Creating Awareness

Thanks for being here, for doing this reformer workout. This is a very fun and interesting workout. Now I'm not saying that other workouts aren't fun, because lots of your exercise programs are fun, but I think what we find in this workout are some surprising connections. And I want to thank you ahead of time for agreeing to do this session today. Some of the exercises will be a surprise for her, and as we watch the body progress through some of the series, I think you'll find the class very interesting.

So come and lie on your back here. We're gonna start on the long box lying down. So, I did a workout, I'm gonna put her head up on here. I did a workout before on this site called long box with benefits, where you use the long box to make other types of connections into your body. I'm gonna start with the heels on this jump board here.

I'm gonna have her on a relatively heavy springage, so I have her on a green and two red. I encourage you to look at your own reformers and your own spring tension as well. So keeping up with our key connections, add some breath, inhale big. Side to side lungs, and then exhale, softly sinking the abdomen. This is Sienna's second workout in her athletic series, and her first workout on the reformer really started to tie in the idea of what it meant to make some key connections through your core.

So you'll hear me say things to her like, "Kinda sink your belly without smashing your back, relax your neck." Different things like that because one of the misconceptions sometimes in people that get going a little fast in exercise is that they kinda brace their core. And one of the things that we're working on with her is to kinda keep the softening of the core, tie it in a little bit to the pelvic floor connection, what I like to call the restroom connection, how we build that inner unit to create support. So as she presses out and in, I'll start the little workout here, and as she presses out and in, is that spring tension a little too heavy? No, it's good. Okay, good.

And as she comes out and in, you'll see that, when she's on the long box, it's actually allowing her gluts to stay over here. So it's hip extension, knee extension, okay? And when you're on the bed. Keep going, please. When you're on the bed of the reformer, your hips and your legs are kinda higher and your back is down, so this really allows you a good hip extension, knee extension concept.

She's pulling with her fingers, keeping the chest open, making these connections here. Good, two more times like that. And then, last time. So again, this is one green and two red right here, and I'm gonna go ahead and take one of the red springs off. Now we're gonna go to one legged work.

So this leg will come into a tabletop. Extend both your legs simultaneously. Mm-hmm, good. And then bend and come in. Five times.

Inhaling, and then exhaling. Good. I'm gonna adjust this cushion here so that you can lengthen your occiput. So draw, yeah, that's it. Move your body down that way just a smidge.

Good, good, good, yeah. So, just stay here for a second. So this cushion is kinda taking the place of the headrest, like when you're lying flat. Okay, so again, go. Push, kick, and then come in.

Inhaling, exhaling, sink. Very good connection through your abdominal wall there. Good, one more time like that. Good, and this is really last time. Stay out in this last one.

Hold yourself there. Now, can you point your toes? Yes, and then flex your heel. And then point, good. And then flex.

And then, one more time, point, hold, relengthen this right leg all the way out. Beautiful, and then bend everything in. Switch legs. Go. Inhale press, exhale hollow.

Remember, for you, being really careful not to hold your breath at all because that nice exhale lets you sink down. We'll do this two more times. Push, and then return, and last time. Go out, hold that. Lengthen this leg through this heel.

And then point and flex. Remember that the pointing of the foot, okay, is really from the front of the thigh. And just like the reaching of the heel is from the back of the thigh. She says, "Yes." And then one more time. Very good, and then bend your knees.

Bring everything back in. Okay, moving down now to just one green spring here. She's gonna come to her Pilates V. And on this box, I'm gonna check this one more time. Move your booty down just a little bit more.

There ya go. And now she's gonna be leaving this platform, doing a little bit of jumping, okay? The first couple kinda catch you off guard a little bit. Mm-hmm, and so bend, and now push away. Mm-hmm, good.

Good, scooping, that's it. Not moving one single bit. Let's do three more, good. And tighten up the legs. Two more, good.

And then last one, come in, and pause right there. Take both of your feet and put 'em on the left side, okay? There you go. Now jump three times on the left. Mm-hmm, yeah.

So as the legs are pushing to the left, you're thinking back as if you had a right belly button. Yeah, there you go, feel that kinda diagonal movement there. Other side. So again, reaching back with the left diagonal. Go, push, mm-hmm.

