BASI Flow™ Cadillac

Today is a very special day because we have Amanda here all the way from China. She's come to have a session on the Cadillac with me. I'm very excited, thank you for coming. You're welcome, my pleasure. (laughs) Okay, so I'm just gonna have you just stand like this.

And we're gonna do just a basic roll down. So I want you to lift your head and lift your spine. And have a breath in. And as you exhale allow your head to start to travel forward and you roll the spine down. Your head is just relaxed and knees are soft.

And inhale. I'm just watching. We feel the pelvis come under, under, under. And the spine stack above the pelvis. Come slightly forward with your body.

And inhale. And exhale, chin comes down into the chest and almost lift up. She's like really resisting the downward movement or supporting the downward movement or both. And inhale. And exhale, feeling that move and really tucking the tail under.

And then as you come up don't lean back. Yes, that's better. And she probably feels a little forward and that's okay. We'll just do one more. Exhaling to round.

I feel so lucky when I get to watch all these beautiful bodies move. And inhale and exhale, lots of pelvis. Good, and then coming up and not coming backwards. Yeah, that's perfect. Just like that.

Beautiful. Okay, so what we're gonna do now is you're just gonna sit down. Your legs will be reaching for me and scoot that way a little bit. And this way a little and this way. Now that's perfect.

Okay, so take the bar in your hand. Sit nice and tall in your body. Come just a little forward. And then reach the shoulder blades a little forward. Exactly.

So inhale. And as you exhale I want you to press the bar down. So push down and lift your spine just like that. And inhale lift the bar. And exhale press down and lift the spine.

However, don't lean back. Lean a little forward and inhale. And exhale drawing the abdominals into the spine. Just an exercise in elongation and spinal elongation. And press.

Good, just one more time. Pull deep. Pull in, in, in. Good, and then take the arms forward and now we're gonna do the roll out. So inhale and then rotating the pelvis under, getting the lower back to come all the way down, laying the head down.

And inhale lifting the head and chest. And exhale rounding the spine, bringing the shoulders right over the pelvis. And inhale and exhale rotating. Look forward. Just keep the head above the spine.

And lifting the head and chest. And drawing in. Beautifully done. Beautifully done. Keeping the head just above the spine.

Round just slightly more here, that's perfect. We'll do three more. Exhaling, tucking the pelvis and rolling down. And inhale to lift and exhale as you come up. Good.

And inhale. And exhale. Good. Resisting the springs. Beautifully done.

And breathing in, the head and chest come back up. Breathing out to roll up. Yeah, and this time I'm just gonna have you leave the bar here. So let go. And then you're gonna roll down the exact same way with just as much control all the way down.

And I'll be her springs. Good, nicely done. And you're just gonna take your hands and place them onto the bar like that. So lift them up just a little bit more. And then bend the knees.

Perfect. Spine twist Supine. So we feel the ribs are soft. And we take the legs over to one side on the inhale breath. And we exhale and we feel those ribs come into the mat and bring the pelvis to center.

And inhale as we come over this way. Good, and we feel the ribs come in to the mat. Beautiful, and inhaling across just here. And exhale. And inhaling across.

She's doing a beautiful job, I'm looking really hard for something to correct. I can't find anything, not one thing. Good, let's do one more to each side. Good, and last time. Okay.

And then place one foot down. Place the second foot down. The next exercise we are gonna do is called the mini roll up. (laughs) Just a little scary when it comes just over your face. So take the bar in your hands. Let's bring the legs together and touch and squeeze.

So now inhale lift the head and chest up. And as you exhale come forward. And back just to there. A little more, a little more down. And forward and back, working the down.

And forward, beautiful shoulder control. Really, really nice work here. It's not an easy exercise. She's making it look effortless. Okay, four more times.

The legs are squeezing together. Mm-hmm. And three. Reaching away. And two.

Nice, one more time. Okay, then just go all the way down. And then you're gonna take this hand and turn it. Bring it over just a little bit. Perfect, right there.

This one goes behind you, you know what's coming. So come up. And I want you to turn towards me. Watch this side of the pelvis. You're gonna come forward from there.

Good, and down. And forward. And keep the scapula open. That's it, forward. And working the down.

