How to 'turn on' your core is often difficult to grasp when you're first starting out with exercise, if you've recently had a baby, if you've had breathing issues, or you haven't trained in a while. We have some simple exercises to help you reconnect with your core muscles and learn how to engage them properly.

One of the most simple ways to facilitate this connection is with our breath.

Why so much fuss about the core?

It used to be all about the 'six pack' - the Rectus Abdominis muscle that goes down the front of our abdomen. But did you know that just because you can see those muscles doesn't necessarily mean that person has a strong core? Sometimes it can be genetics, sometimes it's exercise, but more often it's due to good nutrition and a low percentage of body fat.

The core, however, is the power house. It consists of a number of stabilising muscles that run from our middle ribcage down to our thighs, and they help with strength and posture which makes the ability to activate this area correctly incredibly important.

It's also an area that can easily de-stabilise if we do a lot of sitting down during the day, if we experience a back injury, or if we experience pregnancy and childbirth among a range of other things.

The main muscle we typically associate with our core is the TVA - or Transverse Abdominis - a corset-like band of muscle that wraps around the belly.

Using breath to connect

It can help to understand the anatomy and physiology behind breathing.

• When you inhale through your nose, the air travels down your trachea/windpipe to fill your lungs.
• The lungs inflate like balloons from your collarbones down to your middle ribs.
• Underneath your lungs sits a thin band of muscle - the diaphragm - that separates the chest from the abdomen. As your lungs fill with air, the diaphragm moves downwards and the pelvic floor relaxes.
• This shift causes the belly to expand.
• On your exhale this process goes in reverse - lungs deflate, diaphragm moves up and pelvic floor contracts gently.

This connection of the breath/chest to the abdominal cavity is why it can help us connect to our core muscles. On the exhale, we are essentially doing a gentle engagement of our core muscles as we expel the air.

(Note: In yoga, breath is often thought of travelling in reverse to this in guided meditations - on the inhale belly expands first, then ribs, then chest)

Exercise 1: 3D belly breathing

Begin by practicing this lying down on your back in semi-supine with your knees bent, soles of the feet flat on the floor. Relax through the upper body and lengthen your spine.

Spread your hands wide with your fingers on your front lower ribcage facing upwards, and your thumbs on the back of your ribcage pointing toward the floor. Begin to take full, even breaths in through the nose and out through the nose. Use your hands to feel for how your breath is moving your body.

You may not feel your ribcage expanding all the way around your body at first (front/sides/back). Try to send your breath to the areas that are more still.

Release after 5-10 rounds of breath.

Exercise 2: Supine cat/cow (Bitilasana)

In yoga, this pose is usually done on all fours, however, we're going to get you to try out the same spinal movement while lying down. The reason we get you to lie down for both of these is that the floor surface gives you a tangible point of reference to feel for the movement of your body and breath (it can be more difficult to feel small movements without it!).

Stay in semi-supine, lengthen your spine and have your hands beside your body with palms facing down.

Inhale as you gently arch your back, heart opens towards the sky and pelvis tilts forward.

Exhale as your draw your navel towards your spine and tailbone curls under, tilting the pelvis back towards you, and focus on how your core feels with this movement. If you get 'doming' in the lower belly, focus on that TVA/'corset' of muscle wrapped around your body and visualise it drawing inwards together (like a drawstring on a purse).

Continue doing this, then release after 5-10 rounds of breath.

Where to next?

So there you have it, two simple exercises to practice core engagement. Once you feel you have a handle on them, try shifting your surface. You can try 3D belly breathing sitting up with crossed legs, doing it while standing, and the same for the cat/cow spinal movement.

Release after 5-10 rounds of breath.

Need more of a visual idea of what to do? Check out our Fundamentals video on core activation for a guided session to help you through these plus a few extra exercises.