Class #3145

Wunda Chair Connections

45 min - Class
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Description

You will feel the lift in your body with in this Wunda Chair workout by Kristi Cooper. She invites you to feel your body so you can reconnect to it while you are building skills. She includes variations like a Rolling Like a Ball drill and Side Kicks to help you find your center.
What You'll Need: Wunda Chair

About This Video

Aug 26, 2017
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Transcript

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Hi everybody, it's wonder chair class day with me. Thank you for joining me. I'm using a balance body combo chair but with no intention to actually split the peddle. Instead it will be just like your normal chair. Because the wonder chair is so different across all brands and all springs and so on I'm telling you that I'm putting on one spring on this chair.

It's a black colored spring which means a little heavier than the other option. It's on what I would call 2, so one down from the top on the tree. I will use the other one at some point. In other words, right now we don't need it particularly heavy but we do want some resistance as we warm up and start to feel our bodies and reconnect. So let's do that.

Standing close to your chair. You have your springs on you, find your feet. You find the ground and then you rise up from there. We just take an inhale up. Let the palms go up turn those arm bones out.

Get a little tall, raise the shoulders, raise the ribs, raise yourself, exhale and just sort of easily let the arms come down but stay tall in the body. Let's do it again, inhale, rise up. Kind of picking up some energy, collecting yourself. Noticing yourself, something along that line, exhale. Let it come down, next time we'll move on.

Take the air in though, nothing wasted. Fill up, take up your space, find your feet. You're relatively even, we're gonna round over, find the bar, hands on the bar, I've got all the fingers pointed forward. You could grab on however it works for you and now we just push down. If you need to bend your knees go ahead but let's not make it so much of a, I really want some of the hamstring stretch this time.

So your arms are straight, the collar bones are wide, let's inhale, hold. Draw energy inner thigh, exhale, scoop the belly come up a little bit. Go down again, inhale, kind of small. If I told you the objective was to start to loosen up the spine maybe you could find your own way of queing it. Again, head is heavy down.

Let's do one more, push down, try to push with your curve of your spine not so much the arms. Then let the springs come to release. Keep the hips forward over your heels, let the arms flow up inhaling somewhere in there and exhale down. Let's do it again. We inhale rise up with the arms.

We exhale, we go forward and down. This is where now we're gonna start getting kinda intricate. Try not to shift your hips backwards. Again if you have to bend the knees that's okay. Blow out all your air and once you get there stay there.

If you're on the ground that's great, if you're not that's fine too. From there elbows are pointed straight back. You bend the elbows, there's your inhale, and as you exhale notice how you can draw up on the abdominals. There's not so much resistance for anything right now and that's okay but there is this idea as I push down I could pull up right under the sternum not just the bellybutton, one more. Keep the arms straight, inhale, hold, hang your head and exhale roll all the way up.

When you can release the arms, do, but make sure you're still connected in the center. Raise the arms up and down. One more time, slightly different still. Inhale, rise up, exhale round over, over, over. Trying not to shift.

Find a little more room hopefully each time. Go all the way to the ground if you can. If you have to slightly bend the knees that's okay. In fact, if you do I'd rather you bend and straighten each time I cue this or your head is heavy. We're gonna rise up on the toes otherwise.

Inhale, exhale, keep the bar down and float the heels up. Not because you're pushing the toes into the ground. Inhale, heels down, but because you draw the belly in first. So start exhaling. It's almost like someone's picking you up from right not your waist but higher still and down.

Look for it. That's a lot of foot action on my part. I'm gonna try less feet this time. As if some entity was pulling me up right under that sternum. This is a theme we might see later in this class.

From there let's just everybody keep it down. If your knees are bent, keep them bent. Everybody bend them a little bit more if not a lot more but try to curl the tail. And I'm actually pulling my upper arms towards my hips here and straighten. Bend it's the transitioning of the palm or the upper arm towards the hips.

And straighten. We'll just do one more for 3. Keep that bar down, you're in charge. Heavy head, free up any tension there. Notice where you are now, we might do this again.

So you can compare and draw the abdominals in. Let the bar float up. Let the arms come off, keep the hips over the heels as best you can. Just let the arms come by your side. And before we go much further I just want to have you take your arms as if you're holding a tray like we sometimes say.

Palms up, right next to your side. I'm not pinning them but they're hanging naturally. From that place just extend the arms to the side or open the arms to the side. Try and think thumbs to the back of the room and notice it, mine are different. Are yours?

