Unilateral Reformer

Hi, thanks for joining. Today we're going to work on the reformer focusing a little bit more than usual on unilateral work. So with that, let's just get started. I'm just going to stand at the back of the reformer, the front of the reform, right item. Know what this is? It's a reformer. Looking straight ahead. Take the arms in. Reach out. Use this moment to collect your energy to feel alive in your body.

Take the arms, push down, and as the arms reach out and down, feel the spine. Lift up longer and taller. Inhale, allow the arms to lift. We reach up, we lift the spine, we narrow through the waist and press the arms. Yeah, so just taking one more. Connecting the mind and the body. Gathering energy, getting prepared. Press the arms down in. Inhale. Exhale. Take the head forward as the spine goes forward.

Lift through the center of the body so that we're supporting the spine as we reach inwards into our bodies. Inhale. Exhale, pull back up. So we roll, we create a line minutes. We stack the spine over the hips, arms come down to our sides. Eyes look forward. Inhale, exhale, round the spine. Lift like you're resisting the descent of your spine by contracting and pulling upwards into the spine with the abdomen. Pause at the bottom, breathe in, and exhale to lift up. And just one more. Bringing awareness to the breath. Exhaling awareness to the mind, awareness to the body and lift.

Take the arms out and up to the side. Again. One last time. Feel the reach of the spine. Press the arms down. So I've got my spring set up for foot work already with three reds in a blue spring in a sit just at the very, very edge of the roof. Former with the feet on the foot bar. So prep, put the hands on the knees, lift the spine up. So that's a very close position for me personally. We're going to let go, trying to hold the back there, and then we're going to roll the spine down. Inhale, take the arms to the sides. Exhale, press the arms forward, roll back forward, push down on the foot bar and pull back against the footbridge just a little bit and then lift the back. Inhale, exhale. Take the body down.

Okay. Inhale arms. Wow. Excellent. Press the arms forward, roll the spine forward. Fun The shoulders over the hips. And then if you need a little assistance, use your arms against your knees to help you find that beautiful flat back reach forward. Inhale, exhale to curl down any. You'll take the arms wide. Exhale, bring the arms forward. Inhale to pass Xcel social roll. This time as we roll up, we find that lift in the back and then we reach the leg straight out along the foot bar, reaching the arms forward. Exhale, now route rolling down just to the tips of the shoulder blades. Arms reach, arms come back, we roll. And then once the shoulders come over the pelvis, we lift the back. Press the arms wide.

Exhale scoops through the waist around the spine. Roll back. Inhale, arms reach XL. Arms Press, curl the spine forward. Work with intention, work with integrity. Reach out. Inhale, press forward. So the only person who can decide how to challenge your deepest self is you. So I encourage you to look for that and recheck one more. Reaching the spars forward. XL to curl back, curling, curling, curling, come all the way down.

Reach for the handles. Let not the stress, just the metal handles. Lift the legs to table top in heel rotating in my direction and XL. We pull back through center in heel. We reach across the opposite direction. Exhale to pull back. Note that as you do this, the Elvis stay wide and still XL center.

Inhale as you reach over XL center in house, we reach over. Exhale center last time. Inhale as we reach over XL center, lift the head and chest. Take the arms to the knees. Use Your hands on your knees to establish a high lifted, controlled strong position. Inhale into the double leg stretch where you reach up and pull him and in her up and pull and reach up and pull and feel the stretch, the elongation in the body and then the contraction, the elongation and bent and four and three and to and one hands on the left knee rightly reaches straight reach and reach the single leg stretch. We pull the lick out of the hip joint as the opposite side.

The bent knee. Thigh pulls against an imaginary wall, creating more work through the center of the body and four, three, two, one hands behind head. And we slowly rotating and slowly rotating. Keep the legs clean as though there was a bull's eye that both feet are reaching towards and lift as you churn, keeping the head still and relaxed in the hand. Rotate and royalty and royalty and rotate. Now three more faster. What? Breathing?

Two breathing three center. Stretch the legs. Take the right leg forward the left leg forward so we scissor the legs breathing, pressing the bottom like down to the bar. Reach, reach, reach, reach both legs up. Then the knees. Take the hands to the backs of the thighs. Rock up, turn and set the bar up. Coming all the way back down.

