Stretch with Breath Program Review: Why Slower Is the Point

A day-by-day look at Chelsea Jackson Roberts’ new breathwork and stretching program, from the gear you’ll need to what changed after finishing all seven classes.

Peloton announced the Stretch with Breath Program with Chelsea Jackson Roberts on at the beginning of July, 2026. I was excited to try it out! This review walks through all seven days, from the gear needed for each class, what you can expect to do, and what may change for you (as it did for me) after a full week of this practice.

Who Is the Peloton Stretch with Breath Program For?

The Peloton Stretch with Breath program is for anyone and everyone! If you are already a fan of Chelsea’s yoga or meditation, you’re in the right place. If you have never done yoga or meditation, you’re in the right place. If you consider yourself an athlete, or if you don’t, you’re in the right place. If you are recovering from something, you’re in the right place – no matter if it’s a hard class you took or if life took a toll on you, there is something for you in this unique set of classes.

After a five-minute Intro class, the seven days of classes are broken out into specific body parts where she focuses the stretch. The breathwork is the same throughout the week. It does progress slightly, but it’s not like she throws different approaches to it at you with every class. This streamlined focus is really helpful. By the end of the seven days, you can really understand how to breathe in different shapes and then take that to your other workouts.

As a reminder, though this is a Program (and can only be viewed on the app or on your hardware), it is not time-restricted. You can take as long as you want to finish it without losing progress, and then you can come back to specific classes individually later.

It would have been nice if Peloton labelled the thumbnails with the name of the focus body area, and noted which accessories are needed for each class, but, I suppose for now that’s what “Note to Self” is for. Hopefully they will update the thumbnails, though, to make this important Program even more accessible. (All classes use blocks; a blanket is welcome, some require a strap and I do recommend a real yoga strap with a loop.)

The Peloton Stretch with Breath Program Classes

Day 1 Intro

In this Day 1 Five Minute Overview, Chelsea explained how each day was broken into each body section and then culminated in a Full Body stretch. We practiced the breathing technique, belly breathing/cyclic sigh with some gentle seated neck rolls. She helped us notice our bodies and which parts of the bodies needed this. She said, “Your body will be an instrument and we will fine tune it together.”

She also noted how she “works with athletes” and called out the importance of slowing down. There has been a lot coming from various instructors, as well as the greater fitness content void online, about the perils of overtraining and the need to treat your body kindly. Throughout this program she reminded us that even breathwork is work. And she was right. You just have to let yourself hear her.

I happened to do this program on a week that I was intentionally deloading and working on some of my own physical therapy. I did find that going into a slower week helped me lean into this. On a few of the days when I did ride hard, and then did her classes here as my post ride stretches, I found it harder to concentrate. So, see what time of day and sequencing works for you.

Day 1: Neck (15 mins)

After the Intro, we got right into the Neck stretch. We started the class just with belly breathing/cyclic sigh. This turned out to be the structure of all the classes, just in different positions.

Belly breathing – seated – was something I struggled with because I always felt like my body naturally moved in the opposite way of what was prescribed. Even though Chelsea was my go-to for meditations and I was attuned to some of her breathwork cues already, sitting to do this was a challenge. I was reminded of the Dan Harris book, Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics, as I sat through this and tried to focus on the moment, not the 7 days ahead of me.

She reminded us that having a guide was important, and she was there for us. When she gave a cue involving an open and closing movement, I immediately felt my bearings return. This association between movement and breathing was what ended up making this whole endeavor so successful. If you can’t sit still for breathwork, having a movement to add really helps!

As she spoke during the various neck stretches about this program helping you “put yourself back together,” I definitely felt like that resonated with me.

Day 2: Shoulders | Extra Equipment Needed: Strap

This day started with 3 minutes of belly breathwork/cyclic sighing. She added on with two inhalations, but you didn’t have to do them. This was the progression.

She noted that as we did the stretching, unlike other classes where a deep stretch may be the goal, here the goal was “integration,” and that felt very welcoming.

