Magic Circle Challenge

Yeah. My name is Adrian. I'm going to be teaching a intermediate Magic Circle Mat to Marta. She's going to demonstrate, so I'm going to have you say you'll need a magic circle and of course you've made a map. All right. I'm going to have her a light out on her back, the magic circles at her side within reach. And let's have you moved backwards just a little bit towards your head. Great. And I'm going to start with the circle.

So go ahead and grab that circle and I'm going to have your knees bent hip with the part and let's put that circle between your knees. I'll start off with just a few pelvic rolls, pelvic lifts. So the circle, let's have the circle kind of pointing more on an upward angle. So I'm gonna lower that down. So open your knees a little bit more. Yeah, you want it kind of right on the meaty part of the knee. Slide your feet a little bit more forward and a little bit more together.

So no more than hip width apart with the knees. Great. Let's begin. Okay. So your chest is open, your neck is long, and your arms are just stretching forward. You're going to begin with just small circles, Marta and roll down. So let's just start maybe with just the first four vertebra. You're going to squeeze the circle between your knees and start to curl up.

Chest stays broad, and then we'll roll it down. So really small little connections starting with the lower spine and articulating or slowly rolling down. Curl up and careful that your hips stay very squared off. In other words, level as you're coming up and rolling down and [inaudible] rest for just a moment. What's easy to do here is get your shoulders involved. You're gonna want to go like this.

So I want you to remind yourself that I'm over mind you as well to keep your chest open. Okay, so now let's go ahead and put that into a full roll up. So squeeze the circle PLF off the mat as high as you can with the hips. Chest is still broad, neck is still long. And now start to articulate down. So you're rolling from the upper to the middle to the lower back and squeezing, curl up as high as you can. Chest stays open and all the way down.

Upper middle, lower. Oh and three more times. Just kind of getting that awareness, warming up and roll it down so your shoulder wings pull down as you roll down two more and curling up. Toes are soft so you're not clenching with those feet and rural it down. Back, middle, back, lower smile. Brass. Last one, add up left. Just stays open. That's it.

And all the way down. Can I have you take your circles in your hands. Next getting set up for your hundreds. You're going to bring your knees into your chest. The arms are reaching out long on what's your fingers to reach out as long, long as well. So it's right on her palm. Great.

Take your legs to 90 degrees and lower them down to 45 degrees. Start to lift your head and lower the arms and now hold shoulders down. Chest Open, hold, hold then and come in. I have her do that one more time. And then we're going to transition. Putting that circle between your legs, legs, up, legs, down, head up, arms are reaching, shoulders are pulling, just lightly pulling that circle together.

So really this squeeze is between the Scapula and come back and transition to putting that circle between your ankles now and now up into your hundred position exactly what you just did. But now you're going to breathe. Okay, bye. Five. So it's a long breath in for a full five counts and a long breath. Five four, five counts. So five inhale, five long exhale. So it's a long breath in and breath out. Now I'm going to challenge those of you who would like it to lower your legs, but continue stretching the exact little lightly holding that circle.

So you're really working your inner thigh, outer thigh wrapping, and three more deep breath in, arms, a little bit higher above those hips. Go ahead. Oh two five and two oh five two five arms up, four five up to three, four or five. Bend your knees, grab the circle, going into a roll up. So now legs are long holding that circle between your palms. You're gonna arise up. Oh boy. Okay, I'm going to help her that, that first one, stretch forward and come down.

Now you can continue doing these if that's too challenging. Just put your feet underneath the strap. You don't have a strap. You can bend your knees a bit. Good. And squeeze your seat. Stretch all the way over.

Try to put your nose between your knees. Good. And now I want to see that the shoulders pull down and you're squeezing with your palms and those wings, not your elbows up all the way over. Stretch. Soften your toes as you're moving. Let's do maybe two more up. Pull in to the mat with your spices, your tummy stretch.

Get your tummy back though as you stretch forward. So you want to keep that rounded position as you stretch forward all the way up, all the way over stretch. All right, I'm going to have you lie back down, but let's have you also move a little bit forward. She slipped back. Then you are gonna continue to hold that circle. But let's put that circle actually underneath one ankle on the mat. So I'm going to have you go ahead and do that. [inaudible] I'm gonna have you do some leg. One foot is on the circle.

