Refine Standing Balance

Welcome to Pilates Anytime. I'm Elizabeth Larkam, so happy to be back with you, this time with a roller and ring mat class. Here you are lying on your side on the mat. And this time the roller is going to be underneath your armpit. Now support your head on your arm and rest here.

Have the idea that your right lung, your right ribs could sink relaxing down to the ground so you are, in the direction of the ground, so that you are in thoracic side bending. Inhaling and roll the roller slightly towards you bringing your left lung to the ceiling, exhaling your right lung in the direction of the ground. So it's thoracic side bending. Turning your arm palm up. Turning your arm palm down.

Inhale, exhale. Change your focus now to your pelvis to your lumbar spine and rock your pelvis tailbone aiming down to the floor and tailbone towards the ceiling. So this time the focus is more on the motion of the pelvis rocking over the greater trochanter. So you have had inside bending, you've had thoracic side bending and lumbar and pelvis side bending tail wagging. Place your hand behind your head behind your neck and as you inhale drive your top knee forward turning, rotating your chest bone, your ribs so your chest bone is towards the ceiling.

Exhale as you turn your chest bone to the ground aim your top side of your pelvis, your left pelvis back. As your chest bone turns to the ceiling your knee aims forward, exhale. Inhale into rotation and extension. Exhale rotation and flexion. Make your way up from this lying on your side and relocate the roller.

This time the roller is on the ground in front of you parallel to the side of the mat. Move yourself forward on the side of the mat so that the roller will be on the ground and won't run into the mat. Have your knee bent about 90 degrees, knee at the same level as your hip joint. and then straighten your elbow of your top arm so that you rest your forearm on the roller. As you inhale turning your chest bone and your navel to shine towards the floor.

I think that would have been an exhale. Anyway, as long as you're breathing. Let's try this, exhale to go forward inhale to roll towards the back keeping your elbow straight, exhale forward. When you have your elbow straight there's more rotation of your trunk which is what we came for. Exhale forward, inhale to go back.

Now, leaving your leg on the roller have your hand behind your head and again as the roller goes forward turn your chest bone to the ceiling. As the roller goes back turn your chest bone towards the ground. Inhaling, exhale. Inhaling, pressing the roller away and forward with your knee drawing it back with your pelvis. Change now so that your forearm is on the roller and the sole of your top foot is on the mat behind you, pressing your top knee towards the ceiling and behind you.

It's as if your pelvis could rotate backwards towards the left as your chest bone, arm and hand go forward and then you come to the ceiling. Top thigh, knee goes back behind, thumb down and thumb up. Once again, exhale. Inhale to come back. Make your way up from here and the whole business occurs on the new side.

So move the roller on the other side of the mat, come to lie on your new side, and the roller will be underneath your armpit. Rest your head on your arm. Sink your left lung, your left ribs towards the ground. Thoracic side bending is gravity assisted and then inhale as if to fill up your right lung and thoracic side bending will draw the roller towards you. Exhale to the ground palm down.

Inhale palm up. Again, exhale palm down. Inhaling palm up. Now put your focus on your pelvis, your lumbar spine and especially on the ground force the contact that your greater trochanter has with the ground. Sure, I'll get right on it.

Now wag your tail bone such that tail bone aims towards the floor, tail bone aims towards the ceiling. The focus of lumbar side bending. Keeping the roller underneath your armpit put your hand behind your head. As your top knee slides forward turning your rib, shoulders, head, neck and eyes to the ceiling and then slide your top knee back. Inhale in the direction of rotation and extension.

Exhale, inhale rotation and extension. Change now so that the roller is in front of you and you are lying on your side. Your top knee, shin and foot are in contact with the roller and your forearm on the roller as well. Have your forearm in line with the bottom of your chest bone. As you exhale roll forward thumb down.

Inhaling, roll back, thumb up. Exhaling forward, and back. And forward, and back. Hand behind your head, the roller rolls forward, your elbow aims back. It's as if you could unscrew your ribs from your pelvis and as if you could unscrew your pelvis from your ribs, rotating them in opposite directions.

