Foundational Mat 3

Hi, I'm Kathi Ross-Nash, and I'm here for Pilates Anytime. We're gonna do a third foundational mat. You'll notice that each mat not only gets more difficult, it gets a little faster. The way I was trained is that you only spend 15, 20 minutes on the mat, ideally. 15, 20 minutes on the reformer, and 15, 20 minutes on the apparatus as needed.

So, the mats, as you develop your strength, they not only increase in difficulty, but they increase in speed. So, we're gonna begin lying down on our mat. All the way down. Lengthen the spine. Pull the stomach in, reach the arms up.

Stretch them back. Arms come up to the ceiling, lift that upper body up into that already established position, and you're going to inhale, lift the leg up. And, exhale, reach it long outta the hip. And inhale up, two, three, four, five. And down, two, three, four, five.

And up, two, three, four, five. Reach it outta the hip, two. Think about all the things you built in the earlier exercises, two, three, four, five. And down. Really get that upper body up.

So many times we don't get that upper body up and working. And then we take it in our lower back. So if you feel anything at all in your lower back, go back to the previous variation. Reach outta the hips. Pull the stomach in, two, three, four, five.

And down. We've already established this positioning in the single leg straight in the foundational two workout. Inhale, two, three, four, five. Exhale, keep those legs. Hands above your legs, English.

And exhale, two, three, four, five. And inhale, two, three, four, five. And exhale. Try to roll up a little more every time that leg reaches down. Pull the stomach back, and reach, reach, reach, and all the way down.

Bend the knees, roll up. Bent knee to straight knee. Reach your arms up. Stretch back. Arms come up.

Head comes up. Begin to roll up and allow the gravity in your legs to reach forward, fingertips to toes. Pull the stomach in. Roll back, soften the knees. We did this position in both our rollback and our teaser in the prior exercises.

Arms come up. Head in. Pull the stomach in. Keep that waist pulling back. Flex the feet.

Pull the waist back. Reach with the legs. Reach with the legs, as if you're dragging a great weight down. Reach far and long, ribs go in. And back, arms up.

Roll up, soften the knees. If you have to, you may hold the back of your legs to help that articulation. The articulation is paramount in this exercise. Lift the waist, push with the feet, keep the heels down on the mat. Keep the thighs down on the mat.

Reach, really important to keep those heels and thighs reaching towards the mat. Ribs go in, stretch back, arms up, head up. Open the chest, open the chest, open the chest. Reach all the way forward. Reach back, really reach those heels away.

Draw the shoulders down. Feel as if you're carrying a thousand pounds, and you're pulling it, and you're pulling it, and you're pulling it all the way down. Bend the knee. Bend the other knee. Take this leg, stretch it straight up.

Pull the stomach in, reach it up to the nose. Reach it to the shoulder, across the body, down to the knee, open on the angle, right to the pointed hit in your foundational one mat, and all the way up to the nose. Reach it across to the shoulder. Feel that lovely stretch. Reach it directly across the hip.

On the 45 degree angle, to the knee, open to the 45, open to the side, reach it to the shoulder, reach it up to your nose. Pull the stomach back. Deepen the stretch as it goes to the shoulder. Deepen the anchoring of this hip as the leg reaches across. Pull the stomach in as you lengthen knee to knee.

Reach it to the 45, open to the side. Reach it to the shoulder, and deepen it to the nose. And let's do two a little more smooth and quickly. Around and up. Pull the stomach in, around and up.

Lengthen knee to knee, bend. Reach knee to knee, bring the leg up. Stretch up towards your nose. Reach across. Keep that chest nice and open.

Go directly across the hip. Reach on the 45, press the knee to the knee, reestablish the box, anchor this hip, anchor this hip more. Reach it up to the shoulder. Stretch all the way up to the nose. Watch the base leg stays quiet.

Reach across to the shoulder. Reach all the way across the body for your very first deep tick tock. Reach here, all the way down, knee to knee. Press them together. Open to the 45, reach open to the side.

