meet our instructors

Tom Longo

Tom Longo is the most experienced Resistance Stretching trainer in the western United States. A certified Resistance Stretching Instructor for over 15 years, he is co-founder of StretchWorks, located near San Francisco, where he offers group classes and private sessions. From 1992 to 1999, Tom trained and taught at The Meridian Stretching Center in Boston with Bob Cooley, developer of Resistance Stretching. Tom was flexibility trainer to Dara Torres for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, where Dara won two Gold and three Bronze medals for swimming. Tom mainly works with individual private clients, creating custom Resistance Stretching programs for them while providing advice on diet, physical and mental well-being, and cross-training. His clients cover a broad spectrum of age and physical ability and they likewise come seeking help on a wide variety of needs and goals. read tom's full profile...

Anne Caswell

Anne comes to yoga from a background in dance and improvisational movement. She has been studying yoga for 12 years and received her teacher training through the Advanced Studies Program at the Iyengar Yoga Institute of San Francisco. read anne's full profile...

Doran Christie

Doran, co-founder of Stretchworks is a resistance flexibility trainer. She has trained for many years with Tom Longo and Bob Cooley, author of “The Genius of Flexibility.” Doran’s background includes extensive study of yoga, meditation and mindfulness and holistic health. Currently Doran studies Insight Yoga with Sarah Powers. Insight yoga is a comprehensive path of study that bridges Yoga, Chinese Medicine and Tibetan Buddhism.

As a resistance flexibility trainer. Doran works with her clients to regain youthful agility, strength and power, and fluidity and suppleness in the joint capsules and connective tissue. She works to create a program of resistance stretching and strength that builds lean muscle tissue that is elastic and elongated, improved posture and alignment, and a sense of overall balanced well being. Doran considers her work to be an imperative component to injury prevention and recovery. A personalized program of resistance stretching creates changes in the body and stimulates a robust healthiness, strength and youthful agility, and increased balance for every body. Resistance stretch and strengthening uses leading edge positions that stretch synergistic muscle groups along their correct movement patterns.

Doran helps many women create a positive body image that may include hormonal balancing through stimulating and clearing acupuncture meridian lines activated with resistance stretching. Doran has experience working with women addressing menopausal symptoms as well as PMS and post menopausal symptoms. read doran's full profile...

Kris Kruse

Kris comes to resistance stretching from an eclectic athletic background. She has taught/coached skiing for over 30 years and currently coaches and trains ski instructors in the Primary Movements Teaching System (PMTS) and the American Teaching System (she has been an instructor examiner for the Professional Ski Instructors of America). read kris's full profile...