Poetry in Motion Flow

Hi, today I am going to be doing an intermediate, advanced reformer to tell you the truth is there are an infinite amount of combinations you could do even though there is a basic intermediate and advanced reformer or series in the Romanos Pilati is uh, curriculum w there's a lot of combinations that we do just depending completely on the body in front of you. So this is something that I enjoy doing that really challenges me and also stretches me and just to all around strengthens me. I'm always hearing Ramana's voice in my head when I am working out throughout my entire from start to finish. I'm hearing her cues as I move. I am specifically, she is always saying that the reform, the Palladia should be poetry in motion and like a gold chain where one link continues to the next to the next and there is no stop stopping from start to finish. It's a wonderful feeling for your body for it to have your muscles engaged from start to finish. And I'm going to be flowing straight through this workout.

So if any of the transitions are tricky for you and you're not familiar with them, I'm going to be doing a completely separate video that'll be a tutorial on just the transitions for this, a workout today. And feel free to watch that and fast forward through all the ones you know and just find the one that you needed help with. But it will show all the transitions, uh, for this workout. So today on this, this uh, series, I'm just going to be flowing from start to finish. I'll be letting you know, spring changes, uh, but, and the name of the exercise. But other than that we will be moving constantly. So, uh, you will need your short box or long box as well as your pull your extension straps. I'm working on a grotto reformer, so I have four springs and I will be saying how they're all of equal tension.

Uh, if you need help figuring out what's the, how you can do it on a balanced body or other reformer. We do have little side notes on the website, um, aside from this, and then also have two non-slip pads. I have a towel just because I'm expecting to get a little warm here. All right, so without further ado, we're going to get our mind connected to our body. I'm starting off on four springs for the footwork. So I'm going to start in my Pilati stance. Centering again, my mind with my body, with my weight on the ball of my foot, ball of every toe, the side of my foot and my heels and I'm going to use the are to push away so I can pull up my inner thighs, I can feel my outer thighs and my seat and draw my powerhouse, which is this four-inch band and muscles and it's gonna work in every exercise.

I'm going to draw it in and up and I'm going to try to sit gracefully onto the reformer and start my footwork. Toes on the bar a little bit apart, toes apart, heels together and pulling out four springs again. And I'm reaching my hips that way while drawing my powerhouse up this way. Stretching, long pooling and keeping the springs moving, stretch and pull it in. And three, we're going to do 10 and long. And and one more and arches and out and pull in and stretch again. My hips are reaching all along that way. My powerhouse is pulling in and up.

Reach and pull the spring and pool the spring out. Pull it in, not push it out, but pull it out and reach La and to last one and up to the heels. Remember, this is the center you and to get your powerhouse warmed up, not your quads, so you could do it on three springs. If you're not feeling that and your powerhouse is in and up, pull it in and for, not a very good counter, but work with a three and reaching long. Last one and now down to toes for tendon stretch. Pull it out and stretching down to three and really preparing myself for the hundred because I'm feeling the work in my hips, how my leg should be working when I'm in the a hundred and I'm feeling my powerhouse skipping in and up against that length stretch he my achilles tendon pulling up with my legs, my hips, not my calves. Last puling up to three, bending in. We're going to slide a little way from the shoulder pads.

Lower the bar with our legs. Head piece goes down. As you grab the straps, knees are into your chest and out and in. And exhale in two, three, four, five. Excellent. Okay. Legs are where you feel you're being challenged. Yeah, but you're using your powerhouse.

[inaudible] reaching those legs long, pushing into the handles, pulling your belly in the opposite direction. Okay. 80 and my head. [inaudible] one more. [inaudible] Ben. Dan, we're going to drop two springs for overhead.

One to turn back around. Arms reach up, long pant over, up and controlling down. One is over, two is a [inaudible]. Two more over. Okay.

And last one. And transition to coordination. Pulling in and in. Everything's long. The whole arm tries to stay on the Mat, not just the elbow reaching long through your collarbones. One more [inaudible] and we're going to transition to rowing, sitting up, spinning around and dropping a spring. As you go.

Hands with distance from the back. We're going to use our powerhouse to pull these springs one open to push back three forward five and lift and circle back for six so it's like the hug on the short backs one, two press back and up. Big Circle forward. Pull back one, open two, push back three pull forward and then lift up big c curve if you can, and stretch that was. Now we're going to do 90 degree angle and back. Flat back and forward reaching. Pull back to your tailbone, open collar bone.