So where would you want to get the right placement? So it's pointing straight up. One leg on the circle. One leg is all the way up to the ceiling. So the idea here is keeping those hips really stabilized as she circles the leg down, around and up. Now these can be really big. They can be really small. It really is about the control. Keep those hips still.

So march a dollar to right hip left. So use that resistance on both sides. So this one's pushing down on the circle while your back stays anchored. One more time. And now reverse that leg reaches out long. So ideally you want to see little movement with the foot that's on the circle. Three big left for both hip still and five.

All right, she's gonna have to set up to transition. She did that very nicely. A little teaser there. Okay. And I can take your left leg up. Same idea. So now her right foot is pushing down into that circle. Not with the knee but with your seat. So you squeeze your bottom, you keep your belly button pulling in and up. Three.

So you're doing five circles each way. Four and five reversing. And one I want to just come over and check her a little bit. Two and three that you want to keep those ribs down? Four. That's it. And Five. Alright, I'm going to have her grab that circle.

She's going to sit up to do that. And then I'm going to have you move forward and put that between your ankles for rolling like a ball actually. I'm sorry. Put that between your knees. Good. All right. So hopefully your circle is padded because your head will be kind of almost on it here. And heels are going to stay together. So plotty stance, heels together, toes apart. She's going to roll back and she's going to try to come up and balance.

So as she's rolling, she's trying not to lose the connection between the forehead and that circle. That's your challenge. 30 keeps scooping for keeping those shoulders relaxed. And Five, take that circle, drop your feet and put it between your knees and do the same, really like, sorry on the outside. So put your knees between, and now let's do this. So we're going to put the circle inside or outside the knees, inside the circle. And now heels are together, toes are part style, and she has to push with her knees out as she's rolling.

Otherwise the circle want to pop out. Good. And she's going to do five of these. Shoulders down to three. And I wanna see you stay in that really deep sea for, so don't fall backwards so much as taking those legs with you. So you're really rounded and breast. Okay, nice job. Place your feet down, grab the circle and let's have you go ahead and move back to lie down however you want. No fancy way. All right, lie down. [inaudible] bring both knees into your chest.

She's going to hold that circle between her palms, still reaching out with her fingers and then she's going into a single leg stretch, but her arms will stay up where they are. Kind of, you're gonna lift your head and keep your chest broad on their shoulders down and kind of put a little resistance between the circle and your palms. Stretch one leg at a time. And now switch legs one as she's moving leg out, leg in, she's scooping your belly button down, three at the same time, pulling those shoulders out. So use that circle to your advantage for now a little bit quicker. Five, five, six. So you're deepening those muscles. Seven, seven, eight and both legs in. Put the circle between your ankles, double leg stretch and now arms, legs go out, everything goes together. Really take advantage of that stretch.

So you're reaching your arms back while you're reaching the legs, the opposite direction and all the way [inaudible] breathing. Very nice and come oh man. Floor. Try to make it quiet. Breathing though. Go ahead. State connected six big circle a little bit quicker now. Seven stretch and a, you're going to get rid of the circle for a moment.

You can put it at your side and walk up one leg with two hands and scissor, the legs switching one and two. Two and two, two. Now all you're moving, keep those shoulders down. You remember that feeling that you had when you were holding that circle between her palms? Four and really move those legs up, up, up, up, and up. Up Two more sets, right, left, right, left. Bend your knees, grab this circle, put it back between your ankles. Take both legs up and put your hands behind your head. Now she's going to lift her head.

Try and just keep the tips of those shoulders on the mat, so as high as you can. Here, I'll give her a little extra help and now just the legs are going to lower lift soft toes too. That's it. Nab. Don't lose your spine on these. You can go as low as you want, as long as you're not getting that arch in your back. You have to keep that back flat three, keep curling in that sternum so that you keep that back support and no momentum on the app. Control it. If this stretch two more just to 90 degrees.

That's it. Last one. Now Bend your knees, keep your hands behind your head, and let's take those legs into a tabletop position. Keep your hips still and take one elbow and try to tap the knee without switching the leg. So you don't want the circle moving. Want to keep those feet very still not. This is hard. That's the idea. That right and left and control. Try to tap your knee, Martin, hold and also look towards your back elbow.

