Learning to contract the Core.
Breathing.
Lay face up on the floor, in the psoas position (this means knees at 90 degrees and feet flat to the floor). Relax and practice breathing into the abdomen, with your hand rested gently over your navel. You should aim for the navel to lift about 2” on your in breath. Breath in through the nose and out through the mouth. Relax on the in breath and squeeze your stomach in when exhaling fully.
Once you have mastered this, relax and start again, but this time you need to make sure that your pelvis/spine is in a neutral position. To do this, place the heel of your hands on the prominent hip bones and your finger tips together on the pubic bone. They should all be level. Now start the breathing pattern again.
Then add in the contraction of the pelvic floor, whilst keeping the breathing pattern going. “Imagine stopping the flow, when going for a wee”
Next stage is to add in the contraction of the’ core’.
The best way to achieve this is to place your hands on the side of your ribs just below the chest level. You can use the pressure of your hands to push in, on the out breath, and encourage them to expand on the in breath. When ready tighten the whole of the abdominal area, holding the navel down toward the spine, but not moving the spine from its neutral position. The idea is to keep breathing normally as you do this. You will feel your abdominal area holding firm, as your lower ribcage expands laterally.
Lastly, try to slide one leg (heel down, toes up) away from the body. There should not be any movement, tilting or adjustments of the spine or pelvis to accommodate the one sided pressure. If there is then start again until there is no movement!
These exercises may take many sessions, even weeks to perfect and you should only move on a stage, once you have mastered the previous.
Love and energy,
Liz and Jessica x
