Welcome back mind-body students! Over the next few weeks I'll be revisiting the various videos I have done for surgery preparation and recovery, and collecting them into one central post. This week, we look back at my "Four Stretches for Surgery" and the "Xena the Warrior" movements.

The basis for these exercises is this: healthy, open soft tissue heals faster and more completely than stiff, clenched soft tissue does. When your soft tissue is cut so that surgeons can access your internal organs, bones, muscles, etc., it is being damaged. Obviously, invasive surgery like this is necessary for many reasons, but it is important to remember that you must also recover from the surgery techniques, not just the problem the surgery was meant to address.

The Four Stretches for Surgery are used to lengthen the muscles and soft tissue around the shoulder joints, and can be assisted with a belt or rope to maintain the stretch when you can't grasp your hands together. Do deep breathing into the areas of your lungs that are opened up by each stretch.

Then, the Xena the Warrior movements. Dynamic, moving stretches are also crucial for preparing for surgery (and recovering, too). Moving while you stretch and meditate pushes blood and nutrients into the cells of your body. Many people sit in a hunched-forward position, so their chest muscles and upper back muscles are stiff and unhealthy. These techniques address those very issues and can improve upper-body surgery recovery time.

And that's it for this week! Two more videos coming your way next week!

Happy Stretching!