I'm glad that she's doing this and not me. I like this exercise, but she does probably a better job than I could. Okay, just two more Amanda. Okay, and then come down, come into the center. Wait, wait, wait.

Just into the center and then down. Yeah. And then change sides. Finally, I could correct. (chuckles) Okay, so come up, find your rotation. Keeping the scapula wide, and curl.

Up and back. And curl up and back. Good, drawing in, drawing in. Three more. Keep the head back just a little.

Yes, better. And last time. Good, and then come down. Then come into the center and then come all the way down to rest. That's good.

That's fine, you can let go. I'm just gonna set this up for footwork. So while I do that, why don't you separate your feet. Like setup for to do just a couple of pelvic curls, keep your body moving while I'm doing the springs. So breathing in and breathing out as you curl through the spine.

So letting the abdominals open and stretch. And inhale. And exhale to come down. And we're lengthening the body onto the mat. And inhale.

And dropping the ribs as you exhale to lift. And inhale. And exhale to go down. Yep. Good, I'm all ready for you now.

So we're gonna go into some footwork. What I'm gonna have you do is you're gonna bring your feet under. Does this feel like it's in a comfortable place? Yes. Okay, good.

Are you good? Okay, so what I want you do is I want you to pull your feet back and soften through the backside of the ribcage. Perfect. And then you're gonna bend the knees and inhale. Pause, press down and stretch up.

Work the bar so you're pulling the bar to you. And inhale. And exhale pressing the back of the knees forward. So at the top you find the little quadricep. Good, and we'll do three more.

Two more, pulling the feet back. Good, last time. Okay, and then coming onto the toes. And pressing the bar away. Also think of pushing the bar that way too at the same time.

And see how this ankle likes to turn? So let's push into this part of your foot. Yes, perfect. And then bend. And press.

And inhale and press. Good, that's lovely. Beautiful shoulders. I'm gonna look from here. She's doing amazing.

Good, let the shoulders just be soft. Soften through the ribs. Nice, three more. And two. Beautifully done, one more time.

Okay, so now Amanda I want you to bring your heels together so that you're wrapping in the hips. Uh-huh, and pull the bar in. And press the bar away. And pull in and squeezing the heels together to find the inner thighs. And inhale.

Let's do three more. Good, two more. Nice, one more time. Okay, and then next into the wide V on the heels. Good, such a nice stretch this one.

And then again, inhale, dropping the pelvis and stretch so that the legs are pressing together. And bend. And reach. And inhale. Nice, and exhale.

Good. Okay, just two more. And last time. And then we go from the heels to the toes. So reach up, put the toes on the bar.

Keep that nice foot, that nice plantar flex foot. Is this in your way? It's fine. Okay. Come bring this foot out.

And then bend. Just like that, good. And stretch. And inhale. And press.

Keep that pressure right in that toe. Beautiful, nicely done. Last four times pushing the bar into the ocean. And three. And two.

And one. Okay, so back into the center. And then just into some calf raises. So we pull the bar and then you push the bar into the ocean. And pull back and push.

And while she does that, I'll organize over here so that we're nice and set up and ready to go. Okay, how about three more, Amanda? And two. Good, just one more time. And then into prancing.

So one foot pushes, one foot reaches. And pressing the back of the leg forward. Good. Nice. Just one more time.

Okay, and then both up and bend both and take your feet out. Amanda, what I want you to do, and I'm gonna organize a little bit, so you're just gonna do like this. You're gonna take that foot like that and that foot like that and you're gonna let both knees go over. And you're just gonna enjoy. Just enjoy the stretch.

And I'm gonna move this. And then you can go over to the other side. And I'll take this from you. And then you can do that one more time. And what's also nice here for this stretch is if you take this foot and put it back here and pull.

Yes, your welcome. I'm gonna grab the trapeze. Okay, so we're just gonna bring this to you. And what I'd like for you to do is I'd like you to put your feet into there. Okay, excellent.

So just heels together, but keep that foot position. All right, here we go. Holding the bar, so what I'd like for you to do now is to bend your elbows wide to the sides, to bring the bar back, and then to bring the bar forward and then to pause. Now we'll lift the pelvis. (bang) (gasps) oh.

It's okay. And lower the pelvis. So we just had a little startle. I got startled because the trapeze made a noise, but everyone's fine. And now lift up and now roll all the way up into that beautiful teaser shape.

