Alignment Warm Up Checklist

Here's a really quick checklist for getting the body aligned to work. There are many exercises that are done to release further tensions and to assist in the readiness of the body, breath and voice. 

This list is a great starting place to begin your awareness of the way you stand. Employing these 5 things can greatly change your physical, mental and emotional presence in a room.

There are many subtle things I do that I can adjust to find more ease and openness. I will use a larger example here. One area of tension is anterior pelvic tilt. 

Check your feet. Place them hip width apart. The width distance between the feet actually ends up being slightly between hips and shoulders. 

Rock your weight on your feet from your heels to your toes. 

Repeat this several times. 

Find your weight over the centers of the feet now—coming to a stop when you feel balanced with the weight midway in between the toes and heels. 

To finish shift the weight just slightly forward a tiny bit closer to the balls of the feet. This slight shift forward brings you into a ready focused and energetic state. 

By bringing the weight that slightly bit forward, you are adding urgency to your focus. You are closer to entering the state of survival, of creativity, of Second Circle.

Next step, let's notice your ankles. Feel them released and bounce a little bit from that joint. Notice it. Release it. 

Focus now on your knees. Release them.  Make sure they are not locked. Also, try not to bend them to much so you add tension. Your quadriceps and glutes should be relatively relaxed when your knees are released. This allows the skeletal system to stack and the muscular system to be easy and released. 

When the ankles and knees are released, you may find it easier to feel the weight over the middles of the feet and slightly front of center.

Drop the pelvis. There are different ways you can explore how to do this. 

It's taken me a long time to find the place where the pelvis rests in an open and supportive way. As someone with hypermobility, I have had to seek stability in order to find ease. We often think of ease as something that is loose. I find that ease is a balance between strength and flexibility, tension and release. 

Let's examine one way to find the pelvis underneath you. You can feel the way the coccyx (the very bottom of the spine) can guide the spine to tilt forward and back. Imagine that your coccyx is hanging from a chain that begins at the bottom of your ribcage. Swing it forward and back until you feel in hanging from the base of the ribs. 

Some people tend to have the coccyx tilted back; you can see this in the picture above. If this is what you tend to do, bring your hip bones in front a little closer to the base of the ribs. On the other hand some people tend to have the coccyx pointing too far forward which leaves the lower back rounded, the chest collapsed and the neck forward.  If this is you, elongate the space between the hips and the ribs in front. 

Drop the coccyx so that you feel it hanging at the base of the chain (spine). There should be more ease in the lower back when you do this. 

This is an area of the body in voice/bodywork that needs a lot of attention. I approach this work through a series of exercises that help to build proprioception in the student so they can find the best alignment for their body. After working for several months, pelvic alignment becomes a step that someone who is new to bodywork and alignment can feel and find on their own.

This next step is a little easier to feel. 

Lift your shoulders up towards your ears. Now bring them forward and let them drop. You can feel the collapse in the chest, the weight of the shoulder girdle pulling the body forward, and the over expansion of the upper back.

Now, lift your shoulders up toward the ears. Pull them back behind you, pulling the scapula/shoulder blades together. This will have the effect of puffing the chest up and out. 

Finally, lift the shoulders up and let them fall gently down and back. There should be an easy open feeling between the scapula on the backside and similarly the chest should feel open—neither collapsed nor overextended. 

Finally, notice where your head is. 

A lot of us, tend to lift the chin a little bit causing tension in the back of the neck and throat. This also causes subtle collapse in the chest.

See if you can feel the back of the neck lengthen, chin gently down and relaxed. The head should easily move side to side. 

There are so many ways to explore for this head easy position! For now, just feel the ears over the spine, neck long in back, eyes seeing straight forward.