Relax your back, Engage your front

You can stand and move in a variety of effective ways. If you’re dealing with back pain or discomfort, or if your activities require you to adjust your alignment, developing physical awareness, strength, and flexibility may be beneficial.

From Awareness to Action

What often starts as an awareness that you are standing with more of your weight resting in your heels can lead to the realization that this might be contributing to mid-to-low back tension, arching your back, and pushing your ribs up and forward. Recently, I’ve been working with my clients—and in my own practice—on finding alternative ways of standing and initiating movement, especially when these habits hinder progress in other activities or cause discomfort.

Now, let’s put it into motion

To help you with this, here are a couple of videos that guide you in making small adjustments and muscularly supporting new positions. By releasing back tension and building support in the front of your body, you can find and maintain more comfortable alignments and expand your movement options.

Small abdominal series with towels (scroll down for video)

• Use one or two large folded towels placed near the mid-to-low back area.
• Gently press your back into the towels to sit up, while keeping your pelvis still.
• Allow the weight of your head to rest in your hands.
• Note: Keeping both hands behind your head when twisting will provide more of a challenge.

Variations of Single Leg Stretch & Scissors with towel (scroll down for video)

• Place one or two large folded towels under your pelvis. This will lift your pelvis, help you relax your back muscles, and keep your ribs naturally down. 
• Note: The video begins with a gentle introductory version and progresses to a more challenging version with larger leg movements to test your stability.

I’ve seen the benefits of making seemingly small adjustments in both myself and others. By improving the comfort of certain activities, we can also broaden our movement possibilities and be better prepared for new challenges.

I’d love to hear from you: Let me know how it goes, and feel free to send any questions you have. If you know someone who would appreciate these tips, send them this post.

Here’s to subtle shifts and new possibilities!

Leila