I had trouble with the integration on some of the movements, especially trying that double inhale. For example, holding the strap in both hands in front and then lifting your arms overhead and rotating them behind you, suddenly my brain went haywire and I could not breathe the right way at all. It was useful though, to at least try the two inhales, because it let me slow things down.

The second half of this class had a long period in forward fold and it was a little too much upside down time for me personally. Eagle arms are also not something my body agreed with, but I am used to modifying that in yoga classes. At last, when we got to a self-love hug, I felt firmly back in Chelsea territory, happily.

Day 3: Quads | Extra Equipment Needed: Strap, Blanket for Knee

This class featured an interesting start again with breathwork. Instead of “cross-legged applesauce” (aka “criss cross applesauce” or easy seat), we were encouraged to sit on blocks in a gentle quad stretch (thunderbolt pose).

I liked here how she did a lot that was yoga-adjacent without making yoga novices feel confused. For experienced (but not advanced at all) yogis like me, the back and forth was very comfortable. I was able to modify when I needed to but I also picked up some tips on variations that I hadn’t seen in yoga classes on Peloton before.

Sitting on two blocks for the quad stretch really highlighted where she was going with all this. To be frank, you really have to make room for your belly! (I thought about Ash and Tina the Tummy a lot here.) Throughout the seven days, we tried a lot of different physical postures that could make that easier or harder. I was pleasantly surprised to find this was a lot easier. I would normally just use one block to give my quads a deeper stretch, but with my focus being equally on the breathwork with the stretch, the two blocks were really interesting.

The stretches that followed included strap use, and you should definitely pad up your knees. The duration of this class and these stretches did feel a little long to me in terms of comfort.

I would also advise getting a real yoga strap for this program. Often in yoga classes they say you can use an old necktie or a bathrobe belt, but in this class (and later) you need to put your foot inside the loop the strap makes.

There were also modifications noted, like I definitely could not pretzel myself into a prone quad stretch with the strap, but I did do it on my side. Not my best breathwork, though, but as Denis likes to say, “the practice is the practice!”

Day 4: Hamstrings | Extra Equipment Needed: Strap

Hamstring day included stretches familiar to most people who take other Peloton classes. Perhaps sensing that, Chelsea told us we could just do a quick breathwork and then get right into it if we wanted.

We used the strap around our foot while lying on our backs and had one leg in the air. We did the double inhale method again, which I found a little confusing as I was used to doing this stretch a little differently to get the depth I needed. Which I realized was counter to what she was cuing, but by Full Body Day I figured it out!

Moving into Runner’s Lunge and with a pyramid progression I was still confused on the inhalations and exhalations (despite being in one of my favorite stretches). It was not until we got to Half Split modification that everything began to click for me!

Why? It was that darned belly cue! She said, “room for belly welcome here,” and wow, did that make a difference. Being in a different physical position really gave my body space to do what she was asking, and it felt a lot more natural that way too. Whew, I did it!

This portion of class also had music that subtly aligned to the rhythm of the breathwork and that helped me too. The whole thing was starting to remind me of a Matt Wilpers pedal stroke drill class, or even just a Power Zone Endurance ride. He likes to say “this is training day, not race day,” and that was exactly how this program felt to me.

As we moved on, though, there was some downward dog to forward folding which I modified by doing some of my PT stretches with the strap instead. Work smarter, not harder, right?

Day 5: Hips

This Stretch with Breath Program routine started with breathwork for 3 minutes. Again, while I had to modify some of the stretches (I do a lot of “hips” classes on Peloton and there are some things that worked great for me and some that just don’t work at all).

We moved from seated baby cradle (holding one bent leg like a baby) where I had to do a figure four instead. We transitioned to a 90-90 with a different kind of twist and glute tightening that was a useful focus for me, different, actually, than just dumping into it on the front. We did right side for all then left side for all. Here is where I was a little impatient because I did this class as a post ride stretch and my brain wanted to do what it normally does after a ride. But I tried to be conscious that she was teaching us to do that, but better.

