Stress-Relief Stretching with Mary Helen Bowers

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Staying active while cooped up at home can be as simple as adding some targeted stretches to your day. For Mary Helen Bowers, a professional ballet dancer, trainer to models like Lily Aldridge and Alexa Chung, and founder of fitness company Ballet Beautiful, stretching is a foundational part of fitness and can be especially helpful in times of stress. “I like to look at stretching as an overall way to relieve tension from the body, which is really relevant right now,” Bowers tells CR. “I’m either thinking about how am I improving my flexibility from a dance perspective–like increasing my extension which is basically getting your leg higher in the air or getting a better split–or just general flexibility for a stress-relief approach to moving the body.”

Dancer or not, anyone spending time working from home or simply loafing can benefit from warming up their muscles. “There’s a lot of fluidity in stretching,” Bowers says. “The movement isn’t static. You want to use your breath, experiment, move the body, shift around, so that you can deepen the stretch. You’re going to find that certain positions may feel better or worse, relaxed or tense, depending on the day.”

Stretching is also super adaptable for any at-home environment. It doesn’t require any extra equipment and even if you don’t have a mat, a towel can suffice. The main component, according to Bowers, is using your body’s resistance.

Here, the pro walks CR through an at-home stretching series to help keep your body open and flexible.

Hamstring Release

With legs extended in front of you, reach for your toes while thinking about elongating your spine.

Mary Helen says: “When sitting all day, the hips, back of the legs, and back get really tight, so this stretch is great for that. You can also flex your foot, which is going to stretch through the calf.”

HALF SPLIT WITH PORT DE BRAS

With one knee bent inwards, extend the other leg to the side with the hips open, and lift the opposite arm up and over, reaching towards your toes. Repeat on other side.

Mary Helen says: “This gives a nice stretch through your inner thigh which is a really important muscle in ballet. It also opens you up through your spine, through your waist, and relieves tension there.”

SEATED HIP STRETCH WITH PORT DE BRAS

From a seated position, bring one ankle to the opposite knee pushing down and bending forward and across with the opposite arm extended. Repeat on other side.

Mary Helen Says: “This one opens up through the back of the hips. Port de bras is a ballet term. It means ‘carriage of the arms,’ so it’s really any arm movement. Playing around with this can increase the stretch.”

SEATED UPPER BACK OPENER

From a seated position, extend one arm across, touching the elbow to the opposite knee, while also extending the other arm up and back to open the chest. Repeat on other side.

Mary Helen says: “Anything that can help you open your chest and shoulders is going to be an unbelievable physical release of stress. That’s where we hold tension, that’s where we feel tightness, so when we open that up it feels so good.”

Standing Hip Opener

Using a wall for balance, with the base leg positioned outwards, bring one knee up and hold. Repeat on other side.

Mary Helen says: “You always want to use your breath when stretching to relieve tension, and breathing can help you deepen your stretches as well.”

Thigh and Hip Release

Standing up, bend one knee in towards the butt. Use a wall or chair for balance. Focus on keeping the back straight and chest open, too. Repeat with other leg.

Mary Helen says: “The two places I feel tightest when sitting at my desk are my hips and then the neck, back, shoulders, and upper body. A standing stretch that opens up the hips is unbelievably effective for this.”

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