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In this series, I'd like to illustrate what the chair (both in and out of the vehicle) is doing to our body to pull us out of alignment which might be the source of our aches and pains. Then, we'll explore ways to modify how we sit as well as practice exercises to re-align our body.
The tendency to recline the carseat can put us into a position that encourages some poor postural habits.
Unfortunately for our lower backs, “bucket seats” in cars tend to cause us to sit in a way that has many detrimental effects.
Let’s look at the neutral shape of the spine. But be careful not to mimic the lower curve by actually displacing the upper spine!
Breaking the habit of letting the head fall forward, but make sure you aren’t just tilting your whole ribcage backwards!
When you attempt to bring the back of your carseat to vertical, you may encounter a problem with your headrest…
Because it can be difficult to visualize what is happening inside the vehicle, in this short class, I use a flat chair/stool to demonstrate the movement of the three main sections of the spine and how they align to a neutral position. This is something you can practice from any chair.
Let’s explore twisting: How to twist well for a healthy back, some tips to incorporate twists while driving, and noticing whether we are habitually twisting creating imbalances, or whether we do so with with intention to relieve tension and to increase spinal health.
The tendency in our modern life is to use our arms with the shoulder joint internally rotated. When we spend a majority of our time that way, it's easy to develop an excessive amount of tension in the upper shoulders and neck area.
How you habitually arrange your feet in the car is another factor that can affect your whole body function.
Keeping your hands in one gripping position for long periods of time can lead to excessive tension not only in the hands but all the way through the arms to the neck.
One thing you can practice both while you drive and any time during the day is BREATHING! How you breathe actually does matter for a myriad of reasons, but particularly for the mobility and health of your upper torso.
If you are someone who has to get in and out of a vehicle regularly, how you do so matters to your body. This also applies to all of us as we walk up and down stairs.
When we sit a lot, the bend of our knee is keeping the calf muscles in a shortened position. This chronic shortening results in the inability to fully flex the ankle and results in compensation patterns in how we walk and stand which then can cause strain in our knees, lower back, and even the neck.
After sitting a while, fully straightening the leg becomes difficult which causes us to overuse the fronts of our thighs (quadricep muscles) and creates too much tension in the knees. This exercise is intended to help stretch the hamstrings, straighten the legs, and release the quadriceps.
After a while with a lot of sitting, our upper spines will tend to slump forward. The Thoracic Stretch is a good way to offset that slouching of the upper back.
An easy movement and stretch for the waist and lower back is to do a side bend, also known as the crescent stretch.
To offset the effects of tight hip flexors, I recommend practicing a lunge as much as possible, especially as a way to take a break from sitting in a chair or in the vehicle.
An easy stretch to offset holding a steering wheel is to pull your arm behind the back using a wall or the side of the vehicle.
A simple quadricep stretch, also known as the runner’s stretch, can help return the quadriceps to a more relaxed and elongated position.
Hanging is also a good way to offset the collapse of the upper spine that can accompany so much sitting. Your don’t need to hang vertically. Side hanging is just as good and it allows you to modify how much weight you require the arms to hold.
This is a compilation of all the alignment points and restorative exercises we explored throughout this series.
This class is intended to restore muscle lengths and relax the tensions that build up after a day in a vehicle.