Only as far as that hip can stay quiet. Up to the shoulder, all the way up to the nose. Stretch the back of the leg. One more, painfully slow. Reach over, stretch your knee.

Reach all the way across the body with both hips flat and chest open. Reach at that 45. Glue the knee to the knee, pull the stomach in and up, open to the 45, open to the side establishing this hip, open to the shoulder, bring it up, nice and smooth. Around and one. And smooth around and two.

Reach it out, knee to knee. We're gonna reverse from here. Stretch the leg, reach it across. We're gonna do these nice and smooth. Around, knee to knee, reach it across that you can really stabilize that leg.

Around, reach it across, pull the stomach in and up. And reach it across. Nothing moves in that back box. Last one. Go as deep and as luscious as you can without letting your box move at all.

Change. One foot replaces the other. Reach across the hip and get that lovely stretch across the back. Lift it around, smooth. Reach across, around, smooth.

Reach across, around, smooth. Reach across, around, smooth. It's all about setting yourself up for success. And good. Bend the knee.

Slide your hands, pulling your stomach back. And we're gonna sit up for rolling like a ball. Pick up your bottom if you need more room on your mat there. Otherwise, just do a double leg pull, and bring your legs in and your head down. I want you to attach your feet to your seat and your shoulders to your knees.

Roll right back to your upper back only, and then come to the toe point position. Roll right back just to the upper back, and balance. Inhale, exhale, come up. Inhale, exhale, come up. Inhale, and exhale, come up.

And let's put a little accent. And up, roll back. And up, roll back. And up, roll back. And up, roll back.

Place your feet down, and roll down with control. Pull both the legs in. We're gonna do a single leg pull, passing through the teaser position, which is the best way to develop the teaser. So as your right leg pulls into the chest and the left extends, you're gonna find the midpoint, which is at that 45 degree angle. And you arrive.

Find the 45. Stretch. Slide the knee, there it is, teaser. You're already suffering through a teaser. In.

So before you even know that you're doing teaser, you're doing teasers. In. One day I'm gonna count how many teasers are actually hidden inside of workouts. In. I bet there's a lot.

Pull it in. Really hug that knee into the chest. Reach, keep that hip open like we established in the foundational one mat. Reach, and the foundational two mat, with the barrel position and the hundred. And good.

Two legs, pull all the way in. Glue your heels, stretch in opposition, arms and legs. Exhale, come in. Inhale, stretch out. Exhale, come in.

Arms and legs arrive. Exhale, come in. This timing is the beginning of moving your arms and legs together to arrive for your full teasers. So if your arms and legs don't arrive to their destination at the same time, you know that you're not ready to do your teasers, because you're gonna arrive with your arms and legs separate times. And we wanna work the body as a whole, and work the body as a whole.

And work the body as a whole, and work the body as a whole. One leg up, and we're gonna do a single leg pull. Stretch, stretch. Fluid switch, stretch, stretch. Nice and smooth.

And reach, reach. Reach, reach. Reach, reach. Reach, reach. Reach, reach.

One, two. One, two. One, two. One, two. One, two.

Can you see the teaser happening? One, two. One, two. There it is. One, two.

Quick teaser. One, two. One, two. Bend both your legs in. Sit up.

This time we're gonna add a little bit to sliding our hands along our legs. Still working and not that timing. So even from the very beginning and our spine stretch forward everywhere we're working on, that we're moving our arms and legs with each other from our center. This time, you're gonna hold the ankles and pull back, and enjoy that. But also push down with the legs.

And roll all the way up, so you're moving against each other. It's getting you ready for your controlled balances. Lift the waist up, press on your hands. Grab the ankles, when you get to this point, lift. Press your heels away, hold with the arms, press and pull, open the low back, open the low back.

Open the low back in preparation for your open leg rocker. And slide all the way up. Inhale, up. And slide down. Hold onto the ankles and press back, exhale.