Just sort of an idea. Then without pinching your shoulder blades and if they are let that go and just extend the arms straight out from where they are. You're still not pinching the shoulder blades. Kind of a nice stretch, especially for those of us who sit on computers or phones or the rest. Flex your feet.

Let it go, bring it back and in, let it drop. We're doing it again, that felt kind of good in a painful way. Arms up, thumbs straight to the back, try not to rotate anything your just to the back. You're not thrusting your ribs, just a nice little opening. And then reach out, it's okay if it's not directly to the side in fact it probably won't be.

Make sure you're not pinching your shoulder blades, you're not raising your shoulders and you're just getting that stretch. And then you make it really fun, take your thumb and grab onto your last 2 fingers. Go ahead Nicole, you behind the camera. And then flex them downward and slightly back if not totally back. So our wrist is flexed just opening all that up, free the tension so that we can move with efficiency.

Let's have a seat. So sitting pretty close to your wonder chair. I have my feet, there's a bar in here that's allowing the peddle to move but I'm actually gonna start with my feet on. It's not critical that you have that spot but basically you're pretty close. Arms are straight that might be a better cue.

Palms of the hand on the bar. And for now what we're doing is just finding your arms as they relate to the back. On an exhale press down and grow taller in your spine. Inhale, release up. What I like about where my feet are again, they're just on the bar that moves this peddle, I'm kind of wedging into that but you could do it with flat feet.

Exhale, press, and up. The idea from me is that I need to breathe a little bit first before I start the movement otherwise I'll kind of bare down on myself. And that's the last thing I wanted to do in this workout. I want to rise up. A couple more, just finding that.

You might play with, does one arm work more than the other and if you're not sure test it. Then from there I'm gonna flatten my feet and ever so slightly back up. Not much, I still have my toes touching it. And we're gonna now allow the spine to do the curving. If the bar moves, great, but I'm more or less holding on.

I'm not trying to roll back. Then I lift off, I'm just using the bar for help. Exhale, it's the pelvis that rolls out from underneath here. I'm just trying to warm up that lumbar spine. And inhale out.

And if it feels good to you press a little more on the bar to expand but be careful about not thrusting. Sometimes we overdo it in the beginning and we set a tone that's not great for ourselves. And lift, one more time. And let that go so hopefully it's a little bit warm but we could do more. From here just take yourself down I probably don't need to move forward much, you probably don't either depending on your chair.

Take yourself down and place the back of the heels or you might even think of it as Achilles tendon and we're just connecting to the back of the body. Your arms are down so you feel the back of the arms, the palms, and now draw the heels down. Think hamstring it's not gonna be heavy, I understand that. But you want to find those subtle connections before we go into certain movements. And I'm just exhaling as I draw down I do think of the breath a slight bit first.

Just finding that activation, it helps to keep the rest of your body kind of stable when you want to move differently. You want me to prove it? You prove it to yourself. Pull it down, hold it there. From here take the arms behind your head, flexing the fingers or lacing the fingers I should say and exhale, curl up, and notice how you can use that traction of the heels pulling down to do that chest lift.

Inhale, and exhale all the way down and let the bar come up. Adjust where you need to. If you're too close, it felt cramped, back up. You know what to do. Inhale, draw the bar down.

Just from pure hamstring strength, which is not intense but it's there. Curl up, exhale, inhale hold, exhale. Start to lengthen yourself out and at the last moment let the legs come back up, 2 more. Inhale, pull, exhale, sink the belly, let your head fall heavy into the hands. Using the full connection of the front and the back of the body to get you there.

Inhale, and exhale down, bar comes up, last one, sort of. Draw it down, exhale try and hold the bar pretty still as you curl up, up, up, up, up. Inhale, and exhale, lengthen yourself out, let the bar up. Subtle but effective change, draw the bar down. Exhale, curl it up, stay up when you get there.

If your butt is lifting off the ground that's an adjustment I wouldn't encourage you to make but it doesn't. Rotate towards me and now as you do that push into, let's see, push into the leg furthest from the way you're rotating. I want it back, a little bit more. Then inhale, equalize the pressure of the feet. Go the other way, exhale push into the back one.

Use what you can to help you find the connection through the obliques. Inhale through center, level out the feet. Exhale, hopefully your bar is not moving much. Now it's not so much about the legs as work but legs as support, that's why I warmed it up that way. Go again, inhale through center, head is back in the hands, hips are still and one more.

