"Tuck the tailbone in" is a common expression heard in Tai Chi class. For beginners, this may give lots of "?" mark in their heads. Read on to clarify this mysterious expression...

"Tuck the tailbone in"  our teacher would say in class, and I would just sort of wiggle my hips as if I know what I was doing. For the longest time, I was not quite sure what that really meant. I had not much clue how to feel my tailbone. So if you happen to be struggling with this concept, I feel your struggle. It sounds so easy- but not so easy to modern day people who sit all day long squishing the spine.

While doing Yoga Naga training Part II in March, I finally found my tailbone. I got the sensation of what it is to feel the whole spine being straight by pulling down the tailbone. However, I still go out of alignment from to time to time espcially in certain movements. I would lose awareneess of keeping the spine straight and my hip sticks out (along with my tailbone). I would feel"straight", but when I see myself in the picture I found that I was totally off!

What is Tailbone?

Tailbone is also known as Coccyx and "base bone". It's a triangular bone structure that is located at the bottom of the spinal column.

What does it mean when I hear "tuck the tailbone in"?

This "tuck the tailbone in" is an expression used to get your spine to be straight by reducing the lumbar spine curvature.

Do you feel the tailbone is part of your spine? When you think of the "spine" where does your consciousness go? I guess when I usually think of "spine", most of my thoughts goes to lowerback area to middle back. Not particularly to my butt. May be this expression was to expand your engagement to your spine all the way to the bottom of your spine.

Be careful...

When you experiement with your body, make sure not to introduce new tension by forcing your hip to be tucked in way too much.

Also make sure to be aware of the whole spine instead of just the tailbone part of the spine.

Keep the feeling of "being suspended from the top of your head". ( I love the visual: "image the vertebrare of the spine as a string of pearls along the silk thread" )

The GOAL of this expression is to "straigntening your spine". So if "tuck the tailbone in" expression does not work for you, please feel free to substitue "straigten your spine" whenever you hear it. (However, "straighten your spine" can be a very abstract concept for beginners. See notes here.)

Example in Tai Chi application:

Grasping Sparrow's Tail

Applying it to other things:

This concept of keeping hip underneath your body - is not foreign to other sports. If you've done skiing, surfing or rock climbing, in order to keep the balance, it's important to keep your hip underneath your body.

In Japanese, it's called "へっぷり腰" (heppuri-goshi). When I started to play badminton in high school, my coach often told me not to stick my butt out. I didn't quite get the sensation of what he was talking about. I ended up having a backache due to badminton injury. I was taxing my lumber spine too much by ignoring my tailbone to be in alignment.

It's a good practice to notice when you forget to straighten and replax your spine. Once you are aware of that, you can lift up the whole spine from the top of your head.

Have a amazing day!