Wellness

Stretch It Out

Taking time to breathe deep and loosen up at a local yoga studio

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When it comes to stretching, like most people, I don’t make enough time for it. I spend a lot of time sitting, mostly in my car or in front of my laptop. It’s not beneficial to my posture, my hip mobility, or, really, my overall well-being. And I’m not alone. Even if we exercise regularly, many of us find ourselves in a seated position for much of the day and it’s just not good for our collective health. So, how can we counteract the negative effects of too much sitting? One way is to make time to stretch more. And Alice O’Neill, an instructor at Jen McWalters Pilates Studio, has put together a class that allows clients to do just that. It’s called Rigorous Stretch, and it’s dedicated to deep stretching and strengthening for the entire body.

I have been trying to convince my husband to come with me to a yoga class for two years, but he’s convinced I’d force him to chant “om” (I’ve assured him I wouldn’t), so he has yet to join me. He works in landscape construction, so though he’s not sitting for prolonged periods of time, he does a lot of heavy lifting that leaves him with tightness in his back. I thought Alice’s Rigorous Stretching class sounded like a nonthreatening alternative to yoga, so I invited him to come along. Unfortunately, he couldn’t make it, so I promised to report back on the class, and if there was any “om” chanting involved.

Jen McWalters Pilates Studio is a beautiful 3,000 square-foot space in Pawtucket’s Hope Artiste Village. The Rigorous Stretching class only required a few pieces of equipment: a mat, two yoga blocks and a foam roller, all of which the studio provided. Alice, an enthusiastic young instructor, started class with a warmup to loosen our muscles, then led us through a series of deep stretches, focusing on the parts of the body that tend to need the most attention: the hips, hamstrings, pectoral girdle and the back. All of the stretches were effective, but also easy enough to do on your own. As Alice says, “I think of the class as a way of giving tools to clients that they can take home and implement.”

I love yoga, but there are times that I wish we would stay in our stretch poses longer. In Alice’s class, that’s exactly what we did. She had us take the time to really hold stretches while breathing deeply, which, she explained, allows for much-needed muscle release and lengthening. We ended class by lying on top of the foam roller, positioning it to be parallel to the spine and slowly rocking left and right. It was like a heavenly back massage. I own a foam roller, so once I got home I had my husband try it. Now he uses the foam roller almost every night after work. One of these days I’m going to make him chant “om” just for fun.

Jen McWalters Pilates Studio, fitness, yoga, fitness, exercise, Pilates, stretching, rigorous stretching, providence monthly

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