Open the back, exhale. Deepen the pull, exhale. Exhale, exhale. Inhale, fill the lungs up. One more delicious time.

And exhale. When you get to this part where you're holding and pulling back, use the pressure of the opening and lift of the front body to open the back body and squeeze every last drop of air out. (train whistle blows) And roll all the way up. Hold onto the ankles. Watch the angle, that 45 that we went through in our leg circles.

And you're gonna open your chest and hold, two, three, four, five, and pinpoint down. And open, two, three, four, five, and pinpoint down. And open, two, three, four, five, and pinpoint down. And open, two, three, four, five, close the legs. Open to that 45.

Close the legs. Keep that chest open, like the second stomach massage. So your spine stretch forward would be your first stomach massage, and that c-curve. And here your lower stomach's going back like the second stomach massage. And your chest is open.

That sequence repeats itself throughout the history of Pilates. And good. Pinpoint your feet again. Slide them out, and open your arms. Reach them to the side.

And you're going to turn, drop this back arm, and just bring the crown of the head to the knee, and reach the pinky to the pinky. And pull that opposite hip back. And deepen the twist. Inhale fully, twist, exhale. Crown of the head to the knee.

Stretch through the heels. Really reach that pinky. Hold it, pull it back in the hip. Opposite hip. Deepen the twist as you come up.

Inhale. Deepen the twist. Exhale, this time give a little pulse. Two, three, deepen the twist to go up. Your eyes turn too.

Inhale. The eye turn is actually very important. It completes the turn through the fascia tissue. Stretch one, two, three. Deepen it, look back there.

Look back there. There might be a wolf or shark coming. Inhale up. Exhale, turn, imagine you're swimming through the water. Stretch, stretch, stretch, and use your eyes.

Look back, look back, look back. Inhale, exhale, stretch. Crown of the head down. Roll up, keeping the spine centered. Turn, reach, equally with both arms, as if you have somebody pulling on each wrist.

Turn, look with the eyes, look with the eyes. Look with the eyes. Center, draw your legs together as if you're drawing the carriage together for your side splits. Soften your knees. Place your hands on this side.

Flip yourself around, and lie down for your single leg kick back. Press your elbows down. Roll the chest open. Pull the stomach in. We're gonna make it a little harder than the last time.

The leg is gonna lift, but the pelvis doesn't shift. Lift it, lift it, lift it, and down. Chest open, reach the leg, lift it, lift it, lift it, and down. Best bottom work ever. Pull the stomach in, reach the chest up, chest up, chest up, reach the leg down.

Roll the shoulders back, open the chest, stretch the left leg up. Stretch the knee, stretch the thigh, move the chest forward in opposition, drive those arms down, pull those arms back like you're doing the pull straps. Lengthen, lengthen, lengthen. Press the other leg down. Lift that leg up, roll the shoulders back, reach it, just lift the leg, lift the leg, lift the leg.

Building on the last level, reach the leg away, then lift the leg up. Always add what you did before. Reach the leg away. Lift the chest up, up, up, lengthen. Bring your hands by your side.

Pull the stomach in, press back, reach the waist up, turn your hands to the side, and flip onto your side body. I lied, let's flip down. All the way down. Bend your knees. We're gonna do a little introduction to the neck pull.

Feels like it'd feel good right here. Open your elbows, pull the stomach in, and you're gonna have your knees bent. And you're gonna literally pull on your neck. Pull on the neck, pull on the neck, stretch the neck, and roll down. Keep the elbows open.

So this position is the same position that we were using at prior levels, but now we're taking it behind our head. Lift the neck up, stretch the neck, stretch the neck, stretch the neck. Take your hands behind your legs, and continue to curl over, just like we did in the second level. Lengthen your spine up, hold onto your neck, and begin to roll down, lengthening your neck. Stretch your neck, elongate your neck.

Give yourself a little stretch here. And bring the head down. Pull the stomach in, legs are hips width apart. Stretch the neck, pull in. When you get to this point, hold your hands here, curl yourself over, sit up as tall as you can, don't let your knees drop out, and roll down pulling on that neck.

