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Wayland Student Press

The student news site of Wayland High School

Wayland Student Press

The student news site of Wayland High School

Wayland Student Press

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News Brief: Schedule changes this week
News Brief: Schedule changes this week
March 26, 2024
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Zen & M’s: Stretches for the sitting student

This week, Caitlin suggests some stretches for the sitting student to use during the last days before break.
So, I’ve noticed that our school-issued planners are getting a little bit ahead of themselves. Last week, the “helpful” tip in the corner of the page advised me that, “Two weeks before winter break, I set a new goal: Turn in all homework on time!”

A. The annoying planner’s tip obviously doesn’t know me very well because I always turn my homework in on time, despite the rational side of my brain telling me that it’s senior slump season.

B. More importantly, last week was not two weeks before break. Flipping to this week’s section, the hint of the week was “A week before winter break, I acted on my plans: Meet Jane at the library!”

That seems creepy to me because I made no plans with a girl named Jane, so she might be alarmed that I know exactly what time she’ll be in the library. But still, the week of December 10 is not a week before break!

Okay, so I know you might be questioning what any of this has to do with health. Well, this misinformation only served to remind me exactly how far away we are from break and that served to make me more tense than I already was. So, I thought this week would be a good week to share stretches for the sitting student.

First off, there are some good stretches you can do at school during the day that won’t call too much attention to yourself. Many of us are no strangers to shoulder tension, so to relieve these muscles, cross one arm across your chest horizontally, using your other arm to push it towards your chest. Hold for 15-30 seconds, then switch.

For your neck, I personally find the neck roll to be very uncomfortable, so I prefer to bend my neck so that my ear is moving towards my shoulder. You’ll feel this stretch right away, but make sure that you don’t move your shoulder up to meet your ear. If you want a deeper stretch, you can rest the hand from the direction you’re leaning towards on the crown of your head. But, don’t push or pull or exert any force! Just let your hand rest there, and gravity will do the rest. Hold for 15-30 seconds, then switch.

A third stretch you can do in your chair is a chair twist, or as my Spanish teacher calls them, “Los Twistings.” Basically, this is just a seated spinal twist. Start sitting diagonally to the right. Move your right arm across your body and hold onto the back of the chair. You may want to bring your left hand to your right knee, but I find that I get enough of a stretch without that, so do what feels comfortable. When you’ve successfully positioned yourself, take a deep breath in, lengthen the spine and twist right, keeping your body relaxed. Hold 15-30 seconds, then switch (hopefully you’ve noticed a pattern at this point).

I find that my hips get the tightest for me during the day. From my experience, the easiest way to stretch this part of your body with maximum relief is a runners lunge, and I’m sure many of you are familiar with this pose from stretches you do before sports, and I know I’ve seen this used as a warmup stretch at WHSTE rehearsals. I like to come into this pose from my high plank (a plank on your hands, not your forearms). From your plank position, move one of your legs to the inside of your hand on the same side. You should feel a stretch in your hip.

For stretching your legs, I recommend the tried and true bend touch-the-floor stretch to release tension in your hamstrings. Also, I’d like to take this time to plug yoga. One of the biggest benefits of yoga for me is that on top of all of the muscle building we do, we spend a huge amount of time just plain stretching too. It’s a workout that guarantees relief from the tightness I acquire throughout the school week.

I know these stretches will help you physically get through the home stretch to winter vacation, but I know mentally it will still be tough. Make sure you save plenty of time for yourself, your friends and your family. And, if you make yummy holiday sweets, don’t even think about eating them unless you’re planning on working out or sharing them with me (emphasis on sharing with me)!

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Zen & M’s: Stretches for the sitting student