Seated Towel Work

We're going to do a little seated, uh, work with the Fletcher Towel. Again, this is a wonderful work. If you have a towel at home, a bath towel, fold it half, half again and give it a twist. Or you can go to the Fletcher Palladio's website and, and order a towel to use those of you who are teachers. This is a licensed, um, body of work, so wants you to know that. And as always, I think, uh, it's wonderful to have the resource of PyLadies anytime, but I encourage you not to teach anything you don't understand in your own body. So we are going to take, we're going to continue on with a little bit of shoulder work before we go. So very different when you're seated with your legs out in front of you.

Everything is, we're going to bring the towel back to the floor. Okay. So with the child behind you, you're going to take a breath in and on the exhale you are going to rotate to your left. Well we'll just let your fingers glide along the floor. Inhale back to center, exhale to the other side. This is a continuation of our standing work. If your hip flexors are dying, take a turnout and they'll relax a tiny bit. Reach your top of your foot long.

But try to leave your toes easy and one more each side. Sure. And Center and last. Now leaving your arms behind. You are not going to take a roll down. We're going to take a low belly scoop sliding part way back.

Open the chest, using that towel and coming back up. We're going to exhale back. Sure. Inhale up open chest, but round your spine. Go ahead Dana. Take a little round. There you go. And two more.

I'm going to go to a turnout cause my quads are cry in talking to me. And one more time. And coming on my beautiful Bonnie. You're going to take that to how close to you. You're going to bring it up overhead and you're going to take a little diamond position. We're going to take the towel, take our, um, torso over to your right.

You're going to put that towel down on the floor. And this is a uh, related to the exercise you liked a minute ago. So we're facing side. We're going to take a breath in and on the exhale we're going to open our chest to the ceiling and reach that arm back. We're going to come side, we're going to go towards the floor, lift your ribs up in front and drop your shoulders and back to side. Exhale chest to the ceiling and [inaudible] and lift the ribs and round over and side one more.

[inaudible] sh and side and lift the ribs and round. And here's where you really got to gather it all together. Inhale over to the other side. Sh take a breath in. Open the chest, shh and side to the floor. Lifting the front of the ribs and side and chest, making sure that the shoulder of the hand that's on the floor doesn't roll forward. We're going to take one more set.

I was catching myself open both shoulders and side and coming forward and side. You're going to take a breath in, exhale over to the other side. Inhale up, exhale over. Inhale up, exhale over, pull that towel. And for men, keeping your hips anchored as you tip side to side.

This is your last one. Stay where you are. Reach forward. Take that towel as far forward as you can. You're going to hold it a little bit tighter and reach it flat in your back and drop those shoulders. Bring your spine up, bring the towel down, [inaudible] round and slide forward as far as you can. Bring the towel up, shoulders down. One more time. Bring it down. Re Chin coming up overhead.

You're going to stretch your legs to stray. Flex your feet, take the towel forward and just last Su, one foot or the other. Okay, so you're going to take a little rock back. I've got my elbows bent and I've got the towel pulled. Nice and Taut. So I'm really engaged leg and uh, and I'm actually gonna ask you to go really class close as you can to the foot. What we're going to do is we're going to pull the elbows to bent and I want you to reach your chest towards your foot. And then round, exhale you round. Inhale, pull and lift. Exhale, round. Inhale, pull. And lift.

Keep the pole and lift as you round and pull and lift and last time round, pull and lift. Bring your elbows wide. Lift that leg as high as you can. Bend the knee, take yourself into a figure four stretch. I like to take the ankle bone to the outside so that the foot doesn't sickle and just take that towel, hold it in line with the knee. It's just pulling straight across, sort of holding me tight here.

I like to put this hand on my heel and you're just going to take a little chest lift. Now I could take a forward lean like so, but I want you to lift your sternum up off your ribs to take that forward lean. You're going to come up to vertical. You're going to unfold that leg and if you don't mind, I'm going to turn side and we're just going to take an easy roll down bent. Ooh, I've got that little doodad under me and laying on a box. Pull that leg towards you. Sly The opposite leg long.

