• Stretches the upper body,, ribs, lungs, shoulders and arms
• Lengthens spine and brings fresh blood flow to upper extremities of the body
• Allows for increased expansion of the lungs which refreshes the oxygen in the lower lobes of the lungs
• Energizes body and stimulates flow in the arms (great after typing or mousing for a long time)
• Stimulates lymph flow in the underarm area
• Releases tension in the back. Breathing into the back stimulates
  relaxation and gives the upper and lower back a bit of a massage by the
  expansion and contraction of the ribs with the full breath
• Lengthens spine and brings fresh blood flow to upper extremities of the body
• Stimulates nervous system
• Massages and stimulates internal organs providing improved blood flow and fresh oxygen

Cautions

• Untreated low or high blood pressure; consult physician but avoid
  raising arms over head. Reach arms up to shoulder height to stimulate
  the arms without aggravating heart conditions. Make sure to get the
  Dr.’s approval.
• If dizziness occurs, stop and consult physician; you may have a blood pressure issue
• If there is carpal pain, use discretion on flexing wrists. If it
  feels better do it, if not then do not aggravate any conditions that
  exist. Modify the movement to avoid the flex.
• Shoulder strain or pain. This stretch does intensely stretch the
  shoulder area. This can be beneficial or hindering depending on the
  stage of healing for shoulder strain/pain. Yes…check with your health
  care provider but mostly, trust your own body.

Key Points

• Soften down and lengthen up from the waist
• Soften gaze
• Breathe slowly and deeply through nose
• Stand (or sit) comfortably rooting down from waist and lengthening up from there.
• Keep back of head and lower back lined up and stacked
• Draw shoulders down into central back area rather than drawing them up out of sockets towards shoulders
• Inhale palms towards each other – look up towards palms touching but
  do not tilt the head too far back as this will compress the vertabrae
  in the neck
• Make sure that heels of hands are flexed, creating resistance in arms during exhale and descending of arms
• Once you have done this for a while and are comfortable, hold side
  bend for a few breaths if possible; this will accentuate the stretch,
  blood flow and attention to the side body

Instructions

• Start in neutral standing position
• Bring awareness to nostril breathing
• Allow your body to lengthen from the waist up, on the inhale. You
  should feel this expansion happening on all inhales. This is subtle but
  present
• Gaze is softened
• As you inhale, sweep the arms out and up over the head, drawing the
  palms towards each other or together over the head if possible. Keep the
  arms as straight as possible and create your own resistance while doing
  this.
• As the arms go over the head look up towards the hands but do not overextend the neck to look up.
• If your shoulders have raised up towards the ears, draw them back into the body (the central back area)
• Hold for a count of 2
• Turn palms away from each other, flex the heels of the hands
  creating a resistance from the hand to the underarm, sweep arms back
  down to sides on an exhale.
• Hold for 2 counts, enjoy the sensations through the arms and into
  the shoulders and repeat a few more times (or for up to 10 reps)
• When finished, if possible, close the eyes and enjoy the increased circulation and the sensations from it

Consider This

• If you have been sitting or standing without a lot of movement for a
  long period of time, the blood and body fluids such as lymph are not
  being circulated through the body at the rate that is most beneficial.
  The more we move, the more we stimulate the circulatory system, bringing
  fresh oxygen and blood to all areas of the body. By raising the arms
  over the head you are stimulating and energizing the body. Also, if you
  think about the location of the heart, it makes perfect sense that the
  heart has to work harder to pump blood upwards against gravity. By
  sweeping your arms up, you are giving your blood a ‘lift’ upwards and
  aiding in transporting fresh blood and oxygen to the brain. Since this
  is the ‘thinking hub’ it’s a great thing to do to help freshen up the
  brain.