Stormy Brockbank understands posture. With a background in dance, complemented with 16 years’ experience in classical pilates and 12 years in functional training, Stormy’s life is dedicated to mastering and teaching the principles of body alignment and movement.
Stormy manages Port Melbourne’s FS8 (the pilates focused sister brand of F45) and when I lived in Port Melbourne I attended her classes weekly. I got to know her and her style of teaching well – she’s a stickler for form, believing that keeping true to good form leads to a more beneficial workout.
In the 3 exercises she’s broken-down, step-by-step below, she’s focused in details on doing these exercises right and with the correct form - meaning you’ll see improvements in your posture faster.
These 3 exercises for posture correction can really be done anywhere – at home, in a hotel room, on the beach- all you need is a yoga mat and 10 minutes….
Top 3 yoga mat exercises for better posture:
#1: Bridge
Strengthening the back body (especially the buttocks and hamstrings) will help correct a slouched or round-back posture and help you maintain a tall spine while seated.
- Lie on your back with the knees bent, feet flat on the floor and arms at your sides.
- Press into the feet and feel the shoulders widen.
- Lift or roll the pelvis off the floor. Don’t go so high that your lower back pinches; imagine a straight line from your knees to your hips to your shoulders.
- Roll down one vertebra at a time.
- Repeat three to five times.
#2: Chest Opener
Stretching the pectoral muscles reverses our habitual forward rounding posture (think driving, looking at your phone, nursing a baby). If you sit or stand with rounded shoulders, this will feel great.
- Stand with your feet a comfortable distance apart. Hold a yoga strap or a belt (you can buy a stretching strap here, otherwise a bathrobe belt works well too) behind your hips with palms facing away from you and thumbs facing one another.
- Raise the belt or strap towards the wall behind you and up. If you need to grasp the belt with a wider grip, do so. As you lift the belt away from you, your chest will feel a stretch.
- Lower the belt and repeat three to five times.
#3: Abdominal Lift
A strong, stable core supports the rest of your body, including your pelvic girdle, as you move through your day. As you get older, exercises that strengthen these muscles groups and keep them flexible can improve body posture when walking, standing or sitting.
- Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor.
- Make sure your legs are parallel—lined up so that your hip, knee, and ankle are aligned—and the toes are pointing directly away from you. This is a neutral spine position. The natural curve of the lower spine should create a slight lift off the mat.
- Keep your shoulders down and bring your hands behind your head with the fingertips touching. Keep your elbows open and allow your hands to support the base of your skull.
- Take a few deep breaths as you take a little survey of your body. Is your body balanced? Is your neck relaxed? Are your ribs dropped?
- As you exhale, slowly pull your belly button down back toward your spine. Let your spine lengthen out as your lower back comes down to the mat.
- As you lengthen your spine, tilt your chin slightly down. Keeping your neck long, slowly lift your upper spine off the mat, leading with the front of your chest (breast bone). Keep your neck and shoulders relaxed. Don't let your legs tense up.
- When you reach the top of the move, inhale, drawing the abdominal muscles in deeper.
- Exhale as you slowly lower back to the mat. Start with your shoulders, keeping your abdominals drawn in, then your neck. The back of your head should reach the mat last.
- Take a deep breath in as you release your abdominal muscles and return to neutral spine position.
- Repeat for your desired number of reps.
With all of the above exercises, always take things slowly and gently. Only do what you can and if anything feels too much, then ease off and perhaps give that exercises a miss.
If you don’t have a yoga mat and need one, our yoga mat is used in yoga and pilates studios Australia-wide to do the very exercises Stormy’s outlined above. Our mat is antibacterial, biodegradable and non-toxic, and it strikes the perfect balance between being portable and lightweight, whilst providing stability and support.
Good posture brings a host of wonderful benefits: it can reduce back, shoulder and neck pain, lead to fewer headaches, increase your lung capacity and even improve your digestion and energy levels. The 3 exercises Stormy has given above, although simple, have the power to transform your posture and unlock a life enriched with the benefits that good posture brings.
Remember, little things make big things happen! Consistency is key, Andrea x