Thursday, April 19, 2012

Is Stretching Biblical?

STRETCHING
Did you know stretching is biblical? Isaiah 54:2 says, “Enlarge the place of your tent, and let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings; do not spare; lengthen your cords, and strengthen your stakes.”
Both Peter and Paul refer to our earthly body as a tent.* So if I think of my body as a tent, then my paraphrase of Isaiah 54:2 would be: “Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch out the muscles of your body; do not spare; lengthen your hamstrings, and strengthen your backbone.”
Upon awakening, while lingering over those last few scenes of my dreams, I begin stretching. Easy stretching pulls the kinks out of my muscles; it activates my organs; and it engages my mind. I have made stretching into a little routine I do every morning, well, almost every morning.
If you’d like to try it:
First, stretch one leg toward the end of the bed, then the other. Repeat a few times, carefully. You don’t want to cause a muscle cramp. Next, point and flex your feet and rotate your ankles.
Then sit up in bed, and bring one arm straight across your body while supporting it with the other arm. Gently stretch until you feel the pull across your back. Do the same with the other arm, repeating a time or two. While sitting upright, slowly turn your head and look over your shoulder, first one side and then the other. I like to roll my eyes at the same time. Since I wear glasses, I always turn my head to look sideways, so I figure my eyes need a little exercise, too. Now it’s time to exercise your face. “A, E,I,O,U,X”, I say this several times with vigorous exaggeration, so that I am working my facial muscles. If you decide to try it, you may want to wait until you’re by yourself.
Next, take a few deep breaths. That clears the stale air from your lungs and oxygenates your brain. The last thing I do before getting out of bed is to lean forward and try to touch my toes. This gives the backbone a good stretch. Did you ever watch a cat stretch their back after taking a nap? They do it slowly and usually give a big yawn at the same time.
Your tent is almost ready to resume its functions for the day. Sitting on the side of the bed, try to touch your elbows together behind your back. You can’t, but it gives the chest muscles a good stretch. Stand up and reach for the ceiling with first one arm, then the other, and taking another deep breath, start walking. It’s a new day; “the day that the Lord has made, so let us rejoice and be glad in it!” (Psalm 118:24)

*“Yes, I think it is right, as long as I am in this tent, to stir you up by reminding you, knowing that shortly I must put off my tent, just as our Lord Jesus Christ showed me.” (2 Pet. 1:13-14 NKJV)
*“For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” (2 Cor. 5:1 NKJV)

1 comment:

  1. A neat way to start your day, Katie! Fyi, I've added your blog link to my "Blogs to Visit" section on my blog sidebar :)

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