[inaudible] head rest, up or down as to your preference. Heals on the bar. Settling in, finding the length of the spine to heel, bone reaching down and back. Ribs, heavy arms, lung. Here we go. We stretch out. And Paul, as you work here, pay attention to both sides of your body and how they prohibit, perhaps differ from one another. Do you feel a heavier energy in one side than the other end? Can you try to equalize the energies and that's a mind challenge and the body works in harmony from side to side and and reach.

The feet are flat as though where they were standing on a wall and here's too and, and as the carriage comes in, think about keeping the springs a long. So that's where we find that resistance. Number one, we come all the way back. We moved to the toes, press out all the way. The feet here are lifted as we bend the knees, the heel stay right as they are. We Bend and press and bend and take that moment as the legs are fully straight just to feel that beautifully supported position where the quadriceps lift the knees where the knees are held just in front of the Ingalls and not bowing behind.

There was no locking of the joint there just to lift and a support. Last three, reach out and bet and reach out and, and reach out and bet heels come together. Inhale and we stretch out and pull the carriage and Elongate the springs and keep the springs long as the legs span. And find that moment every time the leg straight of being your longest, your most connected, your most committed to your buy and, and fight and pull. So equalize the energy in both directions. Here's three.

And, and to stabilizing through the trunk. Number one, we come all the way back, separate the feet to the outsides of the bar. Generate a little bit of adductor pull and stretch and in and stretch so that the arms are elongating as the legs, Ilan, Ilan gating as the knees bet. But there's activity in all sorts of places. Never just focusing on one area of the body only and back. And here's four and Paul and three and two and and all the way. And we come to the toes, stretch the legs, keep that strong inner thigh focus energy and bend and stretch and bend and reach and feel the spine going longer as the knees bent.

And feel that that body is just heavy on that heavy on that bed, reaching on, reaching it, a heaviness but not a thinking energy, but more of a light. The bones of the body are heavy. The surrounding musculature is easily moving. Last to reaching heels or still reaching, bending. Move to the center of the bar on the toes. We take the carriage out, we lower the heels and lift and lower and lift.

Feel as a heels. Reach down. There's energy up the whole backside of the way so the bomb is tightening. As the heels drop down, we pull and pull and pull and reach to him or and reach last one and into our prances Ben, one knee and lift and other knee and left. One foot pushes as the opposite leg pulls and meat in a high foot position in the center. Each time I'm focused on the stability of the pelvis and reach to left reached to lift. Last one, both sides.

This is it. Bend the knees and bring the carriage and turned to your side. Help yourself. I'm going to use two red springs and I do a little sideline leg work, single leg sideline, so I'm gonna lower my headdress. I'm positioned myself so that my body is right in between the shoulder blocks. In terms of alignment, I'm going to learn a bent arm and I'm going to use my bottom leg to push out my top legs on the bar. My bottom leg is on the frame looking down the line of my body, making sure it's straight and then aligning the heel of the foot that's on the bar right underneath that sitting bone.

The opposite arm presses into the shoulder block, lift the bottom waist, lift that straight leg, the bottom leg and bend that knee and hurry. So we just bend the knee only to the point where we can keep that heel all the way down. Keeping the body Elan Gayda, using the opposite arm for support, keeping the work through the center of the body. Draw and press, finding that heel connection each time. Last two and press one more and we find a straight leg and we just rise through the heel. Keep the heels still now and bend and Ari and you'll get a little deeper now and range.

Keep focusing energy on the lifting of that bottom sideways bend and range and bend and range and the bottom leg is energized. It's just reaching under the bar. Last two and press one more and pressing there. We externally rotate both legs. We bend that knee pointing the knee towards the ceiling.

We press out and lifts the bottom leg to the top leg bend and lower that leg. Press and lift the bottom leg. So we get hip work, we get out October, we got shoulder work, we've got ab work. It's all happen in here. Press and bet and press and bet and three and then two and bend one and bet just let that bottom leg rest down. Take the top arm in place.