Back to the center and down we go. Now the spring is relatively heavy in my opinion for what we're gonna go for but I'm gonna challenge you to try it and certainly if you need to lighten it, do. I moved the feet so that my arches are on. I'm really trying to press down and already I'm having to work my hamstrings a lot. If I tuck and grip the glutes it feels like nothing but I'm gonna again say let's level out the pelvis and now try to use the hamstrings to keep it down.

For a pelvic curl, exhale, now we roll up. You're stepping into your feet, onto your feet. Try your best to keep the feet as level as possible even though you don't have the toes touching anything. Inhale, can you step into more? Tuck more, not by flaring the ribs and roll down from the upper back, the middle back, the lower back.

When you finally get to the tail bone you can slowly with control let the bar up part way or all the way. Bring it down again. Step on it, peel as if you're reaching the tailbone through the knees, use the back of the arms. Find the back of the body, let the front of the body support it, inhale. Exhale from your throat you come down.

It's almost like someones holding your head or you're reaching your head in the opposite direction of the other end of your spine. Control the lift of the legs. Doesn't have to be all the way just enough to know that you're in charge. Bring it down and peel up, up, up. Stepping into it, stay up here.

And now you can repeat that a couple more time but really try and see can I stretch out the front, can I work the back, it's gonna feel, you'll feel it a little more. Pick up your right leg, nice and high, and stretch it, reach it long, flex the foot. You might find the chair, you might not, but put it back down, other side. Hips are still level, pick up the left knee. Stretch the leg long, trying for level hips.

Flex the foot, bring it down, still working evenly through those arms and put it all the way back on the bar. We roll down, breathe, I exhale here, I talk a lot. So I have to find other ways to breathe and I hope you'll find what works for you. I let the bar up, I bring it right back down, peel up. I'm choosing the same side again, I don't want to think too much but I'm making sure I'm there.

Right, I'm not just gonna fling the leg. When I pick up the right knee, the left hip doesn't move. Or at least that's my goal. Flex the foot, reach it long, long, long. When it goes as low as it can without putting pressure on your back you fold it put it down, other side.

Knee up, flex, nice long leg, long, long, long, right out of the body, right out of the chest. Put it down and roll it all the way down. Lift the bar up, bring the knees into your chest, put them right back on once you've done a little stretch there. So the toes are on, arms out to the side like a T. So we're doing this knee side to side thing that I just kind of have to do, I love it.

We're gonna rotate the knees to the window or towards me. Line up the knees til they're side by side, it's worth a check and then bring them back. Okay, so it's not just about the knees of course but what would it be about. We're just still in the warmup phase really so now I'm thinking of ribcage coming back. I'll bring it down, I'll add on the open book I think some people call it.

We rotate toward the window. Now keep the knees there this time, take the arm furthest from the knees, cross it over like you're closing up the page of a book, just let your head follow it. Then I'm bending that top arm, I'm just gonna slide the hand across, I open it out and I let the hips follow that motion. So knees to the back or the other way. And rotate the hips, you close the arm up, so you just go with it essentially.

Super easy, right? Then you bring the arms across, you start to open the chest then the hips drag where the ribs might even be a better cue. Pull you back, let's do it again like that. We rotate the knees, nothing else really changes. You close it up, kind of be lazy with it let your head hang.

Bend the arm, open up the chest, the knees are nice and heavy, almost sloppy, and then the ribs pull you back. Last time the other way, sort of. I'm gonna slightly change the emphasis. Come across, and then just opening up, hips, ribs, ribs, hips, follow. Let's do one more slightly different focus.

We rotate over, we close up the book, this time leave the arm heavy, longer, and pull the hips and ribs first so the arm is the last thing to come. We'll just do one like that each way. Just a different focus it's sometimes people need it differently so I leave my arm here and I'm gonna pull the ribs and hips back and then arm just has to follow. Well wasn't that exciting? Hug the knees in, rock yourself up to seated.

So scoot forward, we're gonna do a little drill for rolling like a ball. Rolling like a ball is one of those exercises I thought was a waste of time for years and then it became really hard when I tried to work it and there's some things that I do every now and again just to partly warm myself up. And so I don't know exactly where you'll be but you want to be close. And we're gonna do an underhand grip of the bar. Your elbows can be bent.

It's from the mat work but I think it's a really great reminder of even the teaser and so on. So, you're kind of crunched in here. And ultimately we put our heads right between the knees in the traditional version or knees are closed and right on top. Either way getting close, come up onto the tip toes and I'm just using the chair for help. Now from there with the back rounded can you start to exhale?

