Centering Flow

Hi I'm Michael King and welcome to this class today. This session we're looking at sequencing today. So I want you to start behind your mat. Push your feet down to the floor and make your body longer than you've ever made it. Make it as tall as you can.

Drop your shoulders down your back, put the pelvis in a good position. Find that best fit, training position. We're trying to find where your body is in the center. Connect to center, remember pubic bone, tailbone, draw those muscles together. Don't think of actually, actually draw the bones together.

Don't think of the muscles, think of drawing the bones together. Obviously the muscles are gonna activate, but think of the bones just drawing in. So we've got some nice support in that lower trunk. Now, breathing in. And breathing out.

Again, breathing in. And breathing out. Let's get started. Lengthen up, shoulders down. Push.

Up. And open. Other side, breathe in. Slowly, breathing out. Now, we're gonna circle one arm down.

Circle down, up, and open. Catch yourself at the top of the movement. Check for position. So you're trying to find that position every time. Up.

Push, one more time. Up. And out. Now with your arms, we're gonna go swimming. Swim forward.

Again, swim forward. Now as you're swimming, the shoulder blades are moving back. So they come forward. And they come back. Again, swim.

Forward. Then we're gonna add a circle. So one swim. Swim and circle. Again, swim and circle.

On the circle, lift the body up a little bit, so you're lifting the chest to the ceiling. Again, breathe. Now keep the arms going, and we're gonna make it a little bigger. Bigger by bending the knees. Down, and lift.

Again, down. And lift. Again, breathing in. Breathing out. One more time.

Push up. And down. Now put that together, so one arm circle. And lengthen. One arm circle.

Reach and push. Swim, push. Up. Again. Reach.

Now we're gonna add a balance, so, from here, lift up onto your toes. Again, brush. Lift up. And swim. Again, swim.

And push. Let's go on, we're gonna stretch to the side. Reach. And balance. Again, reach.

And balance. Breathe out, push. And lift. And push out. And up.

From the beginning. So, circle, onto the toes. Circle, reach. And lift. Swim.

Push up. Out to the right, stretch. Start with the left arm, circle. Reach. And balance.

Right arm. Up, balance. Swimming. Reach. Up.

To the left. Stretch, and up. Now, rolling down. Slowly rolling up. Lift the heels, balance.

Now we're gonna put these two movements together. Lengthen the spine. Reach. So roll down to the mat. Now, don't touch the mat, but from here, lift your heels.

Heels up, heels down. Slowly rolling up. Again, balance up. Reach up. And down.

Now roll down. So, keep your hands away from the floor. Now just your heels, lift up, center. Heels down. Roll out.

Remember keep your breath. Balance up. Up. Now this progresses, so we're gonna roll down. Now this time, lift your heels.

Keep them lifted, roll up. Center, center, smoothly. Arms up. Open out. Stay lifted, bring the arms back.

Reverse that, roll down. Roll, roll, roll, roll, roll, roll. Almost. Heels down. Slowly roll up.

If you imagine your mat is a big deep cliff edge, that you don't want to go over. We want to stay behind the cliff edge. So roll down. Roll down. Now, lift the heels.

Center. Now lift up, roll up, roll up, roll, roll. Good. No one go over the cliff. Open out.

And lengthen arms. Reverse, down. Heels up, center, center, center, center. Roll, down. Heels down.

Slowly roll up. Good, open the arms. Breathe out. Now place the hands behind the chest. Open the chest.

Lift the chest up. Breathing in. And breathing out. And down. Good, bend the knees.

Round forward. And lift up. Now, hands behind, lift up. And forward. And lift up.

And breathing in, and breathing out. So let's go to the end of your mats, so we're facing in. Long spine. Now, just behind your mat. So, roll down to your mat.

Bring the hands forward. Now, keep the hands on the mat. Slowly lift your front leg. And down. Lift your back leg.

Walk back. Walk back. And slowly, rolling up. Let's try that again. Roll down.

And roll down. Hands forward. Center, lift your front leg. Keep the heels pushing down. And change.

Lift the back leg. Good. Slowly walk back. Roll. Lengthen.

At the top of the movement, balance up. Bend the knees. Lift up. And down. One last time, roll down.

Hands forward. Lift the front leg. Lift long. And down. Lift the other leg, push.

And down. Walk back. Reach. Slowly roll up. Lift the heels up.

And balance. And lift up. So we're gonna transition. Come down. Now, bring the back leg towards me.

So the back leg, bring it forward. That's it, good. And reach. Just switch your legs, so you go the other leg. That's it there.

Now reach. And now, from up. Face me, and to the front. And lift. Now turn and face the back.

Again, reach. And bend. And lift, breathe in. And breathing out. Stretch back.

Now hold it there. Circle the arm. Circle down, and lift. Circle down. Reach.