So your stretching switch and sh or edge and switch. Way Up here at a Walmart and whole rest or head for just a moment. Lift your head back up. Still hold it. Now you're going to do the same twist. Keep those hips stable. Don't let them rock and roll and now twist and extend the legs at the same time.

Both legs out, both legs in as you center both legs out. Don't fall off that right hip in and out a little bit quicker and in and look towards that back elbow. Go ahead. Especially on your right Marta and in and three more. Stretch, Eh, and stretch it and stretch in and finish on this side. Stretch and rest. Very nice. Let's go ahead and still hold that circle. But you're going to sit up, legs apart, going into a spine, stretch forward.

So now her feet are gonna flex. They're going to stay flex and you're gonna put that circle on the mat facing up. So your palms go on top of that soft part. Good. So palm on top of palm, sitting as tall as you can on top of your hips. Theatre flux. You're going to grow taller and lower that circle. So push down on the circle as you lift your back and then relax and push down and grow tall.

Everlast I'm going to move this circle slightly forward because now you so much, you forward just this or because now you're going to push down and grow tall. You're going to try to hold the tall. Now you're gonna drop your heads and try to round into yourself. So push with those shoulders down, getting that circle to drop a bit. Feel that in your power house and grow tall again. Okay, so breathing, take a nice deep breath in and grow tall. Start to exhale and pull in.

Pulling that sh those shoulders down and circle down and cover right back up and now a little bit quicker. Tomorrow the breath in and grow tall. Exhale, stretch. Inhale, lift, Walmart. Time. Deep breath in and exhale down. Inhale up. I'm going to have you drop your circles for a or you can put them to your side, arms up, just a normal spine.

Stretch forward just to really stretch out now. Now she's going down all the way, which is beautiful except she's lost her scoop, so get that scoop way back in here and come back up and deep breath and so I should see a space in here between your hips and the mat and all the way up. One more time and that done good. Scoped at all the way up. All right, she's going to take that circle. Make sure you have room behind you because you're getting ready to roll.

Call Open leg rockery you're going to put the circle between your ankles. You're going to hold your calves or your ankles or as high up as you can rather heads are down so you're in your c. Take your time on the first couple, kind of get used to it. Find out where you are. More of that balance is coming from. Get into your C to go back. C curve to come up. Find the balance. Take your time to take some of the tension out of your feet cause you need that elsewhere. Okay, and around soft feet.

Control it. Go back. Follow it now come up. If you're not finding it doesn't mean you have to come up to his first. Figure out how to get up. There you go. Now she's getting into the rhythm and and stretch. Now really go into these round your back. Roll back, pull in, come up and stretches to Hollywood again and two more around, back around, up. Lift and stretch. Last time going back, they feel so good all the way up and Strut, keeping the legs up. She's going to lie down on her back.

Walking her hands down, getting ready for some corkscrews. Chest stays open, feet stay saw, circle the legs without moving those hips down around and back to center. Circle to the left, down around and center. Same concept here. You want to keep those backs along those next long and try not to hunch your shoulders down around center. You want a little more challenge. You can add a hip lift. So go ahead and Marta add maybe just the first four vertebra is off the mat.

So official circles center a lift control. If you have any neck issues, leave these out. Chest Open. So listen to your bodies no matter what. That's number one and number two is all about control. You don't want to strain on any of these exercises. Left central, chest open now, not so big on the lift. Little bit smaller.

Yes. Last one going towards me. Lift. Sorry. I should've said last set. Go left finishing. So she's even and rest. I'm going to have her sit up. She can get rid of the circle and now she's going to saw first she'll set up, legs are apart, feeder flexed, flex your feet, lifting that spine. Good. And she's going to twist, reject for her toe. I want to hurt you to hold that stretch because as you're pushing forward, you also scoop those ribs back.

Make sure both hips are evenly placed on the mat and then pull in and articulate back up to center and twist. So don't let your hips follow you as you go to stretch. Make sure sitting on both hips and then come back up and center and now move, twist and stretch up and center and turn and reached. Let's get those ribs back up and center and turn and stretch. Hold up, sorry and center one more time and get those ribs in, especially if this side scoop and come back up. All right, she is now going to flip over to her stomach.

