As you blast through the chaos of a holiday week, keep in mind how awesome your exhale breath is for stress management (who doesn’t love to spend time with their extended family?!) and for bracing your spine (hello 20# turkey!) The next level in our series is spine stacking, formerly known as neutral spine. The idea is that you maintain your natural curves and then support them through bracing, not flattening your back (posterior tilting) as we used to teach people.

So, let’s keep it simple: keep your ribs stacked over your pelvis. Place your thumb on your lower ribs with your index finger pointing down and touching the top of your hip. We like to call these your suspenders (shout out to Vanessa at Livingston Pilates for that great idea) or measuring sticks if you go to Foundation Training at LivWell. Round forward and notice that your suspenders became shorter, no good. Next reach overhead and notice that your suspenders may have gotten longer. The goal is to keep your suspenders the same length all day long. 

Here is a great video by another science nerd discussing different way of thinking about it: the Two-Hand Rule. 

In summary, stack your spine, brace it and breathe into your diaphragm, and tackle this holiday week with style!

Written by Darcy Cook, MSPT