Coming back up. Reach up. Turn. Now face there. Take the arm, look behind you.

Reach. And down, and back. Face me. And stretch, one last time. Reach.

Now push the pelvis forward. Circle the arm, circle. Reach. Up, again. Reach.

And lengthen, coming up. Stretch and turn. Now let's put both knees down. Change legs, other side. Turn and lengthen.

Place the hand on the back. And stretch away. Now from here, circle the arm. Circle. Lift.

Circle. Lift, come up. Face the front leg, and rotate. Use the hands on the thighs, get more rotation. And push.

And face the back. Reach up. And, lift up. Now push the pelvis forward. Hold it there.

Center. Circle the arm. Circle, reach. And lengthen. Again, circle, reach.

Coming up. Turn. And lengthen. Reach. Hold that position.

Good, place both knees down. Lengthen. Now, keep the ribcage, keep the pelvis with the ribcage. Lift the arms up. Now from here, hinge back, pull.

And now lengthen up. Again, hinge back. Good, now find your range of movement. It can be small, or it can be bigger. But how far back can you go?

Push. And back. Now with the arms, pull it in. Lift up. And forward.

Again. Pull it back, in. And back. Again, pull back, in. And lift.

Now we're gonna add to this. We're gonna do more movement. One, two, touch the heels, three. Come back up, four. One, two, three, four.

One, two, heels touch, three, four. Again, back, reach, touch. Two more. Push, lengthen, push. One more time.

Up, push, in, and back. Now place the hands on the mat. Now shoulders down. Tuck your toes under. Small lift.

Lift the knees. And down. Again, use your breath. Breathe out. And down.

Again, breathe out. Push. And down. Now we're gonna have the front leg. So lift, one, two, three, four.

Other leg, up. Back leg, reach. Push. Again. Up, push.

Reach. Center. Up. Push, good. Two more times.

Lift up. Up, push. Good, one more time. Reach up. Up.

Let's put the last two movements together. Coming up. We go, one, two, touch, hands down. Lift up. Up, touch, in.

Again, come to your knees. Breathe. Push. Up. Lift up.

Center. Up. Good, one last time. Go, reach. Touch.

That's it, now use the center. Keep the flow of the movement. Reach. Push. Now face the ocean.

Face, lift up. Reach up. Lengthen. Stretch out. Good, now come up to one finger.

That's it, lengthen. Now, reach the arms. Touch. Lengthen. So your goal is here, fix the torso.

Use your breath. Reach. Breathe out. Up, lengthen. Up.

Good. Reach. Now we're gonna add to this. As you lift the arms, turn. Turn, touch.

Reach, touch. Again. Up. Now if you can go a little bit further back. Look behind.

Go, push, up. Reach. Two more. Up, one more time. Push, and bring the knees together.

So let's do the same side. So take that leg out. Good, reaching out. Now lengthen the arm. And lift.

Up, down. Reach. Now shoulders down. Keep the spine long. Make sure your head is in the right position.

Use your breath. Breathe. Good. Really use those obliques. We're gonna add a rotation.

Turn, up. Turn, push. Reach. That's it. Lengthen.

Four more. Four, reach. Three. Two more. One more time.

Reach, and hold it. Stay there. Long body, long stretch, long stretch. Good, come up, and reach. Sit back.

And stretch. Now let's take the feet to the first side. So take the feet out to the right. And bring that leg forward. Now if possible, get that leg square.

Now, take that leg behind. Any knee problems, just stretch that leg forward. Or any knee problem here, just stretch that leg out. Reaching out. And, over.

Stretch. Again, over. Cramp? Sit into the cramp. Push, yeah, shake the leg out.

Reach out, push. And push. Breathe. Good, one more time. And push.

Good, now with the left elbow, take it behind you, on the floor. Now from here, lift the right arm up. Stretch up, stretch. Now reach the hand to the side. Circle forward.

And behind. Again, circle forward. And back. Again, circle forward. And back.

Again, circle. And back. One more time. Circle, this time as you circle, coming up. And stretch forward.

And lengthen up. Let's put that together. So we go out to the side. Out, and lift up. Stretch.

Behind, circle. Come back up. Reach, and over. And lift. Diagonal back, circle.

And reach up. Good, one more time. And, out. And lift. Good, circle.

Explore the range. And up. Now cross the arms. Turn, rotate. Again, rotate.

Breathe. Now your aim is to get the shoulders to face the end of the mat. Turn, face the end. Turn. Again, turn.

Push. Again, how far can you go? And lengthen. Four more. And four.

Again. Three. Two more times. Now stay facing the end. Now we're gonna do the cat.

So hands down, go. Cat, and lengthen. Cat. Stretch the top leg. Stretch, push.

Stretch the top leg. Up. Stretch, lift the knee. Again, stretch, lift the knee. Push, lift.