Take a little stir now. Drive that circle with your arms, pulling the towel rather than using your leg because we're trying to release in that hip. Reverse your circles few times. Nice, easy, restorative. End of the day. Stretch. Bring that leg back. You're going to take both ends of the towel into the hand of the leg. That's up. You're gonna take the opposite arm wide. You're going to keep your hips nice and square and you're going to open the leg open to the side, controlling, holding the towel.

If the towel is close to the ball of your foot, you get a nice calf stretch. You're going to bring the leg back up. You're going to switch which hand is holding the towel. Other hand goes out to your side and bring that leg across each ouch itch sickle, that foot. Pull the hip of that leg that's being held by the towel.

Pull that hip into the floor for even more it vans stretch sickling. That foot who doggy and I know, and coming back I'm taking it. You like that? Then we're going to take the towel. One end in each hand. We're just going to take the other foot up. Start with the foot you just took out, bent that need bent and just draw the leg towards you that's being held by the towel. Draw it towards you.

Make sure that you're not taking tension in your neck. Give your head a little nod, no tension in the face, no Chen Zin in the chest and shoulders and I'm talking to myself here. Stretch your opposite leg long. Really, I think of not just reaching the heel away, but I think of reaching this hamstring toward the floor. Little circles drive at with your arms. Let that greater trow canter sit nice and heavy in your pelvis, top of your leg, bone heavy into your pelvis in reverse.

It's a ball, so feel that little ball rolling around in the pelvis. And one more time the s you take both ends of the towel in the same arm as the leg you have last sued and you're going to keep your hips nice and square. If you need to know that you are, put your opposite hand on your opposite hip and you're going to take the leg open as far open as you can. Keep your hips square. Once you get there, draw that leg towards your shoulder a little bit. So you're getting a really good stretch. A little inventory, long neck, low shoulders. Sink your belly deep.

Bring that leg up. Switch which hand is holding the towel. Other arm comes long by your side. Start small here cause it's not. How far can I take my leg over? It's how much can I anchor my hip and then take the leg across. So your inner thigh barely crosses over your pubic bone.

Each own juge you sickle that foot to get even a little more in a stretch across your ankle. Pull the leg towards you a tiny bit. Pull the hip down a little more and bring that leg up. Take the both feet in the towel and you're just going to let your arms be heavy and hang. Draw both legs towards you. Tip Your tailbone down. Uh, Jose limone, the American choreographer said, you have to create a fixed point against which you stretch the fixed point for us. Here's our sitting bones, our tailbone, our pelvis, and then we're pulling the legs in opposition. We're gonna bring the arms forward.

Now I'm going to have you guys rock up. I'm not going to do it cause I got this microphone box in my low back and that would not be pretty. So let your shoulders drop. Let your head come up into an abdominal curl. You're not going to use a heave Ho. Let's see. No, I can't go over that box. You're just going to slowly tip. Well, maybe I can slowly tip.

Yup. You're going to tip Paul and come on up. Pull yourselves forward. Open up your chest, reach back into a scoop. Inhale up. Exhale forward. Inhale up. Exhale back. Inhale up, and we're going to end with this forward. Open up your chest. Bring yourself to your vertical. Just let your towel release.

Bring your arms up. Bring your arms down again, up and down. Now you are going to tip to your left. You're going to pull your legs under. If you can push onto your knees, you will bring your towel in front of you. Tuck your toes under.

Push your hips up, pull that Tel with you. Take a nice roll up. [inaudible]. There you go. Beautiful. Leslie, just take one last little lift. Look up to your towel. I'm not pulling it taut. Just a tiny bit.

Keep your eyes up. Bring the towel down. Bring your torso forward. Beautiful Work, you guys. Thank you.