Going into a neck roll, so were without the circle for a moment. She's going to push into her palms and Mariah's up off the chest. Your chest needs to stay open. Tell me stays that rube. Stay up. Look to the right. Drop your heads down, circling left centered. Now as you turn your head, don't let your shoulders go with you. They stay still center. One more time. Right down around, left and center.

Left down around right and sent her lie all the way down. Come up onto your elbows and make a fist with each hand. Get those ribs up. Good. Going to single leg kick, right kick, kick, left, kick kicks are your knees. Stay down your bottom. Doesn't Bob up and down. It stays still. That's it. And your chest stays open, right and left. Kick. Kick. One more, right? One more left. Lie All the way down with both hands behind your back.

Turn in your right cheek to the mat. You're, you're lying flat, but you're clasping those fingers. You're not locking you. Just classmates. Take both feet. Kick your seat three times without lifting your bottom three. Drop your feet and then stretch till you can't stretch anymore and come back down and kick one, two, three and reach and switch. One, two, three. I'm going to help her with an extra stretch. Lift. Stay over here. Good and kicking. One, two, three and stretch. Way back their tummy up.

Nicely done and rest. And we'll have you sit back on your heels and just stretch your backs out. Good. And she has the advantage of me helping her with the stretch. But you want to lift your stomach's up while you're stretching. Good. And then she's ready to turn back over onto her back.

And let's go ahead and grab that circle, but have your feet hip width apart. Good. And I'm going to have her get ready to roll up again. Now these are tough after you've just been on your stomach, so I'm going to help her with her feet. Otherwise you can put your feet underneath a strap. The feet are nice and flex. You get some energy coming out of those hips. Squeeze your bottom, and now deep breath and squeeze the circle. Exhale, stretch over to the Tux. That's add the lift.

So you're going to stack your spine and sit up tall. Now you're going to squeeze that circle between the shoulders, dropping them down, and start to lie back onto the mat. Soon as your heads touch, let's come back up. So now we're going to add a little more float to this four and instead of tall and back down. Now I see her locking her elbows. So soften those elbows. You're not squeezing with your Elvis. Yes.

The other thing tall is not letting those heels lift off the mat. So yes, you're flexed, but not hyper extended. And now quickly up bend over, nose to the knees and back down and Walmart up over to the knees. Tall, back. Come back down. Give rid of the circle for a moment. Put your hands behind your head and put your feet again. Four with the hands behind your head.

Try not to let your elbows flip in. Try to keep the chest open and go and over. She's smiling. That's good. And come back down. Hopefully everyone else has deep breath in and stretch. Don't lose that. See when you're coming up, curl into yourself. Flex those feet and last one egg.

Incur all over tall and down. Alright, she slid way back, was heavier. Moved down. Okay, great. I'm going to have you go ahead and lie on your side. You'll need the circles for this. Getting ready for some leg exercises. Let's put the circle between your ankles. Let's go that right there. So right above the ankle bone, you want your hips right on, just like you would for side kick series hip on top of hip, shoulder on top of shoulder.

And Marta put your head on your palm and keep your gaze forward. So shoulders are square, hips are square, right? You're in a nice long spine position. Now she's gonna Squeeze this circle with that top lay, not with her knee, with her seat and in her thighs. And then release. So you're gonna have to squeeze and hold for three counts, holding one, two, three and release and squeeze two, three release. As you're doing these, keep going. Check yourself.

Make sure you're not tensing your shoulders, you're not tensing those knees and toes and release. Two more. Hold Tommy up. That's it. Arrest. Last one. Hold to Siri Rez. Now here's the really hard part. She is going to have to transition and put both feet inside the circle. So she has to roll the circle backwards to balance it. Taking the bottom, like putting it inside. And yes, you can look and then both legs are now inside. So again, you're still on that soft part and it's above the angles.

Now she's taking her top leg, the bottom like stay still to lift and hold two, three [inaudible] as you live. Make sure Tommy's are are up in those bottoms. Are you working and rest and three more so about five of these and arrest. Chest stays open so easy to forget pieces while you're moving and hold two three rests. Last one, lift two, three breasts, same as transition. She just did.

