Did You Know | Why That Unplanned Stretch Might Be More Than You Think - Wellness Inspired Podcast

Episode Transcript
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sheri (00:13):
Hello, wellness adventurists, welcome back to
another episode of the WellnessInsp inspired podcast, a place
where you can find inspiration,motivation and empowerment in
the pursuit of a wellnesslifestyle.
I'm your host, sherry Davidson.
I'm a wellness coach,acupuncturist, trail runner and

(00:35):
former interior designer inHouston, texas, and I am deeply
passionate about health andwellbeing.
And, as always, I'm here withmy co-host, finn.
And if you're new to thepodcast, finn is my terrier mix,
rescue dog, trail runner andloyal companion.
He is also a therapy dog andgreeter at element five,
acupuncture and wellness.
And this is another episode ofthe wellness inspired podcast.

(00:59):
Did you know?
Series where we exploreeveryday moments that carry
deeper meaning for your health,energy and self-awareness, and
today's topic is something soordinary it's often overlooked.
Stretching yes, you got it.

(01:20):
Stretching, not the yoga classkind.
I'm talking about those natural, involuntary stretches where
your body reaches without youeven thinking about it.
The other night I noticed I wasdoing it constantly.
I stretched in bed all nightlong, again in the early morning
, and my body kept sighing andopening, almost like it was
moving through something on itsown.
Pretty crazy, but it made mepause and wonder why does this

(01:42):
happen?
Is there something more goingon than just stiff muscles Turns
out there is, and it'sfascinating, and today we're
going to explore it through botha Western lens and the
perspective of traditionalChinese medicine, where even the
simplest movement can holddeeper meaning.
All right, let's jump in.

(02:12):
There is a word for thisreflexive stretch pendiculation.
It is the spontaneouscontracting and releasing of
muscles, often paired with adeep yawn or a sigh.
You've seen it in dogs, cats,babies, and you do it too,
usually without even thinkingabout it.
Pendiculation is the body'snatural way of waking up,

(02:36):
recalibrating and saying I'mhere, let's get moving again.
It's not a fitness goal, it's aself-regulation tool built into
your biology.
How cool is that?
The Western view of this is anervous system reset.
So from their perspective, thisis what's happening.
When we stretch like this, thefirst thing that's happening is

(02:58):
that the muscles reset theirresting tone.
So when you go through longperiods of stillness like
sitting or sleeping, stress,which increases unconscious
tension, we all know that andrepetitive movement, or overuse
your resting muscle tone, it canget stuck in a slightly too
contracted and believe it or notto relax state and this can

(03:21):
lead to chronic tension orstiffness, misalignment or poor
posture, fatigue or weaknessover time.
And stretching, especiallypandiculation, where you
contract and then release, helpsyour brain reestablish
neuromuscular control, meaningyour nervous system remembers

(03:41):
what relaxed and engaged shouldactually feel like.
So resetting muscle tone islike rebooting a computer that's
lagging.
It tells the muscles this iswhat normal feels like.
Let's recalibrate, also from aWestern perspective.
Stretching can improve andincrease the blood and lymph
circulation, and improved bloodand lymph circulation means you

(04:06):
move better, feel clearer, detoxmore efficiently and regulate
your emotions more naturally.
It is the foundation of bothphysical wellness and emotional
resilience.
Okay, another thing thatstretching does from a Western
perspective is it re-engagesyour sensory motor cortex.
So when you've been sitting fora while, your brain isn't

(04:27):
actively tracking every part ofyour body.
Some areas get a little dimmeddown, and when you stretch,
especially in a natural,reflexive way like pandiculation
, it wakes that system up.
Your brain goes oh hey, this iswhere my shoulder is, this is
how my back feels.
Okay, we're online again.
So re-engaging the sensorymotor cortex means basically,

(04:51):
your brain becomes more aware ofyour body.
So in plain words, stretchinghelps your brain and body sync
back up.
Okay, now the last thing on mylist here, from a Western
perspective, is that stretchinglike this stimulates the vagus
nerve, and the vagus nerve isone of the longest and most
important nerves in your body.

(05:11):
It runs from your brainstem allthe way down through your neck,
chest and into your abdomen,connecting your heart, lungs and
digestive organs.
So in short, it is the maincommunicator of your
parasympathetic nervous system,the system responsible for calm,
rest, digestion and recovery.
So when the vagus nerve isstimulated, even gently, through

(05:34):
stretching, breath or movement,it signals your body you're
safe, you can soften now.
So basically, throughstretching your body is waking
up and balancing itself and inthat moment, even if everything
else feels a little off,stretching helps you find a
sense of aliveness.
And that's from a Westernperspective.

(05:55):
And I think what you're goingto see is that there's some very
overlapping similar thoughtshere.
We're going to move into howtraditional Chinese medicine
sees this kind of stretching.
So it's a slightly differentand more energetic perspective.
But you'll see the overlapsBecause in Chinese medicine

(06:18):
stretching isn't just about themuscles and movements, it's
about energy flow as well.
So it's the muscle movement plusenergy flow.
So we're just adding anotherlayer on top of the Western
perspective and specifically theflow of qi, your body's vital
force.
We talk a lot about Qi inChinese medicine and one of the

(06:39):
key players here is the liver.
It's an organ system that NTCMisn't just about detox or
digestion.
It is the conductor of movementinside the body and the liver.
The liver governs the smoothflow of qi through all the
systems physical, emotional andenergetic.

