Finding Balance

Let's get started. So before we start, actually, what you might wanna do, you might want to get a small towel no longer, no bigger than this. I find this very helpful. So if you have trouble doing anything like roll up, you can always place the towel underneath your back. So then when you do anything like roll up or teaser, or even the rolling exercises, you have a little support here that will help fill into the back and make the exercise a little bit easier for you.

So hopefully have that and let's get started. Let's start with a little bit of a warm-up. So I'm gonna have you guys start on your hands and your knees, hands directly underneath your shoulders knees directly underneath the hips. You're gonna round the back like an angry cat. Then from there, you're gonna arch the back, head up, tailbone up.

And again, inhale round the back like an angry cat and then exhale, arch the back, head up, tailbone up and again, inhale round the back like an angry cat and then exhale, arch the back, head up, tailbone up. Let's go for one more. Inhale round the back, dropping the head, dropping the tailbone, and then arch the back, head up, tailbone up. Good, I'm have you guys turn around. You're gonna bring the soles of the feet flat on the mat, feet in line with knees.

Knees are gonna be aligned with the hips. Thumbs with fingers, rod elbows, starting with the tail. You're gonna to curl down one vertebra at a time, opening up the lower back. Keep the elbows nice and broad. Keep the thumbs with the fingers.

Then from there lead with the crown of the head round forward, bring the nose towards the knees. Then from there, roll up tailbone, lower back, middle back, upper back, neck, head is last. And again, tailbone under. As you're rolling down try not to let the feet roll in or out. Also try not to let the knees roll in and out.

When the arms get full extension, hold there. Then from there lead with the crown of the head, you're gonna round forward, bring nose to knees, then roll up tailbone, lower back, middle back, upper back, neck and head. And again, tailbone under curling down, bringing the small of the back onto the mat. This time when the arms get to full extension, hold there. Reach the arms up forward on a diagonal hold for three, hold for two, hold for one, you're gonna roll down an inch.

Hold for three, hold for two, hold for one. Roll down another inch, hold for three, hold for two, hold for one, roll all the way down onto the mat. Now for the next exercise. If you're in a high mat, you might wanna bring your hands behind the head. If you're in a flat mat, you can bring the arms out to the side.

Now feet together, knees together. And we're gonna go for a little bit of spinal rotation. You're gonna bring your knees to the right, head is gonna go to the left. Then from there you're gonna pull rib cage, lower back, pelvis to come back to center. Now knees to the left, head to the right.

Then from there, pull down rib cage, lower back, pelvis to come back to center. Knees to the right, head to the left. Now sequential sequencing, rib cage first, pelvis, and then knees to the left, head to the right and now pull ribs, lower back, pelvis. Last set knees to the right, head to the left. Then pull rib cage, lower back, pelvis to go center.

Knees to the left, head to the right. Then from there, pull down with cage, lower back, pelvis to come center. Let's have the arms come down by the sides. You're gonna open the legs, parallel hip with distance. Feet aligned with knees aligned with hips.

Then you're gonna start with the tail, you're gonna roll up to a bridge. Then you're gonna soften up the sternum, melt down one vertebrae at a time, all the way down to the tailbone. And again, tailbone initiates rolling up, making sure you're right in the center of the foot. Not rolling out or rolling in. Then from there soften at the sternum and melt tail, sternum all the way down to the tail.

Let's go for one more. Tailbone, initiates rolling up to a bridge. Now this time we're gonna keep the bridge. Try not to roll in or out on the feet. You're gonna lift the arms up to the ceiling.

Then you're gonna reach the arms back, back, back. Inhale arms are gonna go forward, exhale arms go down onto the mat. And again, inhale keeping the hips up, you're gonna reach back and exhale, exhale, exhale. Inhale, arms are gonna go forward. Exhale, arms are gonna go down onto the mat.

One more. Inhale lift the arms up, exhale and reach back, back, back. Now this time you're going to roll the head, neck and shoulders up, as you roll the hips down as you reach the hand spot, so it's a seesaw type of an action. Then from there, tailbone initiate as the hips lift head goes back, arms go over the head. One more time, hands forward rolling up and engage the abdominals.

