This next technique is called spinal articulation, and that’s a big fancy word for moving one vertebrae at a time. I brought this spring into the video just to help you get a visual. So if this is your spine, it’s gonna be on the mat.

Now, as you know, your spine has three curves, but it still moves like this. A healthy spine can move like a wave from one end to the other and create space in between the discs. So as we practice this spinal articulation, I want you to visualize your spine moving almost like a slinky, articulating from one end to the other.

And guess what muscle group is in charge of that movement? Your abs, your core. So we’re gonna come onto our backs here, and there’s no magic distance to be away from the wall. I would say about 18 inches, depending on your height or what feels right to you.

You can adjust accordingly. You’re gonna set yourself up with your feet into what’s called the Pilates V. Your heels are together, your big toe joints are a fist width apart. And you wanna be a little bit nitpicky with your alignment, like you don’t wanna be off to the side or have one foot higher than the other.

It’s very important because we’re using these exercises to create symmetry in the body. Turning the palms open is always a nice idea when you’re not using your arms as it helps to relax your shoulders. Golden rule on this movement, do not turn your head.

So once I’m going, I will be following that golden rule. It puts a lot of pressure into the neck and it’s healthy pressure, but if you turn your head, you’re putting yourself in a dangerous position. So remember the golden rule, do not turn your head.

You’re gonna begin with a few pelvic tilts where we arch the low back and flatten the low back, just to mobilize the lumbar spine. Then from the flat back position, begin to curl up, initiating like you were rolling your hips up into the air. Come up nice and high, take a deep breath, pull your front ribs in, squeeze your tummy and practice rolling down as if a rolling pin is going down my abs.

The belly button’s pulled in, I’m tucking the pelvis as much as I can, squeezing the glutes and hamstrings and slowly articulating down. Once the pelvis comes to the floor, return to a neutral spine, which means a small natural arch take a deep inhale, exhale, imprint the low back and peel your spine off the mat like a sticker would peel off of glass, starting at one end and rolling back down. Now I’m gonna show you a fancy version of the same thing and you really wanna work on this first part and then after some practice, maybe experiment with this little variation.

So you’ll bring yourself up like this and this is very subtle, so I’m gonna put my fingertips on my hip points so you can see what I’m doing. My left side is gonna drop. Notice that the knees aren’t moving, it’s just the pelvis dropping.

Then I’m going to concentrate on the left side of the lower back, right where the kidneys are and the lumbar region and roll down real slow, melting that left side of the back into the ground. Arch at the bottom, inhale, yes, I’m a little crooked, flatten the back and roll back up. And you can use this several times on one side to really open up the lower ribs, a muscle called the QL, which stands for quadratus lumborum, you have one on each side and then obviously you would do the same thing on the right.

Practice going down the center first, get good at that and then start experimenting. You may find like I do in my body that one side feels different than the other. Even if you don’t have scoliosis, most of us have some little irregular curvature in our back.

And this technique can help you to tune into that and help release that pressure that can build up in the lower back. Take your time with it, remember to breathe. Ideally, you inhale when your hips go up and you exhale as they go back down.