Hip Circles

Hip Circles
Start by isolating your hips from side to side. Keeping your hips as flat as you can, push them out sideways to the left, and then to the right. Do it slowly! Only push the hip as far as you can without it moving upwards. Imagine you have pencils sticking out of your hip bones straight forward, and that you're standing close to a wall so the pencils are drawing on it. You want those pencils to make a straight line - not a curve.

Now, practice the hip circle in four parts. First isolate a hip to the left. Now, straighten your pelvis and relax out your belly in front of you (if you find this hard, practice pushing out your belly and try a little belly push when you get to the front). Isolate your hip to the right. Now, suck your abs right in to create a "hollow" feeling in your stomach, as you slide your hips to the "back" of the circle. You should have a flat back at this point. Practice slowly with a hand on your lower back to avoid doing the "bum dance". (BTW - the bum dance has a YouTube clip for anyone who was interested: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBxR8bC9WWQ. I recommend watching it without the sound...)

Put all these parts together. Practice doing it slowly and smoothly. Give yourself a break (and check out how good you look!) by practicing smaller and faster hip circles too.