After completing the Stretch Therapy Workshop with Kit Laughlan in May, I thought I would share some insights from that weekend that I feel would be useful to everyone. I’d also like to get a bit ‘preachy’ and write about the importance of stretching.
Firstly, the workshop was amazing and I wouldn’t just recommend it for practitioners, coaches and yogis etc. I recommend it to everyone and if you have the opportunity to attend one of these workshops then it would be worth your time. If you are lucky enough to have a Stretch Class accessible to you and most of you readers do, I advise you all to go.
Kit talked about how important it is to breath during stretching, this was probably my biggest take away. The body loves to tense up when if feels discomfort. Breath and relax into your stretch, you won’t injury yourself if you are mindful. Listen to your body, if it doesn’t feel right then back it off, your body will stop you long before you hurt yourself as you long as you are present in that moment.
I didn’t walk away from this workshop with stretching being a new found importance because stretching is already apart of my training regime and it’s already a priority.
But why is it a priority…
1) I don’t want to just be strong, I want to move and feel better. I want to be able to wake up in the morning and be able to kick someone in the head if I needed to.
2) Injuries suck! I want to be able to train every day, I stay on the top of my flexibility and mobility to make this happen. Sh#t happens but I want to avoid injury as best I can.
3) When we are stressed, we tense up our bodies and our muscles become tight. By releasing this tension, we can in turn help to de-stress and get rid of that tension in your bodies. I look forward to my stretching days because of this. It’s a good way for me to be mindful and be aware of how my body is feeling.
I could rattle on about this as it’s a huge topic but the fact is this; If you want to become strong, fit, move better or feel better then you’ve got to stretch.
There are so many different ways to stretch and no one method is the be all and end all. If all you have time for is 15mins for a few static stretches then that’s great, you will be better off.
I’ll leave you with a little Dad joke…
I arrived late for a yoga class last week. The instructor told
me to get my asana mat 🙂
Coach Alex