Stretch forward and tall back 90 degree forward. [inaudible] man lift, stretch key. Be going into the next one. Last one. Lift forward through the spine. Tall God working on your big c curve here and we're going to turn around to the front as you turn it around, lift your head piece and slide your bottom back to the shoulder paths.

This is from the chest rowing and one grow taller from your hips, from your waist. Lift all the way up and lifting, lifting, lifting as you're opening those arms and relax. Breathing is important in with their exhale in with the air in with the air in with the year. Still an exhale. One more. These are sets of threes in with their exhale down the arms lift, your whole body lifts. You keep lifting, you keep lifting, you keep lifting and you relax.

Now from the hips in with the air roll up through your spine in with their lift, lift, lift, and exhale. Try to go past your heels and stretch. Roll up your spine in with the air. Keep lifting from your hips and waist and reaching and give me one more past your heels. Pull back your toes the whole time. Rawling up. Lift, lift, lift and relax. Shaving you cross your legs. As you turn the hands, push into the hands and keep that spring moving one.

Try to bend the elbows behind your ears. We're going to do five that's three more from the tailbone all the way up to your fingers. One more and we'll switch to the hug. Getting those triceps and switch. Add in with the air. Exhale two more. With that breathing [inaudible] hold and we'll reverse the breathing. Inhale, exhale in with the air open. Exhale. Ramana always would say push away a big way. She'd stand next.

You need to push her over. Exhale and open, pushing, pushing, pushing and relax. Hang up your handles and grab your long box. We're staying on one spring. As we grab our long box, I'm going to grab my pole and Tuck it under my long box. While I do my work nice and centered. I'm going to grab my pad and I'm going to set it up so I can do swan here, but on two springs. All right, so I'm on the back of this reformer. Put my hands here, push out, lower my hips and rest in with the annex.

Now bigger and then reach long and rest. Two more in with DHEA and exhale. Inhale, bigger reach long and bend. Last one, warming up. Propo both stress and exhale and with the air and reach long and standing up on my foot bar, I'm going to take away the pad as well as a spring and I'm going to push out and lie down. Grabbing while my carriage is out, my straps [inaudible] and then I'm going to slide home. Always lengthening the spine here against the straps, pulling the belly in and up and reach forward your spine.

Two more alarms are long by your body trying to keep actually the chest down on this one. We're going to talk to myself about that one and number two is the t holding. Still the handles and stomach getting come up higher on this one, one more and transitioned to backstroke. Both handles in one hand, stepped to the side at a spring, so we're on two sprints. Hands in behind hand, foot and foot, tailbone off the front edge. Roll back one too. From your powerhouse reached, lift up higher, higher, higher end bend. Inhale and keep in healing. Keep it and healing.

Keep in healing and exhale. One more up open lift and bend teaser. Both handles in one hand, swing to the side with control. Drop a spring, turned back and unfold. Lie Out. Enjoy that moment and fold up for teaser. Three pumps.

Last one, always from the powerhouse. Reach out toes and head at the same time into circles. One, two, and last one. Reverse circles in with your exhaling. [inaudible] and unfold, Huh?

I'll take both handles in one hand. Step off, hang him over my back edge and lower my head piece. Turn my short box around, grabbed my pool. I was on one spring, so I'm going to add another for two. Good. And we're going to start short box. We're going to grab our safety straps, two of them on the grots and slip one of our feet under. You can slip on, sit on a pad, but I find with my a high challenge, I don't seem to fit very well with a pat, but lot of people do like sitting on a non-slip pat. Make sure you're no more than a hands with distance behind you.

And we're going to start off with our hug. Push Open those straps with your outer thighs, pull your power owls in and up, and hug can. Here we go. We're going to do for rolling back in with the air. Lift into your c curve and rest, lift, exhale. And two more. One more.

I'm keeping an eye on my left foot that likes to sickle in making sure I push out evenly. And now we're going to grab at your bar and we're going to sit up tall for the tall back from send your sit bones through the box. Push Open your outer thighs and draw your belly in and up. Let's have a nice tall back for four times lifting up even more. So we're going to inhale back [inaudible] and exhale forward. And two more.