Keeping the chest open. Nod your chin a smidge for me. There you go, and that kinda keeps that force right there in the abdomen. Good, now you're gonna alternate, mm-kay? So, a total of three, mm-hmm.

And then alternate, catch. Yeah, so jumping on the long box adds just a little different challenge for the arms, the shoulders not into the shoulder rest. Good, last one. And then bring yourself all the way back to center. Very good.

Okay, bring yourself off of the box. Actually, I'm gonna have you stay there. I'm gonna add something here. I think this will be fun for ya. Take your hands to the ceiling.

Fun, that's an interesting word, isn't it? So, sometimes I like to use the word surprising. So pull in your arms just a tad. I have it on two red springs now. Let your legs just barely lift off the jump board, mm-hmm.

And just hold that right there. Big inhale, exhale. Remember that ball that was on your belly? Relax that, ooh, nice comeback right there, good. Now pull your arms down by your side.

Pull down and then come up. And then pull down, good. And then come up. This time, when you pull down, sway your legs to the left side, and then return. And this time when you pull down, sway your legs to the right side, and then return.

Rest your feet, pause right there. Inhale. Exhale, two arms come down, two knees bend in. Lift your head, curl your trunk, think of the shape rolling like a ball. Forehead towards your knees.

Curl those straps. Curl those shoulders, hold. Hundred beats, go. Inhale, and exhale. Good, inhale.

Gonna keep her in tight like a ball. Not gonna lengthen the legs right now. Working on the front rib connection. Look how nice the occiput is lengthening away from that C7. Elbows are nice and straight.

Fingers are nice and long. Good, good. She's not rolling her eyes yet. Good, we'll do one more set. Big inhale, exhale, slowly lower down.

Let your feet come to the bar. Pause right there. Getting ready for the exercise coordination. Bend your elbows to 90 degrees. Come to like a tricep position, good.

Two knees come in. On an inhale, you lift your head, curl your trunk, kick your legs out, hold. Open and close the legs one time quickly. Bend the knees, bend the elbows, stay curled. Go, inhale, open, close, knees, and then elbows.

Inhale, open, close legs, bend knees, bend elbows. Last time, curl those ribs, come on, curl those ribs. You got it. And then bring yourself all the way back down. Nice job.

I'm gonna take these. Roll to your side. Come on up off of the box. And come to your knees on the box for me. So put your two hands here.

You're kneeling on the box. Your feet are on the platform. One of my favorite positions is quadruped to kinda get different things connected here. So just reviewing here for her, I'm gonna take her just through a little bit of cat rounding, a little bit of extension. So you'll see here her shoulder blades are in place, arms over the shoulders, arms nice and juiced up.

Now, I want you to round this part of your spine to the ceiling, nodding your head, looking at your knees. Very good, big inhale here. Exhale, continue to pull your abdominal wall towards my hand. Yes, beautiful. Then, start to let your sacrum drop down, mm-hmm.

And start to arch this part of your back right here. Very good. And now arch this part of your back. And then this part of your back. And then the head lifts only from the chest lengthening.

Good, now you're gonna hold your upper body and start to journey from your lower body. Curling, beautiful job. Curling, then the ribs, right, then the thoracic spine, then the head nods. Always shoulders, ah, heavy. Good, big inhale there.

Exhale, bring yourself back to level. Mm-hmm, good. Now my hand on her head is giving her feedback because if I say, "Meet the resistance of my hand", she's like pushing that way. And that creates that little core connection there. Okay, so now, back to one green spring.

Please push this leg, and this leg will go straight and will leave the box. And just hold yourself right there. So now, we gotta get connected. Yes, beautiful job. Feel this glut right here.

Feel this thigh. I know I don't always touch bottoms. Is my daughter, has my genes, so I did that. But anyway, you can just. This is a good lesson in learning.

Sometimes people ask me as a teacher/trainer, how do I do that? You can put something between yourself and the client. Can you feel that there? Can you feel this there? Good, now bend this knee.

Bend, and then push yourself away. Mm-hmm, good, bend, and then push yourself away. One more time bend, one more time push yourself away, hold that right there, please. And now lift your heel, push your toe into the jump board. Good.