(06:59):
It also controls the sinews,which includes your tendons,
ligaments and connective tissue,so basically everything that
gives you flexibility andstructure.
When liver qi flows freely, youfeel looser, more grounded,
emotionally steady, physicallyopen and agile.
But when that flow is blocked,often from stress, overthinking,

(07:20):
frustration or even lack ofmovement, you might feel stiff
or tight, especially in theshoulders, the neck and the hips
.
You might feel irritable oragitated and restless, but also
could feel depleted.
Another thing in traditionalChinese medicine is the morning

(07:41):
time is when the yang energynaturally starts to rise.
This is the cortisol in yourbody that wakes you.
So yang is active, it's upwardmoving and warming.
It helps you get up and movethrough the world and take
action.
And specifically, again, like Isaid, when we're talking about
waking up, it's like thecortisol levels start to rise

(08:03):
and in the evening your cortisollevels begin to drop.
So when you stretch first thingin the morning.
You're supporting this naturalshift from night to day, from
yin rest to yang movement.
You're clearing out stagnationbefore it sets in and loosening
emotional and physical attentionbefore it becomes a deeper

(08:25):
pattern, so that spontaneousstress.
It's not just a reflex, it's atiny act of energy hygiene, like
brushing your teeth, but foryour chi, of course, it helps
prevent buildup, it clearsstuckness and it realigns your
internal rhythm with the rhythmof the day.
And, the best part, you don'teven have to think about it.

(08:46):
Your body already knows.
You're just being invited tonotice it and honor what it's
doing for you.
But we're not done.
To notice it and honor whatit's doing for you, but we're
not done.
Here's where it gets even moreinteresting.
In both Western somatic work andtraditional Chinese medicine we
recognize that the body storesemotions, and when you're

(09:07):
holding something in liketension, stress, sadness,
frustration, your body oftenholds it too, and stretching
becomes a way of letting go,even if you don't consciously
know that you're releasing.
And that's why sometimes astretch feels more than a
stretch.
It almost feels like a breathyou didn't even know you were

(09:28):
holding.
There is also a therapeuticmethod out there and it's called
TRE, and TRE stands fortraumatic release exercises it
uses a sequence of movements toactivate natural tremors in the
body.
These tremors, just likestretching, are not forced.

(09:51):
They arise instinctively,releasing stored tension from
deep within the muscle and thenervous system.
So the idea behind this is Ican't remember the doctor's name
that created the system, butwhen you look in the wild or
even a dog will shake, and whenthey shake it is their way of

(10:13):
releasing this built up tensionthat's stored in the body.
And apparently we have that,but we do not activate it.
And so he developed theseexercises that activated this
natural system that we have inour body to release tension and
to release tension trauma.

(10:36):
So what I'm thinking is thatthis is just another version of
what my body was doing duringthose repeated pendicular
stretches I was havingthroughout the night and early
in the morning.
It was a slow, natural unwind,the conversation between the
body and the brain, and in TCMterms, that can be seen as a

(11:01):
release of liver Qi or dispersalof stagnant energy.
Pretty cool, pretty cool, okay.
Well, I think this is a goodplace to wrap it up.
So just some closing thoughtshere, some closing reflection.
So just some closing thoughtshere some closing reflection.
Yeah, I've come to believe thatafter that night of endless

(11:23):
stretching, my body was workingthrough something.
Maybe it was stress.
I know I had a stressful March.
April I did go on a trip, notsure that was super stressful,
but I can't say that before thatI did have some stressful life
things happen.
So maybe it was physicalrecovery.
Maybe it was just a call formore movement after a busy,

(11:45):
structured week.
Whatever it was, it wasn'trandom and instead of ignoring
it, I got super curious and Ilistened.
So I'll ask you to do the samethe next time your body
stretches without permission orplan notice it and breathe into
it and ask yourself what'sshifting here, because that's

(12:06):
not just a stretch, it's asignal, a subtle reset, an
invitation to reconnect.
And there it is.
If this episode opened a newperspective for you or if you've
been stretching a little morethan usual lately, I'd love to
hear your thoughts.
You can find me on Instagram atwellness underscore inspired.
You can also find me onLinkedIn at Sherry Davidson,

(12:30):
where this conversationcontinues with real people doing
real wellness.
One stretch at a time Untilnext time.
Keep exploring, keepdiscovering and keep moving
toward a healthier, moreadventurous life.
If you like what you hear,please subscribe to the podcast

(12:56):
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(13:17):
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(13:39):
element5, the number 5, omcom,and again I'll put the link in
the show notes.
If you're interested in healthand wellness coaching, we can
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Reach out to us and we'll getyou on the schedule and, as
always, I would love to hearyour feedback.
I am dedicated to bringing yougreat content that is inspiring
and informative, with an artsy,fun, edgy spin.

(14:00):
Thank you so much for listening.
We'll meet here again next timeand remember never stop
exploring, learning, loving andbeing you Bye.

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Did You Know | Why That Unplanned Stretch Might Be More Than You Think

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Did You Know | Why That Unplanned Stretch Might Be More Than You Think