And now roll down. And so now we'll add the breath wrapping the scapula around the front of the body. Inhale to bend and reach. As you breathe out, bring the bar back. As you breathe in, lift the pelvis reaching away with the feet.

Just dip like this a little bit. And then as you exhale roll down, stretching the spine. Now inhale into the teaser, reaching up, keeping the head just between the arms. Keep the shoulder blades this way. Good, and then exhale to roll back down.

That's some very, very beautiful movement. Let's do one more. Bend the elbows, this happens as you breathe in. And as you breathe you're bringing your arms back. You breathe out.

And as you breathe in you lift your pelvis and you just wanna lift the left hip up a little bit. And as you breathe out you lower the pelvis and you drop this hip down a little bit. Uh-huh, just a little rotation like we all have. And then lift up. Nice, beautiful.

Finding the teaser. And then exhale as you roll all the way back down. Excellent, I'll just take this. You can stay as you are. Take your legs out.

And now, we're gonna do the teaser. Are you ready? Yeah, I'm ready. She's laughing. Okay, so taking the bar.

Now I want you to lift one leg at a time and then send your legs out to where you feel that you can hold them still. And then lift the head, lift the spine. Look at that beautiful teaser. Yes, and now roll down dropping the shoulders. I don't think she needs me, I'm not really helping her.

I was just seeing if she was gonna move. And now lift up, reach up. Nice, inhale. And exhale. This is the hard part down there actually in this exercise.

One more time. Exhale to lift. Oh, inhale to lift, exhale to lift, whatever you wanna do. Just breathe. And now go down, reach the legs away.

And bend your knees and rest. Nice, very good work. Okay, so take your legs out straight. Just straighten your knees. And then this is just gonna go right over your nose.

Okay, so take your arms up. Perfect. Lift your head and chest. And you're gonna roll yourself up. And then you're just gonna turn around, put your head down here for some hip work.

So turn around, yep. So here is one spring for you. And here is another. Okay, so going to frogs. So you can have your hands down here if you want or you can put them up onto the pole.

That's better. Yeah, 'cause it will help you to stay still 'cause you're so tiny. (chuckles) So here we go. Breathing in and take the legs straight out and bend. So she's drawing a straight line with her feet. So you wanna make the feet go straight out like that.

And straight back in, so just touch me all the time. I'll just tell you where you need to be. Stay, touch me, touch me, uh-huh. And bend. And I'm making a straight line.

Her job is just to stay with me. And last time. Point your feet, lift your legs, press them both back down, and into a circle. Stabilizing through the pelvis. Absolutely impeccable.

Press down and out and around. And press down and out and around. And just do three more like that pressing down and out and around. And two. And out and around.

And one. Nice. Okay Amanda, it's time to reverse. So open, press from the back of the legs, bring them together and lift. And open, back of the legs, reach, and lift.

And open, back of the legs. Pause for just a second, this is the middle. And lift. So you can imagine that you have to just aim at my body. That's right.

Good. And open. We'll do three more. Down and reach for me too. And lift.

And two more. Down and together. And lift. And last time. And lift.

And then the last exercise we're gonna do with the feet into the straps today is just the walking. So into parallel and you create a rhythm. You go da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, down. And up. And down.

And up. And three. And up. And two. And up.

And one. And up. And rest. Okay, so take your legs out and bring your feet down. I'm just gonna have you bring your arms straight up again.

Yeah, I'll get those out of your way. You're gonna lift your head and chest, roll up, and then sit up tall. So now what we're gonna do, I'm gonna have you come up onto your knees. Like this? Yep, and turn that way so that you're facing the ocean and take your hands onto the bar.

That's perfect. Okay, so now lift up nice and tall. And what I want you to do is feel that you're taking your upper body just slightly forward so you'll really have to use your abdominals for balance. And then as you exhale, you're gonna push those springs down. Hold like that, turn your head one direction, hold the bar down, turn and look over your right shoulder or one shoulder, come to the middle, turn and look over the other shoulder.

I'm not helping her, she's doing all the work. Come to center and take the arms forward. Just like that, don't lean back. Inhale and press down. And then look.

Beautiful, center. Oh, keep the bar. Look and center. And then lift up. And inhale and press.

