hey hey, barrebabes,

happy monday, my loves! today's newsletter is spring-spirited with a few tips on getting rid of what we don't need to allow space for continual progress in our workouts.

out with the old, in with the new

lately i've been "spring cleaning" in many aspects of my life, from tending to some get-right-with-myself spiritual/alignment work to literally cleaning my closets, and it's occurred to me as i sift through tiny baby clothes and stretched out leggings that this process of clearing that which no longer serves us is necessary in our workouts, too.

my early teaching style was heavily influenced by how i was taught ballet, my uber-strict classical pilates training, and how i had been told to carry myself through the world. but after nearly 10 years of teaching (!) there's some super common cues i've let go of and replaced with ones that actually work. it is natural and beneficial to shed these old layers of external and irrelevant messages like snakes shed their skin, and by doing so we create the space for new changes, new goals, and new progress.

here's the quick & dirty "do this not that" list for you:

old cue: "tuck your tailbone"
why this doesn't serve us: "tuck the tailbone" is a super common cue from ballet that, at best, is a lazy way of discouraging anterior pelvic tilt and at worst polices the body/booty and encourages glute clenching.
new cue: "lift up from your pubic bone"

old cue: "keep your abs in all the time always"
why this doesn't serve us: keeping our abs clenched all the damn time is neither natural nor beneficial because it doesn't allow for proper intra-abdominal pressure regulation through breathing and can put undue pressure down on the pelvic floor. moreover, after years and years of sucking in, are anyone's abs actually any flatter from it? mine weren't, either. remember that in order for a muscle to strengthen, it must contract against a force, and in order for a muscle to fully contract, it must fully relax and lengthen first. thus, relax (and do a crap ton of pilates and barre) and all will eventually be flat and strong.
new cue: "exhale and engage your core" "support your spine with your abs" "breath-belly-move"

old cue: "shoulders back and down"
why this doesn't serve us: jamming our shoulders down our backs restricts the natural movement of the scapulae and leads to even more tightness and pain in the neck and traps.
new cue: "release your shoulders away from your ears" "bring your armpits towards your hips" "lengthen the back of your neck"

that's it for now, babes. as always, please holler at me with your questions, comments, hopes, dreams and desires. keep pulsing, and i'll see you on screen soon!
with love & planks,
annie