And then lift your heel and push your toe. And then, one more time, and then bend your knee, come all the way in. Now watch, we're gonna raise this leg higher, good. Same exercise, push away. Whoa, so now, as you lower your heel, let it come past the jump board.

Yeah, so we get ankle. Ankle dorsiflexion, we really gotta keep that. Ooh, this is fabulous. And now push away from there. Push, and then come in.

Crown of the head, occiput long, rib package in. Very good. She's doing a great job hollowing the belly, not baring down into that. One more time. Very good.

And then bring that knee all the way in. Switch legs. Good. Are you sweaty here on your hands? Do you need a little something here?

No, it's okay. Okay? And then press your left leg. Keep this leg a little bit lower to start with. And then press.

Mm-hmm, good, hold. And then with your heel in parallel, there you go, bend this knee. And then push away. We'll do about three like that, mm-hmm. And two.

And then last time, three, hold right there, please. Push off of the bar. Lift and lower. And then lift and lower. And then lift and lower, and last time.

Good, bring the carriage all the way back in. Raise this foot up to the top now. Press away, hold right there. Now you go. Let this heel come parallel.

There you go, good, good. Yeah, fabulous job. Crown of the head reaching long. Raise and lower, mm-hmm. I'm gonna look atcha from the back position here.

Good job, just like that. Lift up your spine just a little bit here. There you go, two more times like that. Very good, and then last time. And then let that box come all the way back in and bring yourself off of the box.

Good, come on off your box, good. Okay, we're gonna take this jump board off now. Leaving the long box on. We're gonna use the long box in a different way. So, I'm gonna lower the foot bar, and I would like you please to come and straddle the carriage, and sit your bottom down, mm-hmm.

And then feel where your buttocks contacts this bar. Mm-kay, if you didn't have a bar or if you were sitting on the edge you could certainly put a stick back there or something like that. So you're gonna connect in through your back rib. There you go. Can you feel how it's settling back in there?

One of the things we've been working on is this relationship, okay? That not always tucking your bottom gets your spine to go back. Sometimes it's just an awareness, okay? So, from here, I'm gonna move this box in just a little bit. And I'm going to put it on two red springs, and we're gonna use the box now in a different way.

So your hands will come here on the box, and staying in contact here, keeping your spine here. I'm gonna touch here again. I know this sometimes gets kinda aggravating when we remind somebody, so take your packaging of your. Can you feel my hand there? Keep your connection here as you push the box.

Yeah, it's just gonna push out and come in, mm-hmm. Yeah, and then feel how your body wants to lean forward to do that? Can you sit backwards a little? There you go, and pull your ribs. That's it, good.

So now you feel how that's a little bit different. As you push your arms, your front body connects, good. Now, push the box, hold the box there, raise your left arm up, and then put it down, and then return it in. Push the box, raise the right arm up, and down, and then bring it in. Okay, and then, does that, do you want that box to have a little more range of motion in it, I think?

Yeah, let's do that. So when I move this back one more step. Mm-kay. So now she has more range of motion in her elbow, allowing a little more connection there. Mm-hmm, yeah.

You keep doing that with the box. I'm gonna talk to your spine. We're gonna get a little surprising core connection there. Fabulous job, good. Up and down, mm-hmm.

So, keep doing this. As she holds her trunk, she does lower trap here, come down, return. Arms pressed, core connect, lower trap, come down. We're gonna repeat this pattern when she's on her tummy in a little bit. Really interesting, this lower trap connection here.

Very good awareness. One more time, go out, stay out, hold yourself there. Now you're gonna come in to trunk flexion, like the spine stretch exercise. So your head will nod, and the box will push away, mm-hmm. And you scoop in your abdomen and press the box away.

Hold right there. Feel the box feed your shoulders as you unwind, yes. And bring yourself all the way back up, mm-hmm. How's that spring tension? A little heavy?

A little too heavy? Okay, so I'm gonna take one of these off, because again, again, we're not going for strength, we're going for awareness. I have one red spring on now. So start up long, mm-hmm. So, inhale the box out.

Use your, feel your back lungs. Round into my hand. Feel, yes, come on, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, good. Hold. Let the box feed your shoulders as you unwind from here to here to here to here to here to here.

