I’ve seen lives changed from Stretch Therapy.
My own life — and the lives of my students.
Here are a 3 success stories from my students:
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Most everyone that I work with, privately or in a group class, has a story about how they wound up seeking Stretch Therapy to relieve some form of pain in their body.
For some, stretching is a last resort effort to avoid surgery.
Some want to avoid injuries so they can stay active.
Some just want to feel good in their body all the time.
Some of my students have become so tight that they can hardly move — so they move less and less.
I always know my private student’s stories because we spend a lot of time together. I don’t always know the stories of the many students who attend my classes at my studio or at the local YMCA that I teach at.
A few weeks ago, at the end of my stretch class at the Y, a man approached me to ask me if he could tell me his story.
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Holidays are here… and too often, in all the busyness, we can forget to take care of our bodies! Here are 4 easy ways to keep your body happy this holiday season.
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This is a really hard question to ask, but…
Are you addicted to Ibuprofen?
If the answer is “yes,” then you are in good company because so many people are.
I have decided to write about it in hopes that this will give people hope that they can find alternative ways to deal with pain and feel better in their mind and body!
I have students that tell me that they have to take Ibuprofen before they work out in order to go through movements without pain.
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Could “it” be magic? I can’t seem to get this question out of my head. You see, I have a new private student who is an avid golfer. She loves it and seems to be a bit competitive with her fellow golfers.
At our first session, I told her that stretching would improve her golf game.
She looked a me with skepticism, but said “well, if you think so, I hope so, I’ll give it a try.”
She has been stretching with me for 4 weeks now. Yesterday, she casually mentioned to me that she had her best golf game ever the day before.
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Hydration is essential to life!
Think about it…
Every human, every animal, every plant, every tree, every blade of grass needs water to survive. If it doesn’t get enough, it shrivels, dries up, and dies.
What does hydration have to do with stretching, you ask?
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“The point of pain is usually never the source.”
On my first journey to California searching for stretching guidance, research, and knowledge, my stretch workshop instructor said this to us as he began his session.
“That is crazy,” I thought.
So, if your back hurts, it’s not your back?
How could that be?
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26 bones.
33 joints.
19 muscles.
100s of ligaments & tendons.
… are in each foot!
There are more of these in the foot than any other part of our body… and we put them in shoes all day!
In the “stretching world,” shoes are considered “coffins for your feet.”
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A student approached me this week with an incredible transformation story.
She told me she had suffered for years with foot pain.
She has had many visits to her podiatrist who only offers surgery as an option for treatment. She was determined not to have surgery, so she sought a different route.
One of those routes was Stretch Therapy. She has been attending my class for about 6 months now.
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I have a married couple that has been coming to my studio twice a week for private Stretch Therapy sessions for the last 6 months. The wife loves it and cannot wait to get to every session. The husband... not so much. I think he really does like to stretch on the inside, but on the outside, he comes kicking and screaming—but still, he comes.
A little background about the reluctant husband…
He is in his 70s, and he is very fit. In fact, he works out for hours every day. He is extremely tight and has had to modify movements to reduce pain in his body. He wants to stay active.
A few days ago, as we were finishing up a session, out of the blue he asked me if I had a tape measure. I said that I did and asked him why he needed it.
He said that on his doctor visit last year, his height was measured as being 5 ft. 8 in. He was upset because he had been 5 ft. 10 in. his whole life. He wanted me to measure his height again to see if it had changed.
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I always say to my students at the end of every stretch session that I teach...
You are now… longer, taller, younger, smarter, leaner, sweeter, happier, healthier.
Everyone laughs, but I am telling them the truth!
All of these amazing things happen when you stretch — I call them the 8 “-er”s of Stretch Therapy.
Let me break it down for you.
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Did you know…
Our flexibility decreases by 10% every decade!
It does not matter if you are an extreme athlete, a fitness buff, play a sport, walker, runner, biker, swimmer, or if you’re none of these.
Muscle tissue tightens over time just by doing daily life!
One of the most beneficial ways to decrease tight muscle tissue is a form of Stretch Therapy known as Partner Stretching.
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A few weeks ago, I woke up with my left ankle swollen like a grapefruit.
I could barely put weight on it to walk.
What happened? What did I do?
I had to scroll back in my brain to remember what I may have done to cause my injury. I could not recall a specific movement or moment that would have caused it.
Hmm….
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Many people have the misconception that you have to be flexible to be able to stretch. They think that an Assisted Stretching class means trying to touch your toes or strain your muscles.
This is not true at all.
Assisted Stretching is NOT about trying to touch your toes or straining to stretch.
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Recently, I looked back through my notes from all the stretching workshops I have attended and the blog posts I have written.
Something profound really caught my attention: MEN!
All my workshop instructors have been MEN!
Some of the most transformative stretch stories that I have written about in my blog posts were about MEN!
Men with stories like…
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This is how it goes... Muscles tighten as we do daily life and climb in age... When muscles tighten, they shorten… When muscles shorten, they restrict range of motion and cause pain in our joints… When joints become painful, we move less… When we move less, joints stiffen and body functions slow down… When body functions slow down, circulation of blood and oxygen is reduced… When circulation is reduced, other health issues occur… Now we are so tight that we can’t move without pain, so we restrict our mobility even more to avoid it. And then we are set up for even more health issues.
You know what I’m going to say...
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Your bike sits unused for a while in your garage.
One beautiful sunny day, you decide to pull it out and go for a ride.
But… you don’t get very far because the petals are hard to turn.
Suddenly, you realize that the chain had become rusty from sitting too long without use.
You will need to oil the chain before you can go for your ride. So you grab the oil can and start applying the oil to the rusty chain.
As the oil begins to drop into the crevices, the petals become easier and easier to turn. You are all oiled up now and ready to go.
The “rusty chain” analogy also applies to the human body when it sits too much! Here are some easy ways to get moving every day. Let’s not be a “rusty chain!”
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Assisted Stretching can help you maintain and reclaim mobility.
But there is more to your health than simply stretching every day.