Helena Christensen – my biggest wellness wins
From cold plunges to mindful vacuuming and squatting while she puts away the laundry, Danish supermodel Helena Christensen reveals her surprisingly down-to-earth secrets to staying fit and healthy
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“I never felt any pressure at all. The most important things in my life are family, food, nature: they’ve always been my priority, no matter what – and if there was pressure, it would have gone right over my head!” says original 1990s supermodel Helena Christensen.
This is typical of Christensen’s cool-as-a-cucumber, grounded approach to life, despite having one of the most recognisable faces in the world, and spending the last 30 years gracing every catwalk, ad campaign and magazine cover going. As we chat on Zoom, I get a good nose at the 55-year-old Peruvian-Dane’s quirky Manhattan apartment, which is brimming with antiques and framed pictures covering every inch of wall space. I also get to meet Bono – no, sadly not that one, rather the pet rabbit belonging to her 25-year-old son, Mingus, whose dad is American actor Norman Reedus.
Bono the rabbit has entered the chat: GTG’s Florence chats with Helena and her furry friend
She has, she says, a “mellow” approach to wellbeing, and is adamant that she’s always been able to maintain a healthy relationship with her body: an outlook instilled by her Peruvian mother, Elsa, who she grew up watching cook delicious South American food. “I will eat anything. I love food and cooking more than anything in this life, besides my family and dogs – they’re pretty much on the same level!” she says. “I don’t restrict myself with anything. I love fats! My brain knows what’s good or not, it’s common sense – and I follow what feels intuitively right, too”.
Her take on fitness is similarly sensible: she doesn’t own a car and walks everywhere, and works out wherever she can (see below). “It’s not a question of needing a great body,” she says. “I don’t go to the gym thinking, Oh, I need to lose some weight, or have a bikini body. It’s about having a strong, healthy, tight body but also great posture and form”.
Christensen is also pleasingly honest about the fact that she’s not always mega busy: the intensive nature of modelling means that although she has periods of being on all the time, these are followed by more restful weeks in between projects – and after all, she is now an empty nester, with more time to please herself (read about her beauty prep before a night out here). She spends this precious downtime at her farm in upstate New York channelling the hygge lifestyle philosophy of cosiness and comfort that is so popular in her home country: from cold plunging to tidying and organising, building outdoor fires, reading and cooking. And, as we shall see, even vacuuming is a form of self-care….
5 wellness wins that work for Helena Christensen
A calming swim… in muddy water
Christensen is addicted to the endorphin rush of wild swimming – and she’s not fussy where she does it. “If I pass any body of water, I have to get in!” she says. “I’ll be the only one swimming on some beach, and everyone’s like, ‘Girl, this water is dirty!’ But I’m in there, super happy. This is my inner peace, sitting on a rock for a long time”.
She swims in the river near her farm in upstate New York all year round. When it’s sunny, she applies what she calls “miracle mud” from the riverbed to her body, then lies out in the sun to bake, for a purifying treatment – even taking some away in a paper cup to use back home. Although, she concedes, “The mud in your shower is not easy to clean!”
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Mindful vacuuming (yes, really)
She’s never been able to meditate, not even for a minute – despite trying every app, podcast and position. Instead, the supermodel calms her mind by, um, vacuuming.
“My home is so full of everything I’ve collected over my travels, so it takes a lot of effort to keep it clean and tidy,” she says. “But I love vacuuming! The simplicity of walking around, seeing dirt get sucked up – there’s something very comforting and satisfying about that. It distracts your mind from heavy, looping thoughts.” Ditto decluttering: “I could spend an entire day sorting out one drawer.” It turns out A-listers don’t always have a full retinue of staff: Helena’s cleaner only comes once every three weeks as she prefers to do it herself.
Getting creative when it comes to workouts
You don’t need a fully equipped gym to keep fit – Helena conjures up a DIY workout wherever she is in the world. “There are so many ways you can work with whatever is around you,” she says. “I’ll be on the beach and use nature: I’ll swim, do jumps, runs in the sand, grab big rocks and do squats and stretching with them.” And all that housework doesn’t just mean a healthy mind, it means a healthy body too: when Christensen is doing laundry, she puts the basket on the floor, then does squats while reaching down to put the clothes away.
Helena at the boxing ring (left) and with her sparring partner
Despite hating normal gyms, she is a boxing gym bunny – having done classes three times per week for 20 years: “I wanted something hardcore that made a difference to both my mind and body, so I chose one of the hardest ways of exercise: I like a challenge! You’re super sweaty and exhausted after, but also re-energised”.
Plus she does weight-training with her boxing coach Jason Lee: “I will never stop being super annoying about doing weights!” she laughs. “It’s the single most important exercise you can do. I get all nerdy about it, I love how you can target tiny little muscle groups and literally see a difference”. Her current deadlift PB is 66kg.
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The five-minute perfume bath to beat stress
Having a soak doesn’t have to be a lengthy process – Christensen will happily have a short bath in just a few inches of water, using a big natural sponge cover herself with water. She adds Epsom salts for muscle relaxation, plus a few drops of luxury perfume oil, such as Le Labo Rose 31 Massaging and Bath Perfuming Oil, £63. Or she drips in Strangelove’s Deadofnight All Over Oil, £185, a violet-scented body oil containing hydrating sunflower, almond and argan oils, which she also massages into her body afterwards.
“A little daily routine, even if you only have a few minutes – like taking a bath, scrubbing yourself down, doing face and hair masks – is so important both physically and mentally”, she says.
A morning smoothie with a surprise Scandi ingredient
She starts the day with an energising morning smoothie, using her secret ingredient: sea buckthorn, a Danish yellow berry stuffed with antioxidants and inflammatory benefits. She brings it back in bulk from an island she visits in summer but you can try Arctic Power Sea Buckthorn Powder, £9.99.
She chucks in whatever else she has to hand: from supplements and probiotics to frozen veg (broccoli, spinach), fruit (apples, pomegranates, berries), flaxseed, nuts, ginger, honey, dates, coconut water or oat milk.
It’s a tradition passed down from her mother, who made smoothies religiously growing up: “Every morning, my sister and I would wake up to the sound of that blender – she’d put everything in them – even potatoes!” Maybe we won’t try that one at home.
