Bethany Endter - Fascial Stretch Therapy & Virtual Personal Training

Fascia: a band or sheath of connective tissue investing, supporting, or binding together internal organs or parts of the body🤓

Fascia is like this massive web that covers and connects just about everything! It’s responsible for our bodies being able to hold their shape, transfer force, proprioception, and so much more

Fascia LOVES movement, water, and and Fascial Stretch Therapy!

“Movement is the freedom of the body; stillness, of the mind.”💜 Movement is natural to me. When I had a desk job, I used to create fake printer jobs just so I could get up and walk around more often! Sorry trees 🙈

Stillness doesn’t come so easily to me. I struggle with anxiety, and it wasn’t until recently that I even was aware of it! My anxiety manifested as physical symptoms that I never allowed myself to sit with. I kept moving so I didn’t have to feel the discomfort.

Did you know that anxiety is very physical? As part of our body’s survival mechanism, the body will start pumping chemicals out if it perceives threat. Those chemicals cause physiological changes like increased heart rate, tense muscles, hyper vigilance, sweating, nausea, racing thoughts, shallow breathing etc. In an effort to protect you, your body can create quite the scene!!

To heal anxiety, you have to address the body AND the mind. You can’t think yourself out of a fight or flight/chemical pumping mode! Your body has to know it’s safe.

Intentional breathing, stretching, gentle movement (gentle!!! Not balls to the wall go as hard as you can and send even more chemicals through your body - I’m looking at you cardioholics!) and touch can all help move the body into a calmer state.

But you also need that stillness. To become aware. To sit with the feelings. To find out where they are in your body. To allow yourself to feel.

If you’re like me and struggle with stillness, try breathwork! Or sitting down for 5 minutes just listening to music with your eyes closed. Try an app like Headspace or Unplug Meditation. Find what works for you! Becoming aware of how I feel anxiety in my body was a game changer for me, and it allows me to be more in control when I feel anxiety creep in.

Why do I bring this all up?! Because anxiety is very physical, I see firsthand how it impacts my clients. So often the tightness they experience is caused by their nervous system being a little too on guard. That’s one of the reasons why I believe in FST, it helps to down regulate the nervous system and bring the body into a calmer state💕

What’s the ultimate goal of mobility? To feel GOOD in your body! Mobility creates a feeling of openness, ease, and lightness (I think that’s a word?!)

Mobility is NOT forcing your body into positions it’s not ready for. If you look at this photo, I was not warmed up, and I had to bend my knees quite a bit in this Forward Fold in order for the pose to actually feel good

Did I force myself to “do it for the ‘gram” at my body’s expense?! Heck no! Not even close to worth it. But so often it’s easy to believe that our bodies should be at a certain level or look a certain way when that’s just not true

So here’s a little reminder that mobility should feel good! And if it doesn’t, see if maybe you’re going about it the wrong way

Want help with becoming more mobile? Link in bio to book your Fascial Stretch Therapy session with me at

Did you know that balance and mobility grow increasingly important as you age? Balance so that you don’t fall; mobility so you can get back up. Incorporating balance (maybe by doing yoga, standing on one leg while brushing your teeth, closing your eyes while balancing, etc) and having a CONSISTENT mobility routine can literally add years to your life!

✨2021 what a RIDE!! Grateful for the adventure of it all. Cheers to the year ahead and living life to the fullest🥂

I mean, who said stretching has to be miserable?? Fascial Stretch Therapy is not meant to be intense or painful, and if it is I’m not doing my job well! I’ve even had clients be so relaxed during sessions that they fall asleep😴

FST convinces the nervous system to calm TF down so that it can let go of any unnecessary tension. That’s why it feels so dang yummy!

Did you know that you have joints that are supposed to be super mobile and move in all directions (think hips, shoulders, ankles…), BUT you also have joints that are more stable (knee, lower back, elbow etc…)

When super mobile joints become stiff and restricted, your body will try to find mobility somewhere else. This means that areas designed for stability will begin to compensate in ways that won’t feel so great. For example: if your hips don’t move well, the knees might start moving in funky ways. No bueno!

What’s the takeaway? Stay mobile!!! Move in every direction and explore your own range of motion. After mobility, stabilize! Add a few stability exercises to your warm-up👌🏽

Want me to stretch you out? You can learn more about Fascial Stretch Therapy and book your session with me at by visiting the link in bio

Does your QL need some love? Your QL - Quadratus Lumborum - is located on your lower back on either side of the lumbar spine. It’s a major stabilizing muscle, and it supports the core when breathing. When it gets cranky, the QL can create some intense lower back pain!🥴

The QL needs movement (shout out to all my peeps sitting in chairs all day🙃) and stability to be happy!

This stretch is one of my FAVS!! If you did an hour of just this on my body, I would be totally happy😂 It not only gets a sticky QL mobilized, but it loosens up everything going up and down that line of fascia

Want to check it out Fascial Stretch Therapy for yourself? Link in bio to book your session with me at

Not seeing results from stretching? Here are some possible reasons why:

✨You’re not breathing properly - Shallow chest breathing or even holding your breath keeps your body in fight or flight mode and unable to relax. Notice your breathing patterns while stretching and practice deep breaths by using the diaphragm

✨You’re not hydrated - Fascia and muscle tissue NEED water to function properly

✨You’re not playing with different angles - Staying in a stretch without exploring different angles is selling yourself short

✨Not holding a stretch long enough - if you are doing static stretching, you should be holding the position for at least 30 seconds. If you are doing active stretching, at least 10 reps of the movement

✨You’re not staying consistent - 10 minutes of stretching once a week will *NOT* make up for the 10 hours a days you might spend sitting in one place🤷🏽‍♀️ Consistently moving and stretching throughout your day in different angles and directions will help you find that progress you’re looking for👌🏽

✨You’re not taking your body actively through the newly gained range of motion - if you spend time working on your mobility and stretching, it’s a good idea to practice a couple of strengthening exercises or activations using that newly gained range motion. This encourages your brain to realize it’s safe to move in that opened up range

Hope these help! Leave a comment below if you have any questions about stretching!!

Link in bio to book a Fascial Stretch Therapy (FST) session with me at

HYPERMOBILITY✨ If you take a look at my elbows in this pic, they don’t exactly bend in the right direction 😂 I am hypermobile in many of my joints and have a tendency to dislocate because of it

SO should you stretch if you’re hypermobile like me?

It depends! Active, mindful mobility - where you are engaging the proper muscles instead of sinking into the joints - can be extremely helpful. I was afraid to do yoga for years because I was terrified of dislocating. Once I learned that I could safely do yoga by not being lazy and relying on my natural flexibility, I was able to get SO much more out my practice!

Hypermobile people have a tendency to become tight in weird areas! Their bodies try to compensate for the unstable joints by creating stability (what you may experience as tightness) elsewhere. This can cause muscular imbalances and pain. By exploring ranges of motion and moving the body in ALL directions you can prevent these compensations

FST is safe for those with hyper mobility! If the joint is loose already, I’m not going to stretch it more! I take the body through different ranges of motion to find the areas where it is compensating for your Gumby-ness and focus there (if you don’t know who Gumby is please just pretend you do so I don’t feel so old😂)

Side note: For those hypermobile joints, you NEED to incorporate stability exercises into your routine to keep the joint healthy! If you’re not sure what to do, working with a physical therapist is the best way to start out👌🏽

Link in bio to book an FST session with me