Pilates for Posture

Pilates is all about good posture. In pilates we work to find the natural curves in our bodies (we call this Neutral) to eliminate muscle strains which cause aches and pains. Postural alignment injuries and pain can be debilitating and often it’s as simple as creating a little awareness of how we use our bodies and a few corrective Pilates exercises can help.

How is bad posture formed?

The tight muscles created from our poor posture over time continue to tighten and they only lead to further developed postural issues, exacerbating the tension and pain we feel. It’s a repetitive cycle caused by simple activities such as slouching, being seated for long periods of time, little or no support in our shoes, repetitious sports and sometimes simply from repeated lifestyle movements such as always nursing your child on the same hip, using your computer set at an incorrect height, sitting on your wallet which is always kept in the same back pocket…. Are you a culprit of any of these actions? How are you holding your posture while you read this article? Is it held low with your head set forward putting tremendous strain on the back and neck? All is not lost, in this edition of What’s On I’m going to teach you the fundamental set up we all learn prior to performing Pilates exercises. This set up will help get you back to better posture or as we call it in Pilates, Neutral Spine. In Neutral spine the body maintains the normal curves of the spine which enables the body to function with ease and prevents injuries, aches and pains from imbalances in the muscles.

Finding Neutral

Lie on the floor with your knees bent and feet flat, hip width apart. Place your hands in a diamond shape on your pelvis. Your finger tips should be on your pubic bone, the heel of your hand on your hip bones and the thumbs reaching upwards towards you belly button. Now tilt the pelvis until your hands are perfectly level. When you achieve this your hip bones and pubic bone will also be level. This will leave you with the natural curve in your lower back. This is the amount of arch your spine should have during everyday activities.

Now bring your hands onto your ribs. Try and imagine drawing your waist in, bringing the edges of your ribcage towards one another and down to your hips. This will eliminate any “flaring of the ribs” and excessive arching in your mid & upper back. Whilst you draw in and down through your rib cage also try to slide the shoulder blades back and down onto the ground. Opening your chest and getting rid of any hunching in the shoulders.

Lastly, tuck your chin in slightly, without increasing any folds in the front of the neck, and elongate through to the crown of your head. (Image you are a puppet on a string being pulled up by the crown of your head.)

Feel super comfy? Nope, and it probably won’t for a while but this is your optimal alignment and exactly how we should be holding ourselves for good posture.

Practise this daily on the floor and then utilise it as you go about your activities. Your body will thank you for it.

Note: You may notice your back is a little more arched or perhaps flatter than those you practise with. As long as you align your pubic bone and hip bones you will have YOUR natural curves in your lower back. Remember, everybody is unique and each of us is shaped a little differently.

“A few well-designed movements, properly performed in a balanced sequence, are worth hours of doing sloppy callisthenics or forced contortion.” Joseph Pilates

This article is courtesy of Sammy Knaggs, Owner of Core Central.