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A woman and a child making a salad at a sunlit kitchen table, a man at the counter behind them

Move · 3 min

Stretchwhile the kettle boils

The three minutes you wait for the kettle are enough for four slow stretches, standing at the counter.

3 minutesFrom the library, free to readFour steps
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You wait for the kettle several times a day. Those three minutes usually go to the phone or to the next worry. This practice gives them to your back, neck and shoulders instead.

The steps

Four small steps,in your own time.

  1. Switch the kettle on and stand facing the counter a step away from it, feet hip-width apart, hands resting on the edge.

  2. Roll your shoulders slowly backwards five times, then let them drop.

  3. Turn your head gently to look over one shoulder and hold for three breaths, then the other. Then let your chin drop towards your chest for three breaths.

  4. Step back a little, keep your hands on the counter, and let your back lengthen until your arms and back make one long line. Hold for five slow breaths, then walk your feet back in and stand up slowly.

The reason

Why it helps

Long hours bent over a sink, a desk, a bed or a phone pull the shoulders forward and tighten the neck. A few gentle stretches several times a day do more for that than one long session at the weekend. Tying the stretch to the kettle means you do not have to remember it: the kettle reminds you. By the time the water boils, you have moved.

A gentle variation

If standing is tiring, sit on a kitchen chair and do the shoulder rolls and the head turns only. If a stretch pinches, make it smaller.

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WE · TRIBE

Try itwith someone.

If you are making tea for someone else, stretch together while you wait, side by side at the counter. A small habit is easier to keep when two people share the kettle.

Make it a plan in HIVELIVE, with WE

Try it today

Next time you put the kettle on, roll your shoulders, turn your head each way, and lengthen your back with your hands on the counter until it boils.

Add it to your day

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