Cats and Dogs Do It

Have you ever noticed when a dog or a cat gets up from a nap, she almost always takes a really big stretch before moving away from her resting spot? Let's take a closer look at what's really going on with that stretch and examine why her stretch might have relevance in your everyday life.

If you have a cat or a dog, take a moment and go to her. I want you to grasp her skin any where near her shoulder and give it a gentle tug. Did you notice that the skin is highly pliable and that it easily moves away from the muscle structures underneath?

Now take your hand and pull the skin of your upper arm or shoulder, pulling with the same amount of pressure you pulled on your pet. If you are like most people, you will notice a significant difference of elasticity between you and your pet.

If you have experienced an arm or shoulder injury sometime in your past, the amount of elasticity of the skin on one arm or shoulder will be significantly less than the other side.

Notwithstanding evolutionary factors, the fundamental question remains: Why is it that on average, animals are significantly more flexible than people? The more interesting question might be: Why is your skin tighter in the area of a previous injury?

Interestingly enough, it's not necessarily the skin that's elastic or stiff; but it's the underlying "fabric" directly under the skin and above the muscle structures that has direct responsibly for how flexible you are.

That material is called fascia, which is a profuse tissue that covers your entire body from the top of your head to the tip of your toes. Fascia lies directly under all your skin and also "wraps" each and every muscle, organ and gland of your body.

Fascia's significance is paramount: Remember the cat or dog stretching? It always stretches throughout its day. Those "dog stretches" and "cat stretches" don't really stretch skin or muscle as much as maintain elasticity of the fascia.

As a soft-tissue, fascia responds to stress and trauma by contracting. We humans continually bombard ourselves with stress and trauma: day after day, month after month, and year after year. The result is that our physical and emotional stress often causes fascia to contract tighter than a drum skin.

Animals, on the other hand, are continually stretching and working out the stress of their everyday lives. Yoga was developed thousands of years ago by paying attention to the animals of nature and learning how to replicate their movements in order to reduce stress. Yoga, when appropriately practiced, is a systematically designed system that restores balance, flexibility, and strength resulting in a peaceful body and quiet mind.

* Article provided by Sam Dworkis, Author, instructor and yoga student for 30 years. Visit ExtensionYoga.com for great yoga books and information.*

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