Close-up of hands gently supporting a client's leg during a PNF stretch, highlighting care and connection.
Close-up of hands gently supporting a client's leg during a PNF stretch, highlighting care and connection.

What is PNF Stretching?

PNF assisted stretching is a safe, effective, and personalized approach to improving flexibility, mobility, and neuromuscular awareness through gentle muscle engagement, breathwork, and relaxation, working with the nervous system to create lasting improvements in range of motion while reducing muscular guarding and tension.

The collaborative, breath-centered approach supports recovery, improves range of motion, and helps the nervous system relax, making it beneficial for both active and inactive individuals experiencing chronic tightness or limited mobility due to lifestyle stress, those returning from injury, and older adults seeking to maintain mobility.

Through brief, controlled contractions followed by assisted stretch and release accompanied by breathwork, the body’s protective reflexes soften, creating space for deeper and more sustainable mobility gains.

Benefits:

  • Increased flexibility and joint range of motion

  • Reduced muscular tension and chronic tightness

  • Improved posture and movement efficiency

  • Enhanced mind–body awareness

  • Injury prevention and recovery support

  • Stress reduction through nervous system regulation

The work is subtle yet powerful, meeting the body where it is--cultivating awareness, and allowing change to arise gradually and safely.

The one-on-one sessions are collaborative, restorative, and tailored to each individual's needs, creating an experience of being met, rather than adjusted.

About Kate

Kate Petty is a certified PNF stretch practitioner and has been teaching yoga for over 20 years. She joined The Newtown Wellness Collective this year and is blessed to bring her experience with yoga, stretching, and bodywork to the community.

Her approach to assisted stretching emphasizes safety, presence, and patience and combines anatomical knowledge with intuitive care, creating an environment where clients feel supported, respected, and empowered in their bodies.

Her vinyasa yoga practice emphasizes mindful alignment, conscious breathing, and fluid movement that support vitality and grace. Inspired by classical yoga philosophy and neuromuscular conditioning, Kate invites students to reconnect with the power of breath and the natural rhythms that support ease, resilience, and well-being.

She lives in Bethel, where community, nature, and practice continue to inform her path.