Part 4 : Activating the extensors

Now switch legs so that your right leg is lifting. Find out which one is easier. Attention to the details of finding out which one is easier makes the difference in the quality in how you perform. As you discover how your weight has to shift, you will learn how the shoulders and pelvis are connected in this motion.

Rest for a minute and then turn your face to the right and swap your hands over , left on top of right, and left ear resting on top of left hand. Lift slowly and gently so that shoulder elbow and hand all come off the floor. Do this ten times and then lift one leg at the same time, ensuring your foot and knee both come off the floor with the leg straight.
Then experiment with the other leg. Find out which one is easier. Recall the diagonal organization that was explored in the second session and see how this idea is similar.

Turn over and lie on your back. It is likely that the area under your lower back is raised higher off the floor because the muscles along your spine have been working.
So bend up both knees and stand them flat on the floor, interlace both hands and put them behind your head. Slowly raise your head with your hands so that your elbows come closer. Exhale as you do this and repeat it gently a five times. Then rest and observe how the lower back settles closer to the floor.

Lie on your front again and this time rest your forehead on the hands and lift head and both shoulders off the floor gently. Keep your breathing easy and notice how both legs lift a little also. Now try pressing your belly down into the floor rather than lifting up both ends, and see if this makes it easier. Repeat several times. Rest for half a minute. Now lift both shoulders and feet and hold it there while you look up and down as if searching the ceiling and then the floor. Repeat the movement again.
Now lift your left shoulder ( head turned right) at the same time as the right leg. And then the same on the other side so that you look to the side of the leg being raised. Repeat alternatively several times.

Turn over onto your back and repeat the movement of bending the knees folding the head toward your knees. Get up slowly, walk around for a few minutes and feel how this alters your posture. Then go for a gentle run and notice the difference.

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