Transcription:

The Cat Sequence is a limbering sequence, meaning that it's all movement. There are no fixed points, there are no contractions. We do have some ways of making the exercise stronger, which I'll talk you through in a moment. But basically the objective of this exercise is to get as much movement in the whole of the spine as possible, using the least amount of effort. So try not to force anything when you do this, feel what's happening in your body and wherever you feel the tension restricting potential movement, just let it go soft. And see whether doing that and combining that with your breathing will actually allow you to get a bit of extra movement out of that particular place. Because anyone who has back problems has found that parts of their spine are more or less completely locked up in the beginning anyway. And there are parts of the spine and the movements that are associated with that, that you just will not be inclined to use. The Cat Sequence is a very lovely way of getting some of that movement back into the body. So this is what it looks like.

First I start on all fours. Now the position of my feet, I've got my feet pointing backwards but you don't have to do that. You can have your feet like this, if you like, whatever feels most comfortable in the feet. Because we've noticed that a lot of people with back pain, when they try and point their feet, their feet cramp. We'll be able to deal with that with another exercise later on. But for now, put your feet in whatever position is comfortable. Also, notice that I've got my hands directly underneath my shoulders and I've got my knees directly underneath my hips. In time, when you become expert in the exercise, you can change all of these constraints. But in the beginning, just follow the directions and try to make the feeling or the movements, I should say, as comfortable in your body as possible. Okay, here we go.

The first movement is sometimes called the Angry Cat. We take a breath in and as we breathe out, watch, I'm tucking my tail and I'm also bringing my ribs down towards my pubic bone, both of which has the effect of rounding the whole spine. Stay there for a moment, don't force anything. Then, let that come back to the neutral position so there's no effort being made here at all. And then the Happy Cat part ... In the beginning don't move your head, just simply arch the back and try to make the curve in the spine as strong as you can the other way but without things cramping on you. If you find that putting your back into this position immediately makes something in this area go really tight, then you immediately go back into this position here and you'll find that will stretch it and hence, relax the spasm or the tightness there.

So go through this movement a couple of times, just to see what it feels like. And you can vary the speed too, I'm just doing it a bit quicker now. And so, that's Angry and Happy Cat. And then we haven't given a name for this or maybe it's the, do I still have a tail cat, but it looks something like this. With your face facing the floor, you twist around to the side. And so, formally speaking, this is a lateral flexion for the spine. And then at the last moment, you look at your feet and then come back to the starting position. We might call that the neutral position and again, head facing the floor, twist around, twist around and then look at your feet. And do that a couple of times. I'm just going to do it slightly more quickly, like this.

You can let your hips move where they want to providing your feeling ... When you turn like this and look at your feet, you should feel a contraction in this side of your waist. And conversely, when you're turned to the other side, a contraction on the other side. They're the fundamental movements. And let me show you how you can make these quite dramatically stronger. And these are also strengthening exercises now, too. I've taken a breath, I let the breath out. I used my tummy muscles and my bottom muscles to tuck the tail and to pull my ribs down in my pubic bone and then as though I was trying to slide my hands away, watch what I'm doing. I'm pushing the hands away from me and can you see that extra pushing action really makes the back bend. And that you'll feel mostly in the middle and upper back.

Then when we want to go in the other direction, watch: first, we just use the muscles of the back to do this. And then second, I'm going to pull my hands back in this direction towards my knees and watch what the effect that has, like this and then it increases the effect in the back considerably. So for this second exercise, the extension exercise, don't be in too much of a hurry to do it because the exertion of the muscles in the lumbar spine for people with back pain can actually make the muscles cramp and you'll think something's gone wrong. No, they're just making an effort. So in the beginning, when you do the second one, this second part of the exercise, use the muscles under the arms to pull the hands back towards the knees, to provoke the movement rather than use the muscles in the back to provoke the movement. And you'll find this is a much more comfortable way of doing it.

Then for the last, do I still have a tail movement, come around to here like this and you'll find that by pushing and pulling on the hands, one direction will increase the stretch and the other direction will take it away. So in fact, this one I'm pushing and pulling at the same time. And then when I come around to here, the opposite ... Oh, that's excellent. And once again, do that a couple of times. Then last of all, this time we're going to add neck movements to it, as well. Take a breath in and I on a breath out, tuck the tail, pull the ribs down to the pubic bone, press the hands away gently and then watch, tuck the chin onto the chest. Breathe in that position. Try to make the curling movement even tighter and relax. Let everything go soft. And then, the more advanced movement for here is, arch the back, pull the hand back and then take the head back a little bit, as well.

And then to here, twist around, twist, twist, twist and twist around, twist, twist, twist. And when we have all of those movements in the body, when we do our follow along class, we will be able to combine those movements in a very nice way, which will feel really lovely in the body. And then, the awareness will come to you suddenly that all these complicated movements that you see people do on YouTube clips and other fancy things like that, they all come from these very fundamental movements. Which if done with awareness, are not only immensely healing in the body, that allow you to build a new movement body for yourself and that's, of course, the objective. But getting out of the back pain is the first part of the problem. Chee'yat!.

We have to walk before we run. And so, doing simple movements like this in a single plane, usually, to begin with and doing them in a very, very controlled way is both safe and in my view, even more importantly, it feels fabulous in the body and particularly for people who've had back problems. And you can think of yourself now as someone who used to have back problems and you're seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. The incorporation of these movements just feel so fantastic in the body and you'll experience this, honestly, as a kind of physical liberation.

So take your time with these, don't push anything. And if you get into position, for example, on any particular day and you find your back is just too sore to do the movements, then ignore them. Or if it's one movement that doesn't feel good in the body, ignore that and do the other movements. In time, as you make your progression through this whole system ... In time, any of the moments that I demonstrate you'll be able to do and very likely be able to do better than I can. So have some fun with this and just channel your inner cat. This is a great exercise.

Exercise 5: Cat sequence; mobilising the spine in all planes