Help Your Hips Help Your Posture.
In the last post we explored how the shoulders respond to the pelvis and hips (and vice versa), and how that affects our posture.
This week we’ll look at how to create a better working relationship between those areas to improve our posture.
Illuminate me.
Being able to support the movement in one part of your body with stability in other parts of your body is key for preventing injury and moving with efficiency.
Stabilizing the hips allows the shoulders to do the work they need to do. Imagine if every time you opened a door you had to use your whole body -- you’d fall over because all of you would be pulling back against the weight of the door— instead of stabilizing with the lower half while the upper half rotates and pulls the door.
This also helps support the spine, which is all good for posture.
Try it…
Lie on your back, feet on the floor, knees bent, with the pelvis in a neutral position (see previous post for this).
Straighten the arms to the ceiling, palms facing your thighs.
Bend the elbows out to the sides into a cactus position.
Notice if your pelvis has moved. If so bring it back to neutral.
Rotate your arms back, so the back of your hands come towards the floor.
Notice if your pelvis has moved. If so… bring it back to neutral (again). Have your ribs pushed up toward the ceiling?
If so, rotate your arms forward until the ribs feel more relaxed.
Continue to rotate your arms backward and forward, noticing how that affects your pelvis. Only rotate the arms in the range of motion that allows your pelvis to stay stable in this neutral position.
Try to increase the range of motion of the arms a little more each time while keeping the pelvis stable.
It may seem obvious, but this is your pelvis stabilizing while your shoulders move.
Try it and let us know what you think. Contact us here. We’d love to hear from you
Wishing you happy hips!