Stand your top foot in contact with the ground, knee towards the ceiling. As your knee aims back behind you have the intention of chest bone and ribs rolling the roller forward, thumb down, and then knee towards the ceiling. Exhale away, inhaling towards. Exhale away, and towards. So, we're done with that now and it's time to come to lie on your back with the roller underneath your feet, your knees bent and the ring is of course right where you put it on top of the mat.

Lying on your back with your knees bent and the soles of your feet on the roller, first of all accustom your feet to being in contact with the contour of the roller. Then give one foot a turn by itself just getting accustomed to that rocking of your ankle and plantar flexion and dorsiflexion. And the new side will always be different and feel different. Okay, plant the soles of your feet on the roller, draw your heels towards your sitting bones rolling the roller towards you press your palms down and leaving your pubic bone behind just a little bit lift your pelvis. Lift off in a neutral spine and land.

Elbows bent, bring the roller towards you. Inhale for a neutral spine, lift, collecting your lowest ribs from the ceiling. Both elbows extended, palms together, fingers interlaced in front of the bottom of your chest bone. While you are up roll the roller away and towards, away and towards, pressing the heels of your hands against each other. Land your pelvis.

Again, inhale to prepare, as you exhale shoulder blades snug down your back. While you are up lift up one foot and roll the roller away and towards. Talk to your left side. Get up, left side. Put the sole of your left foot on the roller, stand your ground keeping your pelvis level roll the roller away and towards, away and towards, away and towards.

Plant your foot, land. It's intermission time, you get a reward. Inhale to open, exhale to come back. External rotation of the hip joints. Reverse, internal rotation and external rotation.

Internal rotation, external rotation. As fun as that is it's time to move on. Lasso your knees, put the ring around your knees and there's the roller, ha ha. So the knee, the ring is on the outside of your knees activating a force of abduction which will help to stabilize you. As you exhale roll the roller towards you.

Drawing the roller towards you inhale to lift in a bridge. While you are up rotate your pelvis and your lumbar spine. Arms down or elbows bent or palms together fingers interlaced and you are well prepared for rotation because of the side line that you did previously. Land your sacrum, inhale to prepare. As you exhale draw the roller towards you.

Lift, stand on your right foot lift your left leg and rotate maybe, mm-hmm. Twice more. Land your left foot down. Again, exhale roll the roller toward, whoops. Don't lose your skirt.

Roll the roller towards you, lift your pelvis in a bridge and here we go rotating the pelvis around the head of the left femur best I can. Come down. It's intermission time again. External rotation with dorsiflexion, internal rotation, actually keeping your ankles flexed will give you I think more control over the roller. Third chapter, roller stays here, ring goes around the outside of your knees.

Rolling the roller toward you lift your pelvis up. While you are up laterally translate to the right and translate to the left. So pull your right sitting bone long and then pull your left sitting bone long, mm-hmm. While you're up shift to the right, stay on the right. Lift your left leg up, put it down.

Shift more to the right, stand on your left foot, stand on your right shoulder blade and lift your right leg up. Shift to the left, anchor, lift your right leg up. Shift more to the left, lift your left leg up, come to the center, land your pelvis. Now that is so unusual it's worth doing again. Actually lying on the mat would be so helpful.

Okay, palms together, fingers interlaced. Remember you have options. Arms down like training wheels, elbows bent with your triceps pressing upper arms pressing into the ground or palms together, fingers interlaced activating the anterior oblique sling system. Roll the roller towards you, lift your pelvis up. A lateral translation to the right, left leg up and down.

Shift more to the right, press your right hand to the left and pray a lot. Shift to the left, stay to the left. Lift your right foot up pressing your left hand to the right. Shift more to the left, stay there. Ooh, I was wrong.

Shift more to the left, I have no idea what's right but any rate once you're over there lift your left leg up, that's better. Lifting your left leg up press your left hand to the right. Come down from here, take the ring away and external rotation and internal rotation, just reminding the hamstrings that that particular saga is over now. Come to all fours. Relocate the roller so that it's on the head end of your mat perpendicular to the mat.

