Functional Flexibility

If you want to improve your practice at the studio or activity outdoors, it’s essential to dedicate time for both strength and flexibility in your training. Both are important and need to be developed simultaneously. If there is an imbalance of one over the other, injury may occur. Flexibility without strength can lead to joint instability, whereas strength without flexibility can limit the range of motion and lead to tears or problems with posture and improper alignment.

If you are more naturally inclined towards flexibility, it is especially important to incorporate strength-training into your practice. If you want to be more flexible, you need to balance strength with mobility and awareness of structural alignment to do so safely.

Functional flexibility is a combination of building strength with muscle memory in new and healthy ranges of motion while also relaxing the muscles being stretched and strengthening the supporting muscles that allow the muscle to relax. We will also use deep breathing techniques to down-regulate the nervous system, which allows the body to soften and turn off the stretch reflex to gently lengthen the soft tissues.

A healthy, high-functioning body must have both strength and flexibility. This full-body practice will improve communication with your body to unlock your optimal range of motion, work out tension, increase strength and improve flexibility, leaving you feeling stronger, more supples, and centered.