I talked yesterday (Your Wonderfully Designed Spine Wants To Move) about spine flexibility and the importance of freeing up more of its full movement and articulation.
One of the best places to start, is to actually let your back relax! This takes away some of the holding or guarding that we may unknowingly carry out and the release in tension gives our nervous system a calmer and safer feeling place to start from, opening up the possibility of accepting different movements.
A few relaxed rolls down are a wonderful way to do this*. Gravity gives the body a help on the way down and acts as a natural weight to open up space between the vertebrae. Maintaining a heaviness on the way back allows the body to feel the movement of the joints stacking on top of each other.
Stand with your feet about hip width apart looking straight ahead then TAKE YOUR TIME, rolling down from an upright to a folded hang.
Stat by dropping your head towards your chest and then using the head as a guide, taking your body slowly downward and without tension. Your head is heavy, allow it to be so and let the rest of your spine bend gradually, following the path that crown of your head is taking. Imagine your spine to be a weeping willow tree, your arms to be the branches, bending naturally, hanging in the wind yet able to move gently. You may wish to bend your knees a little, to soften the feeling in the back of your legs, yet still feel the release in your spine.
Wherever you get to is not important. It is about doing it in an easy, tension free movement.
To come back up, maintain the heaviness of your head and gradually feel your spine build from the bottom up, your head being the last bit to arrive, like a dot on the top on an 'i'.
Repeat the several times as you like, enjoying the release of each downward movement and the increased height of each returning movement.
I then find it nice to do some 'cat - camel' movements, starting on all fours*.
What I like about this movement, from a teaching perspective, is that it becomes quite obvious where someone tends to ask their spine to flex and bend from, and it is also quite easy for that person to feel it once they become aware of it. (often the middle back, around the bra strap area, wants to do most of the cat stretch (far right picture) and the lower back wants to do most of the camel stretch (middle picture).
Start the movements from your tail bone. Send it upwards and out and let your belly fall gently, with your chest starting to lift and lengthen, your collar bones widening and your head eventually lifting slightly. Focus on length, rather than height and minimise effort and tension from the muscles, instead imagine the bones moving fluidly and the tissues responding. Change direction, again starting form your tailbone. Send it downwards, as if it is diving through the space between your legs, your lower back following with length and width. As your middle back lengthens it will rise and a consequence and finally your head will drop with length removing tension in the neck. Continue to move from camel through to cat, stopping eventually with a lengthened back somewhere between the two movements. neither 'too cat' nor 'too camel'.
Your arms stay straight throughout this and aim to not drop down through your shoulder blades as this will just hunch and restrict at your neck.
Enjoy your spine, enjoy its freedom.
Til tomorrow.... :-)
CT :-) X
(* If you are currently struggling with back issues, and have been advised to restrict certain movements for a time being, then check with your practitioner before carrying out these particular movements. It may be that you need one to one guidance to help you understand any specifics you may need to be aware of)
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