The What, the Why and the How of Stretch Therapy
Here at The Space we highly value well-rounded wellness. You can’t just be crushing your 6am hot yoga classes and calling it a day (well, you can but that just isn’t fully effective). To us, wellness includes not only movement and how we fuel our bodies, but also how we connect with others, how we rest, how we speak to ourselves, how we fuel our minds and how we recover.
Which is why we try our best to offer everything you need right here at The Space Studios to help fill up each of those cups. :) One of our favorite offerings that can help fill those rest and recover cups is stretch therapy.
Stretching is one of those incredibly healthy habits that so easily gets pushed to the back burner - “I’ll stretch tomorrow.” “I do yoga every day, that counts right?” “stretching is boring.” Been there, done that (too many times to count). So how do you stop pushing off stretching? Creating a clear WHY for yourself, which starts with knowing why stretching is so important. Stretching helps keep our muscles not only flexible, but also healthy and strong overall, which aids in injury prevention, healthy aging AND can improve sports performance, deepen the yoga practice, reduce chronic pain and so much more.
Pick your why, then find a system to keep yourself accountable. That’s where stretch therapy comes in!
So What IS stretch therapy?
Stretch Therapy is a one-on-one assisted stretch session focused on giving you a deep stretch. To go deeper - it is a form of hands-on PNF (Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation) Stretching, which is active, versus passive which is the type of stretching we do at the end of a yoga class or in front of your TV at home (don’t lie, we all do it). Stretch therapy requires contraction and relaxation of muscles (to their limit!) against a partner (which will be The Space’s stretch therapist, Jess!).
At The Space, stretch therapy sessions happen in one of our private, relaxing wellness rooms and range from 30 minutes to an hour long.
What are The Benefits of Stretch Therapy?
It deepens the yoga practice
I know what you’re probably thinking “but I do yoga, I don’t need stretch therapy!” Right? Wrong. Yoga is not stretch therapy and stretch therapy is not yoga! But stretch therapy can AID in improving and deepening your yoga practice. You’ve probably seen people in class who seem to so easily access certain poses - whether it’s plow pose, half pigeon or skandasana - and wonder “why is it so hard for my body?” Stretch therapy can help you target specific muscles to help you access poses more easily and more pain-free in yoga.
Reduces stress
Let’s be honest… life is stressful! We all hear we need to reduce our stress for one reason or another - to balance hormones, heal our guts, ground our nervous system, etc. - but when it comes to actually PRACTICING stress reduction, it can feel like a dead end. What can you do to reduce stress when life simply IS stressful? That’s where stretch therapy comes in. Stretching is shown to release endorphins that help to not only reduce pain, but also enhance your mood and promote relaxation. Not to mention, carving out 30-60 minutes for yourself each week (or biweekly, but weekly will give you the most benefits) is a great way to prioritize self care and therefore feel more rested and at east.
Improves sports performance
Are you a competitive athlete or just love to play sports with your friends for fun? Stretch therapy can improve your sports performance by improving your range of motion, prevent injuries, increasing your flexibility and creates better muscle balance (among other benefits as well). If you come to do stretch therapy at The Space, combining stretch therapy with cold + hot therapy (cold plunge and infrared sauna) is a beautiful pairing for increasing sports performance!
Reduces muscle tension, joint pain and overall pain
Stretching can decrease chronic pain for so many reasons. One of which is that stretch therapy may help your body become properly aligned, which may help reduce inflammation in the joints and ligaments (and therefore reduce pain). Stretching consistently can also help release stiffness and muscle aches, and helps prevent injury, which all aid in a more pain-free life. And because stress can also trigger chronic pain and chronic conditions, the relaxation that stretch therapy promotes is hugely beneficial.
Aids in healthy aging
It’s easy to take small actions for granted like bending over to pick up the pen you dropped or lean over to tie your shoes, but without active stretching, these small actions get harder and harder, especially as we age (which can also make one more prone to injury). Adding in stretch therapy now assures that you’ll still be able to do the things you need to do as you age.
Keeps you accountable and consistent
Like we’ve mentioned, stretching is a habit that is easy to push off. When you have weekly or biweekly stretch therapy sessions it’s an easy way to ensure you’re stretching and you have a built in accountability partner in our stretch therapist, Jess!
Can’t I Just Stretch at Home?
Yes, of course! But passive stretching at home isn’t the same as active stretching like the type of stretching done in a session. Active stretching is shown to do more to increase your range of motion and more quickly increase your flexibility.
Also, when you do active stretch therapy sessions, you get to work towards a specific goal and know that every stretch you’re doing with your therapist is working towards that goal. Our stretch therapist, Jess, describes herself as very goal-oriented. Whether you’re trying to reduce chronic back pain, more easily access specific poses in yoga, or increase a specific muscles flexibility, you can be confident in the fact that those goals will be met.
What are the Stretch Therapy Options at The Space?
At The Space, there are a few options to get you started with stretch therapy. If you’ve never tried stretch therapy here at The Space with us in Sacramento, you can do your first 60 minute session for only $50! Outside of that, we have the following options:
30 minute drop in stretch therapy session $60
60 minute drop in stretch therapy session $110
OR we also have stretch therapy memberships, which are truly the most effective financially and consistency-wise!
60 minutes 4x/month $240 (3 month contract)
30 minutes 4x/month $120 (3 month contract)
