Understanding the stretch reflex: A workshop for yoga teachers
The stretch reflex is one of things that when you understand it, it adds a pretty special layer onto your teaching.
The 'stretch' in yoga stops being able just lengthening the muscle (which already has so many benefits), and it becomes a tool to help someone feel more at home in their body, calmer, and more aware of what their body is doing. And when you understand this tool, you can use it at the right time, with the right people, and have an incredible impact.
Learning about the stretch response is a very cool, real world example of the musculoskeletal system and the nervous system working together.
Let's take a look...
The stretch reflex
In short, the stretch response is the nervous system reading the stretch of a muscle, and working out the best way to respond to it.
Determining the best way to respond requires both interoception (the sense of what's going on inside you) and proprioception (where your body is in space).
These two senses are VITAL in being physically and mentally well. So if we yoga teachers can weave in the opportunities to stretch, along with language to guide the person to explore the sensation - well this can be incredibly impactful!
Evidence informed
In recent years, our understanding of flexibility and stretching has evolved significantly.
Research increasingly shows that range of motion is influenced not only by tissue length, but by the nervous system’s perception of safety.
This workshop bridges modern science and real-world teaching, helping you deepen your understanding of the stretch response - and refine the way you guide students through stretching practices. We’ll explore how the nervous system shapes flexibility, sensation, and safety - and how understanding this can impact the way you teach yoga.
In workshop, we cover
The stretch response
- What the stretch reflex is
- Why the body sometimes 'fights back' during stretching
- The role of safety in flexibility
Stretching and the nervous system
- Why flexibility is not just about muscles
- How the nervous system regulates range of motion
Teaching integration
- Safer stretch cues
- Supportive language
- How to support a wider range of students in your classes
The details
🗓️ Friday 20.03
⏰ 3:30
🙏 £25 early bird - available until 03.03
Going even deeper
If this approach resonates with you, we explore it much more deeply in the four-day:
Myofascial Release, Energetic Anatomy & Yin Yoga training.
In that training, we look at:
☯️ Fascia and its relationship to sensation and emotion
☯️ Energetic anatomy: prana, nadis, and chakras
☯️ Therapeutic sequencing
☯️ Myofascial release techniques
☯️ Yin yoga as a nervous system practice