Heads Up on Your Body

Which Way Is UP?

Which way is up?

You might have guessed the answer to this question by looking at the title of this website, Heads UP On Your Body.

When you are standing, your head is usually up, as in, up above the rest of your body. But which way is up when, in pilates class and you are laying on your back, we say, “Connect the abdominals in and UP”?

The answer is, UP in the direction of your head. First, feel the belly button connect into the spine, and then draw that connection UP along the spine towards the head. In fact, you should even think of drawing the abdominals in and up along the spine, and OUT THROUGH the top of the head! UP does not stop at your hair. It continues, up and out, with an continuous energy that you can always reconnect in and up along.

Try feeling it like this- stand facing the side, in front of a mirror. Connect your abdominals in and imagine the spine stretching up your back and continuing to stretch up through the top of the head, never ending. Watch that your ribs don’t move and your back doesn’t move into an arch… that is not UP, that’s forward! Use your abdominals drawing in to keep that forward movement from happening.

Ok, so what if you’re doing Tendon Stretch on the Chair, and the top of your head is hanging down towards the floor. Which way is up? Still, UP is in the direction of your head. No matter what position your body is in, UP is always up and out through the top of the head.

Try connecting like this in your next pilates class, and you’ll find that your movements have more strength behind them. This type of connection can also really help you complete more advanced exercises that you previously felt were impossible.

As the motto on my tea bag read the other day, “Keep up!”!

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