Can Assisted Stretching Affect Bone Density? A Personal Account

Okay… I am 61 years old. There it is, right out there.

Make no mistake, I love being 61. I love having birthdays and becoming older. (It is better than the alternative of not having them...)

Eight years ago, I began to look at age very differently after one of my good friends passed away with cancer at the age of 48. Now, every year is a gift.

But as we age, life can present us with certain health issues.

Recently, I had my annual “lady doctor exam,” mammogram, and bone density test. My last bone density test took place 5 years ago.

Sitting with my doctor to discuss my results, she raised her eyebrows as she asked me, “What are you doing differently? Your spine looks amazing compared to the exam you had 5 years ago.”

“Are you exercising more or have you changed your diet?” she asked.

I was as shocked as she was by my results!

She said that she normally prescribes patients who are my age calcium and vitamin D supplements to improve their bone density... but not me.

Whoa! Really?!

I was happy and she was impressed. But what changed?

I called my husband from the car and told him the news.

He said, “Could it be that you are stretching? That would be the only thing you are doing differently.”

Why didn’t I think of that? I could barely breathe when he said it.

I started The Power To Pause and began advocating for Assisted Stretching in 2017. But my last bone density test was in 2015—two years prior. I wanted to drive back to my doctor’s office to tell her my discovery, but at that point I was almost home.

Could it be that stretching has elongated and opened up my spine, making it healthier?

Researchers still have a lot to learn about how stretching affects our entire bodies, but from my own story… I believe stretching is the reason my bone density improved!

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She Didn't Have to Quit Her Job + 2 More Stretching Success Stories

I’ve seen lives changed from Stretch Therapy.

My own life — and the lives of my students.

Here are a 3 success stories from my students:

From Feet Pain to Relief: A Stretching Success Story

Most everyone that I work with, privately or in a group class, has a story about how they wound up seeking Stretch Therapy to relieve some form of pain in their body.

For some, stretching is a last resort effort to avoid surgery.

Some want to avoid injuries so they can stay active.

Some just want to feel good in their body all the time.

Some of my students have become so tight that they can hardly move — so they move less and less.

I always know my private student’s stories because we spend a lot of time together. I don’t always know the stories of the many students who attend my classes at my studio or at the local YMCA that I teach at.

A few weeks ago, at the end of my stretch class at the Y, a man approached me to ask me if he could tell me his story.

4 Holiday Health Hints to Keep Your Body Happy

Holidays are here… and too often, in all the busyness, we can forget to take care of our bodies! Here are 4 easy ways to keep your body happy this holiday season.

It Doesn't Come in a Bottle

This is a really hard question to ask, but…

Are you addicted to Ibuprofen?

If the answer is “yes,” then you are in good company because so many people are.

I have decided to write about it in hopes that this will give people hope that they can find alternative ways to deal with pain and feel better in their mind and body!

I have students that tell me that they have to take Ibuprofen before they work out in order to go through movements without pain.

Could it be magic?

Could “it” be magic? I can’t seem to get this question out of my head. You see, I have a new private student who is an avid golfer. She loves it and seems to be a bit competitive with her fellow golfers.

At our first session, I told her that stretching would improve her golf game.

She looked a me with skepticism, but said “well, if you think so, I hope so, I’ll give it a try.”

She has been stretching with me for 4 weeks now. Yesterday, she casually mentioned to me that she had her best golf game ever the day before.

Hydrate... and then hydrate some more!

Hydration is essential to life!

Think about it…

Every human, every animal, every plant, every tree, every blade of grass needs water to survive. If it doesn’t get enough, it shrivels, dries up, and dies.

What does hydration have to do with stretching, you ask?

Where It is, It Ain’t: How the Point of Pain is Never the Source of Pain

“The point of pain is usually never the source.”

On my first journey to California searching for stretching guidance, research, and knowledge, my stretch workshop instructor said this to us as he began his session.

“That is crazy,” I thought.

So, if your back hurts, it’s not your back?

How could that be?

Feet: The Foundation Of Our Body

26 bones.

33 joints.

19 muscles.

100s of ligaments & tendons.

… are in each foot!

There are more of these in the foot than any other part of our body… and we put them in shoes all day!

In the “stretching world,” shoes are considered “coffins for your feet.”

Healing Your Body from the Inside: How My Stretch Student Avoided Foot Surgery

A student approached me this week with an incredible transformation story.

She told me she had suffered for years with foot pain.

She has had many visits to her podiatrist who only offers surgery as an option for treatment. She was determined not to have surgery, so she sought a different route.

One of those routes was Stretch Therapy. She has been attending my class for about 6 months now.

Health Tips, Stretch TherapyConnie WilliamsJuly 22, 2020

Can Assisted Stretching Affect Bone Density? A Personal Account

But as we age, life can present us with certain health issues.

Why didn’t I think of that? I could barely breathe when he said it.

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