Doin' "The Hip Thump".....Sexy, Sexy

                          Buddha with candles and crystals on my woodstove at our cottage in Maine

This is a great exercise -

*Lie down on the floor. Notice the way your head, back, hips, heels connect with the floor. Take a moment to breath and settle your body down. Press your lower back toward the floor - feel your lower ribs press down

*Slide your right foot along the floor up toward your buttocks, your knee will be pointing toward the ceiling now. Notice how that changes the connection of your back to the floor. Notice the contact your foot makes to the floor

*Inhale and press into your right heel to lift your right hip up off the ground (do not let the left hip come up); exhale and let your right hip thump down to the ground. Feel the entire weight of your hip thump down

*Continue - inhale - press into the foot - exhale - let the hip thump down. Pick up the speed  - pressing/lifting/thumping and always breathing with it

*It is very important to initiate the movement by pressing into the foot.

*Move to the other side taking time to connect with the floor on the left side

*Once you've done this for awhile, play with it - start alternating sides. There is a lot of movement in the body with this exercise, a rocking sensation and thumping and breathing all at once. Go with it.

*When you've completed the exercise, relax with your knees up and feel the great sensations in your pelvis.

I love this exercise because it feels good, it brings wonderful awareness to the hips and to the movement of the hips. It also helps move lymph around in the area. We have an entire system of lymph vessels and lymph fluid that circulates throughout our bodies without the help of a pump like the heart. This thumping really gets that lymph moving.

For those of us approaching the big 60 and older - you can add a little pelvic floor strengthening component to this exercise by tightening your pelvic floor muscles (like you are stopping the flow of urine) each time you thump!!! Release when you lift and contract when you thump. It will help to keep those muscles strong! We need those muscles strong. I'm not ready for Depends and I love good sex. This helps to keep all those muscles toned. Yeah, man.

When you've finished this exercise, bend your knees and pull both legs up into your chest for a hug. Breath in/breath out.

Enjoy!

Namaste,
Donna Rae