The pigeon pose is one of my favourite stretches ( CARSA in the Nike Serenity Studio August 2018).

This week my plan was to engage in 15 minutes of stretching around 9:00pm in addition to the sleep hygiene I already practise. Stretching was the first mindfulness strategy I engaged in for my free inquiry project and this practise started September 13th and ended September 19th. I would set my diffuser up in the room I was stretching and engage in a full body stretch while maintaining my breathing and not worrying if my mind wandered. I was very motivated to stretch at the start of the 1 week but half way through I honestly didn’t stick with it. This is un characteristic of me because when I have a purpose to do something I never quit  but the thought of stretching at 9pm just became effort and energy that I didn’t want to use.  The times I did stretch it was good because as a frequent exerciser I could add some more stretching in my life and I did like the fact that I wasn’t checking the time every 2 minutes like I would be in a mindfulness practise that required me to sit still. Unfortunately I didn’t see any benefits in my sleep or restless legs on the nights I did stretch. Because I am very sensitive to any stimulus before bed, maybe stretching was too much moving for me and it hyped me up before bed. Although I didn’t complete the whole week of stretching I do think the pre-bed stretching of mindfulness does have significant value and I will take on this stretching practise again for a longer period of time after this free inquiry is done. Starting tonight I will be taking on my next mindfulness strategy which is body scans or progressive relaxation. My goal is to see this one all the way through and hopeful seek some benefits along the way.