Welcome back to another Tuesday Ten — your weekly ten-minute check-in with your body!
This week we’re slowing things right down and going a little deeper. No jumping, no equipment…..just you, your breath, and some really important foundations to hopefully transform the way you move in everyday life.
Checkout the video but don’t be fooled by how gentle it looks ..when you focus, your body will know it’s been moving. I’ve borrowed basic principles from Pilates without the floor work or need for a reformer.
What We’re Working On Today:
Standing Pelvic Floor Engagement with Belly Breathing
We start here, and for good reason. The pelvic floor is part of what’s called your “deep core” — a group of muscles that work together to support your spine, your organs, and your movement. When we combine a gentle pelvic floor lift with belly breathing, we’re essentially switching on the body’s natural stabilising system from the inside out.
Belly Breathing
Here you let the belly rise on the inhale and gently fall on the exhale.
This encourages the diaphragm and pelvic floor to work as a team. It can seem hard to synchronise everything all at once and I struggled at first when practicing during my Pilates training.
Think of it like a gentle internal massage with every breath. Great for posture, stress, and core stability all at once so well worth trying.
Lightly Engaged Transverse Abdominis
The transverse abdominis (TA) is your deepest abdominal muscle — it wraps around your trunk like a wide belt. A light engagement (think, belly button: a gentle drawing-in, not a full bracing) then add your pelvic floor and breath to create that all-important core canister effect. This is the foundation of safe, effective movement — whether you’re in a fitness class, lifting shopping bags, or sitting at a desk.
The key word here is light. We’re not gripping or holding our breath. We’re waking something up, gently.
Trunk Rotation with Extended Arms
Once that foundation is in place, we add movement by extending the arms out and rotating through the trunk. This gets the thoracic spine (the upper and mid back) moving in a way many of us rarely do. That rotation is brilliant for improving spinal mobility, reducing stiffness across the shoulders and upper back, and teaching the body to rotate from the core rather than just swinging the arms.
As a bonus, the extended arms add a little challenge to your balance and shoulder stability without making things complicated.
Lateral Side Bends
Side bends lengthen the muscles along the side of the trunk (your obliques and the quadratus lumborum), open up through the ribcage, and create a lovely sense of space through the whole lateral line of the body.
For anyone who spends time sitting — at a desk, in a car, on the sofa — this one can feel really good. It also doubles up as a nice stretch however see if you can lightly maintain the core connection mentioned earlier while completing.
Standing Alternate Knee to Opposite Elbow
And we finish with a little bit of coordination. Bringing the knee up and across to the opposite elbow is what’s called a cross-patterning or contralateral movement. It gets both sides of the brain and body talking to each other, fires up the obliques, challenges your balance, and gives the hip flexors a gentle workout — all at the same time.
Go slow with this one. It’s not a race. The slower you do it with control, the more you’ll get out of it.
A Few Things to Remember
As ever, listen to your body throughout. None of these movements should cause pain. If something doesn’t feel right, ease off and have a chat with a local health professional.
Who Is This For?
Beginners for sure as it’s a lovely starting point if you’re new to exercise or coming back after a break. But to be honest, this kind of mindful, breath-led core work is useful at every level. Even experienced movers often find it surprisingly challenging to stay slow and connected. Plus I’ve found the ‘core foundation’ really beneficial when lifting weights.
Give it a go, let me know how you get on in the comments, and I’ll see you next time 🙌
yogasean 
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