Relaxation Stretching
With relaxation stretching, the physical body is stretched, not as an act of exertion, but as a relaxation extension. The practice harnesses the body’s natural pattern of extending on the exhaling breath.
Across the body, muscles are continuously and automatically tightening and relaxing in concert with the breath cycle. Relaxation Stretching harnesses this relaxation pattern enhancing the targeted muscle’s extension on the exhaling breath.
Additional muscular extension is achieved after employing the active Guided Breath and passive relaxation stretching by initiating a deliberate contraction and relaxation of the target area. This deliberate contraction facilitates further extension on the subsequent exhaling breath.
Mindfulness Stretching
Mindfulness StretchingTM often follows a sub-maximal Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF) contract/relax sequences. Over several breaths we increase tension in the target area through the inhaling (sympathetic) breath, and carefully witness the natural relaxation that follows on the subsequent exhaling (parasympathetic) breath.
The mental attention we bring to this parasympathetic relaxation enhances the outcomes in the body and calms the frequency of our brainwaves as the brain embodies the relaxation it witnesses.
If you are thinking of trying a yoga class or a stretching class in Canberra, try our Mindfulness stretching classes that we run across Canberra and online. Register here.