She has to get her foot back on top and the other one underneath her, she has to roll the circle back. Take the top leg first on top of that and go. I'm and try not to help you. And then the bottom leg, this is the hardest part, is just getting that placement and GLAAD ankle. Okay, good. Now using your palm, your right palm, she's going to need a little support there. Keeping your chest open. You're gonna take both legs and hold, lift and lower and lift tummy up and lower some, no large spines to keep those backs long and lower. And tumor left lower. Now I'm gonna have her hold the lift and clap the circle between her ankles five times. Not Big, but you'll feel it. Three, four, five and rest.

Get rid of the circle so you can grab it with your hands and put it in front of you. And now into some like kicks hip on hip, shoulder on top of shoulder. Let's swing your legs a little more forward and she moved back. Just have more range on the taller mat. Okay, good. All right, ready? Kicking forward. Two kicks forward one swing back and kick. Kick and back. I want to see your chest open. Kick, kick in his hips.

Stay right on top of each other. I'm going to grab her. Fix your lower back. There you go. And kick. Kick. So there's a lot of elements involved here. Good. Hey, kick, kick power has specials that our back and kick, kick and stretch. You're falling back a little bit there and kick. Kick. So hips have to stay on top of each other even though your leg is moving backwards. Kick, kick and stretch, and two more kick.

Kick and squeeze your seat. Last one, kick, kick, and stretch. Take that same leg to the ceiling. Reach it out long pulling up and lift and down to up. Keep your next long. Keep in that kind of anchored position. Three reached the leg. Four pull up your stomach, mark.

That's it. Five, six hip. Stay on top of each other. Seven. One more time and now circles five times. Keep those hips quiet in your chest. I went three, four, five, a little bit quicker. One, two, three. Hopefully you're feeling this in your hip. Add rest. Hey, let's take that into a hot potato. Take your heel in front of the other foot for placement. Whole.

Make sure your hips are still on top of each other. These are going to go quick. Lift or excuse me, clap five times. One, two, three, four, five. Up and behind your foot. Two, three, four, five. Up like a hot potato. One, two, three, four. Up. It gets hotter. One, two, three, four. Up Hip, Arla hip. Two, three up. One, two, three. Up. One, two, up. One, two, up. One up. She's smiling. One up. One more time.

Up and up. And the rest. Okay. I was holding her cause she was starting to fall back. So you've got to keep those hips on top of each other. All right. Flip to your stomach. Palm on top of pomp. Legs are long. Hips are down. Oh, she's already in position. I want to grab her though.

So what I want to make sure is rest for a second. Okay. Is that you're reaching from your hips, you're pushing those hips down and you're reaching those legs out long to lift those legs up. And then she's going to clap the heels together for 20 counts. Three, four, five, seven, eight, nine, 10. No small little beats. Smart to 10 times one, two, keep reaching three for six, seven, eight, nine, 10 and rest. Okay, I'm going to have her turn and flip to the other side, but her head is going to face forward. Great Circle. We'll go between your ankles. Same thing. Other side.

So starting with some squeezes. So I feel like you need to move backwards. Go ahead and just place yourself. Yeah, aligned with the edge of the math. Swing your legs a little more forward. Keep going on with your feet. Great. All right. Shoulder on shoulder. Hip on top of hip and ribs are together. Okay. She's going to use your seat, not her knee to squeeze and hold for three, two, one rest. Squeeze and hold. Two, three rest.

Squeeze in whole to three rest, two more. Squeeze and hole to three breast while mark. Squeeze and hold two three rest. All right, here comes that transition. You have to roll the circle back in order to get both feet inside that circle you take the bottom like first balancing with the top, so you might have to roll it back more top. Blegen or sorry, bottled Ligon top again. All right, so now the bottom like stays down. Top leg is going to lift.

So you feel the kind of that resistance on the outer thigh and released holding for a three, two, one release. So lifted. Hold. Tell me these are up to three release. Two more. Lift three rests. Last time, lift and hold two, three and rest. Okay, so once again here comes out, transition top like can come out as she rolls it back. She's going to have to roll it back far enough to get it on top of the other ankle. Great. Okay, so this time keeping that left palm down. Hips stay on top of hip. Tell me is that you now lift both legs and hold and lower.

