P. Li wrote:This seems very common in our sedentary world. I've found that working the joints above and below the pelvis have really helped me get to a neutral alignment. I roll out the muscles on the front my hips with a firm roller and stretch them in lunges (common in most forms). For the lower back I've found static positions to be useful: wall standing while pressing the lower back into the wall to open the ming men, or lying on the floor and working the same area (if you can't lie without the pronounced arch in your back elevate your legs). It's taken me a while to change these areas because there's so much dense tissue there but these are some moves that have worked for me. Good luck!
Steve Rowe wrote:Try sitting straight with hips shoulder and head crown in a straight line and then keeping your shoulders and head still roll from the front to back of your hips repeatedly, this will help you to open the lower back. When you can do this seated, repeat it standing.
Mr_Wood wrote:I find standing postures zz help and over time you can learn to make the necessary adjustments to a more neutral posture. Also lying on the floor helps. You can place a cushion or a few books under your head, bring your feet towards your bum about half way and let your spine lengthen and let the weight of your body flatten out the curve from spine to pelvis. Also I have found sleeping with a pillow under my thighs if im sleeping on my back helps a lot.
kenneth fish wrote:FInd a certified Pilates teacher - learn basic Pilates on the reformer machine for about 3 months. It will give you the strength in the postural muscles that you lack, as well as help to lengthen chronically shortened flexor groups.
zenshiite wrote:Back Bridges and L-sits
NoSword wrote:I can certainly relate -- not to your problem specifically, but in general. Learning this IMA stuff can be very awkward and at first. (Not that you are a beginner yourself -- you say you have 10 years' practice already.)
One thing I can say is that different people tend toward different habitual patterns in their spines -- an exaggerated "s" (you) or an exaggerated "c" (me). In part this is a question of innate skeletal structure, particularly the shape of the pelvis, that no amount of training will remedy.
Don't try and contort your spine into unnatural, idealized postures. I think Marcus Brinkmann called this "spinal envy," he could hilariously imitate a tense, locked-up taiji practitioner with a stick up their ass.
More important is that it be free to take on different shapes as needed. Toward this end it's helpful to train global extension and flexion patterns -- back and forward bending, arch and hollow, etc. This will bring out the eccentricities peculiar to your individual physiognomy and help you understand what you need to focus on.
If a movement's hard for you, you should probably focus on it.
Hope that helps
AK
GrandUltimate wrote:Steve Rowe wrote:Try sitting straight with hips shoulder and head crown in a straight line and then keeping your shoulders and head still roll from the front to back of your hips repeatedly, this will help you to open the lower back. When you can do this seated, repeat it standing.
I've been doing this often after reading this post. Just to make sure I'm doing it right, am I pretty much sitting up straight while moving my lower back forwards and backwards (is that what you mean by rolling from the front to the back of my hips)? Hopefully I'm not doing it wrong, but it does feel like it's slowly loosening the lower part of my spine.
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