Hold there. You're gonna bring in both knees into the chest. Zipper up, extend both legs out, rotate the Pilates stance, and we're gonna go for our hundred. Pumping in with the air and exhale three, four, five. Inhale three, four, five, exhale three, four, five, three, and exhale three, four, five four exhale, three, four, five, inhale.

And exhale three, four, five more. While you guys are pumping and make sure one leg is not rotating out more than the other leg. In with the air and exhale three, four, three more sets. Inhale three, four, five, exhale, three, four, five, two more and exhale three, four, five. Last set three, four, five, exhale three, four, five.

Knees into the chest, hug the legs. We're gonna go for good morning roll up. Feet are gonna be flat on the mat. Feet together, knees together, arms straight up to the ceiling. Simultaneous action, you're going to roll up as you roll up you're going to stretch the legs and find your C-curve.

Then from there, start with the tail, round down one vertebrae at a time as you round down, you're gonna slide the feet in on the mat. Let's do that again. Rolling up, reaching forward, C-curve, hands forward, stomach back, then tailbone under, slide feet in, roll down one vertebrae at a time all the way down. Let's go for one more. Rolling up as roll ups, simultaneously stretch the legs.

Then from there, bend the knees, as you bend the knees, roll down to your spine, one vertebrae at a time, all the way down. So for the next exercise, if you want you can put the towel underneath your back. Arms up to the ceiling now a regular roll up. Chin to the chest inhale, rounding up and exhale, C-curve, hands forward, stomach back. Inhale, tailbone under, round down one vertebrae at a time, exhale all the way down.

If this is too much for you, you can always go back to the good morning roll up. Chin to the chest inhale and exhale, C-curve hands forward, stomach back. Inhale, tailbone under, round down one vertebrae at a time, exhale all the way down arms go over the head. One more, arms to the ceilings, chin to the chest, inhale rounding up and exhale, reach forward, C-curve. Inhale round down one vertebrae at a time, exhale all the way down.

Okay. Arms will come right down to the sides, you're gonna bring soles of the feet flat on the mat, feet together, knees together. I want you to imagine that you have your pelvis on a scale. And for right now, actually let's put our hands underneath our hips and this will be our scale. So you wanna always have equal weight on either hand, you're gonna open the right knee to the side.

As you open the right knee, I want you to wrap to the left side of the abdominals. Then pull the leg back to center. Now open the left leg, wrap to the right side of the abdominal to allow the pelvis to stay square and still. Then pull the leg back to center. Keep the scale balanced as you open the right leg, don't allow more weight to go onto the right hand.

Then from there, close the knee. And now open the left leg as you open that leg and really press down through that right hip and then bring the knee back to a close. Let's go for one more. Right in the open, sprout to the left side of the abdominals to control any tipping on the pelvis and then come back to center. Last time to the left, left leg is gonna open, really wrapped to the right-sided abdominals.

Then from there, bring the knee back to a close. All right, you can remove the hands. Then from there, we're gonna keep that same idea of keeping our pelvis on a scale. You're gonna lift the right leg up knee to knee. Your goal is to always keep the scale balanced as you lower the leg down to the ankle, circle out, try not to let the scale tip.

And again, lower the leg down to the ankle, circle around, back up to that starting position. One more, while we're doing this, the left leg needs to stay still. Don't let the knee roll in and out. Reverse, open the legs, circle down and coming back up and open leg, I'm still wrapping to the left side of my abdominals to control my pelvis. One more, open the leg, circle down and lift up to knee height, then bend the knee, let's switch legs.

You're gonna lift the leg knee to knee, lower the leg down to the ankle, now really wrapped to the right side as you circle out and return to center. And again, lower the leg down, circle out when you're wrapping through the opposite side. Last time, down circle around, center reverse. Go out, circle down, lift up to knee level. And again, out two, circle down, lift up to me level, one more time out, circle down, lift up to me level, bend the knee.