Try that to let your hips roll. I left and I hold to three rest. Three more. Lift two, three rest, two more. Lift two, three, rest. And now lift and hold. And now try to hug the circle between the legs through five times two, three, four. So like little beats five and rest. All right, she's going to need to get that circle out so you can just grab it. Get rid of it. Laying on top of leg, getting ready for front kicks back as long.

Good leg is up. Soft feet, tight seat. Quick kick, kick one. I wouldn't have her stop on the back there for a moment cause I want her to fix that spine. Good. Powerhouse. Who's starting dark kick kick. So maintain that lower powerhouse. So keep those ribs in and use that bottom. Squeeze it kick, kick special as you go about four and get kick, fight and kick. Kick six kick, kick. Tell us seven kick, kick, and eight. Take that leg to the ceiling.

Leg on top of leg. Reach down and reach it away. So you're also stretching on the down three. Just as open. She's get that easy. Kickup use your seat more. Four-Ish makes it look so low, so easy. Five. There you go. Now she's working six harder. I mean savage, who's working before? Hold circles and one, two doll. But your hips belt. Three, four, five, reverse. A little bit bigger. That's it.

Three, four, five circles and five. Okay. Hot Potato. So he'll in front of, he'll clap for five. So tap two, four or five. Big Kick up and five behind. One, two, three, four, five. Up as you're moving. Two, three, four, five. Keep those timings up. One, two, three, four, up. And one, two, three. UPS getting faster. One, two, three. Up. One, two, up. She has to stay with me. One, two up. One up. One up. One up. What up? Omar said one up.

One more and arrests. Always like it when you start smiling. All right, having fun. I'm going to have her face me, but you'll need to circle once again. Teaser time. Alright, so let's have your first just lie down with the circle between their pumps. So fingers are once again reaching out long. She's excited. I can tell. Bring her knees into your chest. Take your legs straight up. Okay, so reach those fingers out. You hug that circle between your palms, not with the Elvis. You're going to start to lower your legs and keel off that Mat. Yeah, I can always help you, but I think you've got this under control. Yeah.

If you need to bend your knees, you can [inaudible] so lift your backs and then control it down. Keep those legs there. You're going to touch. You're going to come back up and you're going to hold. Get those fingers long. Lift your back, lift the circle and come back down. Now she's going to come up and stay up.

And now just the legs are going to go down. And so get out of those elbows. That'll help you. One, two, three, everything can go down together. So you lying in one straight line and everything peels up together. So use that circle so those shoulders are active. Reach for the ceiling, lifting your spine, get those hips up and then come back down. She's going to do that two more times. Peel off the mat, reach for your toes, reach for the ceiling or your ears. Lift those backs and then control it down.

Now she's gonna stay up. We're going to add one challenge to this. She was going to come up and whole. This is the funnest part. Puts your two legs between the circle out of the circle three times. Trying not to move the arms too much. They'll move a little bit too. And try not to make too many faces and stretch and reach everything tall and come back down. Very nice. She's going to get rid of that circle and set up hands between your legs into a seal. Alright, so heads are down.

You're going to add some claps to the seal so your head is down and you're going to clap the heels three times here, three times before you come up to three up. One, two, three back now and have her go kind of quickly. Two up and I want to three back again. One, two, three, bullying in, up and in. One, two, three. Back. One, two, three, up. Two more times on the last one. Come up to standing by crossing your legs and crossing your arms. I last one all the way up. Cross your legs. Cross your arms.

Very nice. Take both arm straight up, stay center. Stay forward. Get those ribs in. Lean your shoulders over your ribs. That's it. Go ahead tall. And now lower the arms. Turn around and finish with some pushups. Barnes back up. Good. Nice.

Now she's going to walk down her legs and walk out on her to do a quick little tendon stretch first, so she's up on her toes. Chest is open, bottom is tight. You're going to take one foot off the mat and stretch the Achilles back and switch. Feet and stretch. Keep those hips square. Do it one more time to each side. Keep those hips squared or let them move and now hold. Bend the elbows and pump. But don't lead with your head Marta. That's it.

Whole body goes together and you're trying to get the elbows has. Give me a rib cage in. There you go. One more time. Drop your head, walk back, grab your ankles and hold the stretch. Cooling dam. Rounding up hips. Stay on top of ankles. Very good. Both arms up. Nice. Finish, lift, open their arms.

Exhale, shake yourselves out. You're all done. I isolate that.