Sit on the sh just in front of you on the carrot at the top foot and just rest it right down on the bar. The bottom arms straightens. Actually put the hand right on the shoulder block. I'm going to draw the shoulder down and push into that shoulder block and lift the waist and pushed into the shoulder block. Lift the waist and keep the top like externally rotated. We lift the waist and down, push into the shoulder, black lifts the waist to shoulder draws down and one pushing left and then reach out. Take your top like just rest it on the bar.

Top arm reaches overhead and we feel the stretch through the body. And then bend top leg. Rotate yourself all the way over to the other side. Coming down onto that side, lying on a Bento. I'm gonna have to put my top foot on the bar, my bottom foot on the frame. Push out, find my elongated position. Then lift the bottom Li, it reaches under the heel of the Foos right underneath that sitting bull got along body and it it's a bend and press into the heels. Stretch and bet.

Keep a little space below your waist all the time. Keep the eyes just gently open and gazing in front of you and not down in the body to keep the neck in alignment. Ben [inaudible] four and three and Marie to and Marie and one and from a straight leg position, we lift that heel off the reformer and we bend again. You'll get a little more range of motion here. Keep the body elongated, reach out. Ben, reach out. Ben, reach out. Ben, reach out.

Three more stretching. I don't know about you guys, but I feel a prominent different between the two sides of my body and last time holding here. Yep. We find external rotation in both the top and the bottom. Like we bend the knee, we stretch the leg and lift up, bottom leg up. Then the knee stretch the top leg. Lift the bottom like [inaudible] and bat and left and bat and left and Ben. Keep that bottom waist lifted as the bottom leg lifts. That's where it gets tough. Last three.

Yeah, reach out to and reach out one and reach up. Come all the way back. Rest the bottom, laid on the frame. Rest the top leg just over the bar. Keep the leg lined up. Push into the shoulder block. Stretch the bottom out underneath you. Here we go. We pressing, we lift up to that top waist.

And as you press into your shoulder block, feel the shoulder blade drying down and down and present. Left and uh, keeping the body elongated. [inaudible] and uh, last two Preston left and unprecedented lift. And then the bottom knee. Well, nope. Stretch everything wall top, arm, long, top leg. Then the bottom me van, the taught me help yourself up. So we're going to go down to one red and one blue spring and we're going to come back down into our backs for a little abdominal work. And so finding yourself on your carriage, reach back for your strats. Take the straps in the hands, arms and narrow.

Today they're in more of like a v shape in the traditional just outside of the shoulder blades. We're going to lift the feet one at a time. We're going to turn the knees out, pointing the feet in healing here. XL, reach the body through the legs and release and in here and reach through the way and release and reach the body through the legs. So I'm doing that little hold at the top on purpose. That's our chance to go deeper, to feel more integrity, more challenge, more focus. And, and now as we lift, we take the legs out to the side and the knees bent, the thighbone stay stuck and we reach opening noise and bet and reach, open knives and, and two more. Reach out, stretch the legs all the way straight and we reach a little further. And last one, reach out the leads. Go all the way straight.

We reach a little further, we bend in, separate the arms, take the arms out to the sides, take the legs low. Inhale, exhale. Curl the spine up and bring the legs right up towards the nose. And inhale, let the legs go down and exhale, curl the legs come up as the body lifts and, and the legs come up is the body lifts and yeah. And last one holding you here. Now we just lower the legs as the arms. Reach out, keeping the body lifted and whole. And in here lengths pull and inhale lengths, keeping the legs parallel and pull. Try not to drop the arms below the body, keep them nice and high and pull one more reach and pull.

Bend the knees, let the straps on, places straps down and turn on again onto your first side. So again, we're gonna use the bottom leg against the frame of the reformer to push out. We're going to take the top leg and br, bring the strap over the top of the knee, bring the arm around to place your head down on it and align the body with the heels reaching for [inaudible] the tailbone. I'm just going to keep my top hand on my hips. I can just look for stabilization of the Pavason. We open the top knee and and open the top knee, moving the carriage underneath us and open the top knee and Anna open and last three.

