If you want your body to be as powerful as a locomotive, you’re going to need a pelvis that’s as strong as a steam engine. Your largest muscles are located in this part of your body. They create tremendous internal forces. With every contraction of a pelvic muscle, your head, shoulders, arms, and legs all respond, as if someone shook the base of a tree and all its branches shuddered. Pelvic movements act like earthquakes, sending out waves of energy to every part of your body!

Unfortunately, it can be affected by our improper life style (long hours sitting, weighty issues, incorrect lifting etc) and in turn cause problems all the way to your fingertips and toes. Psychologists say decreased sexual pleasure and performance may result from chronically tight pelvic muscles. Free movement of the pelvis is best, where it can rock forward and back without restriction. Blocks can put a lock on your body’s ability to move in an easy, uninhibited way.

Many so-called primitive civilizations realized this and developed dances and other practices to keep their hips and low backs loose and limber. The Hawaiian hula dances are a good example.

Thus, your low back is a marvelous blend of strength and flexibility. Like a tree trunk, it should be strong. Like bamboo, it should bend. The “Empower-Your-Core-Centre” routines given below are geared toward ridding your back of blocks while increasing its flexibility and strength. It also improves the flow of CSF (cerebro-spinal fluid) within your spine and skull, not mention, better performance and more pleasure during sex.

The Knee Pull

• Lie on your back, preferably on the floor. (you can do this exercise in bed, but results will be less dramatic)
• Raise your knees up in the air and grab them with your hands. If you have lifted your head off the ground in order to reach your knees, let the head drop back down.
• Take a deep breath in; as you exhale, let your shoulders and neck muscles relax.
• Inhale, and as you let your breath out, pull you knees gently toward your chest. You should feel a good stretch in the muscles of your low back. Do not strain.
• When you get to the point where you start to feel pain, stop and let the rest of your breath out.
• Breathe in again as you let your knees drop away from your chest. Go slowly! Don’t try to force your sore back muscles to stretch too much. Let them relax, and try to feel the tension drain out of them. Repeat five times.

The Deep Tilt

• Begin by lying on the floor with your knees bent Let your shoulders and waist relax. Take a deep breath in.
• Then, as you exhale, keep the small of your back pressed against the floor and tilt your waist up, trying to bring the tops of your hips up toward your chin. To do this you will need to contract your stomach and buttock muscles. Do this motion slowly and smoothly.
• Inhale as you let your waist drop back down toward the floor.
• Exhale and repeat the tilting motion. Repeat five times.
• As your muscles get stronger and your pain fades, you may want to gently lift your buttocks off the floor as you tilt up, increasing the benefit of this exercise.

The Side-to-Side

• Begin by lying on the floor, your knees bent, feet flat on the floor, arms at shoulder height and outstretched to the sides.
• Raise your knees toward your chin so that your feet come up and your heels rest on or near the backs of your thighs. Take a deep breath in.
• As you slowly exhale, let your chin drop to the left while your knees drop to the right. Keep your knees together; drop them only as far as is comfortable.
• Inhale as you return to the starting position.
• As you exhale, drop your chin to the right as your knees fall to the left.
• Inhale, returning to the starting position. Repeat three times to each side.

The Bicycle

(This is an excellent exercise for people who have tight hamstrings -the large muscles at the backs of the thighs- common in people who sit at a desk most of the day)

• Begin the Bicycle by lying on your back. Raise your knees up to your chest and grab your toes or the tips of your shoes.
• You may have to stretch and raise your head off the floor to get hold of your feet. Once you do, relax and let your head drop back to the floor.
• Start with the left leg and push it out, attempting to straighten the leg. Stop when the leg won’t extend anymore. Count “One”
• As you bring the left leg back toward your chest, push the right leg out, again stretching to its limit. Count “Two”.
• Repeat the bicycle motion to a count of fifty, pushing out first with one leg, then with the other
• Keep your head on the floor, and don’t strain it may take several weeks before you are able to extend your legs out fully. Once you get to that point, add even more stretch by grabbing the sides of your feet or your shoes rather than the toes.

The Back Builder

(Do not try this routine, if it causes you pain, stop and wait a week or two before trying it again)

• To do the back Builder, start on all fours, with your body in the shape of a table – arms and thighs down. You should be looking straight ahead.
• Find a spot on the wall or, if you are outside, on a distant fixed spot.
• Taking a breath in, extend your left arm out and your right leg back, “dragging” them along the floor.
• As exhale, raise your arm to shoulder level and your leg to waist level. Hold as you take in and let out two breaths.
• Inhale as you bring the legs down to the floor, exhale as you resume the starting pose.
• Taking a breath in, repeat the exercise with your right arm out and your left leg back. Repeat three times each side.

Abdominal Crunches

(Think of your abdomen as the front of your back. Since your low back is curved forward, extra weight in the belly ends to drag your spine forward and down, jamming joints. Strong abdominal muscles help to keep this from happening.)

• Start by lying on the floor, knees bent, feet flat on the floor.
• Clasp your hands together at the back of your head. Relax your shoulders.
• Take a breath and, as you exhale, raise your torso up off the floor far enough that your shoulder blades just lift off the floor.
• Inhale and resume the starting position.

You might find it easier to do crunches if you imagine a large red arrow suspended above your belly, pointing straight down toward your belly button. As you breathe out, imagine the arrow pressing into your abdomen, and let this imaginary force to lift you up. Also, it’s important not to tuck your chin or strain your neck as you do your crunches. To keep your head in the proper position, imagine an apple tucked under your chin, and do not let your jaw crush this apple as you raise yourself off the floor. It’s natural to want to pull your elbows up toward your knees – avoid this; let them stay out to the sides.

• Start with five stomach crunches and work your way up to twenty-five and then fifty each day..

The Sacral Sit-Back

(The flow of CSF around your spinal cord and brain is activated when you breathe. Normally, as we inhale, our tailbones move slowly forward, toward the front of our bodies, moving back as we exhale. We can increase the function of our CSF pump with this exercise – let all waste out of your brain!)

• Begin by sitting on the floor, knees bent, feet flat on the floor, arms outstretched and resting beside your thighs so that your fingers touch loosely on the floor. Your chin should be parallel to the floor. It’s best to pick a spot on the wall in front of you and look at it while performing the Sacral Sit-Back
• As you inhale, move your upper body backward, dragging the fingers lightly over the floor, so that your chin moves back over your hips and your upper body forms roughly a forty-five-degree angle with the floor.
• Hold this position for a second or two and then breathe out, assuming the starting position. Repeat three times.

The Roundhouse

• Stand with your legs a bit more than shoulder-width apart, with your knees bent. You’ll be doing a Hula-Hoop-type movement.
• Start by rotating your hips to the right, then backward, then left, then forward, making a circle with your hips. Get a nice, steady rhythm going.
• Do this exercise slowly but vigorously, pushing your hips out as far as is comfortable. If you experience pain, decrease your movement until the motion is comfortable.
• Circle ten times to the right, then switch directions, circling ten times to the left.

The Pump

• Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Begin by gently rocking your pelvis backward then forward with small, easy movements.
• While breathing slowly and steadily, increase the movement of your pelvis until you’re “swinging” it back and forth. Don’t force the movements. Keep your knees bent.
• As you swing, your legs may begin to shake. Try to relax your pelvis and let this shaking sensation move its way up from your legs onto your buttocks, belly, and back. Stop, if you feel any discomfort.
• Continue for twenty to thirty seconds or until the strain in your legs becomes uncomfortable. Try to increase your time spent “pumping” to one minute.