And look and center. And look and center. And resist. We're gonna two more times. And down.

And turn. And center. And turn. It's hard. And center.

And resist. And last time, press. And turn. And center. And turn.

And center. And release. Great. So may I show you what we're gonna do next? Yes.

So just step down. So we'll just be here and you wanna be quite near the back 'cause it'll be heavy. And then you're gonna lean into the springs with your elbows out the sides like the salute and then you just (exhales) take your arms forward and you bend. Yep, just like that. Okay, your turn.

So you find your line, you bend your elbows just like that and then press the springs forward. Stay a little bit more controlled here, that's right. And press the springs forward and pull back. Beautiful, and then keep really using your abdominals. And back and forward.

I'm gonna go and move the bar so we're ready for the next thing. You just continue doing what you're doing. You're looking good. Just two more times. Yes.

And last one. Okay, and that's plenty. Okay, you can put that down and just come sit. So you'll sit with your feet. We're gonna go into the push through.

So you take the bar with your hands and you reach up straight. And then what I would like for you to do is to tuck your pelvis in, push your feet towards those poles, keep the head up just a bit, press down and forward. And now elongate the back, come out flat. Beautiful, pause. Come back towards me, control the spring.

And all the way back up to straight again. And inhale. And exhale as you go down. This time we're gonna add on. I'm gonna push the bar forward, it's all the same until I say.

Nice, and then lengthen. Find a flat back. Good, and then back towards me. Now here's where we're gonna change a bit. So you're gonna go back, you're gonna go back, you're gonna pause right there.

Eyes here, lift this arm, just the arm, and reach it around, reach it around, reach all the way around to here. You're welcome. (chuckles) And then all the way back under the bar into the saw. So you go this way and you go forward. Beautiful, and you get that nice back stretch there. Nicely done.

And then just come back to take the pole, the bar. So we'll go all the way through the push through and do it to the other side. So exhale as you push with your feet and roll back. Push the bar down, go forward, elongate the spine. Excellent, that's so beautiful.

And then go back towards me. And then this time it's the left arm that reaches around, reaches around, reaches all the way back into the ocean. Nice. (chuckles) And then back, across the leg, this arm comes up, pushes the bar up, drop this hip down, then we get a nice stretch there. Cool, and then come all the way back to the bar. Awesome, so let's do a back extension exercise.

I'm just gonna give a little bit more spring. So you'll lie down onto your stomach. So we go there we go. There we go. Just hold onto that bar for me, don't let go.

Just let your head rest and just pause. I just want to look at your alignment. It looks pretty good to me. Okay, so we're gonna lift the head, gonna slide the scapula down, and then continue lifting the spine, continue lifting the spine, try not to separate the legs. And then come back down.

Okay, so I want you to try not to separate your legs. (laughing) But that was okay, that was okay. I wasn't clear. So the head comes up. Wait, wait, wait.

First this, yep. And then. Upper spine, reach up, find that lift pressing the legs together. And then taking the body back down, keeping the eyes forward. The head is the first thing to come up and it's the last thing to go down.

It's the first thing, beautiful, to come up. I loved that one so much. And go back down all the way. Beautiful, one more time. And lifting the head first.

And I'm gonna look at this way so I can see your face. (laughs) And now go down. Go all the way. That's beautiful. Now just continue to hold on with your hands.

I want you to hold the bar, I'm gonna pull on it. So you just can relax everything except for your hands. Feels nice I hope. Let's give her back a little stretch. Okay, so I'm holding the bar, you can take your hands away.

Just sit into rest position. And just take a moment here dropping the hips down towards the feet. And then I want you to roll up through your spine, all the way up until you're right up on your knees. And then just gonna step you out onto the floor again. And then we'll just do two more roll downs like we started, but this time let's take the arms like this.

And we'll take the arms up and reach and lift the chest. And then let the arms come down softly. Beautiful. And then let the head come down into the chest and begin to roll the spine down just allowing the arms to be soft. And inhale.

And exhale and roll up, up, up. And lift the arms forward. Lift the spine through the arms and open up wide. And bring the arms down and bring the chin into the chest. And soft arms, they can just hang as you roll down.

And inhale and roll back up. Okay, good. Thank you for coming. (laughs)