Congratulations!
Congratulations on completing your first Pilates Class! Were you surprised when your Instructor mentioned your bones? You might be wondering how important your skeletal alignment is during Pilates Classes. Well, if you’re working with an Instructor trained in a contemporary school of Pilates, such as STOTT Pilates, then for each and every one of the exercises that you practice, there’ll be a suggested starting alignment, as well how to sequence your movement over your joints (e.g., rounding your spine from your head to your tail).
If you’re wondering why bother with alignment at all, stay tuned for an upcoming article! But for now, let’s review what the heck your instructors mean when they say find your neutral lower back and pelvis.
Neutral lower back and pelvis
Your job today is to take your fingertips to your pubic symphysis (see pic below) and the heels of your hands to your ASIS (see below). If you’re standing or sitting, you’re going to try to line up your pubic symphysis and ASIS vertically.
Imprinted lower back and pelvis
Good job! Now you’re going to slightly bring your pubic symphysis forward of your ASIS. Does your lower back flatten or get more arched? It gets flatter!
If you’re lying on your back, it’s not needed to flatten your lower back so much that the spine presses into the floor. Imprint can be a small movement. Also note, if you’re lying on your back, and your gluteal region is large, if you line up your ASIS and pubic symphysis horizontally, you might over-arch your lower back. Another term for over-arching the spine is hyperextending. In your case, you might find a neutral lower back posture by allowing your pubic symphysis to rest slightly higher than your ASIS.
Neutral and Imprint
Now that you’ve found the neutral and imprinted positions of your lower back and pelvis, it’s time to practice imprinting with each breath out, and finding neutral with each breath in. Practice this for one minute or two.
Use your abs to imprint, not your bum
Quick note! When you’re imprinting, notice where you feel the work, minor as the work may be. Is it at your glutes or your abs? It might take a few minutes to drop in on the sensations due to how small the movement is. But you want to feel it at your abs, not your glutes!
Come back to this practice
Many Pilates Studios like their instructors to start classes by practicing rocking the pelvis and lower back from neutral to imprint and back. This could be done as a ritual. To cut out all the noise, and start to zone in on your body. I recommend practicing this whenever you want to give your mind a break from your day, and when you have an urge to attend to your body.