Five weeks to relax the "stress muscles". This is what physiotherapist Magali Bastos offers in her latest work, Relax the muscles of stress , published in April by Marabout editions. "Over the course of my practice, I saw many patients who suffered from the same muscular tensions. I realized that this was linked to their stress on a daily basis," she explains on Wednesday in Sans Rendez -You on Europe 1.
"In times of stress, these muscles contract"
In the course of his practice, the physiotherapist identified five "stress muscles": the diaphragm, respiratory muscle, the masseter, in the jaw, the suboccipitals, at the back of the skull, the piriformis, at the level of the pelvis, and the trapezoids, at the shoulders. "In times of stress, these muscles contract, take tension, and can block certain parts of the body," she explains.
Magali Bastos' program takes place over five weeks, during which gestures and postures evolve. The first week of relaxation takes place on the ground. To relieve the trapezoids, the physiotherapist suggests, for example, putting yourself on your back, legs folded. At the expiration, one pushes the elbows towards the ceiling. "It stretches the back part of the back, then gradually the trapezoids," she says. Be careful to focus on breathing: "An exercise performed in apnea has no interest."
>> Find the whole of Sans rendez-vous in replay and podcast here
"Just stick your tongue out to relax your jaw"
Dedicated exercises for each stress muscle. To relax the jaw, for example, Magali Bastos offers to perform small circular massages yourself, which relieve muscles. "You just have to stick your tongue out for a few seconds, or let yourself be yawning big for the jaw to start to relax," she adds.
The exercises of the second week are done by resting on the hands and knees, before going into a sitting position the third week, and standing up on the fifth. The exercises vary from day to day, to work on each of the five muscle areas. "At the end of the week, a global posture takes up all the exercises for the week," she said. Magali Bastos recommends devoting at least 10 to 15 minutes a day to it, and more if affinities. To do in the morning or in the evening, according to the rhythm that suits us.