Now we all know that this is used in Pilates to stretch & breathe deeply.
Briefly child’s pose is where you’re in an all 4’s kneeling position, take your bum back to your heels.
The big toes of the feet are connected, knees about hip width apart, lower your torso , arms outstretched along the floor palms down, or you can place them by the sides of your body, palms up.
Forehead is on the mat, or if that is tricky you can keep your head up with your neck in line with your spine.
Not only is it a great stretch, it has other another big benefit, which you may not be aware of.
It’s fantastic for our pelvic floor muscles in this position, combined with deep breathing (thinking of breathing wide & deep to the back of the rib cage).
Pelvic floor muscles work together with the diaphragm, abdominal muscles & chest wall.
A recent study reported that women with incontinence issues, experienced a decrease in symtoms , when practising exercises like this, targeted for pelvic floor health after 6 weeks.
And as you are probably aware, Pilates exercises with ‘pilates breathing’ can improve pelvic floor & core strength.
Claire x
