Relieving Morning Stiffness of Fibromyalgia One Movement At a Time

Morning stiffness is a common and a significantly debilitating complaint of Fibromyalgia.

To bring movement and activity back in the joints and muscles after seven to eight hours of near immobility, it is helpful if the body is gently "awakened" one joint at a time using good body mechanics.

Give yourself permission to take time to get out of bed.

Slowly inhale and exhale paying attention to both the quantity and quality of the breath.

Inhale through your nose and exhale with a sighing sound with your mouth consciously letting go of the tension in the muscles. Repeat this 3 or 4 times.

Now bring attention to your toes and start flexing and extending them. Then move your ankles up and down.

 Make fists with both your hands making sure that your are not clenching the hands. Clenching puts excessive pressure on the joints and may cause some damage to the joints and ligaments.

Move the head side to side with easy movements.

Now, draw some angels on the bed with your arms and legs slowly moving up and down and side to side respectively.

Gently roll to the side that feels comfortable to you.

If drawing your knees in toward your chest is within your level of comfort, do so. If not, rolling like a log without any twists is a great way to turn to your side especially if you have a stiff back. 

Stay here for some time and then using the strength of your arms, push yourself up into a sitting position.

Breathe here again using the same technique of inhaling through the nose and exhaling with a soft sound and expelling all the stale air out.

Respect your body, know your limits and learn to honor when your body tells you've had enough!