Standing pelvic tilts

The standing pelvic tilt helps relieve tightness in your lower back and enhances mobility in the muscles around your pelvis. These muscles include your lower erector spinae, your lower abdominals, and your hip flexors. Done properly, the standing pelvic tilt can help improve your sense of body awareness, which results in better posture and less back pain. This stretch requires the use of a wall.
To do this exercise, follow these steps:

1. Place your back against a wall and walk your feet away from the wall until you can bend your knees so you’re in a slight squat. Your back will slide down a few inches as you walk your feet away from the wall. That’s okay. Just make sure that you keep your shoulders and hips against the wall the entire time. Notice that there’s a slight space between your lower back and the wall. This space is created by the natural curve of your spine.
2. Rest your hands on your thighs just above your knees.
3. Take a deep breath in and as you exhale, slowly tilt your pelvis forward until you feel your lower back against the wall.. Imagine that you have two flashlights attached to the front of your hipbones. When you tilt your pelvis, the two beams of light should point slightly upward.
4. Inhale again and release the stretch by moving your pelvis back to the starting position. As the natural curve of your lower back returns, your lower back will move away from the wall.
5. Exhale and tilt your pelvis again.Repeat the pelvic tilt and release sequence eight to ten times or as many times as feels good to your lower back.

A few do’s and don’ts for this exercise:

• Do hold your abdominals tight. To do so, think of your bellybutton being pulled back toward your spine.
• Don’t try to move your upper body; the movement is in your pelvis.
  
• Don’t straighten your knees because that decreases the range of motion in your pelvis and makes the stretch less effective. Keep your legs in a slight squat position the entire time.