Stretching is just as important as your main cardio or strength-training routine, but most people skip it, and only to their detriment. It need only take 10-minutes as part of your usual routine and provides so many short and long-term benefits. While you should plan to work on your flexibility indefinitely (a.k.a the rest of your life) you don’t have to do it every single day to reap its rewards. In fact, “a study published in the Journal of Strength Conditioning and Research found that after stretching every day for a month, participants who went on to stretch just two or three times a week maintained their degree of flexibility. As a former gymnast and college athlete, yogi master Julie Wilcox says, “I realized that flexibility is one of the first things to go as our bodies enter adulthood and continue to age...In order to remain flexible, we constantly need to be on top of stretching…maintaining and enhancing one’s flexibility is a life-long process.” 
This makes it quite apparent that it should be an included part of your whole fitness regimen every time - and if you have time for nothing else, at least complete your flexibility routine as often as possible. You may no longer be lifting weights or doing a bunch of cardio in your 80’s, but if you maintain your flexibility from here on out, you’ll still at least be able to continue the practice of touching your toes!
Since my goal for this class (and beyond) is to become more limber, balanced and toned by participating in yoga, pilates and barre, flexibility plays the main role in my fitness regimen. You cannot get into or maintain some of those poses or moves without at least some flexibility. Not only that, but since I’ve gotten into my fourth decade, I’ve got a lot more aches and pains than I ever did, and I’m certain more of the same is in my future if I am not being proactive with my health and wellness. I know that stretching regularly would greatly improve my general well-being now, and give me some insurance (and assurance) for whatever is to come. It’s actually a small price to pay considering the alternative. I want to improve my chances of living a long life while not injuring myself trying to do the most basic of activities - I do not want to have to depend on others for those things because I wasn’t interested in taking a few minutes out of my day now to care for myself.
On a related note, there has been a change to the recommendations I was taught as a kid on stretching before a workout: according to Harvard.edu, (and this is a surprise to me), stretching before an exercise routine is no longer advised. Instead, starting any exercise routine with a quick, 10-minute warm up of jumping jacks, a brisk walk, or a sport-specific activity (tennis serves, baseball-type throws, shooting a few hoops, etc) is initially the best way to get the blood flowing and get your muscles pliable and ready for stretching action. Then you do your flexibility routine, followed by your main workout, and finish with some more stretches. 
