A Pilates instructor says you should do these three stretches every day for better spinal health

It's normal to experience a little discomfort and stiffness in your back, especially as you get older. That's because the spine and the muscles surrounding it become naturally less mobile.

To offset this, it's important to regularly stretch this area and according to Abby McLachlan, Pilates instructor and founder of wellness studio East of Eden, there's an easy formula to follow to ensure you're doing so effectively.

''There are four main ways that we should move our spine every day," McLachlan tells me.

These are:

1. Flexion (forward bending)
2. Extension (opening the chest and flexing the spine)
3. Rotation (rotating the top half of the spine)
4. Lateral flexion (side bending)

"As we get older, making sure that you include all four of those movements is important," says McLachlan. "Interestingly, as we get older, lateral flexion is the first of those spinal movements to go with age."

She has shared a few stretches that you can do to tick off all of these types of movement.

How to do Abby McLachlan's spinal mobility routine

All three movements are done from a seated cross-legged position.

"As you get older, you might find you need to sit on a block, because it can be hard to sit cross legged. It really depends on how open your hips are," says McLachlan.

1. Seated cat-cow

This is a seated version of the commonly practised yoga pose and it will help you unlock the flexion and extension spinal movements.

How to do it:

• Sit cross-legged with your back straight and your hands resting on your knees or thighs.
• Inhale, arch your back, open your chest and gently look up, lifting your heart forward.
• Exhale, round your spine, tuck your chin toward your chest, and draw your belly button toward your spine. Flow between these movements with your breath.

2. Seated side twist

This is a rotation exercise that will help to stretch the muscles around your spine.

How to do it:

• Sit cross-legged with your back straight and your hands resting on your knees or thighs.
• Inhale and lengthen your spine, then exhale as you gently twist your torso to the left side, placing your right hand on your left knee and your left hand on the floor behind your left side for support. Your head should be the last thing to rotate.
• Keep your chest open, gaze over your shoulder, and hold the twist for a few breaths before slowly returning to center and repeating on the other side.

3. Mermaid stretch

This stretch covers lateral flexion. McLachlan says you shouldn't be moving forward or backward in this stretch. "Imagine there's two panes of glass—one behind you and one in front," says McLachlan. "As you bend, you shouldn't touch the glass."

How to do it:

• Sit cross-legged with your back straight and your hands resting on your knees or thighs.
• Inhale and lift your right arm overhead, reaching for the sky, then exhale and gently lean to the left side, bending your torso and feeling a deep stretch along your side.
• Keep both sit bones firmly on the floor and engage your core to avoid your torso collapsing. Hold for a few breaths, then slowly come back to the start and repeat on the other side.

The benefits of Pilates for spinal health

In a standard Pilates workout, you'll regularly work through these spinal movements without even realising, which is why it's such an effective way to exercise for spinal health.

"In Pilates, it's kind of easy to include all four spinal movements because spinal movement is one of the bases on which the principles are formed," says McLachlan.

Pilates is also a low-impact form of exercise, which means it doesn't put pressure on the joints so it can be a great choice as you age. "Pilates is something that supports us, so that we can live our lives as we want as much as possible as we get older," says McLachlan.

Try doing these stretches regularly, at least a few times a week, to see improvements in stiffness around the spine.