We won't need the ring at the moment. Here you are on all fours. Have the roller start fairly close to your wrists. So it's mm, away from the middle of your forearm towards your wrist and that way you have room to roll towards your elbows and roll back. Keeping your spine a fairly neutral parallel to the ground.

You can do this action with your feet and ankles just to encourage dorsiflexion. Do you think maybe Phillip Beach would like this? Don't miss a Phillip Beach's workshop. He really focuses on dorsiflexion. Okay, now as you roll the roller forward drive one foot back and it's hip extension, a little bit of spine extension as well.

Remember you are alternating side. Remember you are well prepared for hip extension. All that time you put in on a neutral bridge you are ready to go. Hips back, palms up, pelvis forward, palms down. What's implied here is thoracic extension and thoracic flexion.

Now while you are up level your pelvis and roll the roller back and forth and back and forth. Change to the new side, relocating your forearms on the roller as needed to keep enough ground for us. Now roll the roller forward lift up one leg, reach the other arm off and hover there reaching long and hovering activating the posterior oblique sling system from your left shoulder to your right pelvis. The new side awaits. Balancing on the left shoulder to right inner thigh and connecting the right shoulder blade at the back to the left pelvis.

Now roll the roller forward, reach around take a hold of something that belongs to you, your ankle, your shin, your foot. Roll the roller forward and back lifting your chest bone and gaze slightly forward. Remember touching the tip of your tongue to the roof of your mouth behind your upper teeth and looking up underneath your eyebrows will improve your extension. Change to the new side, reach around to take a hold of something that belongs to you aiming your left ASIS towards your inner right knee. Tongue up, eyes up, chest bone up and spine up too.

Now change the motion from front to back to side to side. The roller won't be rolling much. You're just doing one palm down one palm up, a lateral translation of your pelvis with respect to your knees. Move the roller on the diagonal so that your knees are still straight ahead but you are in a little bit of side bending. Twice more, exhale to come back.

Meanwhile back at the low front ribs, pick 'em up. Change the roller to the new diagonal. Exhale forward, inhale to come back. Press your chest bone up to the spine between your shoulder blades. Don't let yourself sag.

All right, I've put off the inevitable long enough. Shift to the right, lengthen your left leg back behind you and reach your left arm up so it's holding on the same side arm and leg. Now rolling the roller forward and back doing your best, she said to herself, to aim the left ASIS toward your inner right knee. Change to the new side. Inhale to shift, laterally translate to your left.

Drive your right leg back. Give yourself a strong base with your left side and reach around to hold on to something on your right side. Lift your chest bone, lift your gaze. Aiming your right ASIS towards your inner left knee. Make your way down from here now and come on to your back.

You're going to have the roller underneath your pelvis so roll on over the roller and come to lie on your back with the roller supporting your pelvis and your sacrum. Bring the ring to the sole of your right, of your left foot, the ball of your foot there and you'll have your elbows bent. Have your fingernails, the tips of your fingers aiming toward you. When you hold the ring this way, this supports the organization of your shoulder blades on the mat and collar bones open. If you have a grip like so that only encourages where we naturally go and it's not so attractive or beneficial.

So palms toward you as if you could read your future in your own palms and fingertips towards you. Bending both knees as you exhale slide reach your feet away from each other. Inhale to bend, exhale sliding along the mat. Draw in your leg across the midline and drawing, so draw in your left leg across the midline and your right leg across the midline as well. It's as if you were aiming your little toe in the direction of your ear and aiming your sitting bone in the direction of the right ankle.

Change to the other side, sorry change to abduction, counterbalancing with your arm on the ground. Inhale to bend, exhale to reach your heels away from each other. If all is going reasonable well you could take hold above your head. Inhale to bend, and you can put to use the side bending that you did on the mat previously when the roller was underneath your armpit. Come to the center, bend both knees, and a midair transfer.

Now the ring is on the ball of your foot. Bend both knees and slide away. Inhale to bend, exhale to reach. Cross over the midline, each leg moves across into adduction, A-D duction, and then carry the ring of your leg away from center, counterbalancing with the other arm. If all's going reasonable well take a hold above your head with some lateral flexion also.