And that matters here from me to pull the thigh bone straight up or even towards your forehead without changing your back. Put it down, inhale, other leg is gonna come up. You may or may not need the handle but use it if you do. Find that curve and deepen. Feel how the legs actually connect right up under the chest.

Alright, it's all connected, but you can look for places that you don't think might be there and it can help. 'Cause if you're doing that and you're not rocking your head or anything else try for both. Now you might need to push on the bar, that's okay too. And down, exhale, subtle sense of I'm digging deep into the trunk, the core, the anything you want to call it but it's not from the hip joint. The minute I think we think hip joint it forces us into an extension.

One more time, at least in this position. Alright, now let's just back up and see if it did anything for us. You can spread out the ball a little bit but hold onto it, hold onto the legs, and let's just roll. Back, remember how you started that leg lift. That's how I think of it going, it's almost like you pick the thigh bones up from high in the body, the trunk, and exhale up.

Scoop in an up just works really well for me, particularly on the open lined rocker which I don't think we'll do today but you could. It's sliding up, imagining holding on underneath, pick those legs up, it rolls you back and vuella. Now, more skill building. I'm gonna back up just a smidge, I'm taking the leg closest to you, we're going into single leg stretch if you know it. I'm using the under foot or the top of the foot under the peddle.

The other leg is gonna be right on top and I'm tractioning into them. Just to roll down, doesn't really matter what you do with your arms and then remember it's an abdominal exercise so we don't want to make it so much about the legs we can't curve but there's a subtle scissor pressure to come forward enough. It's not so different from a teaser by the way. You can hold on behind the leg if it feels like 1 is working more than the other. But for me, if I think of pushing down with this straight leg, engage that hamstring it makes the other leg a lot easier til I get to the top.

One more time, just a little tip. And so we're at the top and we're gonna switch sides. So there's a subtle downward pressure, it's all subtle but it's this idea that if we take it out of what we think is supposed to happen sometimes it actually just does. Realize when it all works together. So you're in charge, you can do whatever you want.

If it's too easy take your arms over head. And that'll be the last time I do that. I'm assuming that's 4, gonna change back. If it's not take your time to do that last one. Now, we're gonna roll down, gonna imagine the peddle is there but it's not and you pull it in, switch, in.

And remember, if you think of, I think of that downward straight leg that hamstring contraction it helps. Press and press, you can hug it in as much as you want. Right, it's just this sense of opposition is really what we're going for. Let's just do 2 more, pull, pull, one more set. Pull, pull both knees in, extend the front leg, leg closest to the window under again.

Curl up enough to put the top leg on, hands behind your head, you're on the tips of your shoulder blades rotate toward that bent knee and use your feet. Come back, I'm going the same way again, I'm not switching, go again. Pull, use your traction, find that twist. If you're used to doing it more on a balance beam you can do it there too. Look to the back and other way.

Yes, then switch, switch, don't fall back, pull yourself into it a little bit. Inhale, other way, press, use that under leg, not from the leg itself but somewhere higher. It's a less of a force and more of a help. One more time, then bring them both in, let your head come down, ah. We're gonna pretend that peddle is there, it is there of course, but we're not gonna use it.

Curl back up, extend the leg closest to the window, rotate toward the other knee and let's go. Switch, inhale, inhale, exhale, exhale. Finding that resistance. I'm keeping it kind of slow not super slow so you can feel that idea, you can even use the bar if you want. Press, and press, and press one more each way.

Vuella, bend the knees, rock yourself up. Hopefully your felt that, I did. Starting in, just while we're down here, just for the sake of efficiency I'm gonna go into some spine stretch. So for now I have my legs inside the chair, which automatically puts a little more stretch on my hamstring. If that's too much you can bend your knees it's probably the easiest thing to do.

You could also sit on something. Otherwise, give it a shot and what you may or may not be able to see is the outer edges of my feet are parallel and I'm pushing into the wood of the chair. Okay, if you don't have that just flex your feet. We go inhale, we exhale, round forward, find that bar, and just slide right across it. Inhale, and come back up and exhale.

So as you push out, you kind of rise up, round forward, get all the air out, go, go, go, notice we're not trying to lean or hinge forward. Doing our best to keep the pelvis essentially where it was. Now, just to prove a point a little bit or make a point not prove one, I haven't made any points yet. Scoot forward a little bit so you can have your feet on the bar, I mean your hands on the bar. When you inhale, exhale, think of drawing that pelvis together and down as you round the spine.

