Bridging is one of my favorite exercises. It occurs in both Pilates and yoga in a lot of different variations, but all of them help with spine flexibility and mobility. More importantly, bridging feels good.
First, the disclaimers: people with osteoporosis can still do bridging, but they should not do the versions in which the spine peels up or down one vertebra at a time. In their cases, they should keep the spine moving as a unit. It is also worthwhile for people with high blood pressure, glaucoma, any spinal injuries, or difficulty with weight bearing on feet or shoulders to check with their doctors about the advisability of doing this movement. ALWAYS prioritize safety and STOP if a movement feels wrong.
Now that that is out of the way: how do we do it? Good news! We get to lie down! Find a firm but comfortable surface to lie on. A bed will work, but a carpeted floor or a yoga or squishy mat on a hard floor is better. Face the ceiling and bend knees so that feet are flat on the floor. Take a couple of breaths. Gently encourage the shoulders away from the ears and towards the hips. Feel better yet?
Then we start to move. I am going to describe the articulated bridge first; if you have osteoporosis, don’t do this kind. Inhale. When it is time to exhale, pull the belly button down toward the floor. This will tilt the pelvis so that the tailbone comes a little away from the floor. Continue to tilt the pelvis until it lifts the spine, vertebra by vertebra, into the air. This means that the feet are supporting more weight. The knees may want to splay out or knock together, but work to keep them in line with the hips and ankles. As we reach the end of our range of motion, our hamstrings may cramp a little (or a lot). While this is painful, it is not actually harmful; hamstrings are really good at whining. To reduce the suffering, press the knees away from the head to give the hamstrings a little more space. Eventually, we will find ourselves with our pelvises in the air, our feet pressing firmly into the ground, and our head, neck, and shoulders supporting the other end of our bodies. Ideally, we are a fairly straight line from our shoulders to our knees; in real life, many of us have very tight hip flexors, so we may not be able to lift our hips that high.
Take another breath in. Now we reverse the process to come back down. Exhale and lower the body back to the ground, focusing on the vertebra closest to the head first and then continue on down the chain until the pelvis is back on the ground. I particularly like to focus on pulling the hips away from the head during the lowering process because it adds some length to the parts of the spine that get compressed with all the sitting we do. (If we have a friend with us, we can help each other by gently pulling the hips toward the heels during the lowering phase.)
Ta da! We did it! Do a couple more just for fun. Your spine will thank you.
Now for the variations:
“Lunar lift.” This is the osteoporosis-friendly version. Instead of peeling the spine up and down a vertebra at a time, the pelvis “blasts off” straight up, keeping the spine moving as a unit.
“Chip and dip.” Peel up to the top of the motion as usual. On the way down, imagine there is a tortilla chip on each hip bone. Scoop up imaginary salsa and guacamole with each hip as the spine lowers down one vertebra at a time.
“With block.” This is my new favorite version. At the top of the motion, take a yoga block and slide it under the hips so that the pelvis can rest on it. This gives a bit of traction to the spine and really allows the compression to relax out. Stay for a few breaths before taking the block out and peeling down as usual. Note: the orientation of the yoga block under the hips will depend on the flexibility and size of the human doing the motion; don’t overdo!
Go try it out!
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