Try simple stretches to contribute to your healthy lifestyle

This article first appeared in Liaison, our member newsletter.

Stretching offers benefits beyond keeping your muscles flexible and strong. It can help reduce body aches, improve posture, create a calm mindset and maintain motion in your joints.

We are all aware that stretching is good for us, but many of us don’t practice it regularly. It’s an important habit that, if practiced regularly, can greatly contribute to a healthy lifestyle. We are all different, and we each have different abilities and strengths; one of the great things about stretches is that they can be accommodated to the individual. Always remember to take it slow, and don’t push your body if you are in any pain.

Not sure where to start? RTOERO Membership Services Specialist Alyssa is a certified yoga instructor. Watch the video below where Alyssa leads some simple chair yoga stretches you can do at home.

Looking for more? Check out these articles on stretching and yoga from the McMaster Optimal Aging Portal:

• Looking for exercises to do at home? Pilates and yoga can help you keep physically and mentally fit!
• 3 research-based benefits of yoga for healthy aging
• Yoga for diabetes: breathe, relax, stretch…and reduce your blood sugar levels