Very good. On your own, just three times. Inhale, exhale, good. And then inhale, and then exhale, good. Nod the forehead.

Lengthen the back, hold yourself right there. Let the box feed your shoulders, there you go. And then scoop the belly, unwind all the way back, all the way back, all the way back. Trunk rotation. Please take your right hand over to here.

Take your left hand behind your back. So with the left hand behind the back, just like this, you're going to twist your trunk like the exercise saw on the mat, and push the box away in a rotational pattern. Look towards this knee. That makes sure your head is in line with your spine, mm-hmm. And then, flex your trunk.

Flex, so round over my hand in the front. There you go. That's a twist and a flex, good. And then let the box feed you, come back up. Do three times in that direction.

Face front, good. And then twist and flex and rotate. Nice job. And then bring yourself up. And then one more time, twist and flex and rotate, and hold yourself there.

Equal weight on both of your feet. Challenge the rotation by bending and straightening this elbow, good. Feet pressing, heels digging down a little bit so you feel the external rotation in your thighs. One more time, hold right there, and then return yourself all the way back. And then switch sides.

Left arm. Mm-kay, before you start. There, you know where to be, that's good. And then twist and rotate. Look down towards the right knee, filling this up with air.

Rounding your trunk, rounding, good. And come back up. And then twist and round. Pull these ribs back away from my hand. That's it, good.

And then come back up. One more time. Twist and round, that's hard, I know. Hold yourself right there, look at that knee. Good, and then bend and straighten left elbow.

Hold that rotation, hold that rotation. There you go. Two and three, and then unwind yourself. Bring yourself all the way back up. Phew, nice job.

Come onto the box on your belly, working for now some spinal extension. So all the way down on your tummy, please. Mm-hmm, move yourself down towards your legs a little bit more. Good. So I've got these weighted balls here.

And so take this ball in your right hand. It just weighs 50 pounds. Just kidding. How much are these? These are two pounds.

Okay, so with the arms by your side, I actually want you to work your grip strength. Squeeze the ball, raise your arms. Good, hold yourself there. Now pull your shoulder blades back. There you go.

Now straighten these elbows. Good, now lift the balls up in the air. Mm-hmm, lift them up, lift the other. Lift the two of them up, lift to both of them. Straighten your elbows, hold right there.

Now, get connected through your legs here. Mm-hmm. Straighten out these knees, yes, good. All's this is is holding level. This is so important.

This is almost like a pre-pulling straps exercise. You keep holding there. You keep holding there. Crown of the head long, beautiful. She wants to extend her neck so bad, but she's not.

And then let the legs rest, let the arms rest, let your trunk rest and pause. Good. Two more, go. Not extension, right? Just holding level.

Holding the extension force of her legs, thinking they're lifting. They're still pressing up, very good. No change in this exercise, I mean no change in her spine right here. And then lower yourself down. Isometric work is so, so important.

Squeeze your hands around the balls, lift the elbows. Excuse me, lift the arms, straighten your elbows. Come on, straighten that right elbow, that's it. Now lift your arms a little bit higher, good. And now start to add thoracic extension, like swan exercise.

Ooh, beautiful. Come on, lift up a little higher. Less neck, more chest. Beautiful, there you go, now, beautiful. Now lift the face just a smidge, hold.

I'm gonna let you go. You're gonna hold that five, you're gonna hold that four, you're gonna tighten your legs three, here's nice thoracic extension two, one, lower yourself all the way down. You okay? Okay, two more times, go. Arms lift, return to level.

Come on up, lift chest. Good, and then, beautiful job, that's it. Legs long, that's it. Hold yourself right there. One last big inhale, and then lower yourself all the way down.

This is last one. Blades, chest, now the face. Yes, and if you wanna lift your head higher, guess what you have to do? You have to lift your chest higher. Then your head lifts higher, very good.

And then slowly, slowly, slowly lower yourself all the way down. Okay, let's climb off the box. Okay, keeping with the spinal extension, come to sit on the carriage. Have a seat on the carriage. And put your feet up here.

We're gonna prepare for stomach massage here. Bring your bottom kinda close, mm-hmm. And then put your feet up to here. And squeeze your heels together. And take your hands in front of the carriage right here.