All right, so you're going to bring your right knee into the chest. Roll the head neck and shoulders up, right hand on ankle, left hand on knee. Now from here, extend the left leg. Now we're gonna go for an exercise called the Piston, which is a Kathy Grant exercise. You're gonna lower the leg down then from there you're gonna circle out a little bit, return to center.

Lower down two. Your goal is have no movement in your hands while you're circling. And now lower down, circle around, center reverse, go out. Try not to allow that right leg to move. Only thing moving is the circling leg.

So we still have to work through the opposite side of the abdominals. One more time, out, circle down and lift. Now switch legs, lower the leg down, circle out to the right return to center. Lower down two. Circle out, no movement on the left body half and then lower down, circle around and center reverse.

Go out, circle down, lift the knee, out two, circle down, lift the knee, one more time out. Circle down and lift the knee. Then from there, bend the knee, bring the foot down, rest your head. We're gonna build on to this, now you're gonna extend the left leg straight, flex the foot. You're gonna bring the right knee into the chest, right leg up to the ceiling, turn the leg out, single leg circle just three, go across circle down and come back up to center.

Cross, circle down, up to center. One more time. Cross, round and center reverse. A little bit out, down across and up. A little bit out, no movement of the pelvis, only thing moving is the circling leg, one more time and around and center rotate the leg parallel.

Bend the knee, take a little pull of the leg. Then from there, you're gonna bring your left knee into the chest, your left leg up to the ceiling, turn out the leg and go across, circle down and up one. Cross, circle down and up two, keep the scale balanced. Don't allow the pelvis to tip reverse a little bit out, down a lot across up and stop. A little bit out, we're gonna add on to this exercise next week.

One more time, a little bit out, down and across. Rotate the leg parallel, bend the knee, take a good pull of your leg, then both legs out on the mat. You can do either good morning roll up or regular roll up. Roll up to your spine for five, four, three, two, and one. Great.

So you're gonna scoot forward, grab a hold of your ankles. Broad elbows out to the side. Then from there tight position, head and tail are gonna meet, tailbone under, rock back, come right back up and balance for three, two, one. And again rock and up in balance for three, two, hold there. Make two cups with your hands, bring your heels into the cups.

Now you're gonna rock back, you're gonna roll back up and hold there. Your goal is to have equal pressure with each heel into each cup. And again, rock. So make sure one heel doesn't push forward quicker than the other or harder than the other. Three, two more, rock, roll up.

And again, rock back, roll up, hold there today. Bring your feet down. You're gonna scoot a little bit backwards, reach the arms forward, roll down to your spine for five, four, three, two, one. Rest your head, rest your arms. Keeping the same idea of a scale.

You're gonna zipper up to the abdominals, think of your pubic bone pulling into your belly button. You're gonna bring your right knee, fold it into the chest. Now this is the tricky part, left leg is gonna come up and join it to keep the equal weight. Now this is the hardest part, don't let the pelvis change its position. You're gonna lower the right leg, then you're gonna lower the left leg.

Let's reverse. The left leg comes in. Now keep the scale balanced as the right leg comes up to join it. Keep the scale balanced, as the left leg comes down. Keep the scale balanced as the right foot comes down.

Let's go for one more. Right leg in, it's a small movement but it's a very exact movement. Left leg comes up. Now keep the stability, keep the stability as lower that right. Then keep the stability as you lower the left.

One more, left leg comes in, keep the stability of the pelvis. Don't allow it to change as the right leg comes up, then left leg comes down, keeping distance between bottom rib and hip the same. Keep the distance between bottom rib and hip the same as you lower the other one, okay. Roll the head neck and shoulders up right leg comes in, right hand on ankle, left hand on knee, left leg out to 45 degrees and we will go for the single leg stretch. Pull the right leg in, change pull the left.

