Segmental Sitting Audio Exercise by Allison Suran PT, GCFP Duration: 39minutes

The idea of segmental sitting is to learn to "feel" each individual vertebrae and the overall support and position of your spine to provide true "core" support for you posture. As you learn to take your focus inward, to the bodies of the vertebrae and the base of the pelvis (sits bones), you can learn to relax the tension in your low back, and especially your upper back and neck muscles. You will develop the intrinsic stability from your deep core muscles and have less over-use, aches and pains from your more superficial muscles that are designed for MOBILITY rather than STABILITY.

You can listen to the exercise online by clicking the triangle (play) button below and you can pause anytime by clicking the ll (pause) button..

BASIC INSTRUCTIONS:
Find a firm surface to sit on. A dining room chair usually works well. Typically the edge of your bed, the sofa, or a soft chair does not give you the feedback that is most helpful.

Identify the support of your two sits bones (right and left) and each of your legs and feet. Rest your hands on your thighs.

Sit tall, and begin by exploring the rocking back and forth on your sits-bones. (They are shaped like rocking chairs). Let your hips and legs be free if possible.

Notice that when you rock your pelvis (sits-bones) backwards your whole body tends to slouch, and when you rock your pelvis (sits-bones) forward your whole trunk is likely to come up to sitting taller. Also, notice when you slouch; Are you leaning backward? Or are you letting your shoulders drop straight down "over" your pelvis? It is preferable to drop straight down, as leaning backwards tends to engage the abdominal muscles and creates more effort than is desirable.

Now you are ready to begin "slouching" one segment at a time, starting with the pelvic sits-bones and low back:

Rest in neutral - a fairly tall sitting posture. Let your hips relax.

Consciously begin with your attention on your sits bones. This is your base of support. This is where you are learning to bring your attention to whenever you are wanting to make postural adjustments.

Begin to roll your sits bones, and therefore your pelvis SLOWLY backwards.
Notice that your sacrum goes backwards.

Imagine that you can feel your lowest lumbar vertebrae going backwards, then the next and the next. (Although your lower back vertebrae go backwards, your shoulders and head may actually feel as though they are dropping forwards. Move slowly downward right over your pelvis so that you are not "leaning" back.)

Continue to slowly lower yourself into a slouch, ONLY as far as is easy and comfortable, until eventually your shoulders drop, your neck relaxes and your head drops forward and downward.

Rest for a moment in this position and feel the breath in your belly. Notice if your legs and hips are relaxed.

Begin to prepare for sitting up tall again. This is the "more important" part of the exercise. How do you put yourself "back together" again :.
Take your attention back to your sits bones.

Slowly begin to rock your sits-bones forward. Notice that the sits-bones not only roll forward but there is also a gentle pressure downward into your chair.

Allow JUST the movement of your sits bones rolling forward and pressing down to initiate your pelvis and sacrum coming forward into neutral. Try to allow your head and shoulders to stay down until the very end.

Feel the invitation for your lower lumbar vertebrae to begin to stack "as if" one at a time, they are forming the forward low back curve (called a lordosis) that provides the support for the rest of your body.

Notice the gentle stacking of each of the middle back vertebrae.

Allow the shoulders to just come into place with as little muscular effort from the upper body as possible. Go slow enough that you can feel when your habitual habit of pulling your shoulders up and back might want to engage. Try to breath, release, and return to the sense of support from your pelvis, low back and the core of your spine.

Finally at the end, your head will lift effortlessly into place over your spine.

BREATHE. Notice if your hips are still relaxed.

Do this 3-5 times each sitting, 2-3 times a day (at least). You can drop into the visualization at any time during the day to release your muscles and let the bones of your skeleton support you.

Each time you repeat the exercise try to learn something new. Be curious. Try to avoid mindless repetition. Learning happens when we are curious, interested, and exploring our sensations.

ENJOY!