It's not that you have to move the bar, I am using my straight arms to bring it down but it's the idea of it's not the arm pressure but it's the spine moving that creates the action in the peddle. One more, use those outer pressure of the feet. And then come back up and to make it more fun and more normal, normally we'd have a wider stance, right. So you're gonna back up a bit. So making it a little different now I'm gonna add in some back extension, there's a lot of flection going on and there's still a lot to come so let's add some back extension to the spine stretch.

So we've backed up, we've pressed the heels, the ankles, and make it so it's relatively comfortable. And trying to keep the kneecaps and toes up so you're not just letting them drop out. Alright, so what we're gonna do is into the round, I'll add an extension with the bar for now. Inhale, squeeze those inner thighs, exhale, round forward, keeping those front hip bones back a little bit. Find the bar, once you do, spread out the upper back, squeeze the inner thighs, pull the bar down as you extend your spine.

Squeeze those inner thighs, common get long. Exhale, scoop the belly back in, let the bar up, and roll back to the starting position. Inhale, exhale, it's in the upper, inner thighs, almost less about the feet but you do want to apy attention to them. You found the bar, grab onto it, it's okay. Re-broaden the collar bones and as you inhale and pull down roll the hips forward, look for a long line.

Look for that long line, include your neck in that long line. Exhale the hip bones pull back to where they were right over the sit bones and you roll back up. Let's do 2 more, inhale, exhale. We round, we reach, it's as if the upper body could leave the lower body, it can't but it can get longer. Inhale, press the bar down, extend your spine.

Find the lats in this, the back muscles, and release to round and come up one more time. And inhale, squeeze through the inner thighs, you'll sit taller, you can make that happen. Exhale forward, inhale bar comes down, roll the hips forward, extend the tailbone a little bit behind you, stay here. Let the arms up a little, inhale, exhale, press down, 1. Don't lose those inner thighs, 2 and 3.

It doesn't have to be much it's almost more intention for it, it's not forward, it's on that diagonal 5, one more time. Your 6, let the bar up, keep the shape, more inner thighs, so both arms can come up. Get longer as if someone were pulling you on that diagonal rib cages in, and the arms go back. I turned my thumbs back 'cause I really want to work that aspect of it. Still tall, still tall, you can do 2 more.

And then just sit up, let the arms come down. You thought it was over it's not. Squeezing the inner thighs, spine twist to the front towards me, press 1, 2. And like we did earlier, you can kind of emphasize, the foot that you're turning towards. Push that one into the chair a little more.

If your feet are together that's fine too, you can still do it there. Let's do the next few with the arms turned open more. So palms are up, the whole arm did that not just the wrist. And one more each way. And release it, nice, okay.

Almost ready to go up top but while we're down here we're gonna turn around and do a little rollover. So, lie down, adjust yourself, so that you're not on the wood platform and that you're not gonna pull the chair towards you. You shouldn't anyway, meaning it shouldn't happen, but if starts to it's either 'cause you're really pulling and or you're on a wood floor which we'll see how I do. I'm taking my hands, palm up, holding onto the peddle. I'm probably going to take the wood pulse 'cause I have them but you could do it just as easily inside, okay.

From here, this is a nice thing I think. Whether your legs go to straight or not that's your intent. From there we inhale, try not to pull hard right it's light. You're just gonna exhale and help yourself up. And pushing against the bar or the wood to get myself there.

Then it's almost like I'm pushing the chair away as I'm melt myself down. Enjoy the fact that I don't have any flat spots 'cause I have a little more control. And you can let the legs drift away. Inhale, exhale, not too much tension in the legs. Just do what you can to keep them straight.

Find the top of that chair. Inhale, squeeze through the inner thighs like you were holding the base of the chair a moment ago. And down, and 2 more. Up over, then here can you breathe? Are you strangling yourself?

No, you keep the shoulders out of your ears as best you can and then it's a melt down. It's okay if the legs drop but probably will feel really, really good, one more time. Up over, oh getting more flexible I'm kicking the chair now. And down, down, down we go. Okay, it's time, we're gonna sit up and do some foot and leg work.

So change your springs to heavy springs. I'm gonna keep one where it is, I'm gonna add one to the very top, let's do that now. Okay, so keeping energy, I'm heavy, it feels heavy to me. I don't know what your chair does but make it feel heavy for you. I have 2 springs on, one is at the very top and one is just down from the top.