Two and two, three and three, four and four, five more, one and one, two and two and three, three and four, four, five, and five, both knees in double leg. Inhale, reach, circle the arms, bend the knees and pull. Inhale, reach two, exhale circle in and pull, inhale, reach three, exhale circle in, rest the head, bring your hands underneath your hips roll the head, neck and shoulders up. Now as you extend the legs out, zipper up to the abdominals, do not increase weight on your hands. Then from there, bend the knees and come back in.

And again, as you extend out, keep the distance between the bottom ribs and the hips the same and come back in. If you're increasing weight on your hands, it means that you're losing that integration of pelvis and rib cage. Now let's add on the arms once again four more. As you reach out, don't change the distance. Circle and in pull.

And again, inhale reach, exhale, circle in then pull. Inhale, don't allow the pelvis to tip and then pull one more time. Inhale reach, exhale, circle in, right leg up, left leg out single straight leg stretch. Pull, pull, scissor, pull pull. Two, two, two, two, nice wide elbows, three, three, four, four, five, five, five, five more.

One, one, one, one, two, two, two, two, three, three, and pull, pull. Two more, pull, pull, pull, pull and pull, pull, pull, pull both legs up hands behind the head or underneath the hips. You're going to lower the legs for three, two, one lift to 90 lower two, two, three lifts to 90 lower three, two, three, lift to 90 hold. Bend the knees, rest your head, bring your hands underneath the hips again. Three more sets.

Roll the head, neck and shoulders up, both legs up similar to what you did with the double leg stretch, lower the legs, but don't increase weight on the hands. Come back to center. So the movement might be a little bit smaller, that's okay. And come back to center, lower two, three, lift to center, hands behind the base of the head, or you can keep the hands underneath the hips, lower the legs for three, two, one, double straight leg stretch and lower two, three lift to 90 and lower don't allow the distance to change. One more lower two, three up to 90 crisscross.

Twist to the right, hold for three, hold two, hold one, change hold two, three, change two, two, three. Change two, two, three change three, two, three. Change three, two, three and twist, twist, twist, bottom rib, two hip, bottom rib, two opposite hip, bottom rib. Let's go a little quicker now change one, one, two, two, three, three, four, four, five, five, knees in, relax. Now either a good morning roll up or regular roll up.

roll up to your spine for five, four, three, two, one. You can rest over for a sec, roll up to your spine. Then you're going to bring your heels a little wider than your mat if you're on a flat mat, if you are on a mat that has the moon boxes place them in the center of the moon box. Spine stretch forward, you're gonna reach the arms straight out in front of you. Squeeze your bottom, lift the spine roundup and over a big imaginary beach ball.

Hands forward, stomach back, heels forward, ball at the back crown of the head down. Then roll up tailbone, lower back, middle back, upper back, neck, head is the last thing you come up. Lift your spine round over and find the opposition peeling off of a wall. Then from there, roll up through your spine, one vertebrae at a time up against that wall to a nice tall straight back. Last time, lift, inhale, round over and exhale.

Exhale, exhale, exhale, exhale, inhale. Rolling up to your spine to a nice tall, straight, lifted back. Good. Bring your legs together, shake out. And then what you're gonna do is gonna rest over the legs, relax there don't force anything, just take a deep breath in and a big exhale exhale, exhale.

Inhale, imagine there's a pillow on your lap and exhale, exhale, exhale, one more time. Breathing in, and breathing out, out, out. Rolling up through your spine up to a nice tall, straight back. Okay, you can skip the same relationship you have right now. I'm actually gonna turn the face towards you guys for this next one.

And what you're gonna do is you're gonna balance on your sitz bones, but you want to be behind the sitz bone. So try not to have a flat back, a slight curve in the lower back. You're gonna keep equal weight and you're going to lift the right leg up. Then from there, lower the right leg. Now don't let the weight change on the pelvis, lift the left leg up and lower the leg.

Now if this is hard for you to grab your ankle, you can always hold behind the bike as well. Now lift the right leg up then from there, don't change the weight on the pelvis, left leg up then right leg bends, then left leg bends. Okay, and now let's switch. Left leg goes up, I should probably should have mirrored you guys, and then lower and then right leg goes up and lower without changing. This is the harder part.