Always trying to grow taller. Last one, lengthen crown of the head to the ceiling. Okay, and rest side reach. We're going to lift up from your waist lift, lift, lift, and reach to the right. You're slightly forward in front of your sit bones and work your obliques to come home or the side of your waist. [inaudible] yeah, it's like a waltz and he reached two, three back, two three lift two, three back, two, three. One more set.

[inaudible] make sure you inhale to reach and exhale the pool home. Rest your arms down. Now for the twist, we're going to pull up and lift all the way up to the crown of your head. Straight line, twist and reach out and pulling up and twist and reach and back up and try not to hang out back there too long. Yeah, and up twist. Reach for your back corner. Keep reaching it for one more set last time.

All right. Okay. And we're going to do tree. Certainly the tree shows. I have not a dancer, but I still enjoy all this movement. Okay. And all the stretches.

Stretching forward on that and you limbered up for three rollback with your hips even and walk down and in with the year and then lift up out of the waist for that leg and rock back. I lift up, I otherwise one more. I'll let my arms reach back this time. Yeah. Cool. Stretch up out of the waist and then grab the toes. We call this picking the apple off the tree, sitting up tall, lifting the leg up and Ben, switch legs [inaudible] and stretch in bed.

Sitting right over those sit bones and walking up. Stretch forward. Rock back from the waist. Try to use those hips to stay even and down. Stretching forward. Two more. One bone at a time. Yeah.

Exhaling up and reach and on his last one. I'll let my arms go back again. Always through your lower back. First stretch feels delicious. Lifting up and forward and then grabbing those toes. Okay, man. Lifting up tall. Yeah. Alright, now we're ready for the long stretch series. Stepping down, grab your bar and box and bring it down.

If I did have my pad, it would be ready to go right here. I'm going to just grab it from underneath and I'm going to put pad over. My lifted headpiece bar goes up and the spring stay on to hand. Foot the other hand already in my pushup position and lift. And here we go out and trying to pull my belly in and up and my hips squeezing together, dry my inner, my arches up, my inner thighs. Two more kneeling down for the down stretch, separate in the feet and [inaudible] so you inhale out and exhale, lift, lift, lift back of the legs and seat. Push out belly pools up your chest.

One more coming into your back. Bend, lifting and back bend and up into the ebb stretch, Tozer and demi point. And here we go. Hips down with the hips, pull it in and fold up. Hips. Push out, squeeze down, scoop the belly in and up. In and up. In and up. And fold up. Two more out, down and last time and scooping up and lower the heels. Minor. Little forward for my height for elephant shoulders over the bar that holds the springs back at the legs and stoop under [inaudible].

One more pulling under the tailbone and enough stepped down for long backstretch so it's going to be hand, foot, hand, foot. And we're going to do our tricep dip here. Dipping straight down, pushing out, lifting your hips up. And again, two more out, up. One more. Dip Out, up, reverse hips. Push out down. Watch the shoulders to more. Trying to really keep them nice and open. One more and few. We get to take a break with the stomach massage, putting the pad now as close to the front edge as you can for springs if you can, if not three. And you're going to sit down tailbone on the front part of that Black Mat.

Nice and centered. Toes up, arms in front. Here we go. See curve scooping in, one down, lift in it. [inaudible] nice rhythm. Sending my hips towards my feet, pulling my belly in and up away from him. Holding as light as I can. Last one, really lift in your powerhouse as you drop a spring.

And as you transition both hands at the same time to your shoulder pads behind you. And here we go. Yeah, so this is called hands back three springs. [inaudible] same hips reaching forward, belly in and up, trying to get lighter and lighter on your hands so that you could do it without if you wanted to. One more. And now the same time they come forward, drop one more spring and it's the reach in with the air.

No lower lift. Exhale, inhale and try to exhale for five reaching further and further with each exhale. Now we'll go into the twist and center trying to reach forward and back. Make sure your legs are together and even make sure you're lifting tall. One more set. Squeeze those inner thighs. Push that bar away with the toes. Lift one more and come on guy. All right, next is tendon stretch. We're going to bring the pad with all his dancing of the pad down to the edge.

It's hanging on the edge and we're gonna put our feet on our arches in Pilati stance and standing out. Try to keep your seat on this side of the bar. We're going to push out and pull up and out. Try to push your heels down, pull up with your powerhouse. Two more. Last one.