So I could go heavier but not really today. Alright, sitting near the front edge you might need a sticky mat so you don't slide if you go as heavy as we hope we are. Heels are in parallel, I have them slightly apart about 6 bones distant and I'm gonna try and stay upright. So for this first round I'm gonna keep my hands either at the back or the side, I'll go to the back. Body is tall, inner thighs work, we press down, we pull up, we press down.

Just really going for some heat here. But noticing you're not rocking back and forth through your spine. Press and pull, it's a deceleration point, up and down. Otherwise you're gonna be all over the place. Well you're not, but some are.

And you're controlled, alright, we got that. So go down and hold it down, put your toes on the bar or the balls of the feet, lift the heels but not so high they lock out. So you're kind of in no-mans land where you have to work that lower leg. From here either arms down by the side or challenge yourself with one arm over the other. And we press trying not to change the angles, ankles.

Take a few where you notice that I'm pushing down and then rising up on them. If so, stop it and it's extension and bend, 2. It's always a little daunting when you feel it that fast. But I like it too. Do about 3 more, press and pull and press and pull and press and pull, hold it down, touch the heels together.

Arms to the side, do not flare your ribs. That would be really easy to do here. If you find that you are or you're not sure put your arms down. Down and up so I've got my heels together, toes apart. Almost, some of you start but you just get more.

Oh, watch those ankles, down, up, down, up, down, up. Down, up, hold it down, move the heels to the wide edge of the bar. If you have slid back, adjust it. And think of that deceleration, the arms are lifted. And we press down, we pull up, we press down, we pull up, breathe as you wish.

I tend to exhale on the way down but then they change it. 'Cause I'm not attached to that one. Next one, hold it down as seamlessly as possible. Move to the balls of the feet, still in a turn out. And I do kind of have to think sometimes about drawing the inner thighs into play.

You might not but otherwise it can be all foot and ankle and lower leg or just pure quad. Let's get those inner thighs and do 5 more. 1 up, 2 pull, 3, 4, and 5. Speaking of inner thighs and quads, it's down. Put the feet as close together as you can on the balls of the feet.

Lift those knees up to level. If we had a pole or I don't know, cocktail, it would be level and you're gonna work for it. You push the toes and you flex. Try not to let anything spill. Really a bar meeting pole is a better way to think of this.

And if I had one you'd see I could do better. But you got it, let's do 4, 3, that deceleration again. Yes it's a lot of quad, one more. Goodness, that's enough of that, step off. Turn yourself around.

We've done some of this warmup with the spine so we're gonna head into a pike. We haven't done much with the arms other than you are aware of where they attach on your back just like we did earlier with the arms. Pressing the peddle, keeping it heavy. You could go lighter, go for it, it's harder. I'm gonna keep it like this.

Push the peddle down, stand on it first with the balls of the feet if you want more challenge you could go to the arches. Hands to the far end of the chair. I turn them sideways and there's a reason I do that. For one, that's how I was taught but 2 it's the idea that I can turn the whole arm and feel that connection to the lat much like we did earlier. So from there, shift your hips forward.

Leave your heels where they start. So if you want them super high keep them super high. If you want to challenge yourself keep them low but don't let them wobble back and forth. And then from here it is literally that thing we did earlier where you pull the belly up from right under the sternum. And it just almost levitates you with this much weight.

Then you peel down, keeping the weight shoulders over those wrists, you don't lean back. Exhale, rises up, and down. Oh, is that too easy for you? You're doing it really, really well. The collar bones are still wide.

If it is just shift to the arches or lighten it but know that for next time rather just shift the arches now. Peel, peel, peel, when you go down keep those thighs pretty close and up. Let it be light on the arms, let them be the pillars of the rest of your body for a change. And come on down to the ground, softly, easily, gracefully. Step the left foot back to the balls of the foot.

We'll step the right foot forward. We're a little mountain climber situation. Before you go, act like you're going to. Getting ready to step up if you don't know. And I'm not gonna go all the way up so you can keep your arms down.

But you want to kind of know where your foot is so that your knee doesn't end up way out over in front of it. So if you've got longer femurs or feet you might have to move your foot more forward than you think. Alright, from here, as if I'm gonna do that pike, I draw the belly in, the abs, it's higher than that for me, it's not even the belly it's everything. Fingers are down for now. Best you can, you are rounded, but keep the hips level and push the leg that's on the peddle down and up, down and up.

