One of the first ports of call for a Pilates session is the introduction and setting up of neutral spine. I must admit, when I first started learning about neutral spine I was a little baffled and confused so when I explain it to my clients now, I try to find the simplest way to get my message across, without overwhelming them with too much information. It's all about the stabilizing muscles in and around the pelvis and the spine but for today, let's just focus on the visual and go from there.
There are three curves that are present in a healthy spine, and throughout our sessions we aim to keep those curves in tact/to make this the starting and ending position whilst we perform a lot of the exercises. Usually, we are most concerned with the bottom curve- the one that indents in your lower back. That's not to say the indent at the cervical spine (your neck) isn't just as important, but for today we'll just focus on the lower back/pelvic region. More specifically referred to as neutral pelvis.
Standing in neutral...
Standing out of neutral...
The pictures above demonstrate a correct and incorrect neutral while standing. This position will look very different on everyone depending on how they are built. A good way to tell if someone isn't in their true neutral spine is to see if they are clinching their glutes (see second picture). Touching them (if you are a teacher, mind you!) may not be necessary as usually it is pretty obvious after a few seconds looking closely at ones pelvis. There are many other ways we compensate our postures and stand out of neutral so look for clues all over the body, of course. And obviously, it can take a while to learn a persons body, no matter how experienced you are.
Standing neutral may be one of the easiest to find, but there is a neutral pelvis in all positions.
Laying down in neutral (no comments about my ribs, please)...
Out of neutral...
Neutral while doing an ab curl...
And losing neutral during an ab curl...
Side lying neutral (with a pillow needed under head!)...
Side lying out of neutral...
Laying the foundations of neutral pelvis for yourself and for your clients will make your life loads easier in most movement classes. If you dance, your centre of gravity will be spot on enabling you to turn with ease in your plumb line. If you are a runner with any sort of SIJ instability, this will help to set up stability in the two joints and alleviate the associated pain. For yogis, this will help with certain poses, especially those balancing postures like warrior 3, because your weight will be in the right place and you'll be able to engage the important stabilizing muscles instead of just gripping in the quads and glutes. The list goes on and on.
Because our bodies have so many holding patterns that we have developed over the years, finding neutral and having it work for you in daily life might take more than a couple of Pilates classes. It's best to start small and not get overwhelmed.... see if you can find your neutral standing, then see if you can spot it those around you. This is a topic we'll be discussing lots of so please stay tuned, and let me know how you are able to improve your movement with neutral pelvis.
No comments:
Post a Comment