What happens to your perfect ballet posture can be alarming. Anneliese Burns Wilson, founder of ABC for Dance, recommends accepting the inevitable and offers some help for two common changes.
Your butt sticks out and your lower back sways
As the baby develops, it shifts forward in your pelvic basin, and your pelvis develops an anterior tilt. Don’t fight it. Instead, begin early on to practice finding a healthy pelvic position. Train yourself out of lengthening the lower back, or worse, tucking the tailbone.
Your shoulders round
To counter the tilt of the pelvis, the thoracic spine increases its curve toward the back of the body. This, combined with the development of fat stores between the shoulder blades, may make you look more round-shouldered and hunched
Try this chest opener to build strength between the shoulder blades and the muscles that extend the middle and upper back.
- Hold a resistance band in your hands with arms straight out in front of you at chest height.
- Open your arms toward second position, feeling the shoulder blades sliding toward each other. Release, and repeat.
Try it with an extension: As you pull your arms open, lift your collar bones and sternum toward the ceiling.
Photo by Kyle Froman
Photo by Kyle Froman