No big deal, you're gonna come to a flat back and fold the arms either way. Let's do 5, 4, 3 controlled, 2, 1 and come down, switch legs. Just keeping the heat. Adjust the foot, do that little pretend I'm gonna get up and see where you land. Level out the hips, fingers are down for the first few for you to test it.

But also don't rest on the thigh. Try and pull those abs up or the body up. But at least so you feel supported. It's not that I'm totally touching. I'm not looking for space, I'm looking for not resting on my thigh.

Here we go, and press 1, press 2, use the back of leg, think about that. So that front leg doesn't do it all. If that's cool you just bring your arms up, a little flatter back and press, 4, 3, 2, 1, hold. Bring it down, step down to the peddle. Swivel towards me.

So if I did nothing else I just swiveled but then it gets trickier. The foot that's in back goes front. And you switch so the leg now closest to your chair is in front. Right? Yes (inaudible).

Both hands, that's a flashback, I don't know who said that to me, flashback. You want the shoulders as square as you can right. It's gonna be so tempting to rotate into that corner but that's not how we're gonna do it. We're gonna stay here to the best of our ability and we're just gonna pike straight up as our head goes down our hips go up. And we slide that bar back down.

Exhale up, up, up, up, up, up, oh this is good. Admit it, 3 of 5. And push it, it's like you're really pushing that leg our away from you. That's gotta be 5, have a seat carefully, because it's gonna be heavy when you sit. Swivel the other way and you should be right where you need to be.

Get in close, set yourself. And I'm saying that this time because there's a tendency to grip that arm you know you're gonna be on more. Try and come off it a little bit. Lean the whole body over there and then trust what you already know which is the middle of your body. 1, and down.

There's a version where this front arm comes off. So you can just start imagining now, 2 more. Try not to figure your head. It's almost what leads it. Crown of the head down, butt goes up, one more time.

And down, alright, swivel, sit, pick your feet up. Let's walk around and take off a spring. I'm going to take off the high spring. So I had one high, one just down. One on one, one on two is another way you might hear me say that.

I'm taking off the heaviest version, I still have one on for a little sidekick. 2 to go, 2 sides and then a back extension or 2. Alright, so here we're gonna come, actually I'm gonna have you bring your foot up. So I'm pretty much right on the side of the hip. You might have to find your place on those depending on your chair and the length.

I'm going for sidekick here. Sort of air born, top leg is up. Either hold the chair which is absolutely fine or hand back, I'm gonna hold it at first to get used to where I'm at and make sure I'm happy. I'm trying to be level, right, not trying to do it up here 'cause it's hard enough to do it level. But I also don't want to be really low.

Here we go, hold on and kick. Kick, sweep back, kick, kick, sweep back. Kind of paying attention to what you're trying to with this lower arm,that's sort of why I like to do it here. It's certainly easier on the floor but it's a good skill builder here too. One more time, take it to the back, way back, way back.

If you can't now, roll the forward body or the body forward as you reach the top arm. And as you do that I'm trying to almost reach to the back window with a straight arm as I lower the arms, getting a nice sort of twisted arc. And then come out of that and switch sides. No big deal it's just kind of fun to check things out differently. Changing our floor in this case so we press it down, we know where we're comfy, we hold on or your could put your arm or behind your head.

And we kick, kick, sweep back, kick, kick. Just noticing those changes. If it's really easy make it a little freer. Couple more, pulse, pulse, sweep back, one more. Pulse, pulse, sweep back.

I rolled the body forward as I reach the leg back. Arm went forward, enjoying hopefully a bit of a stretch there and continue I'm actually starting to reach more towards you as I come into that side twisted stretch. Level everything out, up we come, and while we're here we turn face down for the swan, basic swan and then I'll do one on the floor. So it's kind of light but it will be alright. If not, make it a little heavier.

Everyone again, proportions on the wonder chair really matter so you want to feel strong in the lower body. So I don't want my legs hanging. Like they're together, they're reaching. The shoulders are down and I know I can lift. Even to find level, I'd almost rather just start it level then from the ground.

Then just like you're on the floor with exception of the arms you start to look forward. You're reaching the chest forward. The arms, yes, are going back. The legs are hopefully not going higher than they started or lower and we come back to level. And again, it's like the peddles an assist here right.

