Gwyneth Paltrow, 47, walks four times a week and takes CorePower Yoga classes from home

Gwyneth Paltrow has been staying in great shape during lockdown from the coronavirus pandemic.

And last week the 47-year-old Emma star told the July/August 2020 issue of Shape magazine what exercises she is doing now that she cannot hit a gym.

‘I try to do exercises every day for my back and neck because of all the Zoom calls I’m on,’ began the Oscar-winning beauty who also runs GOOP. ‘My husband, Brad, and I take a walk at least three or four times a week.’

The star also added she hits her computer for help.

‘And I’ve been doing a lot of online classes: Tracy Anderson, the Class by Taryn Toomey, Bulldog Yoga, CorePower Yoga.’

But the blonde admitted that she does not have her routine down yet. ‘I haven’t fully figured that out,’ says Paltrow.  

The mother of two  – she has Apple and Moses with Chris Martin – has said she has generally slowed down.

‘Now I feel different, letting my body go to sleep and wake up in its natural rhythm, having my kids around all the time, eating meals together and having meaningful conversations,’ said the cookbook author.

‘We linger at the table; our dinners are an hour and a half long. My heart feels fuller, and my mind feels calmer in that respect.’ 

Before COVID-19 she was moving too fast.   

‘I had not realized how much the normal pace of life was overburdening our bodies, our minds, and our nervous systems,’ the Oscar-winning actress shared. ‘As we have been forced into the confines of our own homes, that has brought up a lot of emotional distress for some, and for others it has been very peaceful. In my case, I have experienced both.

‘I was constantly trying to pack in wellness moments, but I wasn’t really decompressing until the weekend or when I went on vacation,’ she said.

The GOOP founder went on to say, ‘I have started to settle down in my brain and body. It has given me new perspective about how much I will take on going forward.’

Her next project is season 2 of The Politician on Netflix, premieres on June 19. 

She asked Shape if she could interview an expert on the subject: Nadine Burke Harris, M.D., M.P.H., F.A.A.P., California’s first surgeon general.

 ‘I was intrigued that we’d never had a surgeon general in California,’ says Paltrow. 

‘When I saw that Dr. Burke Harris was a female African American M.D. and had spent her career helping children who’d grown up in adverse childhoods in disenfranchised neighborhoods, I watched her TED Talk. And I sort of fell in love with her.’ 

Gwyneth told Nadine: ‘I’ve always felt like the bad things that happen to us become a footnote. We’re not taught how to process trauma at the time. It’s amazing to see how you’ve created science around adverse childhood experiences and conditions like heart health and asthma. What was the reaction of your colleagues?’

Harris said: ‘An interesting thing that’s inextricably a part of my story is how race plays a role. Because when you’re the only Black person in your science class of 1,000 at [the University of California] Berkeley, there’s a sense of a different level of excellence that’s required. 

‘My message always includes a blend of real life, like, ‘Hey, this is how it shows up. This is what it looks and feels like.’ But I don’t mess around when it comes to the science. When people say, ‘that’s not really scientific,’ I say, ‘Actually, individuals with higher doses of adversity have down-regulated beta-agonist receptor in their pulmonary endothelial.’  

Paltrow asked, ‘What happens in the body when we experience stress?’

The doctor said: ‘The fight-or-flight response is activated. The amygdala in our brain triggers the fear response, and that prompts the release of stress hormones, like adrenaline and cortisol. Adrenaline increases your blood pressure and your blood sugar, and it shunts blood to your big muscles so they work harder and more efficiently. Cortisol is more of a long-term stress hormone. It raises your blood pressure and your blood sugar as well, and it can make you slightly more aggressive.’

Gwyneth also said she was upset by how much domestic violence is happening during the pandemic. 

‘It’s so upsetting and heartbreaking. I feel like we need to fix the systemic problems that cause trans-generational harm from parent to child. And this is what’s so beautiful about your work,’ said the Emma star.

Harris added, ‘That’s exactly what my work is focused on, even more so with COVID-19. Because if you have an adult who had adverse childhood experiences, they may have an overactive stress response. 

‘Then throw a stressor like a pandemic into the mix, and you have folks who are at greater risk of not only negative health outcomes but also negative mental and behavioral outcomes. And everyone is stressed right now. That means difficulty with impulse control, executive functioning, and for some, anger and frustration.’