Tuesday, June 05, 2007

More Core Strengthening Postures for Improved Postural Alignment and the Health of Your Spine

The main thing with these postures is that if you are trying to scoop your lower abdomen inward it makes the work in the core stronger and helps you use that strength to lengthen the lower back. This makes the work more beneficial to maintaining good posture and improving the health of your spine. In these postures you can also see that, while I am working strongly, I am also relaxed and not overworking. So sthirasukham is also possible while strengthening the core.

In this first picture you can see how strongly I am scooping my abdomen inward.



In this pose you can see how I am scooping my abdomen in as well.



In this pose it is harder to scoop the abdomen in but trying makes the work much deeper.



In this pose it is also hard to scoop the abdomen inward, but again, if you try to, it makes the work more powerful and the pose will give you more work in the deeper muscles of the abdomen where you want it.



In this last pose you can either do the pose with the knees bend or straight. Both variations of the posture are good work for the core. And just like with all the other postures, scooping the abdomen inward while expanding the chest will make the work in the core deeper in precisely the way you want it to be deeper.