I'm trying to work my hips and my powerhouse and step off to the side. We're going to lower down the Bar, put our pad away and get ready for short spine massage. Head piece down and we're going to loop our leather, drop the hardware a little bit through the handle, like a thread going through the eye of the needle, and we're going to hang it on our little loop here and we're going to lie down and we're going to grab our straps. Bring your knees in together from your powerhouse and legs. Okay, this is a little treat. All right. Pelvis is nice and flat.

Reach forward, lifting up one bone at a time with the urban the knees. Exhale, stretch each bone away. Open the color balance tailbone down and bring those heels down and reach [inaudible] Oh really? Reach, reach. Reach away from the straps. Two more. Try to lift your tailbone just before your legs go straight, not necessarily tucking or tilting, okay?

And reaching away. And then finally, when you bend your knees, see if you can use your powerhouse to lift your pelvis. One more inch towards you. Exhale, exhale, exhale. So hear it. Don't let your pelvis drop and reach away. [inaudible] nice long arms.

[inaudible] and he'll stand. I'm going to take my straps off. My feet always hold onto the handles as well for safety and hang them up right here. I'm gonna put my feet on the bar. Start sliding down per semicircle. All right, so now you're going to push with both arms. Lift up your seat and slide down. I like to make fists again because I'm a little shorter. If you're not, then you can keep your heel of the hand there. And I'm going to try to melt down my bra strap or the back of my upper, my upper back and rolling around onto that mat.

Sinking my bottom down through the springs as low as I can out. Hold the carriage. Still use my seat to go up and come in and rolling down from my upper back, middle, lower like I'm sliding into a bull out lift. Come in on a straight line so it's like you're slithering down into a bull. That's why it's called semicircle. Going out on the bottom of the ball. Lift up, come in on that straight, plain. Reverse huge thigh. Stretch here, out, down, sliding in and lift. Two more from your hips. [inaudible] and last one. Cool. Bottom. I also, I'm trying not to rest my bottom on my heels on at the same time, both arms and stretch.

Lower my heels if I can, and coming home. [inaudible] and next we're going to go into chest expansion. You're going to step off, take both pads for safety, and you're going to put one over the springs and you're going to put one over the wood in the foot bar, the frame and the foot bar. And we're going to get on for chest expansion. So kneeling down, hooking your feet at the end, grab the handle and the leather. Okay, and squeeze your hamstrings and seat forward on the front of the knee. Here we go. Power House in and up. As you pull back, look right, look left, look forward. Exhale in with you.

One more set that's pulling back with the breath and one more. And exhale, sitting down on your bottom. You're going to take your pad away, add a spring. So there's three and bring your knees forward to the front, to the shoulder. Pats grabbing on. There we go. We're going to do chess, a thigh stretch. So I'm going to look down at my, my frame and I'm gonna that's my box on my body. And going back straight line.

Lift the arm just slightly and lead with your hips. One more like that. And then I'll do a back bend. So I'm really using the back of my legs and seat, stretching my quads, the front of my thighs, and then hold that position. Open up the chest, head to your chest and lift everything in one solid piece. Step off to the side. You're going to do arm circles, dropping two springs, put your pad back over those springs. One Hand on each hand behind you and kneeling down.

Okay. Bringing the arms forward with your seat and three circles each way. Keep those spring, that spring moving. Okay. And we'll reverse when you need more power. Use your powerhouse.

Last one. And there we go. We're going to hang up our handles. Actually we're gonna set it up for long spine massage, so it's a little different than short spine massage. And to take my straps, put it through again, all the transitions are going to be on a separate video. So that we can go nice and quickly and you're going to hold onto them with your fingers as you, right behind you as you lie down.

And I'm going to put them on my feet both at the same time. All right, so long spine massage, pushing into the straps with your powerhouse reaching up open and long Lyft. Oh stretch. I didn't give myself an extra inch, but you can give yourself an inch from the shoulder pads on them. Pour us long with your pyros work, the back of your legs work.

That's the reverse for three. Lift up your hips high. Okay, two more straight street wine. Last one. There we go. Now you can stretch bringing those legs towards you and you can do an inner thigh stretch preparing you for the uh, side splits. And I like to unclip them here in my hands. Keeping the extension strap with me and we're going to go ahead and stand up for knee stretches. Okay.

And we're going to lift up our headpiece. We're on two springs here we go for a knee stretches, hand, foot round back, first sitting two inches off the heels. And out pulling under. Try not to move in the upper body, completely pulling and trying to stretch those knees lets you three to hold it in and switch. I didn't mean hold it at transition to an arch back. Push up chest goes up. Four. We're also going to transition as we pull it in. Two knees off. Here we go.

