Looking to give your Ashtanga practice a little boost? Can’t quite figure out how to activate your low abs or lengthen your low back? Try this brief Pilates routine. Pilates emphasizes core strength, controlled movement, and correct muscle activation. The precision of Pilates rehabilitates, stabilizes, and strengthens, making for a stronger and better aligned asana practice.
Back Extension
Strengthen the back and the back side of the body through this exercise. Similar to the first few backbends in Ashtanga's second series as well as upward facing dog, the Back Extension teaches us to use our back extensor muscles rather than flexibility, to enter a backbend.
1. Lie on your stomach with legs together and arms, along your sides. Lift your …show more content…
Exhale lower. Remember, your head is an extension of your spine. Keep your gaze down.
Plank
The Plank is categorized as a full body integration exercise, meaning it ALL has to work together - back, abs, arms, shoulder girdle and legs. In yoga, the plank translates to everything from chaturanga to pincha mayurasana. Building strength in this fundamental Pilates exercise, you'll even find more ease in positions that require that strong line.
1. Place wrists under shoulder with the crease of the wrist parallel to the short edge of the mat. Keeping a straight line from head to toe, move your shoulder blades away from each other and down your back.
2. Pull the naval to the spine. Tuck the tailbone slightly to lengthen the low back. Keep the legs active by reaching your heels away from the head and hugging the legs nto the midline. Hold for 3 breaths. The Pelvic Curl
The Pelvic Curl is a great precursor for yoga's backbends as it creates space in the low back and teaches how to recruit the hamstrings and glutes without overly engaging them.
1. Lie on back with your pelvis in a neutral position. Keep a little space between your waist and your mat and your tailbone heavy. With knees bent and your feet and legs parallel, reach your arms towards your feet. Push your shoulder blades down into the mat with collarbones spread. Inhale …show more content…
Exhale, draw your low abs in deeply and begin to curl the pelvis. Draw the pubic bone towards the belly button as you peel the back off the mat, one bone at a time. Using your hamstrings, lift the pelvis and trunk higher, creating a diagonal line from shoulders to knees. Pause.
3. Inhale as you articulate the spine back down to a neutral position. Drop the tailbone onto the mat and return the pelvis to neutral. Repeat 5 - 10 times.
Rolling Like a Ball
This exercise requires core stabilization and control through a deep engagement of the abdominal muscles and a relaxed rounding of the back. The key in this exercise is in keeping the body contained and stable. Rolling like a Ball is similar to several asanas in Ashtanga's primary series, like garbha pindasana and ubhaya padangusthasana - but it will also help with more advanced asanas, like bakasana.
1. Sit, balancing behind the sit bones. Holding the legs just above the ankles, draw in the low abs deeply, rounding the low back. Maintain the curve of the spine from head to tailbone.
2. Shift the weight of the body back and roll onto the shoulder girdle. Pause on the shoulders and reverse the direction of the roll. Return to start.
3. Balance on the sit bones and pause. Avoid touching the feet to the floor. Repeat 10
Back Extension
Strengthen the back and the back side of the body through this exercise. Similar to the first few backbends in Ashtanga's second series as well as upward facing dog, the Back Extension teaches us to use our back extensor muscles rather than flexibility, to enter a backbend.
1. Lie on your stomach with legs together and arms, along your sides. Lift your …show more content…
Exhale lower. Remember, your head is an extension of your spine. Keep your gaze down.
Plank
The Plank is categorized as a full body integration exercise, meaning it ALL has to work together - back, abs, arms, shoulder girdle and legs. In yoga, the plank translates to everything from chaturanga to pincha mayurasana. Building strength in this fundamental Pilates exercise, you'll even find more ease in positions that require that strong line.
1. Place wrists under shoulder with the crease of the wrist parallel to the short edge of the mat. Keeping a straight line from head to toe, move your shoulder blades away from each other and down your back.
2. Pull the naval to the spine. Tuck the tailbone slightly to lengthen the low back. Keep the legs active by reaching your heels away from the head and hugging the legs nto the midline. Hold for 3 breaths. The Pelvic Curl
The Pelvic Curl is a great precursor for yoga's backbends as it creates space in the low back and teaches how to recruit the hamstrings and glutes without overly engaging them.
1. Lie on back with your pelvis in a neutral position. Keep a little space between your waist and your mat and your tailbone heavy. With knees bent and your feet and legs parallel, reach your arms towards your feet. Push your shoulder blades down into the mat with collarbones spread. Inhale …show more content…
Exhale, draw your low abs in deeply and begin to curl the pelvis. Draw the pubic bone towards the belly button as you peel the back off the mat, one bone at a time. Using your hamstrings, lift the pelvis and trunk higher, creating a diagonal line from shoulders to knees. Pause.
3. Inhale as you articulate the spine back down to a neutral position. Drop the tailbone onto the mat and return the pelvis to neutral. Repeat 5 - 10 times.
Rolling Like a Ball
This exercise requires core stabilization and control through a deep engagement of the abdominal muscles and a relaxed rounding of the back. The key in this exercise is in keeping the body contained and stable. Rolling like a Ball is similar to several asanas in Ashtanga's primary series, like garbha pindasana and ubhaya padangusthasana - but it will also help with more advanced asanas, like bakasana.
1. Sit, balancing behind the sit bones. Holding the legs just above the ankles, draw in the low abs deeply, rounding the low back. Maintain the curve of the spine from head to tailbone.
2. Shift the weight of the body back and roll onto the shoulder girdle. Pause on the shoulders and reverse the direction of the roll. Return to start.
3. Balance on the sit bones and pause. Avoid touching the feet to the floor. Repeat 10