Come back to the center, bend both knees, slide both legs out long and here you are in hip extension. Breathing, inhale to fill up your back. Exhale, bending your knees, draw your sitting bones towards your heels and roll along your back preparing for, no surprise to you, spine extension. Come on to your front now. Here you are on your front and arrange yourself so that either the roller stays on the mat the whole time or the roller stays on the floor the whole time because it will be a bit awkward if the roller's making the transition, the bumpy transition from floor to mat.

Because the roller might slide on the floor I'm going to back up a little bit therefore the roller can stay on the mat the whole time. Have your arms wide apart towards the end of the roller so that the roller is on your forearms just distal to, just further away than your elbows. Inhale, roll the roller away from you shrugging your shoulders up to hide your neck, hide your ears, palms out thumbs down. This is internal rotation, scapular elevation which is accompanying flexion of the spine. Exhaling, externally rotate your arm thumbs up palms towards each other, external rotation pointing your feet plantar flexion and here you are collecting your lowest front ribs.

Inhale, feet flex, palms out, thumbs down, shoulders up. Exhale, shoulders descend, press downwards with your forearms, inwards with your abdominals and upwards with your spine. Inhale to roll the roller away from you. Exhaling as you roll the roller towards you bend one knee, press down with your right forearm and look over your shoulder. There's your foot waving at you.

Inhale to roll the roller away from you, thumbs down, internally rotating at the hip joints. Exhaling, pressing down with your left forearm turn your shoulder girdle to the right. Come down from here. Once more, inhale, roll the roller away from you, internal rotation, external rotation, both knees bent as if (chuckles) as if you could cradle the back of your head in the soles of your feet. Some can, but I can imagine.

Roll down from here. Now we finished with, for the moment we finished with extension using the roller. Now reach for your ring. Come on to your front or stay on your front, have the ring very close to you. It's not above your head it's just barely in front of it like a very low lying halo.

Inhaling, thumbs on top of the handles elbows wide apart, as you exhale de-shrug, pointing your feet reach long with your feet aim your bent elbows towards the floor pressing down and lift your chest bone up and up, and up, and up, and come down. Inhaling, elbows wide, as you exhale shoulders descend, bending one knee, turn to look over the opposite shoulder and there's the sole of your foot waving at you. Inhale, elbows wide. Exhaling, shoulders glide down, point both feet, bend both elbows, collect your lowest front ribs, shoulder blades down towards your pelvis. Inhaling elbows wide, exhaling bend both knees lifting your thighs, lifting your knees, lifting your chest bone, tongue up, eyes up, come down from here.

Easy now, come onto the roller again on all fours. This time the roller will be underneath your shins. So the roller will be underneath your shins fairly close to your ankles. Palms shoulder-width apart, exhale, internally rotate with the legs and come forward. Internal rotation in the extension and bend.

Exhale to go back, inhale to come forward drawing all the front abdominal layers in and up towards your spine pressing into the little finger side of your hand in order to support the thoracic kyphosis. It's time now to come to lie on your back on the roller. Put the roller lengthwise on the mat and put the ring at the head of the roller because you will need it. Have a seat at the end of the roller. Scoot down so your tailbone is on the edge and using your arms to help make your way down to lie on your back.

Here you are lying on the roller in a fairly neutral pelvis, neutral spine, meaning that there will be a one to two finger space opposite your navel between, wait for it, between the posterior spinous process of your third lumbar vertebrae and the roller. Okay, all right. There can be a tendency when lying on the roller without even noticing it to plant the soles of your feet, drive a posterior pelvic tilt and press the posterior spinous process of the lumbar spine into the roller. Don't do that. Keep a little bit of space opposite your navel.

The ground force, well the contact with the roller will be the thoracic spine, the spine between the shoulder blades. That's the main ground force and the sacrum, the convex aspect of the sacrum. Best not to use the back of your head pressure into the roller as a stabilizing force. That won't do any favors for your whole self. Now roll the whole central axis of yourself slightly to the right and slightly to the left from side to side.