And transition one [inaudible] two more and hold and gently lower and we'll go to running and pelvic tilt. Always collecting yourself and lying down. Toes on the bar, almost together, little narrower and get nice and tall and run. Okay. Pushing my hips that way, but really lifting my waist and powerhouse out the crown of my head. Being as tall as I want to be when I leave here. One more sec.

Pool the springs in. Always pull them in arches on the corners and keeping the knees nice and turned out. We lift and out and I pull the carriage hill using my back of my legs and my seat. Not using my hip flexors or quads, working on my turnout, working on stretching my lower back to length a few inches that way. Okay, let's do two more last time and I get to melt down. Slide my feet together and get myself a hug and side splits.

So you're going to grab your two pads again and we're going to lower our bar at the same time. So I'll take one of the pads and slide it where barely is over the front edge. I'm going to drop a spring cause I do it on one spring and I'm going to put this pad just a little lifted onto the shoulder pad. You can do this exercise on two springs without the carriage moving. We stand up without it moving. We put up our stable, I'm going to call this my stable foot so it doesn't slide.

This one is going to slide and I'm going to try our ready to lift up as I heel-toe or Shimmy. Again, I'm not super flexible with love to see my side split or Russian split, but I'm going to work on my strength. So I'm going to work on lifting my arch to my inner thigh, my pelvic floor, my powerhouse, and holding my arms right here. Pushing out evenly as far as I can and lifting. Never just being in it together, but pulling up two more. [inaudible].

Allen's last one. I'm going to pick up my roses as if I just had a performance. I'm going to pick up my roses, keeping the carriage still draw it back up with my inner thighs and I'm going to do a nice little upper back bend and then pull all the way up. Hold the Kerogen as I heel toe back in. Bring the stable foot on. Turn towards the springs, put your stable foot on first.

That's my left and I'm going to carefully fix his pad and I'm going to heel toe my right foot out, not letting the carriage move this time it's more of a saw, so keeping my pelvis nice and neutral. I suppose Armstrong out, pushing out evenly and pulling up two more. Okay. Try not to let your pelvis go as you go. Last one. Now I'm going to take my left hand.

Pull up through my body, right hand to my left foot, pull up through my body. Don't let those knees roll in. Ha holding the carriage home. Pull up one more pulling up and then heel toe that foot in. Ah, go ahead. And now I'm going to add a spring. As I kneel down, I would step off I was teaching, but since I'm working out on my own and I put one pad up here and actually I'm going to put both of my pads in a Little v position there. Starting with my right foot up on the bar between my shoulder and my chest bone and I put the left foot on the heel on the shoulder pad.

I'm sorry, the head piece with my foot slightly turned out. Okay. This is called front split tooth springs. Push out with the back leg, not the front and come in. Head is asleep by your front knee and push out with the back leg and your front leg. We'll get all kinds of love in a second. Push out with the back. All of this and now we're going to try to Relevate and pull your belly in and lift up your arms. But the hands one over the other hard with this headpiece square off your hips and front leg pushes out and pulls in, pushes out and pulls in from the hip obviously and pulls it and long arms from your powerhouse.

Bring your left knee down and we are going to do thigh split for final split on this leg, pushing your bottom forward and down as you go out and then pulling back in. You could do Russians also instead in pushing out. We're going to end with this one. Today's, it's a good, good thigh stretch. Good work here. Good hamstring search on the last one and pulling in and we can finish with a nice back bend to really pushing into that hip and switch legs.

Put your right foot down, stand up on it. Put your left foot on the bar again between your shoulder and chest bone. Take that right foot back heel on the headpiece foot slightly turned out, square off your hips and working the back leg for three. Okay. Trying to use the back of your leg and your hip and now your front leg is going to Relevate and you're powerhouse, right angle with that front leg and out.

And two more. This is my weaker hit, so I'm going to try to see if I can keep my hips square and now I'm going to reach for my waist, lower my right leg and stretch, pushing out and really trying to push my bottom forward and down as I stretch. Two more. My right bottom is going down and forward and last time stretching my right quad and hip flexor, my left hamstring and then pulling in for the last time using my belly to lift up and square and back bed and we are going to step off and we are all finished.