01/27/2026
What happens when you breathe and visualize before (and as) you stretch?
We tested it with members in Scarborough, Maine.
Here’s what changed (pre → post) in one workshop:
✅ 56% average stress reduction
✅ 66.7% average increase in ability to relax using breath
✅ 42.4% average reduction in tightness
INHABIT partnered with the team at StretchLab to run a Breathing + Visualization Workshop designed to help members downshift their nervous system, improve stretch outcomes, and build real-world relaxation skills they can use anytime.
Here’s what we taught as the foundation of proper breathing for stretching (and day-to-day life):
• Tongue placement (resting on the roof of the mouth)
• In + out through the nose
• Slow, exhale-dominant breathing (3–4 sec in / 5–6 sec out)
• Gentle diaphragmatic breathing (lower ribs expanding)
• Soft breathing (should not hear yourself breathe)
After covering the science behind breath + visualization, we went into a guided experience to help people downregulate, and prime the motor pathways connected to the muscle groups we were about to work on.
Then we took it to the benches for a PNF stretch flow, led by the StretchLab team, to help members release tension more effectively and feel the difference in real time.
Huge thank you to owner John Smart, general manager Alex McCown, lead flexologist Hannah Rega, the entire StretchLab Scarborough team, and every member who showed up during a snowstorm to breathe, visualize, and stretch with us. ❄️👏
If you’d like us to bring this experience to your team, school, or organization - send us a message.
Breathe Well 🙏🏻
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