Enjoy that, you don't have your arms over head, yet. If you slide forward just figure it out, I mean adjust. And down, and even though you don't have a floor as a marker on the front of your body see if you can feel that articulation, that's your eyes, your face, your sternum, your ribs. And back down and then here we'll just help ourselves up. We'll do one more on the floor so we get a little bit of more of a finish with the lats.

And round out the back, so get your mat. Okay, so the last thing we'll do is this one on the floor. It's one of my all-time favorites, period. For me it's the one place where or the easiest place that can really feel connection to the ground, connection when I'm off the ground in my back. I did not change the spring from where we just left, I still have it on one spring, one notch down on the tree.

So it's not real light but it's not real heavy either. So that's all I can say about that. We come down, we're gonna find the edge of the bar, the foot peddle, and it may take a time or two to find that exact position but in the beginning stretch the shoulders, really let the bar pull your shoulders up out of your ears. And you can hang your head. So that when you're ready to go you can gently it's not a full on force but your draw all those shoulders down.

You'll feel the back broaden. Legs together or apart, mine are slightly apart. And we're just gonna start to peel up. I have some resistance on the spring. But I'm not using it beyond that anymore for now.

Just rising up and we'll go back down and we'll stretch the shoulders. I'll just do one more like that and change it. We slide the shoulders down and it kind of feels like my armpits wrap forward a little, nothing intense. And look forward, I lift up. I'm stretching my legs now, 'cause if I don't it feels like it's all in my lower back and I rise up.

Now I couldn't do anything else here, this is my high point. But I well, as far as lifting, but I could add in more arms. So I'll do that now. We stretch the legs, we feel the front of the hips on the mat, we look forward, we lift up through the back muscles, then we hold the body still and we pull the bar down and 1. Keep the body still, let it up.

2, keep the body still that's sort of the key here. Your shoulders will move, not a lot but they will. Let's do 3 more. Arms are straight, then let the bar up, bring yourself down, let the bar up fully so you can take your hands off. Do a quick, not a quick but one little rest position.

And then we'll come forward. I know I said that's the last thing and it can be we really are finished but I'm gonna do a little cat and be done here, that much I can tell you. So from here just the knees kind of underneath you. Essentially what I'm trying to do here is just use the bar as an assist. And so I'm going into flat back, you can stick the rear end out a little, kind of rotate the hips or the legs and the hips.

And then find what you feel like is level. It might feel better to put a little pressure on the bar. I don't really know if we need that. But then round the spine, round the spine. And then reverse it, just finishing like that.

Rounding it, I'm gonna do one to each side, which isn't gonna feel that different nor look different especially. I'm putting more weight on my left hand as I curl the right hip bone towards it. And flatten it back to center. And now putting more on the right hand as I curl the left to it. And flatten it out.

And just one more in the middle. Take your hands down, I'm still rounded. Really exaggerate the round with the arms down, curl those toes under, bring the knees forward. Whatever you need to do to then hang forward, feet flat and as if your arms were on those peddles like they were in the beginning, we just start to roll ourselves up. Drawing up with the abdominals and from the body.

Supporting kind of (inaudible) the spine to the back. And at the top, we turn the arm bones out, we rise up through the energy of the body that hopefully is there and if not we look for it because we definitely created a little more space and movement. One more time, arms out and up, inhale. And exhale, that's it, thank you.

Comments

Absolutely loved this work on the chair, thank thanks so much Kirsty.
Lori
1 person likes this.
So happy to have new Kristi classes! Glad you are doing better and thank you for helping us to be better in our Pilates practice.
Ellen W
1 person likes this.
It was wonderful to see Kristi again in a new class. Kristi you are as vibrant, friendly, and interesting as ever! I hope you are feeling as good as you look! Thanks for a lovely class!
Glad your back😊. I loved this class, great queuing and flow.
That was awesome! Your instruction was lovely ! I really felt the connection from your cues. After dealing with horrible traffic and a busy client filled morning, this was a lovely treat! You look great Kristi in all of your movements. Thank you for being here!
Fantastic class!! Especially the ab work and bridge work. Thank you:)
Wundaland heaven ..really enjoyed this class Kristi , love your work :)
Kristi! I absolutely LOVE your classes. I love your cueing and the transitions, plus you move beautifully. Thank you!
1 person likes this.
I love the variety of PilatesAntime! Every time I want a session on the equipment, I find something new and challenging. I appreciate having a new chair workout with thoughtful cues. Thanks for your work!
love this workout Kristi ! I don't use the chair as often as I should and you have inspired me to explore the possibilities of this apparatus a lot more. Thank you
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