Restorative Pilates: Seated Posture

In this video clip, we explore some basic tips to mitigate the challenges we can experience from too much sitting. Strengthen and condition while seated with just a ball or pillow for props, some hip stretches, as well as hamstring and hip flexor stretches on the roller. These small, low-time commitment movements can have profound benefits for your well-being.

If you have an interest in learning more about Pilates, please join my class, Restorative Pilates, every Wednesday at 10:00 am & Saturday at 11:00 am PT, here on Insight Timer.

Transcript

Hi, Welcome to Restorative Pilates. My name is Victoria and today we'll be looking at a few ways to offset too much sitting and how to stretch and stay open. Nice breath in, Exhale pulling that belly button in and up, Thinking about our alignment with our feet forward we engage into the ball pulling our pelvic floor in and up which helps to engage those low abdominals as we grow tall through the crown of the head ear over shoulder over hip with our hands behind our head inhaling into some extension as we scoop and hollow the belly button in and up connecting through the ball between our legs and behind our back and if you don't have a ball maybe a little pillow would be nice just something to connect into as we come into a little bit of oblique work stabilizing our pelvis. Let's go ahead and open up our external hip rotators coming into that figure four position we hinge forward with a flat back and we can always rotate toward that hip if we want to deepen the stretch gently pressing that knee down nice flat back hinge opening up from sitting is really important as well as we draw the roller under the back of our pelvis and bring our knees toward our chest gently rocking side to side we can also come into that figure four position and feeling how we do rock how that affects the hips and our stretch opening up those hamstrings is so important as we flex our feet and lengthen those heels away from us we can come into a scissor position opening the hip flexors and the hamstrings while engaging those low abs and then a nice hip flexor stretch letting gravity and breath assist us as we lengthen that heel toward the floor and out of the hip really just taking our time and breathing nice opening as we put the low back into traction controlling that roller through each little part I hope you found those tips to be helpful if you've had an interest in Pilates I hope that you will explore my live event Restorative Pilates every Wednesday at 10 a. M and every Saturday at 11 a. M pacific time