The Roll-Over
Articulates the whole spine and builds overhead control. Lying on your back, take straight legs up and overhead until they are parallel to the floor, then roll the spine down one vertebra at a time.
How to do it
Lie on your back, legs straight and together, arms pressing gently into the mat at your sides. Take the straight legs up to 90°, then continue overhead until they are parallel to the floor behind you. Flex the feet hip-width apart, then roll the spine back down one vertebra at a time, lowering the legs to the start with control.
Breath: inhale to lift the legs to 90°; exhale to take them overhead; inhale to flex the feet hip-width apart; exhale to roll down one vertebra at a time.
Be mindful
- Move from the centre, one vertebra at a time — never fling the legs over.
- Keep the weight on the shoulders and upper back, never on the neck.
- Take the legs only as far as your control allows.
Modification
Not there yet? Rolling Like a Ball builds the exact control and spinal articulation this move asks for — work there until the roll is smooth and steady, then progress to the Roll-Over. And skip this one altogether if it bothers your neck; Rolling Like a Ball is the everyday version.
When the mind needs somewhere to land
Everything in this wing points, in the end, to the same place — the breath, and the nervous system beneath it. It is why I built SOVA: a quiet companion for the moments in between.
- Today — a daily practice that aligns you before the day pulls you a dozen directions.
- Companion — a place to process any feeling, even the happy ones.
- Pages — a soft place to set your thoughts down and out of your head.
- The House — rooms of calm to step into, whenever you need one.