How to Get Instant Confidence
Jessie Zalla

How to Get Instant Confidence
Confidence

One of the keys to looking -- and feeling -- confident is standing up straight.

These four simple, do-anywhere moves can keep your spine in top form. Bonus: You'll also feel lighter and more flexible.

To start, sit on the edge of a straight-back chair with feet on the floor, hip-distance apart. Interlace your hands behind your head. Remember to breathe throughout. Inhale as you initiate the move and exhale fully.

1. Forward bend:

Gently close your elbows toward each other as you lift up and over an imaginary barrel, bending forward until your elbows touch your thighs or knees. Roll down one vertebra at a time; return to an upright seated position, stacking each piece of your back.

2. Back bend:

Keep your elbows wide. Grow taller and lift up and back over an imaginary barrel, stretching the front of your belly. Don't throw your head back. Avoid tightness in the lower back by keeping the area lifted.

3. Side bend:

Elbows wide. Lift up as if you were getting taller, and reach your upper body over to the side. Stretch your waist, lift and repeat to the other side.

4. Twist:

Elbows wide. Inhale. Exhale and twist to one side as if you could wring all the air out of your lungs. Take a big inhale as you return to center. Repeat to the other side.

Jessie Zalla is a movement teacher who has taught pilates and yoga for over 12 years. Her style of teaching draws from a deep knowledge and practice of anatomy, and from her experience as a professional dancer. Based in New York City, she teaches at her studio, Jessie Zalla Pilates, and at Anatomy at Abhyasa Yoga Center

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