You're gonna go up with the left keep the weight equal on both sitz bones or behind actually. Other leg goes up, then bend the left then from there, bend the right. I'm gonna turn around. Now you're gonna bring both legs up for the open leg rocker. You're gonna rock backwards, you're gonna come right back up and balance for three, staying behind those sitz bones two, three and again rock back, as you come up, heels forward and up and rib cage back and down.

And again rock back as you come up, hold there. Don't get fresh, we're gonna add on. You're gonna bring the legs together without changing anything on your pelvis, you're gonna bend the knees. Then from there, you're gonna extend the legs and open. This was called the balance control.

You're gonna bend your legs, then extend the legs and open one more time, bring the legs together. Bend, stretch, open. Let's add this on, you're gonna rock back one time. You're gonna come right back up and hold the position. Bring the legs together, bend the legs, stretch the legs and open rock back two come up and balance stay behind, legs together.

Bend the knees, stretch the legs and open one more time. Rock back, come back up, bring the legs together, as you bend the knees, arms inside of the legs, extend the legs but this time don't open up. Keep that position, reach forward, bind your teaser for three, hold there two hold there one, roll the spine down one vertebra at a time, bend the knees into the chest and relax. Now we're gonna go for corkscrew arms either down by the sides or hands underneath your hips. Legs straight up to the ceiling.

Pilates stance, imagine your spine is on a balance beam. Don't fall off of it. As you circle right down, left center. Circle left down, right center hold arms up to the ceiling. Now neither hand moves, circle right down, left center, circle left down, right center.

Arms down, same thing, keep that same squareness as you circle right down, left center. Don't fall off the beam left down, right center. Good, bend the knees hug the legs, feet come down, arms up and then roll up your spine or good morning roll up for five, four, three, two, one. Okay. The saw, heals in the center of each of the blocks if you have them otherwise to the outside of your mat.

Then from there, arms gonna go out to the side, peripheral vision. Lift your spine from the left shoulder blade, twist to the right, drop the arm. Let's reach your left middle finger past your right little toes to reach, reach, reach, and come back up to center. Lift and twist left, drop saw, while you're reaching past the little toe, pull your right hip back and down in opposition and come back up to center. Lift your spine twist to the right, drop the arm saw equate on both sides of the pelvis as you're reaching and come up to center.

Lift and twist to the left. Drop saw while you're reaching heel sitz bones, imagine they're like four wheels of a car. Come up to center, keep all four wheels on the pavement, lift and twist to the right. Drop the arms saw and reach all four wheels on the road and come up to center. And one more lift twist to the left, drop saw, try not to take that right back wheel off and then come back up to center.

Good, keep the legs where they are, shake out a little bit. Then from there, imagine you have two pillows in front of you just rest the torso there nice and easy. Take a deep in, and a big exhale, exhale, exhale, and again, breathing in and breathing out, out, out One more time, breathe in and breathing out, out, out. Rolling up to your spine on one vertebrae at a time to a nice tall back. Bring the legs together and we will go for the neck roll.

So I'm gonna have you guys lie down onto your stomach. Now you can always open your feet a little bit. I always say anyone over 35 really might be good for you to do that. If you have dowels hover them above, if not just spring them to the outside of the mat, hover them into the air. Then from there, you're gonna lift your upper body up and lower the body all the way down.

And again, lift your upper body up unassisted, then from there, lower the body all the way down. One more time. Lift the upper back up now this time when you can't go any higher, let the hands come down, but don't use your arms so much, just allow them to assist you. Then from there lower the body, when you feel like you can take the hands off, control the descent down all the way. Once again, lifting up unassisted, then from there, hands down, continue to rise as high as you can.