She noted this program was a “total wellness practice,” and the reminder was helpful.

We finished in supine half frog to supine figure four, and then seated butterfly. Again, these are poses that most Peloton users are familiar with, but we approached them through this new lens together.

Day 6: Back (20 mins) | Extra Equipment Needed: Bolster or Blankets

This class took a turn from the others, but for me it was very comforting and familiar. The longer time (20 minutes) allowed her to open with longer breathwork and we did it lying down. She noted that lying on the spine was good for the nervous system. I used a bolster under my knees, making it so that stretching didn’t need to be uncomfortable, and it was a gamechanger. The class used Brian Eno music, just like her meditations. Ahhhh…..

She commented that breathwork was “not nothing.” Also, it was interesting here to have a bolster under the knees because it made it easier to feel the belly fall. Noticing what made sense for me and my own body was really useful. There were 5 whole minutes of breathwork here. Anyone else think it’s easier to do these “warmups” as part of a class versus stacking? You know I’m going to use another Power Analogy here – those spin-ups and builds are not for nothing!

We did a supine figure four with the foot to the floor. It felt like PT (in a good way), but it was still a challenge for me. It was also hard to find the belly breath while twisting. She cued us to breathe into the low back and sacrum. She offered a legs-stacked modification, which was better for me.

We moved into restorative shapes. Mental load could prevent the physical body from allowing release, she said. We used a bolster for Child’s pose and it felt great.

We also did a modified gate pose, a standing forward fold (not as long as in the other classes), and a standing side stretch. For this last one, she asked, “What can I learn about myself in this breath?” meaning you might need to not bend over so deeply if it meant you couldn’t take a full breath when you did that. This was interesting because this was a common stretch programmed in Peloton. Denis has a few yoga classes where he cues to go about 50% as deep as you know you can. Say less!

We moved from downward dog to cobra, then to a modified scorpion (sort of a “rockstar on the ground” prone back stretch). This was a variation/regression I hadn’t seen before, and I liked it for my body.

This was my favorite class so far. Time flew, especially with Brian Eno playing. I really felt like this was a successful gateway class for people new to meditation.

Day 7: Full Body | Extra Equipment Needed: Strap

In the final class of the Stretch with Breath Program, we put it all together. We started again with the cyclic sigh, supine, and I was happy to have the new tool in my personal toolbox to have support under bent knees. I could really feel my belly moving and it was much easier to add the second inhale this way.

We did the right side first: a supine hamstring stretch with a strap, styled like a half frog, followed by a standard hamstring stretch with the strap. Then we repeated this on the left side. It was interesting to combine these and notice how the body had space to do the breathwork here.

We did a seated neck stretch, followed by a seated strap stretch up and around the back. This felt like a review of the earlier days. Next was a seated single-leg forward fold. She cued us to “be buoyant” or use a strap. Again, not sinking so deeply that you were holding your breath but rather moving with balance between breathing and stretching.

She noted, “It feels awkward at first doing breathwork, but eventually your body begins to remember and it feels automatic.” I did feel this was true after 7 days of this focused work!

The final moments were a baby’s cradle to firelog transition, set to another of her most-programmed songs, “Faith’s Hymn” by Beautiful Chorus. What a welcome sound for those of us who spent a lot of time with her on the mat. This music always feels calming to me, and it was a great way to end.

Final Thoughts: Peloton Stretch with Breath Review

I highly recommend the Peloton Stretch with Breath program. There’s plenty that is familiar with lots of content that is new. It’s a great tool to help move into a meditation practice and equally solid to pair with physical therapy or any other kind of recovery. Chelsea’s approach to the curation of each class is careful, clear, and gives us the confidence to take these lessons off the mat and into other workouts in other modalities. Sometimes I struggle with sticking with something for seven days in a row but I am really glad I did this program in its entirety.

Will you be trying this program next?

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