As a young child, have you ever had anyone tell you, sit up straight? I know my father was almost a tyrant about posture, yet he never really explained why I should sit up straight. Luckily for you I have a genuine curiosity about the human body, and how movement can make us feel. In my former years as a dancer good posture was introduced more as having a strong presence. As a yoga teacher, I found that moving the spine can actually impact the sense of well-being. My students always seemed to leave class with a little more joy when we’d focus our practice on the spine, but why?

Typically, we use our spines to slouch in a chair, or over our work-load for the day.
Yet, our spines can move in various ways. When we limit our movement to a forward slouch we also limit what’s possible in our bodies, along with how it’s intended to move. The forward slouch impedes our breath, our digestion, as well as supporting the feelings of a stiff neck with tight shoulders. I mean really, who wants that in their lives?

When we begin to move our spines in all its ranges of motion we improve those items mentioned above, along with our overall mobility, flexibility, and stability. Think about it this way. Our nervous system is housed in our spinal column. It’s the pathway of all signals that travel throughout our bodies. If we give it the same input we’ll get a familiar output. If we begin giving it new information, the body will respond in new ways too. By taking care of our spine we truly can improve our sense of well-being, while we reprogram what feels possible in our bodies too.

Join me and get ready to flex, extend, twist and spiral your spine in this seated practice. We’ll be using a yoga block to help create stability and strength in the lower body with this practice too. If you have one, grab it! If not a sofa pillow, or folded blanket can work just as well. Get moving and feel the difference in your body today.