Adding traction, pressing on your feet. Keep those feet all the way down. And stretch the neck at the end, and lengthen down. Right from there, lie onto the right side of your body. Have the body against the back into the mat, hand behind the head, bring your feet forward together this time.

Take the hand here. Lift this leg hip high. Nothing's going to move. You have that little house for your mouse. Stretch forward, kick, kick.

Nothing moves, reach back, kick, kick. Stretch forward, kick, kick. Long neck, stretch back, kick, kick. Don't let anything move. Forward, kick, kick, as if you're sitting on a chair.

Reach back as if your pelvis is against that wall, that mat that we just did. Forward, kick, kick. As you reach back, find that single leg kick back that we, stretch, that we just did. Forward, kick, kick. Find that single leg kick back stretch, kick, kick.

Forward, kick, kick. There's your roll up. Reach back, kick, kick. Your whole ab series, the single leg pull straight is right there. Your single leg kick back is right there.

Single leg pull straight. Single leg kick back, just done on the side body. Turn it out, lift it up, flex it down. Lift it two. Still don't move anything.

Little faster we're moving, but I want you to really keep that box nice and quiet. Reach, and down, and reach, and down, and reach, good, reach it out. Remember that house for the mouse, little space under the waistline. Up and down, and up and down. Two hands down, both legs swing to the other side for a twist, elongate all the way down, hand behind the head, flex the feet, two feet come forward, and establish your box.

Bottom heel down, top leg lifts hip high. Single leg kick front. Single leg kick back. Forward, kick, kick. That's one reason why I like to teach my kicks back the way I do, because it really ties right in.

It threads right in to the side body work that you're going to do. And it's the exact same thing. You don't want your pelvis moving all over the place. You don't wanna be arching or bending your back, or collapsing or tucking. You wanna keep the box totally square when you're working.

As you go forward, kick, kick. And back, kick, kick. So you're developing good habits all the way around. Forward, kick, kick. And back, kick, kick.

Turn it out. It's better to teach it right than to have to fix it. Reach it out, flex and down. And two, flex and down. Three, remember to reach out.

Four, five, six, seven, and eight. Good, right from there, bend your knees in. And we're gonna do a little teaser prep, adding a twist. You're gonna lie down. So this is the first position that we work the teaser in.

Here's the second position we work the teaser in. And so we're gonna add a twist to that. Arms come up, roll up, twist over the bent leg, lift, there's my saw. Lift, lift, reach center, roll down and back. Arms up, arms parallel over the legs, lower the arms, twist, twist, twist, center, and roll down.

Roll up, teach this before you teach the twist on the reformer, so that they really understand that it's not a shift of the hips, that it is a stabilization of the pelvis. Change your legs, arms up. And you can always spot their feet. And twist, twist, twist, center, roll down, reach back. Arms up, roll up.

Twist, twist, twist, center, roll down. Arms up, roll up. And twist, twist, twist, twist, center, and roll down. Bend your knees, arms down by your side, slide yourself forward, bring yourself to the end of the mat so you don't fall off during your seal. Not a good thing.

Point down, wrap through, press those feet together, bring your knees in, press the elbows out, pull the stomach in, roll back, balance, hold, two, three, roll up, balance, hold, two, three. This is about balancing, hold. Lift the waist. It's gonna be the beginning of your crabs, and all of your rolls. So one day you'll be able to flip backwards and stand on the other side.

Hold, two, three. Roll up, hold, two, three. Elbows push out and the knees push in. That wrap constricts the muscles, and helps with the massage, right? This is a nice spinal massage, and the more I press my knees in, and my elbows out, and my feet together, the more my low back opens.

Press, feel how good it feels when those feet press it opens that low back. Ah, so good. Roll back, hold, hold, hold. Roll up, hold, hold, hold. Draw your knees together.

And, very good.