What Doctors Don’t Tell You Australia-NZ – July 22, 2019

FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ ISSUE 01 | AUG/SEP 2019 | WDDTY 55

HEALTHY LIVING

Spine suspended on

all fours

• On all fours, begin moving into the shoulders
  and hips to tune in to how you feel around the
  spine. Gently ‘wag your tail’ from side to side
  for a little lateral motion.


• From a central position, with the inhale, arch
  your back just as much as you can easily open
  the chest without pain.


• With the exhale, draw your belly in to curve
  your back out and open the back body. Move
  between these two positions to alternately find
  space in the front and back of the spine.

Lengthening your spine

• From all fours, tuck the toes under and lift the hips. As you exhale,
  bring shoulders over wrists, coming right up onto the balls of the
  feet. Draw the chin into the chest, rounding the back and gathering
  the belly into the body.


• On the inhalation draw the thighs back toward downward-facing
  dog, opening the front body, so knees may be bent and heels high,
  coaxing out the pose with a rocking rhythm back and forth.


• If you settle into downward-facing dog pose, you can retain
  length in the spine and notice if tightness in the back of
  the legs or the top of the back limits that length. If so,
  keep the heels high so you can still retain openness
  in the chest.

Opening the front body

• Either from all fours or downward-facing dog, step your
  right foot forward so it is pointing straight ahead. From this
  lunge, bring your left hand onto your belly and right hand
  onto your lower back, feeling how you support uplift through
  the front and softening down the back.


• Taking the left hand to the outside of the right thigh, lift the
  left arm with elbow bent so the forearm follows the line of the
  collarbone. Then inhale into a twist and exhale to retract back
  again. Move to the other side.

Gentle resting spine flexion

Resting the back in a gentle forward bend allows you to integrate the previous movements and

is a place to come back to if you need to relieve pressure at any time. A fetal position with feet on

the floor or legs lengthened out (knees out to the sides) allows you to fully rest.