Reach. Hold it there. Now lift the leg. Up. Push, now the front arm, lift up.

Up, lengthen. Look behind. So you're looking over your left shoulder. And can you see the right foot? Look for the right foot.

Where's the foot? Push out. Up. Lengthen. Good, now with that leg, stretch it, face the front.

Reach. Take it to the back. Look for the foot. Again, to the front. Up.

Take it to the back. Push. Again, front. Up. And back.

Lift up tall. Take it back. Two more. Breathe. Back.

One more time. Hold it there, stay there, stay there. Lengthen, lengthen, lengthen. Bring the leg in front. And change legs.

Reaching out. It's like, hello hips. (laughter) And this is a little release here. Let them release a little bit. A little moment for our hips.

They deserve it. Push. Now, open, stretch. And lengthen. Again, over to the side.

And lengthen. Push. Breathing in. And breathing out. Again, in.

And breathing out. Now, this time with the right arm, diagonal back. Now hold the position. Stretch the arm. Now really feel that pelvis.

Tilt the pelvis under. Close the ribcage. Now circle the arm. Circle. Again, circle.

Again, circle around. Reach. And circle. One more time. Circle, this time let the circle bring you up.

Stretch forward diagonally. And lift, over to the side. Shoulders down. Breathe out. And lift.

Circle. Over. And over, stretch. Out, long. Circle.

And stretch. And side. And up. Now circle. Up.

Reach. One more time. Side. Up. Reach, circle.

Brush, lengthen, coming up. Cross the arms. Rotation. And back. Again, rotation.

Look out the window. Look further than you went. Further. Breathe, again, out. Brush.

Two more. Feel that rotation in the thoracic spine. Turn, now hold it there. Place the hands on the mat. Now into the cat.

Cat. Lengthen, again. Cat. Now with the cat, stretch the leg. Reach, up.

Again. Stretch. Again, long. Again, down. Again, reach.

Now stay here this time. Lift the knee. Arm up. Reach. Now look over the right shoulder.

See if you can see the foot. Breathe. Again, center, push. Up. Four, three, two.

Now take the leg to the side. Leg. And back. Again, leg, arms out. And back.

Again, leg out. And back. Again, reaching, long spine. And stretch. Out.

Just a few more. 59. (laughter) 58. And now we're just counting the good ones. And brush.

Again, lengthen. And back. Two more. Good, this is it, one more time. Impress the people on the train.

Take it back, hold it. Hold, stay, stay, stay, stay. Bring the leg out to the front. Stretch, stretch. Bring the leg forward.

And open. And in. Now legs together. So from here, flex back. Lift.

Chest up. And back. And flex. And up. Chest up.

And back. Again, flex back. And up. Lift the chest. Feel that spine.

We're getting flexion in the spine, as you're coming up. Extension. Flexion back. And up, extension. Push, now bring the knees together.

Roll in. And lift. Circle the arms. To the side, roll. Curve.

And lift. Circle. Again, roll. And circle. One more.

Roll. And lift. And circle. Now open the legs out to the side. Now point the toes.

Over to the side. And lift. Over to the side. Now we go over, flex, forward. Over.

And lift. Again. Over. Flex. Up.

Reach, two more. Again, out. Lengthen. Reach. One more time.

Stretch. Lengthen, now take the right hand behind. Push up. And down. Push out.

Now if you want, you can stay down, or you can lift up. And down. So your choice, either stay down or lift up. Two more. And lengthen, up.

And down, one more. Push. And come down. Bring the legs in. Now from here, we're gonna use the opposite arm.

So take you left arm, take the right foot, and stretch the leg out. And back. And now reach the spine long. And down. Now as you lift the leg, stretch the other leg on the floor.

And reach. Now again, I'm taking a movement from the trapeze. the parakeet, and what I want you to do, we're gonna go forward. Look behind. Come forward, and bend down.

Again, because on the machine, as always, it's easier, because you've got the assistance of springs. And down. So, lengthen up, push. Open. Now the next time, as you do the rotation, I want you to add the leg lift.

So from here, lift the leg up. Down, and push. Now, what I'd be really impressed with today, is if you don't touch the floor with that hand. And down. That's what my challenge for today is.

So if you need the hand on the ground, I'll show you how to do that. Put the hand on the ground. But, if you can keep the hand up, as you lift the leg, that's it, good. Remember, keep your Pilates face. Pilates face is easy.

Everything's easy. It's like you're doing nothing. And down. That's it, again, push. Up.

Lengthen, lift the leg. Brush. One more time, push. Reach. Up, and come down.

And change legs. Let's try the other side. This is a great recipe for jet lag, isn't it Amy? Amy's just come back from Finland. So she says it's this time in the afternoon when she gets a little bit tired.

So we're gonna stretch out. And then coming back. (laughter) No. From the back you look fabulous. (laughter) Breathing out, push.