Now keep that position, zipper up to the abdominals, wrap to the ribs, lift to the crown of the head, look to the right. Circle the head down, look to the left, look forward, look left, if the arms are fully extended, make sure that you're not hyperextending the elbows. Center, look right, circle down to the left and forward. Last time look left, circle down, to the right, look forward then from there, roll down to your spine, one vertebrae at a time when you can, take the hands off control the descent all the way down. All right it's early for some of you guys on the West coast there.

So let's go for another cat prowl. You're gonna round the back like an angry cat and then arch the back, head up, tailbone up, and round the back. When I work with kids, I call this angry cat and happy cat and let the little shake their little tails if they want. One more time, round the back, you can do that too if you like and arch the back. Okay, you're going to go onto your stomach, make a Spinx position.

We're gonna take that image of a scale again, this time the front of our pelvis is on the scale. So I don't wanna tip to one hip or the other hip when I'm doing this exercise. All right, bend the right leg and kick twice. Kick, kick, now the left leg kick, kick, again right, right. Left, left, kick, kick, kick kick, one more kick, kick, kick, kick.

Now what you're gonna do is push your fists down into the mat so hard that your elbows come up off the mat about an inch. And lower down, but keep your head reaching upward and again, push your fists down, elbows lift up and out an inch. Now pull the elbows down as you lift up through the crown of the head, keep your head touching an imaginary ceiling. Don't come off the ceiling, let's go for six more. Kick, kick, kick, kick, kick, kick, kick, kick.

Keep the pelvis nice and stable. Kick, kick, kick, kick, keep pushing your head against the imaginary ceiling kick, kick. Okay, lower down we're gonna go for the double leg kick, hands are gonna go behind the back. As high up as you can kick both legs simultaneously, one, kick two, kick three, slide the arms down the back and lengthen, lengthen, lengthen. Lower down left kick one, three, now as you lift up for today keep your feet onto the mat.

And then lower down right cheek and kick one, kick two kick three, also keep your hands down for today. In a couple of weeks, we'll start to lift them. And now kick one, kick two, kick three, lift and lengthen, lengthen, one more set. Inhale one, kick two, keep inhaling three, exhale, exhale, exhale, lower down, kicking one, kick two, front of the hips open and exhale lift, lift, lift. Okay, lower down, one more cat-cow.

'Cause like I said it's early for some of you guys, round the back and arch the back and again round the back and arch the back one more time. Round the back and arch the back. Okay, you guys can turn around. We're gonna go for the neck pull. If you have a strap, use it but a lot of you won't so I'll just quickly review the allowable cheats that I talked about the last two weeks.

If you try to come up, allowable cheat number one, you can bring your elbows forward to help yourself up. Allowable cheat number two, elbows forward, hands off briefly to help yourself come up. Allowable cheat number three, elbows forward, hands off, you can bend the knees, it's all about the sustainment. So I don't want you guys throwing your body up and I don't want you guys to take the cynic route up. Okay?

All right, let's start up, hands behind the base of the head, then from there, you're going to hinge back and hold. We're gonna go for a little mini, gonna curl the tailbone under round the lower back, now hold there. Now round forward, then roll up to your spine, tailbone, lower back, middle back, upper back, neck, head. Now hinge back hold, then curl tailbone under, sacrum from under, go to the last vertebra L5 then round forward, nose to knees. I call this the mini-neck pull and roll up to your spine to a tall back.

One more, you're gonna hinge back, then from there curl under, till you get to the first vertebra there. Then from there round forward, then roll up to your spine, let's reverse it. Head is gonna go forward now from here, tailbone under sacrum under, real to L5 and hold. Now in a back diagonal lengthen tailbone, lower back, middle back, upper back, neck, head and come back up to center. And again, round forward, tailbone under, keep a tight ball, matching your rounding underneath the ceiling.

Then from there, tailbone lower back, middle back, upper back, neck, head and come up to central. Ooh, that's the tremor of truth there. One more drop the head and rolling under then from there, tailbone, lower back, middle back, upper back, neck, head and hold it there, tremor there. Hold now round under all the way down. If you need allowable cheat, you can use it.

