What's the right ratio of stretching to exercise? How much, how often, and why is it so easy to forget entirely?

Stephanie found out the hard way, through a foot massage. In this solo episode of mBc, she talks through the moment a masseuse told her, "you really need to stretch more," and the uncomfortable realization that followed: she genuinely could not remember the last time she'd stretched on purpose.

But this isn't just a story about a forgotten habit. Stephanie traces it back to a head injury a few years ago that triggered years of on and off vertigo, and how that experience quietly pushed floor based stretching and yin yoga out of her routine entirely. It wasn't laziness. It was her body protecting itself from a very real trigger, and it took real work, including EMDR therapy, to even get to where she is now.

This episode is a reminder that the parts of a movement routine we drop aren't always dropped by accident, and that rebuilding doesn't mean going back to exactly what worked before. Sometimes it means finding a new way in, standing instead of on the floor, small instead of overhauled.

Key Takeaways

• Stretching and exercise are not the same thing, and it's easy to keep doing one while completely forgetting the other.
• A body can quietly drop a habit for reasons that have nothing to do with motivation or discipline. Trauma and fear can do it too.
• Floor based stretches and vertigo don't mix for everyone, and that's a legitimate reason to change how you move, not a failure.
• EMDR therapy can reduce trauma responses significantly, even if some triggers (like being on the floor or mat) take longer to fully resolve.
• You don't need to overhaul a whole routine to fix a gap. A few minutes of standing stretches can matter more than an all or nothing plan.
• Sometimes the body remembers what it needs before the mind consciously notices.

In This Episode

• The foot massage that turned into a full leg release, and the comment that started it all
• Realizing stretching had quietly disappeared from a packed movement calendar
• How a head injury and months of vertigo changed Stephanie's relationship with the floor and the mat
• Why yin yoga stopped feeling like exposure therapy and started feeling like a trigger
• The role EMDR therapy played in reducing (but not fully erasing) that trauma response
• Standing stretch alternatives that don't require getting on the ground
• The "cute gym clothes" paradox: questioning why modern life replaced natural movement with scheduled workouts
• A callback to Golden Spa Relax in Tirana, Albania, the place that started this whole realization

Notable Quotes

"I couldn't for the life of me think of what I was doing to stretch."

"It's just been attached to a whole lot of stress, that's the reason."

"Sometimes our bodies remember before our minds do."

"I don't need to overhaul my movement plan. I just need to make room for what used to come naturally."

Join the Conversation

Have you ever dropped a key part of your wellness or self care routine without realizing it, until something reminded you how much you needed it? What brought you back to it?

Leave a comment on Instagram @mybodycan to share your experience.

mBc is a project about rebuilding strength and mobility in your 50s after illness, injury, and hormonal change, one honest, unfiltered day at a time.