Press the tongue to the inside of your right cheek. Roll to the right, press your tongue to the inside of the left cheek, roll to the left. Bending your elbows, if your elbows touch the mat easily you can do this. Cross your, or actually take your palms together, your fingers interlaced pressing the roller to the right, your inner right tongue to the inner right check. Press the roller to left, your inner left cheek.

Now if, like the majority of people, if you find that one side is reasonably steady and the other side a little bit lost in space, here's a trick. Let's just say that you need to practice rolling to the left. So push with your right foot and roll to the left and press your tongue to the inside of your right cheek. That will serve as a counterbalance and make you more able to roll to the left side without rolling off. Opposite to that, if you need to practice rolling to the right and balancing on the right press your tongue to the inside of your left cheek and that will, not only is it attractive but that will let you roll more to the right side.

So a little tip about your tongue. Okay, bring your arms down to rest and lift one heel, lift the other heel, lift one forefoot and then the other foot. Lift both heels and both forefeet, all forefeet, heels up and toes up, alternating one heel and the opposite toes, whichever option, whoa, whichever option you prefer for your arms is just fine. And you of course know where we're going with this. Inhale to shift to your right, stand your ground on your right side.

As you exhale have the idea that you could tighten your abdominal seatbelt like tightening the skin on the head of a drum. Stand your ground on your right side and return your left foot to the ground. Inhale, shift to the left. Exhale, stand on your left side and bring your right thigh to your torso. Inhale shift, exhale anchor and lift.

Inhale shift, exhale press the sole of your left big toe down and lift. Now it's something similar minimizing the shift, minimizing the lateral translation of your central axis. Stand your ground by internally rotating a little bit from the knee down, internal rotation of the tibia so your toes are towards the midline and your heel away. Minimize the shift. Oh, I can tell I'm cheating already. (laughs) Minimize the shift, exhale to lift, inhale to lower.

Minimize the shift. Pressing the sole of the hands. What are those called? The palms of your hands towards each other not letting the roller roll towards the supporting side. Stand your ground in the center.

Much more demanding, more subtle, and you know, no one was born doing this but no one will pass away doing it either because you're very close to the ground. It's not a high risk exercise. Okay, reach for the ring. Holding the ring with your thumbs on the inside and your fingers on the outside, fingers outstretched. Inhale, take the ring high above your head.

As you take the ring high above your head let the back of your low ribs rest on the roller. Not pressing your lumbar spine into it, no. The back of your sacrum and the back of the ribs. Don't flare your front ribs, collect them to your pelvis. Inhaling, shrug your shoulders up.

Exhale, pull outwards with your thumbs downwards with your shoulder blades and draw the ring down towards your thighs. Again, inhale the ring goes in front of you, in front of your face. Exhaling, sliding your chest bone towards your pubic bone as you take the ring above your head. Shrug your shoulders up, training your lowest back ribs to stay in contact with the roller, and come down. Put the ring down.

Place your hands, your elbows, your arms on the roller. Now standing your ground exhale to lift, inhale to cross over, turning your head, neck and eyes away from the leg that's crossing over. Exhale to lift, inhale to cross over, turning your head, neck and eyes. Elbows bent, plant the sole of your big toe, tighten the seatbelt of your abdominals low and tight across the bones of your pelvis. Doing your best to keep the sacrum steady on the roller, not letting the lumbar spine rock towards the roller and away.

As you inhale, oh I forgot that, pardon me. I got all fascinated with the lumbar spine again. The palms of your hands are pressed against each other, fingers interlaced. Plant the sole of your right foot firmly. Press your right hand towards the left.

Lift up your left foot, cross over. Uncross and come down. Exhale to lift. Inhale to cross over, uncross and down. Reaching your fingers separately towards the ceiling as you exhale take one arm high the other arm low, settling the back of your low ribs in contact with the roller.

Lengthening away from the center, one arm high, the other arm low. Exhaling, right shoulder blade slides down and wide. Inhale to come up, timing the turning of your head, neck and eyes with your arms above your head. Putting it together, as you exhale plant the sole of your right big toe, the sole of your right foot. When your right arm goes high your left leg is lifting.

