First of all, jig a bit!!! then lie on your back
Arms by side, gently pressure into the ground, not so much your ribs rise off the floor.
Feet in line with sit bones - to find them sit up and walk on your butt, those boney bits are your sits bones….
Pelvis neutral - glass wine on pelvis, the triangle I show on the video will help with this. If this feels strained in your back, then tuck a little - i.e pour the wine towards you. We all have different spine shapes and there will be varying space underneath your lower back - focus more on your pelvis being level than the space in your back.
Some people have pronounced rib cages - this means you’ll have a big arch under you. Please don’t try to press your ribs hard into the floor, you’ll add so much tension to your body. Instead lift your arms in the air and wiggle on your shoulder blades, like you are walking them away from your butt and then take a sigh outwards and you might feel your upper back sink into the floor. It’s a bit tricky here to help you with this, do your best and feel free to get in touch if you need some advise!
Legs - keep them in line, often the knees fall out or in. Either way you can put a ball mid thigh or higher at your crotch and gently squeeze if your legs fall out, or use it to keep the space if your legs knock in.
How far do your feet? So you can find a long spine and neutral pelvis and roll. Feel free to try different distances from your butt and you’ll feel different things working. Find the distance that helps you to roll through your back as that’s the aim here.
To bridge with articulation, i.e rolling the spine, start by tipping that wine glass towards you (a posterior tilt) and keep rolling up until you are on your mid back, there shouldn’t be pressure on your head.
You’ll see on the video I put my hands on my thighs - thanks to Kathy Grant for the slant board. This will help you get a feel how high to come.
A common mistake is to arch the back at the top - this is okay, but not what I am aiming for here!
A sighing breath helps to soften the chest on the way down and you are trying to place each bone down one by one. We often skip a bone (or two or three) - let it be and the more you do this may chill out.
Think of skimming your back down lightly as opposed to forcing it down - you’ll see on the video that this makes your belly bulge - not what we want. Light and long…
I’ve done some variations on the video so please check it out.
This is such a good move for tight backs, get the back of the legs working (no butt clenching please…) and takes away tension.
In 15 years of teaching I never get fed up of bridging.
Please note, if your back is in spasms - be gentle with it. If you have some acute disc issues, pleaseavoid until it has settled.
And please ask me if you want more help..