Reaching out now, lift the leg. Right or left, and down. And push. Lengthen. And up now.

Make love to your leg. Push. Again, reaching up. Lengthen, lengthen. Good, now here's the rotation.

No leg lift yet. Hold that. Up, and back. Again, lift. So the spine is long to the chest.

Breathing out, push. Lengthen. And down. Now, we have the lift of the other leg. Take the leg down, and come back.

Again, up. Lift the leg. Breath would be good. Breathing in. And breathing out.

Power the body with that breath. Good. Again, four more. Reach, up. Two more.

Up. Reach. Push, one more time. Lengthen, center. Reach.

And come back. Bring the feet together. Lengthen, open the arms up. And lengthen, good. Now rotate.

Push. And again, breathing in. And breathing out. Now remember, the body changes all the time. So always always find the movements that fit your body to that date.

Listen to your body. If you lose the quality of the movement, lower the level. So rotate. Sometimes your body needs more lengthening, more opening. Sometimes it needs a little bit of a hard workout.

Subtlety we're looking for. What do you need today? Push. One more time each side. And reach.

And out. And lengthen. Open the arms. Push out long. Breathing in.

And breathing out. Good, now just bring the legs forward. Now from here, just a small movement. Use the center, curve under. And lengthen back up.

Again, curve down. And lift up. Now as you come back up, we're gonna round back, flex the spine. As you come back up, we're gonna bend the knees, and lift out to the side. Good, bring it forward.

And flex back, curve. Other side, lift. Push. Again, out, and flex. And lift up.

Reach. Out. And down. Now, again, like before, the goal is here to take away the arms. So your arms don't touch the floor.

As you turn, reach, lengthen up. And to center. And down. Reaching up, don't touch the floor. Reach.

And back. Yes, we got some nice oblique work. Reaching up, now look behind, look behind. Reach, and back. Again, lift up, look behind.

And back. One more time on each side. Lift up, reach. Push. And back.

Center, and lift. Reach. And back. Let's get to the other side. Lift up, this time with your hand.

Push up. Stretch the leg. Turn to face your mat. Slowly walk back. Feet together.

Roll up. And come up and stand behind your mat, as we started. So, circle. Balance. Circle.

Balance. Swimming. Up. Stretch. And lift.

Left arm, circle. Balance. Now if you can, bring the legs together. Make the balance a little bit more challenging. Circle.

And lift. To the side. And lift. Now, with the swimming, we're gonna take the right leg behind, and lift up, circle. Left leg behind.

And push. Now, get the nose on the knee. Of course it helps if you've got a big nose. If you got a small nose it's harder. And lift.

Nose on the knee, down. And lift. Again, down. And lift, hold it there. So now put that with the movement.

So just behind your mat. So one arm circle. Feet together, balance. Change, up. Balance.

Leg behind, nose on the knee. And circle. To the side. Reach. Circle, one arm.

Balance. And change. Balance. Left leg behind, swim. And reach.

Balance. Stretch. Roll down. Now, lift the heels. Roll up.

Good, good, good. Reverse. And roll back up. So this is really fun to take our Pilates V, and do the same thing. So, turn out.

Now at this position, wrap the legs behind. Don't squeeze your glutes. Make it about the legs. Now you've gotta use your glutes, but don't overuse them. Pull the legs together, like magnets.

Now keep them together. And slowly roll down. Keep the legs together. Now, keep the heels together. Keep the inside thighs, lift the heels.

Hold that. Now roll up. Roll up, roll, squeeze the legs. Squeeze the legs. Lengthen, lengthen, squeeze.

Arms open. Squeeze, squeeze. Reverse. Roll down, roll. Squeeze the legs.

Wrap the legs around. No light between the legs, no light, no light. Heels down, bend the knees. And roll up. Let's finish with the best thing we can do every day.

The full squat, parallel. So, arms up. Now go down, shoulders behind the knees. And go down. Now, stay there.

And now slowly roll up. And lengthen. It's a little bit like a managing tool. If you've overused your back, if your back's too tight, it's gonna limit how far you can go. But, listen to your knees.

If your knees are screaming, don't go further, don't go further. So lengthen. So down, roll, roll. Now shoulders behind the knees. Stay there.

Stay there. Hang out. Now we should be able to work on the computer here. And we should be able to read a book here. Should be able to have a conversation here.

Lengthen. And now slowly up. Breathe in. And open. Breathe in, up.

And breathing out. Bring the hands together. And bring the hands closely. So thank you for joining me today, for this sequence movements. As I say, today was a Pilates based sequence.

I took some movements from the chair. Some movements we modified, and then we brought some other movements in. So it's not traditional Pilates, but it's movements which are using the Pilates principles. So always, always, it's about quality. And it's always about making that body feel good.

So thank you for joining, and I will see you again. Bye. (applause)