The more I consider how it feels to move the way I want to move, the more I find the position of my pelvis to be critical to the experience. Despite this knowledge I still find my pelvis shifting forward!
Where Should the Pelvis BE?
Briefly, the pelvis/hips should be back just enough that you engage the glutes. The torso should be upright and the lower back muscles should NOT feel like they are holding your torso at an angle. Core Muscles should be engaged but relaxed, evenly toned/tensed all the way around. Nothing should feel strained or flexed hard. Breathe and scan your body. Your scapulae should NOT be pinched together. Rather, your shoulders should feel ever-so-slightly curved round forward, as if around a large diameter column. The ribcage should be such that the sternum feels like it is square to the ground, too high and you will feel it in your lower back, too low and you will feel like you are slouching. Head should be over the shoulders, swiveling easily on the tip of your spine.
Now, think back to the pelvis and be aware of how the whole body feels. Walk around a room while consciously moving the pelvis forward and back, to extremes (but not too far that it hurts!). Think about where it feels best. Is this what I described above?
Consider the diagram. The purple line touches at the first point of posterior contact, like if you were against a wall. The green line acts like a plumb line from the shoulder, as best as I can estimate from the images. When I back up against a wall, my butt hits first. At that point of contact my heels are at about 1.5” to 2” from touching. And my back is also off of the wall, though maybe closer than my heels. ALSO, in diagram “a” above, the lower back is nearly vertical. For me, I feel like I am trying to press my lower back flat. In diagram “b” the vertebrae are pinched posteriorly (toward the back side) and in diagram “c” they are pinched anteriorly. Both of these situations, in “b” and “c”, lead to injuries and pain. The neutral position shown in “a” is the preferred.
So, the bad news is that your body is likely “programmed” to be in the wrong position and the correct position will feel weird. You need to practice this a lot, consciously learn the best position and periodically think about what you are really doing. Set a reminder. Or when your lower back hurts, think about these posture details.
In the end, when you have acquired these good habits, your body will feel more balanced and responsive and the forces of gravity will be evenly distributed.
Lastly, when you are in this good dance posture, I’d like to remind you to be very loose and relaxed around the transverse plane, rotationally around, and maintain your vertical posture as you move. Each step, as you press into the floor, the energy rises up into the pelvis, moving the pelvis. It is crucially important that core muscles are engaged so that the torso moves at the exact moment of the pelvis. When this becomes the normal way of moving, the core muscles will do their job without any of them feeling overly tensed. In the beginning, when learning, you may need to flex the core to train these muscles.
Good luck!
Please comment about your experiences with this. Is it helpful? Do you believe you can reprogram your inner machine? What are your thoughts?
