Stretch for Life DVD

Flexibility is an important aspect of overall health and well-being.  The body has an enormous and amazing way of healing, and incorporating simple stretching exercises can be extremely helpful in speeding up recovery as well as in maintaining good physical fitness.  Licensed massage therapist and educator Lori Walter has developed Stretch 4 Life, a proven and effective tool for people of any age and level of muscular fitness.  By using this full body stretch routine, relaxation and flexibility can easily be achieved.  The Stretch 4 Life DVD and manual are a wonderful resource for anyone who wishes to pursue enhanced health and well-being.  This fabulous routine will also help reinforce healthy habits.
With this practical and easy to use program, Stretch 4 Life will enable anyone to achieve increased flexibility.  Tailor any stretch sequence you need to aid in your journey to better health.  Individuals can get started with only a few simple stretches to begin the healing process.  Later, as the range of motion and strength improve, individuals can increase the specialized plan by simply incorporating additional stretches from the manual and DVD.

Lori Walter is a licensed massage therapist and stretch instructor.  She has developed this Stretch 4 Life routine over her 13 years of work with the goal to help people heal and repair their structural integrity.  For more information or to place and order, visit www.Stretch4Life.com.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do I need to stretch?
Although the mind is the dominant center of control, by attaining relaxation in the voluntary muscle system, we can influence relaxation in the involuntary muscles and other systems of the body.  While the muscles in the heart will perform their jobs without conscious effort, we can assist them by ensuring that the muscles we can control do not become tense and thus interfere with the processes.  Instead those muscles can be relaxed, which conserves our energy for those times when we need extra.  By learning to relax we have a useful tool for release when life gets more complicated.

What techniques will I learn to help me relax?
Muscle work always has at least two parts.  A muscle contracts and shortens or it relaxes and lengthens.  In this way muscles also work together but in an exactly opposite and reciprocal relationship.  For example, when we bend an elbow, the biceps muscle contracts and the triceps muscle behind lengthens to allow the movement.  Sometimes this interaction may be disturbed, as when our foot goes into a cramp.  The muscle remains in a state of contraction, which becomes painful because it is prolonged and very fatiguing.  Relaxation is the physiological state that follows muscle contraction.  To achieve relaxation, we will learn to move in one direction followed by a balance of movement in the opposite direction.

What is diaphragmatic breathing and why is it important?
Respiration at rest is performed most significantly by the diaphragm, and any “action” occurring in the abdominal area is quite passive.  In fact, if the muscles of the abdomen are not relaxed and passive, then breathing is forced up into the chest.  Diaphragmatic breathing and relaxation of the abdominal wall complement each other by helping us stay loose and keeping our breathing slow and deep.

Why is posture important and can I learn to stand up straight now?
Correct posture is energizing to the system of the body.  It is the position your brain likes best and will re-learn it quickly and easily.