Today I want to talk to you about how to connect better to your core muscles. Our core is what stabilizes us and if we aren’t stable we fall, get injured, or even just generally spend our days and nights in pain. A strong core can help you do the things you like to do – whether that’s playing tennis, golfing, gardening, or getting down on (and up from) the floor after playing with your grandkids. Here’s the good thing – you don’t even have to do actual exercises to strengthen, bring awareness to, and connect to your core. Often we do core exercises, like sit ups, without ever connecting to our core and those mindless repetitions can do more harm than good.
Here are few simple ways to ensure you have a core connection when standing and when seating:
- Stand evenly on both feet
- Your two hip points (bones on each side just below your waist) and your pubic bone should create a level triangle, perpendicular to the floor.
- Lift and elongate your spine by using your stomach and back muscles, not the muscles by your neck or shoulders.
- Don’t flare your front ribs.
- Stack your ribs right over your hips and your head and neck right over your ribs.
- When seated, always sit right up on top of your sitting bones.
- Relax your shoulders and your neck.
- Everytime you exhale, pull your belly button to your spine
This is a great start to connecting to your core. And when you have a stronger core and stronger connection to your core, you will feel better, move better and breathe better.