And here's two. And here's one. And and now we lift the whole leg. We make a circle, they'll, they come into the body, go into external rotation, reaches down and comes forward. Lift the knee, wrap into external rotation. Reach up and come forward. Lift the knee wrap, drop the knee down and come forward to reach wrap. Drop the knee down in four last time. Reach, wrap.

Draw the knee down in front of you. Go the other way. So we go back. We allow the leg to externally rotate. We start bringing the fiber on in towards the body. Don't lose the bottom side and press and lift the knee. Bring the knee in towards the buy.

Start to drop it down and bring it back. And three and back. Using that hip extensor though his hip extensors too and back one and all the way down. So we're going to take the strap, place the bottom foot back onto that frame. Take the strap off the knee, place it back onto the peg. Help Yourself, Huh? And Spin to the other side. I mean all the way down. Yeah, it comes through the shoulder blocks. The head rests on the arms. We press out with the bottom lang.

We reached the top like all the way through to the knee in the strap, lying down on that bottom arm, lining the heels up with the tailbone, finding he supported and s long spine. And we just lift that top and yeah, and lift and, and keeping the eyes again, just looking straight ahead, reach and left and last three years one. And watch that. The bottom way says lower is that top leg lifts. Hold it there. Lift the foot, bring the leg in towards the body. Reach Open, circle the leg around and come forward. Bring the knee lift, reach open in or out.

And for opening around, keeping the structure, the center of the body. Still the whole time last too, reaching around and reaching around. We take it in reverse. We go into hip extension, we lift the knee. Feel the rotational cycle of that hip joint. Leg comes down and back. Left.

Bring the leg forward and back. Lift. Bring the leg forward and back. Left. Bring the leg forward and last to reaching up. And last time reaching, uh, and bringing the leg down. Set the bottom foot against the frame. Help yourself out of that strap. Bend the knees to come in, set the strap on the pad and come all the way out.

Change to that. You have just one spring on the reform right now. And I have a a little one of those little pads here for my knee, which doesn't enjoy being by itself on a bed. So I've given myself a pad. So we're going to place the left knee on the pad and the left foot up against the shoulder block. The right foot's going to come up onto the bar. We're going to hold there for just a moment, elongating the body and finding our balance there.

So as you do this, as we hold here, just reach up through the spine, reach out and then we're going to, if you want, this is not required or are you going to take the hands away today. So from there we take that front leg and we reach out, reach out, finding control, and as the knee bends at back like it's just energetically reaching back, stretching on beautiful hip flexor. Stretch. Reach out, supporting with the bar on the foot or the foot on the bar and bend and breathing into that stretch and recheck and bending. Taking the hands back to the bar, tilting the pelvis backwards, finding an easy anterior tilt in the pelvis as we then worked for a stretch in that front leg. Elongating the spine, keen for a flat back, breathing in and breathing where you been. The front knee, come all the way back and then change sides. So the right foot goes up against the right shoulder block.

The left foot is up on the bar. Just take a moment finding that hip flexor. Stretch the hip flexor. Stretch the spine as elongated. The chest is reaching out and forward. The back thigh is reaching backwards. And then gathering, gathering energy reach. Ah, find your strong, stable base of support. And then just start to stretch that front leg out. [inaudible] and stretch the front leg. Ah, and Ben, this is scary. Have someone hold your hand or use a pole and then if it's scary, maybe don't do it at all and it's down on the bar.

Tilt the pelvis backwards. Stretch that front leg out, trying to square the pelvis, trying to keep the spine elongated, which for me, I'll tell you my friends is that significant challenge, breathing, breathing and Ben to come back with getting the body up, keeping the same screen coming down onto the elbows so the hands are going to come up against the shoulder blocks and oppress one foot onto the bar. We're going to take that leg out, stand on that leg, point through the foot, get a nice strong standing position on your arms and step your opposite leg back to meet the first one on the bar. And then we let the arms drift forward and holding strong through the center of the body and back and drift forward and and inhale and lift the body, bringing the head in between the arms. Elongate the spine, bring the carriage in. As the body goes for the Elvis state underneath the shoulders, as the body lifts up, the head comes through the ons. Tobin tilt to me. Look for that nice flat back. As the body comes for the elbows come underneath the shoulders.

