2. Pelvic Placement

It is key to stablise the pelvis and lumbar spine in all positions and movements, and we refer to 2 positions for the pelvis in Pilates – Neutral and Imprint.

First off, we will bring some awareness to the range of movement in our pelvis, by rocking the pelvis so whilst supine, create a triangle with your thumbs and index fingers, then place the heels of your hands on your hip bones with fingertips on your pubic bone and imagine placing a bowl of popcorn on that triangle. Rock the pelvis through anterior and posterior tilts (basically spilling the popcorn from the front and back of the bowl!) Anterior tilt = hip bones higher. Posterior tilt = pubic bone higher After a few of these, you should find your neutral position somewhere between the two, which is the optimal shock-absorbing position for the body and helps promote efficient movement patterns. We usually use neutral during closed kinetic chain activities (ie when the feet are on the floor or mat).

In neutral when supine, the triangle you created should be level and parallel to the mat or floor, and with the sacrum heavy on the mat, the natural lordotic (forward) curve of the lumbar spine (lower back) should be present so there should be a small gap under your lower back big enough for a grape. Crucially, it should be a comfortable position for you to stay in without feeling any tension or strain.

Next, to find imprint position, which we use when we are still building the abdominal strength to maintain stability of the pelvis and lumbar spine in neutral, usually during open kinetic chain activities (ie when the feet are in the air) Keeping your triangle, engage the pelvic floor and TA throughout, inhale as you maintain neutral alignment, and as you exhale through pursed lips, contract the obliques to draw the lower ribs and hip bones closer to one another, whilst tilting your pelvis a little towards your head (so pubic bone is slightly higher than hip bones) which slightly lengthens the lumbar spine, i.e. imprints the spine. Inhale to maintain and then exhale to lengthen the obliques back to neutral. It is a small movement, and so the back is not forced into the mat and it is driven from the abdominals (obliques) and there should be no activation in the glutes.