The Best Exercises You Never Heard Of

Anyone can love these simple exercises. Regular-age people like me and you can easily weave these into our daily lives. Little ones move through them via the gestures of stories and rhymes in my games collections. Older folks enjoy an Agile Aging approach that integrates these best exercises, often seated, with music and imagery. Whatever the age, these best exercises can work for everyone.

Back in the day when I was a young dancer training in ballet and modern dance, I didn’t think much about longevity.  My body was my musical instrument, and I figured if I got it polished and kept it tuned, it would last me a good long time. Later on, nearing 60, I was still dancing, then with Mountain View’s Academy of Danse Libre, doing vintage ballroom dances like Viennese waltzes (fast!) and mazurkas (also fast) in a dozen shows a year – usually in high heels!

Here we’re dancing a toddle, entitled, “The Toddle.” Watch it here on YouTube.

Then my feet started hurting (those heels!) and then a hip (900 rotating jumps into lifts in one dance in one show week.) I slowed down. I stopped dancing quite so much and focused on guiding movement therapy. Then we moved 100 miles away and I returned to daily movement teaching, workouts at a gym, swimming, some dancing (tango) and always, these best exercises. They just set me up right for the day ahead, especially starting right in bed.

Now, looking 70 in the eye, these truly are my own personal best moves to feel great, avoid injuries, relieve pain, and stay active.

They are so easy they hardly seem like work. 

Stretch in Bed.  This most basic full-body yawn is the best exercise you can do before you get up in the morning (or even at night).  Babies and animals do it naturally (my dog Dutch and cat Maisie are prime examples) and so should we. 

Just flex and stretch this way and that, slowly and lightly at first.  Reach in front of yourself, over your head.  Get small and then big: fold your knees over your chest and curl up, then stretch your heels away from your fingertips.  Slowly is best. Wake up the muscles to support the bones, so those first steps out of bed are secure enough to avoid a stumble or fall. Stretching from a chair is also good for you, every 20 minutes is ideal.

Here’s a seated variation in an Agile Aging session at a senior community in San Rafael, California.

Sybil’s Spirals. Spirals rather than circles are a valuable movement form to gain space in and around the body. In fact, spirals are movement’s archetype.

My dear friend, the late dancer/choreographer Sybil Shearer, told me that the secret to her lifelong mobility, dancing at the Chicago Arts Club right up to age 95, was “spiraling every bone in the body” every day. We’re familiar with circling our ankles and wrists, and these are useful for sure, but spiraling adds much more. Spiraling creates a dynamic of movement outward away or inwards towards the body, adding more dimension and nuance to creating space between the bones.

I demo this with a focus on the shoulders in this video clip on Vimeo.

Relax your Jaw.  I’ve been plagued with TMJ since childhood, with surgeries and rehab that helped me study movements of the jaw.

Many of us carry tension in our throat, neck, and jaw that can cause headaches, dental and health problems, and even (gasp) wrinkles.  A neutral posture for your tongue is a very effective release for your jaw and throat, and can also help with the breath.  Place the top of your tongue lightly up against the roof of your mouth, with the tip of your tongue touching the back of your upper teeth.  As you relax into this posture you will notice an immediate release of your jaw tension. Remind yourself to practice this while you are doing your regular exercise or anytime you might be straining, clenching, or holding your breath.

Lift your Face.  Ancient wisdom meets modern exercise with facial yoga that eliminates the need for plastic surgery while building tone and expressive mobility to our faces. Here’s a simple fix. 

To delay a sagging throat or jawline (and to help you “normalize” the neutral tongue posture suggested above) place your tongue in its neutral position, lift the chin, and press upwards with the tongue on the roof of the mouth for several seconds, release, and repeat several times.

Release your Hands. We all hold tension in our hands and even in our fingers. Whether your hands are clenching due to tension and stress, overuse on keyboards or knitting (that’s me), or arthritis, we can move to release them.

Like Sybil’s Spirals that move the spaces of each joint in the body, gently and very slowly open and close one’s hand around a sphere like a small ball or a small fruit. (We love a hand-felted wool ball for warmth, texture, and softness.) Imagine your hand as a flower bud that’s closed (gently around the sphere) during the dark night but oh so slowly opens with the rising sun to full expansion at the top of the day, and continues slowly to close at sundown for the night. Do this as slowly as possible. It’s harder than you think, moving mindfully, and slowly, with the changing imagery. Music helps.

Respect your Feet.  Ever hear the expression, “My dogs are barking?”  Keep your pups quiet and happy with daily attention of movement, imagery, self-massage, and grooming. 

While sitting or standing, extend your leg and very slowly and lightly circle your foot around your ankle a few times.  Change feet, repeat, and reverse.  Try circling just your big toe, or middle toe.  Point and flex your foot.  Take your foot in your hand and give it a little massage at both the arches, under the toes and under the length of the foot.  Make space between the bones with your fingers, “holding hands with your feet” (thank you, Katy Bowman), then quietly stand. Sensing the connection to the ground through the soles of your feet will help you maintain your balance, posture, and mobility as the years go by.

Dance every day.  Music and movement harmonize the energy fields of the body.  So turn up the music and just move.  You don’t need a partner. A partner is lovely, however and so is a big pillow (not kidding, try it.) You’ll release those feel-good endorphins, your body will wake up in a new way, and you’ll have renewed energy as well as a boost to your fitness program.  If you think you can’t dance, who’s to know?  Run with music, walk with music, sing or hum along.  Even if you’re moving to your own drummer, it’s dancing.  So, let’s face the music and dance!

Here’s me and my mom at 74, doing a walking tango. She’s wearing my good shoes!

Go to Hawaii.  Drain tension and improve posture that’s cramped from too much desk or couch time with a free tropical holiday via dynamic imagery.

Sit or stand comfortably with bare feet on the ground.  Close your eyes and imagine warm sand beneath your feet.  Imagine the soft warm breeze on your skin. Wiggle your toes, heels and arches in the delicious warmth. Take a deep breath and notice that right behind you is a warm waterfall, splashing softly on your shoulders and down your back.  Nestle into that water flow and allow your shoulders to drop into the downward streaming flow of the water. Take another breath and observe your tension drain away as you exhale.  Stay there  on the beach as long as you like.  When you are ready to return from your holiday, just gently open your eyes.  You may need to brush some sand from your toes!

Interested in my music playlist to underscore these exercises? Let me know in your comments. I’m happy to share.

I hope these best exercises will be your favorites, too. Let me know. They are the basis for my healthy movement, every day. But wait, there’s more! I’ll be sharing more soon.

Valerie Baadh Garrett