Neck & Shoulder Tension, Achy Mid Back, Sore Lower Back, Tight Hips, Anything Else?
Do you sit for work? At a computer? Or in front of a client, patient or student?
How do you avoid the slouched, rounded back posture that creates neck and shoulder tension, achy mid back, sore lower back, tight hips? I mean, what’s left? Oh yeah, knees and ankles! That was in the last email. : )
You can avoid all that or fix all that – or correct all that on all of the above by learning correct sitting posture. Funny enough, Pilates helps you do that!
Your big helper is your sitz bones. Huh? The sitz bones are the rounded bones you can feel in your rear end when you are sitting. You can easily find them by sitting on a firm chair and placing your hands underneath your glute (butt) muscles. You will feel two rounded, distinct knobs of bone; one in each butt-cheek. Bingo!
Sitting right on top of those two sitz bones – not forward or back of them - is how you find your correct sitting posture. Once you know that you are sitting right on top of them, then place your rib cage, chest, shoulders and bowling ball, I mean head, directly on top of each other as if creating a line to the sky – therefore correct alignment!
When you sit right on those bones and stack your torso and head properly, you will immediately engage your core muscles. You will feel them activate. They help you sit upright. If you don’t feel them, you aren’t sitting correctly. Try sitting forward or backwards just a smidge until those muscles kick in.
By sitting correctly, engaging your core muscles you immediately take pressure off your neck, shoulders and upper back. You will likely feel relief in those areas. In addition, your hips won’t lock up to help you sit up, doing the job your core muscles are supposed to do.
A good stretch to do when sitting correctly is to twist your torso as far as you can one direction while keeping yourself stacked properly. You start twisting at your waist, on your sitz bones and keeping your hips stable. It is as if you are spiraling your torso around a pole – your spinal cord. See the photo demonstration. Notice her head, shoulders, ribs and hips are correctly stacked which allows for great activation of all the torso muscles as if you are wringing the water out of towel. Look how beautiful and tall she is! She looks great and it feels great! Like in the photo, you can use your hands to help direct you.
Twist both directions several times lengthening towards the sky as you do so. Go as far as you can one direction then check to see if you are still sitting right on top of those sitz bones and engaging those core muscles. If you are sitting properly the core muscles will engage naturally. You can straddle a chair or a stool and push against knees to help you get more rotation. You can even do this on the airplane when you are starting to feel stiff.
Try it, you’ll like it! And remember to breathe out as you twist. It will make it easier to twist further! Love, Zonnie