As the body lifts. Lift eland eating the spine. Come back, bend one knee, take it to the mat, then the other knee bring the kerogen and help yourself off to the side. We keep the same spring, still on one red spring here. Got The right knee up against the shorter blocks. I'm going to bend forward, placing both hands on the bar. Bring the shoulders just over the hands, round the spine so that outside leg is bent.

And then we bring the thigh underneath us, [inaudible] and India. Excellent. As you bring that sign, give it a one to three moment Milken. And so we're using our hip flexor deep hip flexors to move the carrot. But we're stabilizing the spinal position from our abdominals to more pull in, deepen, deepen, deepen, and back. Last one. Hold in, deepen, deepen, J-pin, and back. All the way. Roll through the spine. Step down and walk around to the other side. Yep. Against the shoulder blocks. Hands on the bar.

Both knees are bent. Take a moment round the spine. Shoulders just over the hands. And then we draw that like inwards [inaudible] and back and regroup and back and use that long momentary pause just to look for depth. Exhale. And that the spine is perfectly stable. Yeah. And back one more time. Okay.

[inaudible] and back. Come up onto both knees. Taking a hold of the strap closest to you and the outside hand wrap the other hand around that outside hand. So we're holding the strap with both hands. Look back at the hands. Inhale on the exhale, rotate the spine, bring the arms across. And then d rotate the spine with just as much integrity. And then we work from the waist. We reach across and I come back.

I don't hurry to crass in the eyes with the trunk. I'm trying not to lean back at all. If anything you want to think about leaning slightly forward. Last too, and one more [inaudible] coming all the way back please. That strapped down. Turn around to the opposite side, so we take the strap, wrapping that back hand around it, inhale here, and then we rotate the trunk or reaching the spine across. And then d rotate the trunk from the waist. India. Exhale, rotate the trunk. Look where you're going. Keep the restraint Rosie and back and rotate and unwind. Last one and unwind places this down.

I've been good with blue spring here for me and we're going to just turn around within these coming up against the shoulder blocks. I'm just going to double check my straps here, which are not straight, so forgive me. Come up onto the knees so it's a light spring on purpose. Let's go to just a little bit away from the shoulder blocks and then organize your body so your shoulders are right over your knees and now exhale into the chest expansion rising. Just notice how much further that you can go with a lighter spring. Maybe this is a spring you always use and reaching back [inaudible] forward and reaching back.

Okay, and forward. Now we're going to take just the arm closest to me. We're going to start with that. I'm the opposite. I'm just going to continue to reach on that. I'm just going to pull on the spine rotates towards that and then back and starting with the other arm. We rotate, we toss towards the arm that's pulling, keeping the hips just over the knees and again over the other side. Reach and center and reach. Look for depth and center and reach.

Last one like this and then I'm going to add a case and center and reach and center and now rotate. Take that arm, reached on the side of the five, go into a little back extension, come back up, come to center, rotate first, take that arm, reached on the side of there. Don't lean back, just arch and look up. Bottom arm is reaching forward up and center and rotate first and then reach back. It's like you're trying to explore the downward pull of the arm and center and rotate and reach back and find center and last one. Rotate and reach down and back and center and the last time for the day, rotate it. Reach and center and come all the way in. Sitting down on your feet.

Place the hand the straps down. Turn the body around, feet up against the shoulder blocks. We're going to just use one red spring for this next exercise. We're going to start in the round back knee stretch position, so the arms are on the bar. There's strength there. We're going to eat long gate the back, reach out through the chest, press out with the legs, drop the pelvis through so you're in your down stretch and then lift up to the bar.

Pull the carriage into the stopper as you around back into your knees. Stretch. Elongate the body. Press out with the legs. Lift through the down stretch. Keep the feet against the shoulder. Blacks. Curl the spine. Pull with the knees, the carriage into the stopper. He elongate the spine. Inhale, exhale the legs reach back. Inia Lin, lift through the down stretch and exhale, dig deep. To pull back one more time. Ilan. Gay. Press out.

