How Do I Correct the Supine Spine Twist in Pilates

I recently received this question from one of my members:

I have a question about the Supine Spine Twist. When the student has rotated her hips to one side and the opposite shoulder is lifting off the mat, should I correct the shoulder? Is it better to use a verbal or tactile cue?

Excellent question! Before I give you the answer, I’m going to have you try something first. Are you up for that?

Lie down on the mat in the position you just described. Let your shoulder lift off the floor, and notice what happens if you force the shoulder back down.

What most likely happened, is that the back of the shoulder complex, your neck, or your back started to feel compressed and pinched (scapular retraction, elevation, spinal extension, loss of axial length through the cervical spine). The shoulder is one of the most mobile areas in the body and will follow the path of least resistance.

Pushing her shoulder down she might feel encouraged to press her knee further to deepen the stretch, and her shoulder will want to lift even higher off the mat, and you will have to push it down harder. Your student might perceive this tactile cue as a way for her to get a deeper stretch, resulting in both of you working harder instead of smarter (or more correctly).

That’s why I would not recommend correcting the shoulder once the student is in the stretch.

What will work better, is to bring the person out of the twist so they lie on their backs with both hips on the mat. Now encourage her to keep her shoulder girdle and upper back glued to the mat as she slowly begins to go into the twist inch by inch. As soon as you notice the shoulder lifting off the mat bring your student’s awareness to it. Tell her not to go any further unless she is able to keep the shoulder down.

You’re correcting her alignment with a verbal cue.

A really effective tactile cue is to slide your fingers underneath her upper back (just below the armpit) and ask her to squish your fingers. This encourages her to take action in the desired direction, creating opposition, which actually increased the stretch. You can think of it as a rubber band stretching longer.