The best gift I give myself every day: my 20 minutes of morning stretching

Every morning I give myself this: time, silence, space.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/433f66_76eab77209cd4d0ba1c87e2bd0c3b148/720p/mp4/file.mp4

The video is taken from an interview I did with Prague 1 about my business here in Prague. You can watch it here: https://youtu.be/AxeaUI--4lY?si=URMpnDpwCnp4Q-9V

I wake up, go to the bathroom, no rush; sometimes I stay in my pajamas, sometimes I change into something comfortable. It depends on the mood, not on a rule.

I make a warm herbal tea, and I enter my little studio.

Those first minutes already change something.

I start with 5 minutes of pranayama, always in hero pose as it stretches my quads, the top of my feet, supports my knees… and at the same time it calms my breath.

Then I start my timer.

Some days: 20 minutes, each stretch 1 minute, other days: 30 minutes, each stretch 30 seconds, when I feel like moving a bit more.

I don’t overthink it, I just listen what I need that day.

After that I journal, I say Buona giornata to Samu going to school, I have breakfast and only then the day can start.

I am not a morning person.

I don’t like noise, I don’t like rushing and I am definitely not one of those people who grab their phone first thing in the morning.

I need silence, I need to stay with myself; because if I don’t do this first, I feel it later.

There is also something very simple: our body needs flexibility.

It doesn’t matter if you train hard or if you sit al day, it does not matter if you are active or not: without stretching, the body closes.

And especially at my age, you feel it even more.

I really wish everyone would give themselves these 20 or 30 minutes, not because it’s “nice”. but because it changes how you feel in your body and in your mind.

Wake up earlier, or find the time somewhere else, but choose it.

Stop saying you don’t have time.

You do. You just give it to something else.

Stretching is not just physical, it's a way to come back to yourself, to step away from everything pulling your attention, from your phone, from the noise, from the constant stimulation.

It’s simple, but not easy to choose.

I also know that not everyone knows what to do: for me it’s natural, I am a fitness trainer, I study movement, I’ve been doing this for years.

But for many people it’s confusing: too many videos, too many options.

And this is why I have this wish in my mind: one day I want my own space, where I can show people how to take time for themselves… instead of always giving it away.

A small studio, simple, real, a place where people can come, slow down, move, breathe.

Not pushed by performance or results, just to feel better. Not another yoga or pilates studio like so many here in Prague, where people spend more time looking at each other than actually feeling their own body: who is better, who is stronger, who can do a handstand, who can hold crow… and who can’t. Because stretching is about creating space in your body, and at the same time in your mind.

It’s where you slow down, where you listen, where you stop reacting and start feeling.

And the truth is simple: most people don’t need more intensity, more workouts, more performance.

They need this, a few minutes every day to reconnect, to move with intention, to breathe without rushing.

It sounds basic, almost too simple to matter., but it’s exactly what most people keep avoiding.

And that’s the point.