All this comes forward. We reach, we work through the upper back and around, and then just bring the feet together. Sit back towards the heels and rest the hands on the bar for a moment. Opening through the shoulders. Take the bar down, step down, and to take the front of the a frame side foot onto the frame and know. Reached down and hold the carriage. Still.

We're going to take the opposite leg out to hold the carriage very still here in a roll the spine. Bring the arms straight out to your sides. As the carriage moves away, reach the arms overhead in here. Press the arms back down. Exhale, rise up. Hold. Yeah, we reach bodies. Moving down, but the energy's reaching up an exhale.

Come all the way in and Whoa, just to reach up. [inaudible] explore that in range of motion a little bit. Find it, reach out and find that and hold the leg. Still bring the arms forward. Rote Ben and he's, that's a gift for me. Roll the spine down. Hold the carriage. Still stand on the foot. That's on the frame. Slide the other foot in and step to the ground for me. I'm for you I suppose. Okay, so the other side.

So we get up onto the frame first. Stepping to the front of the reformer, hands on the carriage. Lift that back. Next step in. Let me hold the carriage still here. Roll through the spine, arms reach Ya and we raise the arms on the inhale. As the body lowers down, keep the spinal line and press the arms down to pull the carriage and reach out and pull in all the way touching hole and reach Ya. I'm Paul. All the way in. Touching hold last time. Reach out.

Come all the way in old here, Ben and he's harms. Come down, roll the spine down, holding that carriage steady. Stand on the frame slide and step to the floor. Anchor the carriage. I'm putting all my springs on and I grab my box. Just a little short side work sitting on the box on the hip, taking fit underneath the strap.

We're going to do cre, regular side overs, and three with rotation. So here we go. Hmm. It was just deciding what I want to do with the arms. We'll start with the arms overhead today. So we'll just go down, drifting in the wind and and down and lift and down and left. And now we go down, we lift up, we open to rotating, we come back and and up and open to rotate and come back.

Last one down and lift and open. Rotate and back and all the way down. Take a stretch here. Oh Wow. The leg to reach away from you, allow the arm to reach away from you. You can use your hands to help yourself up and change sides.

Well like stays under the [inaudible] opposite like comes up onto the box. Swine is elongated, arms are up. We reach over and left and reach over and left and reach over and left. Here comes our rotation. It's Oh four and two west and back and oh, and up to west and back and over and up to west and back and all the way down, reaching the leg and the arm away from one another. Nope. Your stuff up here.

[inaudible] so we're going to finish with a little back extension, a little more back extension. You've already done quite a bit today and I take the bar and put it on. Put the bar up [inaudible] I think that'd be a little easier for me, but I know apparently not. Okay, so we're going to turn around on the box. The heels are going to be up underneath the bar. So if you've got hooks on your flip bar, this feels pretty stable. If you don't, just be careful that you don't pull the bar out of place.

So from here I'm going to go all the way over and then take the hands behind the head. We're going to reverse articulate this line, reach out, take the arms forward, bend. I'm an external rotation of my hips and I've over the box and even need the spine and reach out and I'll take the am closest to me. You reach back and overhead. The opposite arm goes. Now reaching across and overhead hands come back and we take the body down and we EMD the back. Arms overhead. Go away from me. This time reach open and overhead.

Strong legs and Rachel and overhead and hands back and down. And now just one more time, straight through we, Ilan hit the back, we recheck the arms, stretch overhead. They bend, we take it all the way down. Place the hands on the frame, slide back to the knees. Rest on the box. Just allow the trunk to settle on the box.

No was this stay here. I want the back. Settle in healing. Notice how the back of the body fills up and just exhaling tension. Yeah. And then just helping yourself back up. We'll finish here on our knees. Just knees up against the edge of the box. Okay. Fiance up in here. Next, y'all press the knees into the box and reach over the box with around spine.

The arms couldn't just outside the box. We press the arms back in the pelvis forward. Reach the arms up. Excellent. Dye forward. Yeah. The arms come just outside the box.

Press the pelvis forward to reach the [inaudible] and take the arms down. Yeah, I think so much. Okay.