Mobilizations 

Most of the benefits of massage therapy are equal and sometimes greater in stretching, such as opening up adhesions and blood circulation working through restrictions increasing tissue health and range of motion. Your muscles are made to support and move the body by both lengthening and contracting to move bone and joint. Stretches applied by a therapist can be more beneficial due to the therapist's leverage, knowledge, and skill. It can be felt more deeply and more supported and safer. Bolsters may be used to support parts of the body to relax into the stretch, whether it's to appease the stretch-reflex of tight or weak muscles or to support sensitive joints (supported positional release).

In yoga it is known as restorative yoga. This concept has kinesthetic merit for directed therapy and enhanced with gentle manual pressure. Getting the body supported so that it does not feel like it's hanging out in space resisting gravity is very relaxing. It relaxes or appeases the stretch-reflex, which is a proprioceptive function to keep the muscle from over stretching. It also switches over the central nervous system's sympathetic (fight or flight) mode to the parasympathetic (rest and digest). That sympathetic function was what you were describing as life stress that was tensing your muscles. The stress was adding to that stretch reflex ready to resist external forces. We're able to relax into a stretch rather than pull into a stretch. 

The intended muscle to stretch starts in its shorten position and relaxed so that deep pressure can be applied to it. This is called pinning the muscle. This pressure is applied with thumb, or tool, or suction cup. Once the applied pressure is set the muscle is then lengthened. This stretch is done either by the other hand of the therapist (passive) or the recipient does the work activating the muscle to create a full range of motion that the therapist first instructs (active).

Active assisted stretching. Giving fine focus on a single joint's range of motion, we get the rest of the body supported and activate that agonist muscle to create the movement in an active reach. While most forms of stretching focus on directly pulling at the tight antagonist muscle, AIS the person keeps activating and trying with the agonist contraction to move a little more and then with a little bit of outside assistance to get just a little more reach.

Honestly, from a western therapist perspective who is also trained in hatha yoga, without the eastern wu explanations, being on a floor mat comfortably clothed the possibilities are endless for positioning and mobilizations. Any of the techniques on this mobilization page as well bio-structural myo-fascial techniques can be utilized getting in more effectively at any angle and better leverage, addressing the body in all its shapes. Trigger points can also be accessed through cloth if needed.

Some people refer to Thai massage as lazy man’s yoga.

“Proprio Neuro Function.” In PNF stretching, the person gets to the end of the stretch range of motion where tension stops him. Either from this far position or backing off a little more then contracts the intended muscle of stretch resisting against something in the opposite direction such as the therapist or a strap. That force continues to apply to the intended muscle of stretch as it then releases it’s contraction then being passively pushed a little deeper. Very similar to supported positional release, this contraction is another means of appeasing the stretch reflex in the proprioceptor known as “golgi tendon apparatus.”