This is an exer, put 'em on the outside of your legs. This is a position that we've been working on. And so again, we're gonna lift the chest. We're just gonna hold that shape right there, okay? Lift the heels.

Put the balls of your feet right on here. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And now you're kind of in close. Kinda like rolling like a ball. Can you kinda feel that?

Is that uncomfortable in your hips? Okay, so holding that there, mm-hmm. Actually, I'm gonna make a choice to change this. So I'm gonna have you put your feet down here for a second. And now keeping that same rounded shape of your spine.

Mm-hmm, sit back here a little bit. And then kind of lift up and over. There you go. So I like that shape there. So it's okay with me that your feet are down here.

Okay, so squeeze your heels, press yourself out. Squeeze your thighs. And then coming in. I like to see stomach massage as like seated footwork, okay? So push out on an inhale.

When you come in like you're pulling the carriage to meet yourself back in. Good, two more times like that. Good, still using your core without your legs all the way up here. Doing well. Good, and then come in.

And now reach your hands for my shoulders. Mm-hmm, there you go. And then lift yourself out of your hips and come forward a smidge. Good, now as you press back, you're still reaching for my shoulders. Good, and then come home.

Very good, keeping doing that. I'm gonna look at you from the side. Yeah, that looks really good. Can you give me a little more energy through your arms? A little more tight, yes, like your chest is reaching towards me right here.

And now reach your arms even higher, good. And then do that one more time. Lift up arms, come down arms. Lift chest, lift arms. Good, and then come down.

One more time, go out, stay out, hold this here. Now open both of your arms, turn to the left, inhale big, exhale arms come up, in again. Other side, inhale, sit up in your hips. Sit up in your chest. Twist, twist, twist, twist.

And then bring yourself all the way back, and then bend your knees and come all the way in. So, really good to open up the back body. Now we get to our leg pull face up. So this is the exercise where you put your hands on the shoulder rests. Mm-hmm, and you move your body back.

So we start to wake up the back body here. So where we're headed, just to let you know, is we are headed to leg pull face up, long back stretch, followed by tendon stretch, okay? So heels come up here on the bar, mm-hmm. There, now it's gonna work a little bit better if the balls of your feet are on the bar and your heels are together. Mm-hmm, now, depending on that spring tension, you're gonna do a lift up of your chest and your body, and your butt.

Everything lifts. Good, now push your arms back, and let 'em come forward. Open chest, push back arms. Very good. Come forward, lift your booty a little bit higher.

Oh, yes, and then come back in. Lower your bottom down. Rest right there. How you doing? You wanna try that with one leg now?

Sure, okay, good. Elbows back. Okay, get the set up first. Get your arms, through your lats, through your triceps, lift up. Push the legs.

Now push your arms back as you lift one leg up. And then return. And then the other leg. Beautiful job. Beautiful job.

One more time each side, and then bring yourself down. You're already in that shape now for long back stretch. Come to sit up here for me. Two red springs still. One of these non-discussion exercises where we don't spend a lot of time on 'em.

Take your feet out here, mm-hmm. It is surprising, isn't it? Okay, so open up the chest. Now, elbows bend, bottom drops down, one. Curl tailbone, this is the long back stretch part here.

Lift your face for me a little bit. Now lift your butt up. And then bring yourself back in. Bend your elbows, dip down. Curl tailbone, long back stretch.

Lift up. Beautiful job, come in. Last time down, and last time out. Lift up, come back in. Now you reverse it, go.

Out, down, back, tricep dip quiver, curl. Go out, down, come back, lift up, quiver, last one. Curl tailbone out, down, come back in, lift up, put your butt on the bar. Ooh, rest right there. Aah, yeah, this is fun, good.

One time we're gonna have kids teach momma day, then they get to boss me around. Anyway, okay, tendon stretch. So sometimes, this is kind of a new exercise, I like to come into it by first loading the legs. So press your legs out that way first. Oh, sorry, keep your feet on here, but push the carriage out.

Do you need a sticky pad for your feet? Are you getting sweaty a little bit? Should be okay. Should be okay. So spine stretch your torso forward, forehead towards your knees.

