Stretching

 Our bodies and brains communicate with each other through chemical and electric signals. This means that when we feel stressed our muscles can tense up. The tension in our muscles then sends signals back to our brains that they are tense, which can increase our level of mental stress. We can break this cycle in the mind using mindfulness, visualization or grounding exercises, or we can break it in the body with exercises like breathing, stretches or progressive muscle relaxation (PMR). This handout will talk about stretching.