As you exhale, crossing over the midline, turning your head, neck and eyes, uncross and come down. (chuckles) Maybe not as fast as I came to earth. Lifting one arm and the opposite leg crossing over the midline, timing the turning of your head, neck and eyes. Of course you can keep this hand on the ground for support as you'd like and then challenge yourself to hover it just above the ground. Crossing over, interesting. Uncross and come down.

You know sometimes, (chuckles) you surprise yourself. I was thinking ah, I'm gonna have such a hard time balancing on the left leg, I was almost off the roller on the right side. And come down, okay. Take the ring in your hands. Put the ring behind your head, not behind your neck.

It's not a vaudeville act when you pull yourself off stage, but the ring is behind your head. So you have a sandwich, roller, ring, head. Inhaling, elbows wide to the side. As you exhale aim your bent elbows towards the ceiling, nod your nose downward, see behind the cheekbones of your face. Stick out your tongue, ah.

Sticking out your tongue will make your abdominals stronger. So it's a short range neck pull, upper thoracic and cervical flexion. You could aim your sitting bones and your pubic bone away through the inner shins, and come down. Inhale open your elbows wide to the side, as you exhale both elbows aim towards each other on the right side, rolling up, aiming your gaze down right, tongue out to the right, ah. Come back, inhaling elbows wide.

Exhaling, tongue eyes and elbows towards the floor on the left, (exhaling softly) and come down. Now, put the ring around your knees, one foot, other foot. And the ring will be as before when you had your feet on the roller, the ring, the padded handles of the ring are on the outside of your knees. Make sure that your tailbone is near the edge of the roller because this next exercise has a tendency to wend your way off the roller. Inhale to prepare.

As you exhale, finally, it's a posterior pelvic tilt and spine flexion, an articulated bridge with a spine flexion, lumbar flexion, aiming your sitting bones up towards the back of your knees. Inhale, pressing the front of your hip joints up to the ceiling but not splaying the front of your ribs. Exhaling as if someone could pull your sitting bones and lengthen your spine down on the roller. Inhale to prepare, as you exhale reach long with your sitting bones. It's a posterior pelvic tilt and spine flexion.

After all, this is Pilates. Keep your pelvis up high and lift one heel and the opposite toes, plantar and dorsiflexion, standing your ground between your shoulder blades, seven and eight. Change, roll down your spine. Now, mm, oh that's right. It's rotation of your pelvis.

Peel your pelvis and spine up. While you are up maintain your central axis, keep the roller steady and rotate so the light from your navel goes to the right and the light from your navel goes to the left connecting lowest front ribs towards your pelvis. Roll down your spine turning your palms upwards towards the ceiling, that will help to organize your shoulder blades wide away from your spine. Now it's time to take a hold of the ring, scoot down, tailbone towards the end, the ring behind your head. Inhaling, elbows wide to the side.

Exhaling, nod your nose downward, roll your head, neck and shoulders up. While you are up it's an undulating bridge. Your pelvis lifts up just as you rehearsed, lifting your pelvis up roll your shoulders neck, and head down. Inhale to prepare, as you exhale head, neck and thoracic roll up and your lumbar spine comes down. An undulating see-saw, the pelvis starts to come up and the rest of your spine comes down.

Cervical thoracic flexion rolling up and rolling down. Relocate so that your tailbone is near the edge because that particular undulating bridge just works your way like a corkscrew off the end of the roller. It's time, take the thumb on the inside of the handles. Inhaling, take the shoulder blades high towards your ears. As you exhale pull outwards with your thumbs, down with your shoulders, in with your abdominals.

Tongue and eyes, look down, tongue out. Reach your feet away from you to get a good counterbalance. Reach your fingers out and roll up sometime today on the roller. Inhaling, elbows wide, no, that's what's, that's not. Pull your shoulder blades wide the side.

As you exhale, nod your nose downward, aim your sittings bones in the direction of the back of your knees and roll down. Inhaling, this time we'll take an exhalation with rotation to the right. Turn to see the ground on the right side, rolling up, as I said sometime today. At least I kept my feet on the ground. That's not always the case.

