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The 8 Principles of Pilates – ALIGNMENT

Pilates PILATES theme of the week is ALIGNMENT (the second of the 8 principles of Pilates)

The 8 PRINCIPLES OF PILATES:

  1. Relaxation
  2. Concentration
  3. Alignment
  4. Breathing
  5. Centring
  6. Co-ordination
  7. Flowing movements
  8. Stamina

Maintain a good spinal posture at all times – remember to be aware of your posture type – pear (lordotic) or banana (sway). Watch our ‘Posture Correction in Standing‘ video (14 minutes) see video below:

 

LORDOTIC POSTURE (PEAR):

Notice:

  1. Your waist band tilts forwards
  2. Your abdominal muscles are long and weak
  3. Your tail bone sticks out more than the ideal posture
  4. This can be associated with round shoulders and a kyphotic (rounded) upper back or the upper back can be upright

To reduce the lordotic or ‘pear’ posture:

  1. The first thing to check is your feet position – stand with the inner border of your feet parallel and about 4″ apart (the width of your foot)
  2. Then work on is your pelvis position – put your hands on your hips and tilt your pelvis in both directions to feel the good and bad position
  3. To correct the arch in your low back move your tail bone down and your pubic bone up
  4. Pull your abdominals in
  5. Grow tall from the back of your head
  6. Lift your chest
  7. Glide your shoulder blades back and open your collar bones

SWAY POSTURE (BANANA):

Notice:

  1. Your waist band tilts backwards
  2. Your pelvis is in front of your rib cage
  3. Your lower abdominal muscles are weak
  4. Your tail bone is more upright than the ideal posture
  5. This can be associated with round shoulders and a kyphotic (rounded) upper back or the upper back can be upright
  6. Your chest can be hollow
  7. Your upper abdominals can also be weak
  8. Your weight may be on the front of your feet

To reduce the sway or ‘banana’ posture:

  1. The first thing to check is your feet position – stand with the inner border of your feet parallel and about 4″ apart (the width of your foot)
  2. Then work on reducing the sway (straighten the banana by placing both hands on your tummy below your naval and pull the pelvis under the rib cage
  3. You may feel as if you are leaning forwards at first because you have been leaning back your whole life and your brain thinks this is straight
  4. Pull the deep abdominals in as if you are trying to do up a tight belt
  5. Try and bring more weight onto your heels (you should have 70-80% of your weight on your heels and only 20-30% of your weight on the balls of your feet and toes
  6. Lift your chest
  7. Glide your shoulder blades back and open your collar bones

It takes time to find your new posture but once you have understood the good and bad position you can experiment with going from bad to good and repeat this until it becomes easier.

I hope you find this information useful.

We look forward to seeing you in your Pilates class this week.