Ever since my first PE class in elementary school, I’ve heard plenty of good things about stretching exercises, but I didn’t take them seriously back then. When I turned 30, I started experiencing pain in my back from time to time.

My stretching routine:

• Head-to-knee bend: Sit down to the floor with your right leg extended to the side, your left knee bent, and the sole of your left foot near your inner right thigh. Bend to your right side and grab your right foot with both hands. Hold for 60 seconds, then switch sides.
• Frog pose: Sit down to the floor with your feet below your buttocks and your knees wide apart. Keeping your feet on the ground, raise your buttocks and walk your hands forward along the floor as far as possible. Allow your legs to separate until you feel a stretch in your thighs. Hold the pose for 2 minutes.
• Cobra pose: Lie down on your stomach. Stretch your legs back and place your hands on the floor under your shoulders. Lift your upper body off the floor by straightening your elbows. Hold the pose for 2 minutes.
• Downward-facing dog: Place your hands and feet on the floor shoulder-width apart. Keeping your arms and legs straight, hold the position for 2 minutes.
• Seated spinal twist: Sit down to the floor and extend both legs in front of you. Bend your left knee and place your right elbow on it. Put your left hand on the floor behind you and look over your left shoulder. Hold for 60 seconds, then switch sides and repeat.

The results I’ve got:

Back pain wasn’t my only problem before the experiment. I also had some pretty annoying sleeping issues. Insomnia, troubled sleep, feeling exhausted right after waking up — these words were well-known to me. But I didn’t really expect that stretching could help me get a good night’s rest.

It turns out that stretching before bed can relieve muscle tension and prevent sleep-disrupting cramps. When there’s nothing to disturb you at night, the quality of your sleep is improved and you feel more refreshed in the morning. So no more chamomile tea for me, stretching is the best remedy!