To Tuck or Not To Tuck When Lying On Your Stomach

I received a question the other day about positioning the spine and pelvis while on your stomach. Are we supposed to tuck under?

• If you feel your lumbar spine shortening and compressing, then keep lengthening the tailbone, thighs and feet back towards your heels.
• Be aware of how it feels in your body. Ultimately we want to find work in the muscles, without side effects. There should be no pinching, straining or compressing in your back. We like the muscles to quiver or shake a bit as they are getting stronger.
• We are all different. If your lumbar spine is very flexible, then you will have to focus all your attention on keeping a tiny gap under your stomach, by firming the abdominal wall up towards the ceiling. Then this will be more an abdominal exercise until you have trained those to work for you. If your core works, everything else works better.
• If you feel your neck and shoulders tightening or hunching, then you're tucking too much. You're compromising another part of your body. In this case, press pubic bone and hip bones evenly into the mat. Make sure to keep the air bubble under the stomach and make a tiny tiny movement with your leg (if at all), so you don't rock forward onto your hip bones. Keep equal pressure on your pubic and hip bones.

Related: Tips For Swimming

Life is better with balance,