Why Does Stretching Feel Good?

Yoga is a path to physical and mental health – a solid, consistent practice can improve your strength, flexibility, and coordination. Yoga physical postures involve stretching more than other low-impact workouts like Taichi, Qigong or else. Stretch your body thoroughly, and correctly helps improve flexibility and strength.

Why does stretching feel good?

Stretching your body makes you feel good because it helps with improving circulation, parasympathetic activation and release of Endorphins.

Improved circulation

When you stretch a muscle, your body responds by increasing blood flow to that muscle, thus bringing more oxygen and flooding away metabolic waste at the same time.

Parasympathetic activation

The parasympathetic nervous system is responsible for your rest and digestion functions. Research has proved that static stretching activates your parasympathetic nervous system and inhibits the activation of your sympathetic nervous system.

Endorphin release

Endorphins are part of your body’s natural reward system and are released after activities like exercise, sex, eating, and drinking.

No evidence is proven that the stretching process stimulates the release of Endorphins, but many yogis have expressed that doing stretches helps them reduce menstruation pain. Pain relief is related to Endorphin release.

Physical Benefits

Regularly stretching your body results in many physical benefits:

• Increased flexibility
• Improved circulation
• Stress relief
• Better sports performance
• Improved posture

How long should you stretch?

According to experts at Harvard Health, hold your stretches for 30 seconds, it is possible you may feel some tension, if you feel pain, back off immediately.

How often should you stretch?

The more often you stretch, the better it is for your body. However, it’s recommended to stretch for a short time each day or multiple times a day.