exhale out ready for waterfall .

Here we go , inhale , get your fingers back there .

Really .

Open your chest and exhale down into a fold .

Let your neck hang along , let your arms just dangle slowly start rolling back up , roll all the way up to standing with good posture .

And let's go into our crescent lunge chest is up , heel is back .

If you can get it back , if you need the chair for balance here , go for it .

All right .

Let's exhale as we come into downward dog in a standing position right here .

Drive your hips back , elongate your spine , pull your arms up as high as you can in this pose .

All right .

Exhale as we come up and let's inhale .

As we go back into crescent lunge on the other foot , chest is up , heels down .

If you can get it there , hold the pose .

This should feel so good on your hip .

We're opening up your hip flexor here .

Isn't that a nice stretch right there ?

All right .

Feedback together , forward , fold .

Here we go .

We're folding over again .

Stay down there until I tell you should feel really good through your lower back and your hamstrings .

Alright .

Inhale .

As we start to roll back up , slowly , come up and go all the way to waterfall , reach back , fingertips back to feel the water and let's exhale down into prayer pose .

Stay here and keep doing deep breaths .

So this pose is an excellent one for kind of healing and relaxation and the whole sun salutations routine is something that I actually have my personal training clients .

Many of them do every morning .

It's so healing and energizing .

So I hope you can remember that one too .

All right , let's go on to something new .

Let's do some standing backstroke .

So good posture up and I want you to inhale as your arm comes up .

Each time your arm comes up good .

So we're just gonna keep stroke back stroking .

You can go at your own pace , you back stroke at whatever feels right for your body .

You don't have to stay with me .

Do make sure your posture is up .

Your neck is long .

You're looking a little upward .

Don't look down at the floor one more on each side , on the other side .

Great .

Let's go into a wide chest , no opener .

So pull your arms way back and let's exhale and bring the backs of your hands together .

Good .

Let's do that again .

Open up , pull your arms back , exhale and bring the backs of your hands together as I'm doing that , you can see I'm folding forward and rounding my spine on the exhale right here one more and excel right here .

Good .

Come back up .

Take a big breath here and let's reach up .

Let's circle our arms up and exhale down into prayer .

Let's do that two more times .

Inhale , exhale down into your prayer one more and exhale down into prayer .

And I want you to stay here in prayer with good posture .

Your neck is long , your chest is up , continue to do deep slow breaths .

And after that , you'll be done with your workout , great job for staying with it .

You're ready to continue your day on a happier note .

So just remember this feeling and stay positive and be proud of yourself for doing something good for your body because you are so strong .

We are in this together .