Now we're gonna go for the regular neck pull. Chin to the chest inhale, exhale, nose to knees. Inhale, roll up through your spine, exhale, hinge and round down tailbone, lower back, middle back, upper back, neck, head, two more. Inhale up, exhale, nose to knees. Inhale, rolling up to your spine, hinge, exhale, round under tailbone, lower back, middle back, upper back neck, head, last time.

Chin to the chest and exhale, nose to knees. Inhale, rolling up, hinge back tall, then round under tailbone, lower back, middle back, upper back, neck, head will be the very last thing to come down. Okay, we're gonna go for the shoulder bridge. Feet are gonna be in line with knees, knees aligned with hips. Let's warm up a little bit first.

You're gonna start with the tail, you're gonna lift up to a bridge then soften at the sternum, meltdown one vertebrae at a time, all the way down to the tail. And again, tailbone initiates rolling up. I always think of my teacher Kathi Ross Nash. She does, kill the fish, got the fish all the way down the middle. She said, "lady you can clean that fish and eat the fish." I'm a vegetarian though.

Now tailbone initiates, rolling up this time keep the hips up. Try not to roll in or out on your feet. Bring your right knee into the chest. Right leg up to the ceiling, lower knee to knee, lift to 90. Knee to knee, lift to 90, knee to ankle if you can get it there.

Look to 90, bend the knee, bring your foot down. Left knee into the chest, left leg up lower knee to knee, lift to 90, knee to knee lift to 90. Now knee to ankle if you can get it, lift up, bend the knee, bring your foot down. Now keep the lift of the hips, reach the arms overhead. Not so far back though.

Then from there you're gonna reach your fingertips away, as you melt, kill the fish, gut the fish all the way down the middle, so then you later can clean and eat that fish. Good. All right, at least I think it's good. All right, what we're gonna do is I'm gonna have you guys lie down onto your side. Okay?

You're gonna have one line from your elbow to your tailbone. Then from there, I'm going to have you bring your head down for the moment. Then from there, I lied, bring your legs all the way underneath you, there we go. Now come here, you're gonna bring your arm over your head. Your goal is to keep this straight line.

Now what happens is people start to cheat and all the feet slowly come forward, don't do that. Try to keep your straight line. It's not gonna be a big movement. We're gonna lift the leg up. Then from there imagine you're squeezing the magic circle, you're gonna kick front, front, back, back, two, two, back, back.

So it's probably not gonna be big, three, three, back, back, kick, kick, back, back. One more kick, kick, and back, back. Okay, leg on top of leg, turn out the leg then from there, kick the leg up, resist it down. Kick it up two, try not to move anything in that upper body. Kicking up three, resist it down, kicking up four resist it, one more.

Keeping up five, resist it down. Now, small little circles, circle one, circle two, circle three, circle four, circle five. Reverse one, and two, and three, and four, and five. Okay, so working on using our core for stability, it's like the keystone of a bridge. Now you could bring your feet forward, you can prep your head up onto your hand.

Now the hand that's free, sit it underneath your rib cage and just let the weight of your ribs fall onto that hand. Lift the leg up hip height. Now you're gonna kick the leg front, front and back, back. Now this time as you kick, feel if your weight goes heavier when you're taking front or when you're kicking back. Kicking front, front and back one more, front, front and back.

So, ideally it should be neither. If you feel it, you're either rocking forward or rocking back. Now remove the hand and we're gonna go for two more. Kick, kick and stretch, kick, kick, and stretch, stretch, stretch. Now five more with both hands behind the head.

Lift the leg up hip height and kick front, front and stretch two, two, now that top elbow should not be blowing around in the wind guys. Two more kick, kick and back, one more kick, kick, and back, back, back. Okay, leg on top of leg, then from there, rotate the leg, kick the leg up, resist it down, kick up two resist it down, kick up three and let's go for three circles. Circle one, circle two circle three, reverse one circle, two circle, three. Okay, let's go for transitional leg beats, one hand on top of the other hand, forehead on top of that.