Keeping this shape of the spine, tuck your elbows into your ribs. Now, the carriage comes in. I'm gonna spot it here. The carriage comes, knees stay straight. The carriage comes in, your butt lifts up.

You got it, head stays down, look at your knees. Neck flexion. You've got it. Good, and then press out. Don't let that head lift.

Let your legs go, good. And then scoop in the belly, forehead towards shins. Come on, forehead towards shins. Good, two more times, go. Inhale, press.

Exhale, abdominal wall pulls back here. Keep that neck in flexion. Good, last one, this is the good one. And then exhale, come on up, don't let that neck come into flexion. And then sit your bottom down.

And then unwind your spine. And then bring yourself all the way up. Tendon stretch, okay. So one of the things about working with people with various backgrounds is that the whole, the metabolic buildup, like how we can create exercises together and create that speed. Taking a little break here, but it's really a nice idea.

Once they learn a lot of advanced exercises, can move a little bit quicker. Come on and step off. Heading to our plank series here. So actually going to have on one green spring. So we're just gonna work the plank.

Full plank to side plank to opposite arm and leg. Not gonna go into the whole series, okay? So come onto here. Put the balls of your feet down here and your feet against the shoulder rest. Recognize this plank shape.

Crown of the head reaching forward. Very good, just like that. Out and in just three times. We'll check this spring tension, okay? Very good.

Good, now go out, stay out, crawl your right hand to your left. Three times. Like your two hands are pushing to the left. Two legs are pushing to the right. Good, and then stay out, crawl your hands over here.

And then, nice job, come forward, go back. Mm-hmm, there we go. And then look at this neck position maintaining. And then come in, hands to center, drop down on your knees, and then pause. We'll continue on.

Feet come to the top of the shoulder rests. How's the spring tension? Okay? Two legs come back up there. Same series of movements.

She's on her own. Three, three, and three, mm-hmm. That's it. Two knees come down. Rest right there.

Aah. Last variation. Okay, how you doing? Nice job. Feet on top again.

Lift up. It's all good, it's all good. Okay, so now, nod the head. Crown of the head long, now. As you push out, this arm just lets go a little bit.

And then comes back. And then the other arm. Doesn't have to do anything fancy. There you go. So, it's lower trap to lift this arm.

And then again on the other side. It's lower trap to lift this arm. Good, one more time each side. You're doing it. Now, go out lift your right leg.

You're hitting the home stretch here, darling, hitting the home stretch, good. Nod your chin, lengthen occiput. You're doing it, you're doing it. Just two on the other side. All's we have left is the side plank.

You can rest after this. Good, and then drop down on your knees. Rest right there. Oh, come and stand over here. Ah.

You ready for the side plank? Mm-hmm. Okay. Right hand here, right foot here, okay? You press the carriage out, you bring your body up.

Okay? So, we're gonna add an extra light spring there to this. So right foot here, mm-hmm. Right hand here. Now, this leg can come to squeeze on top of this, mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm. Open up, open chest, arm up, hold the load. Beautiful job. Now you can't see her back, but she's all in a line. Her packages are all in check.

And then can you lift this leg up one time? Hold five, hold four, hold three, two, one, come down. Let the carriage come in. Step off. Other side.

Open the chest. Looking good. Open the chest. There we go. Okay, we know which side is just a little bit more challenging.

You're gonna hold that there, I'm not gonna have her lift her, oh, she can lift her leg. Beautiful job. And then, bring yourself in, turn your body down, come down on your knees, and rest right there. Come on off. Step your right leg up here, just like this.

Put your two hands on your thigh, okay? And now go like this. No, I'm kidding. We're not done yet. Push your knee forward, round your spine.

There you go, just a little unwinding. There you go. That's it. And then unwind yourself back up, good. And then do that again.

Rounding forward, pulling your belly in. And then come back up. And then last time, round forward. Good, and then bring yourself back up. Switch sides.

Left leg up. Press down. Okay, why am I doing this? This is a little ending, okay? It's okay to have fun, right?

It's okay to be surprised. And then bring yourself back up. And then one more time. Round down, pulling your abdominal wall in, pressing in through this leg, good. And then release right there.

You're just bowing right, okay? Thanks, good, okay.