We all know the “feelings” of stress – tightness in our chest, butterflies in our gut and noise in our head. When we hold onto this stress, it starts to build up in our bodies and get “trapped” in our hips, neck and shoulders. Pilates and functional stretching has powerful benefits to prevent and relieve stress.
In Pilates, we connect our breath to our movements to deepen muscle activation and increase our range of movements. Think about a chest lift – we inhale to prepare and on the exhale we lift our chest, allowing a deep abdominal connection and greater lift. This consistent attention to our breathing increases our lung capacity and exchange of oxygen – which helps to calm the nervous system, improve our quality of sleep and prevent rising cortisol levels (our stress hormone). A by-product of focusing on our breathing is clearing your mind into a meditative state which has long-term benefits to how we manage stress.
Breathwork coupled with consistent exercise increases our heart rate, mobility and flexibility, releasing positive endorphins which boosts our mood and energy levels.
Nestled into the psoas muscles (the area around our groin and hips) are our kidneys and adrenal glands. These are responsible for filtering toxins in the body and controlling our fight or flight response. When we are under any kind of mental or emotional stress, your psoas muscle responds by contracting. When we neglect to look after our bodies – too much processed foods, alcohol consumption and limited nutrients – we put pressure on our kidneys to filter out excess toxins. Overtime, the combination of high stress and poor health, develops tightness and discomfort in your hips.
Consistent functional movement and active stretching is medicine for both minimising stress and stabilising our stress emotions, supporting overall health and immunity, and releasing tightness and discomfort in our hips. Beyond the preventative measures, Pilates is reactive to stress-induced tightness, discomfort and imbalances.
Functional movement and stretching helps to “stretch” the stress out of your body, by releasing tightness, relieving pain, strengthening weaknesses and realigning the body of imbalances. We often neglect the importance of stretching, however it is essential for muscle recovery and development. Stretching helps to balance the body and release any build up of tension, creating lean muscles and even tone.
Key areas to focus on when we stretch are our shoulders, neck and hips. We tend to hold tension in these areas, and can easily trap tightness and discomfort.
This 15-minute stretch focuses on releasing your head and neck, before moving into your chest and shoulders, finishing with opening up your hips and releasing your hip flexors. Join me on the mat to “stretch” the stress out of your body.
