Pilates Foundations: The Neutral Pelvis & Spine

When I lived in Venice, California, one of my favorite things to do was to walk to the busy Venice Beach Boardwalk, sit in my favorite café, and people watch. But my people-watching has what some may see as an odd twist! I love watching the postural differences in people combined with their movement. I love to see the different types of posture in motion. I’d notice one person with a very rounded upper back and shoulders, craning their neck to look forward as they made their way down the crowded walk. A woman would be running after her children with her shoulders pinched together and her ribs and belly spilling forward with a very arched lower spine. And on and on. I would sometimes want to run after these people to tell them, “If you just draw your shoulder blades away from your ears!” or “If you just soften your ribs down and use your breath to pull your navel toward your spine!…”

These very simple changes can make an enormous difference in how we look and feel, especially as we age. But most of us aren’t even aware of our posture, in the same way we aren’t aware of our breathing pattern. These behaviors were imprinted on us before we even learned to walk. We watched our parents and took note of how they stood, walked, moved their heads and arms while they talked—and we copied it all and these motions became embedded in ourselves.

So, making what may seem like a minor adjustment in the way we move takes constant awareness and discipline to make even the smallest permanent change.

What it is: In Pilates, alignment and posture as well as the breath are the number one key ingredients. To fire our Core musculature at its most efficient level, we must be in proper alignment with a neutral spine and pelvis. Neutral means that you maintain the natural curves in your back. Our spine starts with a concave curve for our cervical (neck) spine. It then comes to a convex curve for our thoracic (upper/middle) spine. A concave curve occurs for our lumbar (lower) spine and a convex curve for the sacrum. In many people, these natural curves have been distorted and reversed. In the long run, this will lead to pain and dysfunction in the body.

Our Goal: Our goal is to regain and maintain the natural curvatures of our spine so that our body can work more efficiently and remain free of pain. In Pilates, the objective is to help people to regain their natural curves.

Here’s how: The easiest way to find the natural curves in the spine is by lying on the floor on your back. If your neck compresses and your chin goes immediately up to the ceiling, put a pillow under your head and the tops of your shoulders.

First, lets discuss the neutral pelvis. When you are lying down, do not press your lower back so hard into the floor that you flatten the natural curve in the lower back. But also—do not allow your back to arch so much that your lower back comes off the floor. Find the balance.

Start by placing the heels of the hands on the hip bones on either side of the front of your pelvis. Place your fingertips on the pubic bone. The hands will form an upside down triangle.

Our goal is to have the fingers and heels of the hands parallel to each other (on a flat plane). If the fingers (pubic bone) are lower than the heels of the hand, then the pelvis is tilted forward and your back is arched. If the fingers (pubic bone) are higher than the heels of the hand, then the pelvis is tilted back and your back is rounded. A neutral pelvis is the position in between these two scenarios.

The Pelvic Clock Exercise is a great way to find your neutral pelvis.

Lie on your back with the feet on the floor and the knees bent. Imagine you have a clock face on the back of your sacrum. Gently tilt the pelvis in the direction of the different hours on the clock face until you are balanced on the center of the sacrum and can feel equal effort through the muscles of the hips, abdomen and lower back.

Move from 12 (at the waist) to 6 (at the tailbone) to establish the balance between the spinal flexors (abdominals) and the extenders (low back muscles.)

Move from 3 (on the left hip) to 9 (on the right hip) to establish that you are applying equal pressure on both buttocks.

Create Full Circles by moving the pelvis from 12 to 1 to 2 and all the way around the clock while concentrating on finding a smooth flow from point to point. Keep the circles as perfect a circle as is possible.

Hot Tip: When you find your optimal neutral position in the pelvis, make sure that you are also anchored to the floor at the mid-back (for women, this would be the bra line).

The mid back area is the core of your upper body. When this area is anchored you are ensuring that the thoracic spine is keeping its convex curve.

It’s a difficult balancing act trying to keep the mid back anchored at the same time the pelvis is neutral. Keep practicing!

Join me next time as we continue our foundation work—with Coordination and Rhythm!