Rotate more to the right and as you exhale turn to the right but shift to the left. Turn to the right but shift to the left and go down gradually or else it will feel as if the elevator cable suddenly got snipped. Inhaling, pulling your thumbs wide. As you exhale turn your gaze and your tongue down left. See the floor on the left side.

Pull outwards with your thumbs, in with your abdominals and roll up maintaining rotation to the left. Inhale, turn more to the left, rotating to the left, shift a little bit to the right. Rotate to the left but shift to the right activating your left obliques and with any good fortune you will land right on your mic box, but that's better than landing on the ground. Okay, so we've had the roll-up in three orientations and now it's time to celebrate that and come for standing balance. Careful making your way off the roller.

Just slither off the roller and for just a moment come to lie on your back with the roller underneath your knees. Here you are, resting on your back, celebrating how it is to lie on a stable ground. Make your way up from here now and we're going to come to standing. Here you are standing, and stand the sole of your foot on the roller and small ranges of motion roll the roller forward and back. Aim the, this sitting bone, the sitting bone that corresponds to the foot on the roller, aim it towards the standing inner ankle bone.

Keep this going and close your eyes. Eyes open, change to the new side. Roll the roller away and towards, level your pelvis by aiming your sitting bone towards the opposite ankle bone, keep this going. Uh-huh, and close your eyes. Now put the ring between your ankles just above your ankle bones between your lower shins and take the roller in your hands with your arms wide and your palms outside on the roller.

As you inhale, take the roller high above your head. As you exhale draw your inner thighs towards each other, a force of adduction, and rise to your toes. Lower your heels, turning pelvis, rib, shoulders, neck, head and eyes, rotating to one side, and turning pelvis, rib, shoulders, neck, head and eyes, whoops. Keep the roller high above your head. High above your head.

Now drawing inwards with your inner thighs and with your shins hover your heels just barely off the ground and as if your pelvis could turn the left, pelvis turns opposite the rib, shoulders, and I'm going to just look directly at you. Come back to the center as if you're, when the ribs and shoulder girdle turns one direction it's as if your pelvis could turn in the other. Shoulders descending, not holding the roller up with your shoulders but holding the roller up with the outside of your ribs. Come down from here now and change it up so you put the roller between your shins above your ankles, thumbs on the inside of the ring. As you inhale take the ring high above your head.

Exhale, pull outwards with your thumbs, downwards with your shoulders, inwards with your abdominals and upwards with your spine. Inhale to bend your knees, turning everything to one side and sweep the ring on the diagonal turn everything towards the other side. Stay on this side bending your knees. Inhale, sweep the ring high. Exhaling, drawing the tops of your inner thighs towards each other.

Come down from here now. Use the roller as a stabilizing force and put the soles of your metatarsals on the ring as if you could have a light touch on the accelerator, aim your ring foot sitting bone towards the opposite ankle bone. If all's going reasonable well let go of the roller and mm, don't be greedy Elizabeth, but you could try to lift your heel off the ground. Change now to the new side. Steady the ring and plant your metatarsals onto the ring.

Here you are on your new side, leveling your pelvis, a light touch on the accelerator. Plant the sole of your big toe, extend your fingers just a little bit and that can help with your balance. Hover your heel up and down. Put the ring down now and come to stand on the roller. You'll need a steady wall.

Holding onto the wall, one foot on the roller, other foot on the roller. Roll the roller just a little bit forward and back, forward and back, one hand off, other hand off, and hands close to the wall roll a little bit forward and back. Now take your feet a little bit wider, wider than shoulder width. Aim your fourth toe straight ahead as you aim your sitting bones back behind you work your hands down the wall. Steer your fourth toe straight ahead and your knees forward over your fourth toes.

Bring yourself up. Add rotation now steering your knees forward, turn your ribs, shoulders, head, neck and eyes. Make your way up from there. Drawing your right sitting bone back turning away from there. Easy on the dismount.

Thank you so much for being with us on Pilates Anytime. I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you so much, bye-bye.