• Lie down on the floor with your legs out straight
• Bring your legs together
• Keep your knees straight and lift both legs off of the floor about thirty degrees.
• Notice: what happens to your abs?  Did they bulge outward?  What does your back do?  Does it arch?  What does your neck do?  Does it tense?

​How did you do?  In my experience, 95% of my clients use a pushing strategy: holding breath, pushing out into abdominal wall and pelvis, arching back and tensing or lifting the neck. Outside of pilates, or working out, this strategy gets carried over into daily tasks such as: getting out of bed, bending and lifting tasks, pushing open a heavy door, etc.   ​

The first step is to become aware of the day to day habits that interfere with optimal breathing:

• shallow breathing into chest and neck
• holding breath
• holding abs
• locking down ribcage or gripping shoulder blades back and down
• lifting shoulders to breathe (over activation of the scalenes, upper trapezius, levator scapulae)
• squeezing butt cheeks (tightens the pelvic floor muscles)
• ribcage and pelvic positions

The second step is to practice breathing.  During quiet respiration there should be movement in the intercostals (the muscles between the ribs), the diaphragm, the abdominals and the pelvic floor.  In order to have strength in the muscles, they need to move through full range of motion: lengthening and shortening. In this video, I talk about diaphragmatic breathing and core function.  Practice lying down, sitting and standing.  Each position places a different demand on the body. 
​Have fun and explore!

The third step is to begin to challenge the system.  Can you maintain the breath as you add a new skill or a new load?  Are you able to get movement into all areas of the thoracolumbar pelvic canister?  Quite often I observe tension and stiffness surrounding the ribcage.  Below I share a breathing drill to get mobility at the lower ribcage and diaphragm and a link from Dr Evan Osar on Three Dimensional Breathing. 

​Susan McLaughlin is a physical therapist who specializes in the management of pelvic floor and orthopedic dysfunctions. She is the owner of ALIGN integration|movement in Salt Lake City, UT.  Helpful tips and other self care strategies can be found at www.alignforhealth.com.

My glutes need some work on both sides, but notice that I have less control with my right leg in this test.  I have a harder time keeping my trunk upright, my pelvis drops, and my knee collapses in and is wobbly.  What I really like about Dr. Powers program is that he provides a systematic 8 level training program for the glut max.  You cannot go to the next level until you are able to pass the lowest one with ease and control.  I have provided the first level of glute training here. Have fun, and may you be blessed with buns of steel!

There are so many different ways to sit yet most of us spend time sitting in chairs at work, at school, at the movies, etc. And yes, there a lot of different ways to sit in a chair, but mostly when we sit we are leaning back into the chair, allowing our spine and pelvis to collapse. Over time, this constant load onto the flexed spine, the sacrum and supporting ligaments can create muscular and connective tissue adaptations. If we can make some simple changes in our sitting habits, we can change the loads and environment within the tissues to improve blood flow, cellular remodeling to potentially get us out of a back ache or even a pelvic floor issue.

Neck pain is a big drag!  Neck stiffness is so annoying! How often have you tried stretching and neck strengthening exercises that send you into more pain and stiffness?  I have totally been there!  One of my favorite ways to relax the neck is to start getting movement into the shoulders, shoulder blades and thoracic spine.
3 Movements for a happy & healthy neck (before you begin, check your neck motion: rotate each direction and then bring your chin to your chest.  Notice how far you move and how it feels):

• Sidelying Trunk Rotation and Shoulder Windmill
• Shoulder Blade Movement on Hands and Knees
• Shoulder Stretch

Now recheck your neck motion and notice if it feels different: is it easier, not so stiff, more motion?

A big part of my time in a session involves education.  Education and information for the client (anatomy, pain science, muscle function, etc.), and reeducation of the client's neuromuscular system. Our body is super smart; it finds a way to move and will continue to do this movement over and over again even though this particular strategy may not be the most effective for the health of the tissue or system.  Part of my job as a therapist is to see the non optimal strategy and teach the client how to reeducate their system for health and longevity.
One of the biggest areas of poor strategies and body confusion is at the core. The core is an area of the body that has a lot of hype.  Fitness pros are making bank teaching people how to strengthen their core to look ripped and lean. Unfortunately a "fit looking" core doesn't mean it is a functional core.

To understand the core, I like to start with the breath.  Little do we know that many of us are 1) holding our abs in all day so that the muscles don't get to fully move and relax or 2) barely breathing.
In an ideal world, when we are at rest whether sitting or in standing, all of our muscles should be at their resting length. Muscles can generate the greatest amount of force at their resting length: not too short, or not too long.

• Holding in abs:  When we are holding are abs in all the time, the muscles are already contracted in the shortened position.  When the body moves and the muscles are required for support, there is not adequate movement (because it is already shortened) to generate the greatest force.  That means that the smooth orchestration of timing, coordination of the muscles have also been glitched.  Misuse of the core happens and compensations result.  Holding in the abdominals also increases pressure in the system: upward toward the diaphragm or downward toward the pelvic floor.  These pressures and tensions can affect digestion/GERD, menstruation, organ prolapse, abdominal wall separation/hernias.
• Barely breathing:  Many people breathe shallow, with minimal diaphragm movement and mostly upper chest and neck movement.  This does not allow for the natural active range of motion that should happen with each breath. On the inhale the diaphragm shortens, pushing downward to make room for the lungs to fill with air.  As the diaphragm shortens, the abdominals and the pelvic floor oppose by lengthening.  Then on the exhale, the abs and pelvic floor shorten and the diaphragm goes back to its resting length.  This movement allows for blood flow, oxygen delivery, optimal muscle function and management of internal pressures.  Shallow breathing can lead to a hyper-ventilatory state which can present as:  increased tension, aches and pains, poor concentration and weird sensations in the body (numb, tingling). 

The first step to strengthening the core is to move all the parts.  The gif above shows the movement of the deeper canister: diaphragm, pelvic floor and abdominals.  The abs and pelvic floor are opposing the diaphragm during inhale and exhale. Can you feel your pelvic floor move during breathing?  Can you feel your abs move?  You might notice that you can only move your chest at first.  See if you can start to bring awareness into: upper abdominals, then belly button, then lower abdominals, then pelvic floor (typically I have people sense the anus- we are used to holding our sphincter muscles to prevent passing gas.  See if you can let the sphincter go on the inhale, then notice if it lifts back up on the exhale). Don't force or try to take big breaths, just direct your focus.  Allow your breathing to be effortless, inhale/exhale are balanced.   Remember your core cannot be strong unless is can access it's full range of motion.  
Know your core: 1) stop holding your core tight all the time (that includes wearing spanx) and 2) learn how to let your core move during breathing. 

This movement sequence was inspired by my exploration with Jill Miller's Yoga Tune Up™/Roll Model and Yamuna Body Rolling.

The outermost membrane, the dura mater extends from the base of the skull to the sacrum and coccyx.  The dura is attached to the lining of the base of the skull and the upper cervical vertebra. Through the remainder of the vertebral canal, the dura does not attach to the vertebra until the end of the dural sac at the second sacral vertebrae. Extensions of the dura surround the nerve roots and continue into the connective tissue coverings of the spinal nerves.  So this tube that protects the brain, spinal cord and the spinal nerves is pretty important!  In order to have healthy dura and healthy nerves we need proper movement, hydration, nutrition and sleep to keep the connective tissue vital.  A lot of our days are full of stress, spent in static positions that lead to neck or sacral compression (sitting at the computer, driving in the car) or repetitive movements that can stress and dehydrate the tissues.  Try these movements to keep your nervous system healthy.