Hi and welcome to lesson two in this series on somatic meditations with me Robert Anderson.
Today we're going to explore how we move our lower back,
How we can actually relax our lower back through move calls,
Arching and flattening.
Before we start I want to give you a reminder on how to sit and you can follow along and use this as a checklist as you get comfortable.
So we want a chair which is fairly sturdy and immobile,
The seat which is not going to tilt you backwards.
Make sure if you can that your hips are going to be above your knees as you sit and if that's a problem you can always use a cushion or sit on a folded pillow to gain some extra height.
If you can roll your pelvis forwards so that you're on your sit bones and your lower back will be straight and be unsupported away from the backrest.
If it's easier you can shuffle forwards onto the front third of your seat.
Place your feet under your knees and rest your hands on your thighs and once you have this position gently move your torso,
Your chest and your head backwards and forwards maybe side to side until you can find a nice spot of balance where you're using minimal effort to hold yourself up.
Make sure you're finding a really comfortable position.
So last week we introduced the first principle which was of awareness to the internal sensations of your body.
Now the second principle we're exploring today is to do with gentleness and part of gentleness is remaining in comfort so we're not moving into any areas of pain and also in exploring how little work we can do or how easily we can do physical work rather than trying to put as much force in as possible.
So get into your comfortable sitting position and draw your attention inwards noticing how your breath is coming in and out of your body.
Specifically as you breathe in is your belly expanding.
If your belly is tense it might not be expanding,
It might be your ribs which are expanding.
Now as you breathe in start to arch creating a little space for your breath to come into your belly.
So you're arching from your lower back,
Tilting your pelvis forward slightly and as you exhale release your breath.
As you're releasing your breath as gently and as controlled as possible release your lower back as you exhale.
Repeating this movement now in your own time,
Breathing in arching creating that space for maybe a little breath to come into your belly.
Exhaling,
Releasing the arch as you release your lower back will lengthen and your body will relax.
As you breathe in and you arch,
Put your attention on your lumbar spine,
So on the muscles on either side of your back in that sort of lower lowest sort of maybe hand width of your spine,
From the base of your spine to kind of behind your belly button.
Start to exaggerate that arch on the inhale and on the exhale release.
Inhaling exaggerating the arch of your spine so that more breath can come in through your belly so that you can maybe feel those spinal muscles working.
Exhaling as consciously with as much awareness as you can,
Relax those muscles of your lower spine.
Repeat this two more times,
Really exaggerating the arch,
Remaining within your range of comfort,
And then exhaling,
Releasing the arch and finding as you finish the exhale where is the point of complete relaxation of your spine.
When you've finished this repetition,
Make this move smaller,
Smaller than it was when you started and slower.
So inhaling,
Place a tiny arch into your lumbar spine.
As you exhale,
Let that arch unwind,
Let your spine lengthen,
Making this movement very small now.
Repeat it two more times,
Making this movement as small as possible.
Remember to keep it tied in with your breath.
And then just relax in your upright position and notice how your position of relaxation might have changed,
How your lumbar spine feels now compared to maybe it did when we began the session today.
Now on your next exhale,
As you breathe out,
I'd like you to start to flatten your lower spine,
Which is going to be like drawing your stomach in or rolling your pelvis backwards.
As you inhale,
Find relaxation,
Relax the fronts of your body to come back up to your neutral position.
So as you exhale,
You can tuck your tailbone under slightly,
Contract your stomach slightly in a way to flatten your spine,
Flatten the curve out of your lower back.
Then as you inhale,
Let everything release at the same time and let it release very slowly and smoothly over the course of your inhale.
So that might be five seconds,
Might be ten seconds,
Might be three seconds.
We're having a slow and steady relaxation.
So exhale,
Flatten your lower back,
Feel the contraction in your stomach,
And then inhale,
Release.
I like to exaggerate this flattening two times,
Just make it a bit stronger than it was before,
A bit faster than it was before,
As you exhale.
Then a very slow inhale,
Slightly stronger exhale and flattening,
And a slow inhale.
Now make it very light for three times.
As you exhale,
Make a very slight,
Light movement to flatten your lower back,
A very light contraction of your stomach muscles.
Still taking the time and slowness as you inhale and relax everything.
Doing that three times slightly,
Flattening,
Flattening,
Controlling,
Slowly releasing,
Inhale,
Exhaling,
Light flattening,
Inhale,
Controlled releasing.
And rest for a moment.
What we will do next is we're going to put those two movements together.
So as you inhale,
Arch your back,
Feel the tension in your lumbar spine,
In the rear of your body.
And as you exhale,
Let your lower back relax.
Continuing to exhale,
Start to flatten your lower back as you contract muscles in your abdomen.
As you inhale,
Relax the muscles of your abdomen,
Continuing to inhale,
Starting to arch your lower back.
Exhaling,
Releasing your back,
Exhaling,
Flattening your back,
Inhaling,
Releasing your stomach,
Inhaling,
Arching your back.
Try and make this movement with as much awareness as possible,
Awareness into the spatial dimension of the movement,
And also this internal awareness into which muscles are tightening and which muscles are releasing.
And each part of this movement,
So that's following the first principle of awareness.
As you continue,
I also want you to make sure you're following the second principle of gentleness or softness,
Namely that you're moving with as much care as possible.
You're not moving so far that you're in any discomfort or pain,
Because that will interfere with your ability to relax and to learn.
Making sure you're moving lightly,
Arching as you inhale,
Very lightly as you relax your lumbar spine,
You exhale lightly,
As you flatten your spine on the exhale,
Lightly as you relax your stomach on the inhale and repeat.
Repeat.
Do this movement one more time.
And then as you inhale out of the flatten,
As you just find that neutral,
Comfortable midpoint and stay there as you breathe,
Putting your attention back into your breathing as we did at the start.
I'd like you to compare how your body feels now to how it felt at the beginning of this session.
And I'd like you to try and keep a connection to the quality of relaxation and comfort that we've developed as you start to move around your day.
This is the end of today's practice.
