Mary Wanless explains how to find neutral spine by positioning your seat bones. Place your fingers under them to feel which way they point: backwards in a hollow back, forwards in a rounded back, straight down when neutral. Practice on a horse, chair, or car seat until front matches back.
Questions this video answers
Straight down (towards the ground).
Hollow-backed: backwards (towards the horse's back feet). Round-backed: forwards (towards the horse's front feet).
On your horse, on a hard chair, or in a good car seat.
As 'front matching back' with small natural curves (the term used by physical therapists).
I want you to understand more about the positioning of your seat bones, where.
They point and how that influences the shape of your torso.
So we want a box length of.
Your front matching the length of your back.
But most people are either hollow backed or round backed.
So I'm going to take Milly's stick and hold disco. So I'm just making sure this situation is safe as you want to do at home.
And this exercise bears doing both on your horse and on a hard chair.
And if you have a good car seat, it becomes something you can practice and play with in your car.
So, Millie, you're going to sit on.
Your hands so your fingers are under your seat bones.
And with your palms up you'll be.
A little bit more sensitive, although you might find you last a little bit longer. If you go palms down so you can feel your seat bones.
I want you to hollow your back.
So if you had flashlights on your seat bones, now what direction would those flashlights be pointing in?
Backwards. So with her back hollow, her seat bones point back. Now see if you can come to.
Neutral, which will make your seat bones point down. Flashlights on your seat bones will point straight towards the ground.
And now round your back. What happens then?
Where would they point?
Forwards, forwards, which would be towards his front feet. So come to neutral again. So the round backed rider will have.
Her seat bones pointed towards the horse's front feet.
The hollow backed rider will have her.
Seat bones pointing towards the horse's back feet. And you may need to experiment a few times till you really get this. Sometimes it's hard for people to understand.
You want your seat bones pointing down. So if they were flashlights, the flashlights.
On your seat bones would go so.
Straight down to the ground. That will define you as being in.
What physical therapists call neutral spine. With your front matching your back, you will have little curves to your spine.
Because it's not meant to be dead straight. It's stronger with a little small backward.
Curve between your shoulder blades and forward.
Curve around your waistband.
But it's not a lot. And for most people there's a significant adjustment to find this.
