This Month's Challenge

December is almost here and with it comes the beautiful chaos of the festive season.

Between shopping, social events, travel plans and work deadlines it's easy for your daily routine to slip. This is understandable but it's worth reminding ourselves that the busier life gets the more important the small, grounding habits which support our wellness become.

This month's challenge is all about beginning your day with intention. Join us in doing just two simple things each morning: drink a glass of water and spend two minutes stretching. That's it. No equipment needed, no early alarm required and certainly no guilt if you're still in your pyjamas.

Like all our challenges, this one is designed to be achievable and easy to weave into your day. What makes December special is the simple pairing of two small acts. By linking hydration with stretching first thing in the morning, you create a mini wellness ritual that anchors your day, even when everything else feels unpredictable.

Why Drink Water First Thing?

You've probably heard this advice before but let’s explore the science behind it.

During sleep, your body loses approximately one litre of water through breathing and skin evaporation alone. You wake up naturally dehydrated, which affects everything from your energy levels to your concentration. Drinking water first thing helps restore your fluid balance quickly, with benefits including:

• Improved cognitive function and alertness

• Better physical performance throughout the day

• Support for your kidneys in filtering waste

• Enhanced digestive regularity

Research shows that even mild dehydration of just 1-2% body water loss can affect your mood and concentration levels as well as causing headaches. Coffee and tea do hydrate you but water does it more efficiently because your body doesn't need to process caffeine first. Many people find that drinking water before their morning coffee also reduces the jittery feeling or stomach discomfort that caffeine can cause.

The Power of Morning Stretching

While you're giving your body that essential hydration, your muscles and joints need attention too. After hours of being stationary, your spine gets compressed, synovial fluid in your joints becomes more gel-like and your muscles are tight and inactive. This is completely normal but morning stretching targets the areas that get stiffest overnight: your spine, hips and shoulders.

Studies show that even short sessions of stretching can greatly improve your flexibility. The key is not to push hard when your muscles are still cold. Think gentle, flowing movements rather than intense static holds.

Your Two-Minute Morning Stretch Routine

If you only have two minutes (and in December, that might be all you have), these two stretches give you the most benefit:

Cat-Cow (1 minute)

This simple morning movement is really effective for waking up your body.

How to do it:

• Start on your hands and knees, hands beneath shoulders, knees beneath hips

• Inhale and arch your back, letting your stomach drop towards the floor and lifting your gaze (cow)

• Exhale and round your spine, tucking your chin to your chest and drawing your tummy button in (cat)

• Move slowly between these positions for 10-15 cycles

This mobilises your entire spine, engages your core, gets your breathing going and wakes up the connection between your brain and body. Focus on moving through each vertebra rather than rushing through it.

Standing Forward Fold (1 minute)

After Cat-Cow gets your spine moving, this lengthens your entire back body.

How to do it:

• Stand with feet hip-width apart

• Hinge at your hips and let your upper body hang down towards the floor

• Let your arms dangle or hold opposite elbows

• Keep a soft bend in your knees, don't force straight legs

• Breathe deeply and let gravity do the work

This stretches your hamstrings, back and shoulders while increasing blood flow to your head, which helps with alertness. The inverted position also encourages deeper breathing, naturally calming your nervous system.

What to Avoid

Watch out for these habits which can undo the benefits of your morning stretches:

• Bouncing in stretches - this can actually cause small tears in muscle fibres. Keep movements smooth and controlled.

• Holding your breath - breathing deeply enhances the stretch and helps your muscles relax.

• Forcing the stretch - mild tension is good, pain is not. Your muscles are cold in the morning so be gentle.

Your Morning Ritual

Rather than trying to remember to stretch at some random point in the day, linking it to drinking water, which itself is linked to waking up and create a simple chain:

Wake up → Drink water → Stretch for 2 minutes → Continue with your day

The beauty of this challenge is that you're building two habits simultaneously that feels like one seamless morning ritual. After a few days, reaching for that glass of water will naturally remind you to stretch and vice versa.

Making It Work in December

We know December is unpredictable. You might be waking up in a hotel room, at your parents' house or facing a day that starts earlier than usual. That's exactly why this challenge works; water and stretching travel with you.

• Keep a glass or reusable bottle by your bed so water is the first thing you see

• If you're really not a morning person, you can do Cat-Cow in bed before getting up

• Travelling? Leave yourself a note for the morning on the hotel room table so the habit doesn't slip

• Running late? Even 30 seconds of Cat-Cow is better than nothing

• Try a phone reminder for the first week until it starts to become automatic

What You'll Notice

In the first few days, you might simply feel more awake and a bit looser in your body. By week two, you'll probably notice that your body starts expecting this routine. You might even feel a bit off if you skip it.

By the end of December we predict you’ll:

• Feel genuinely more alert in the mornings

• Experience less stiffness and back tension throughout the day

• Find that sense of calm and control easier to access, even when the day gets hectic

• Feel your flexibility improve, particularly in the hips and spine

A Moment for You

December can feel like it belongs to everyone else: your family, your colleagues, your friends, but those first few minutes after you wake up can be yours.

Drinking water and stretching isn't just about physical health, though of course that matters. It's about creating a small pocket of time where you're not rushing, not performing, not doing anything for anyone else. You're simply checking in with yourself before the day makes its demands.

This is our final challenge of the year and we've chosen it deliberately. After months of building strength, improving balance and exploring different wellness practices we wanted to end with something sustainable. Something we hope you'll still be doing long after December ends.

Join the Challenge

This December, we invite you to hydrate and stretch every single morning and to give your body those two minutes of attention it deserves. Drink that water, do your stretches and notice how it feels to begin your day with intention.

Track your progress or share your morning setup with us by tagging @lapochettelife and using #LaPochetteWellness. One participant will win a £150 La Pochette voucher.

Your body carries you through everything. This month, start each day by showing it a little care.