It's the simplest thing in the world to do - and so few do it. There's a lot we can learn from cats - just look at the way they stretch and do likewise - and you'll find your day just goes better. Now if you suffer from computer addiction like most of us do, stretching should be part of your daily routine. Stretch right and your bones just settle into place and that makes your day so much more comfortable.

 

Stretching for most people would mean the exercises that sportsmen have to do when they are either warming up or warming down. That's not the kind of stretching we're talking about. This kind of stretching is fun.

The first stretch is when you wake up. Before you roll out of bed, give yourself five minutes and s-t-r-e-t-c-h. Stretching should be a lazy, delicious action. Slowly raise your arms, then let the stretch go down to your toes, wiggling each one. Take it nice and easy - there's no rush. This is the foreplay that could well determine if you're going to make love to the day or not! For the angry young ones, imagine that client-who-hasn't-paid-you-for-a-week-and-has knocked-you-off-his-chat-list on a torture rack and you're stretching him to kingdom come.

Stretching your whole body stretches the spine and gets it all set for the day ahead. Once you get into the stretching habit, be a bit adventurous. Wiggle your hips a bit, move your shoulders around as you stretch. Keep one rule in mind - there's no need, absolutely no need to stretch till it hurts. Do cats look like they're in pain? They look more like they're in ecstasy and that's the way it should be.

It's up to each of us to work out our stretching routine. That wonderful wake-up one should be just the start of a glorious stretching day. If, like me, you roll out of bed and switch on your laptop or PC on your way to brush your teeth, you qualify for the term ‘cyber junkie'. The unfortunate thing is, while the virtual world sets us free in so many ways, it also holds us physically captive in front of that screen that is our a window to that world. Can we escape the ensuing physical problems that follow? No! I have young writers who tell me they suffer from chronic backaches and joint pains. Stretching can help alleviate some of the pain. Take a break every half an hour and stretch for a minute - you don't even have to get up though that would be ideal - but you can sit on that chair and stretch away too. Just remember - don't overdo it or you'll end up with a pulled muscle or something. Do a gentle but long stretch.

Cyber rage, virtual venting - this might be directed at faceless, formless people on the internet but unfortunately, the effect it has on our bodies is very real. Would that it were just a cyber backache that disappeared into thin air when you had enough of it. Haven't there been times when you've longed to reach out across that vast virtual space and wring someone's neck? Punctuated with the choicest of swear words? You go to bed ranting and raving and wake up with a stiff neck or a backache.

That's why you need that stretch. To blow away the tightness that anger and frustration bring, to lighten up your body as well as your mind, to stretch out the stress and make you relax. Give your body a bit more get up and go - and follow the K.I.S.S. principle with a twist - Keep It Stretching Stupid!