Reach the legs long, float the legs up, and they're gonna open, close the legs. Open, close 10, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three two, one squeeze. And again, and beat two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, squeeze. One more and beat two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, squeeze, lower the legs. I'm going to flip this way so you can see me, I can't see you, but I'm gonna flip this way.

If you want, you can always just put to your other side belt your choice. All right, so one hand on top of the other hand, bring the legs back so the legs are in one line. Then from there squeeze an imaginary magic circle there. Lift the leg up, you're gonna find one side is a little harder to balance than the other side. Kick front, front, back, back.

This is my harder side. I'm a little bonier on this hip. Kick, kick, back, back two more kick, kick, back, back. One more kick, kick, back, back. Okay, if it's not gonna work extra hard here.

Now the up and the down, kicking up, resisting down, really looking hard 'cause I do not wanna fall backwards and embarrass myself. And down now small circle, circle one, circle two, circle three, reverse one, reverse two reverse three. Okay, you're gonna prop up your head, bring your feet forward, take the hand that's free, allow your rib cage to sit there. Your goal is to try not to have more weight on your hand when you kick forward or when you kick back, keep it even throughout. Lift the leg up and kick front, front.

So you have to figure out what to do? Kick, kick, find your strategy, keep it nice and even throughout, kick, kick and back. All right, now from there, you're gonna bring the hand down, lift the leg, kick, kick, and back kick, kick pull long. Now hands behind the head, five more, kick, kick, and back, two, two and back, three, three, and two more kick, kick. One more kick, kick and back, leg on top of leg rotate, keep that elbow from moving as you kick up, resisting down, kick up two, resist down, kick up three, resist two more.

Just actually that's enough. Now small circles, we only need to three. So for one, two, three, reverse and one, two, and three. Okay, we are gonna go for the teaser. Okay, so what I'd like to do today, is I like to start with Kathy Grant's teaser, rolling into teaser.

So you're going to round forward then from there, you're gonna pull your fist into the sternum roll backwards. At a certain point, the heel should be light. Open the arms to the side, then from there, press back on one plane at a certain point, the legs should get light. You can just float them up and you're in your teaser. Bend the knees and then extend up.

And again, curling under, bringing the fist into the sternum, Keep the curve of the lower back, open the arms to the side. Now on one plane, don't let the hands lower bring them back. The legs will come up on their own accord. There we go. And bend the knees and then lifting up.

Let's go for one more. Curling under deep and deep and deep, and then from there open the arms on one plane, press back. I would say it's like magic, but as you know, it's physics. Hold there. Now without lowering the legs or lifting them, I want you to roll down just a little bit where you can roll back up and again, roll down without any change in the legs and roll back up, one more.

And roll down, keeping the legs nice and still and roll back up. Now hold there, now the upper body stays still as you lower the legs where you can, lift the legs. So it's not about the range, it's about quality, quality over quantity and lift. Now know Mary Lou Retton and keep the ribs down as you lift the arms up. Now, everything goes down, head and feet are gonna arrive at the very same time.

Now everything comes up and you're gonna reach for those toes. Lift the arms up, everything goes down, head and feet are gonna arrive at the very same time. Everything comes up, reach for those toes. Arms to ears, everything comes down and everything comes up. Reach for the toes, arms to ears.

Everything comes down, down, down. Okay, arms to the ceiling, roll up to your spine for five, four, three, two, one. Similar to what we did last week. If you have that towel, place the towel underneath your back. We're gonna go on the forearms, then from there, you're gonna pull your pubic bone, zipper it up into the belly button and release.

And again, zipper up pubic bone to belly button, nice and release, at least I'm doing well. One more time, at least I think I am anyways. Pull in now hold there. Keep that push, try not to let the lower come up. And you're gonna bring the knees into the chest, legs straight up to the ceiling, rotate to Pilates stance and circle right, down, left center.

Circle left, down, right center and right, down, left center left. Try not to let the lower back from off of that towel or the imaginary towel. Last time, circle left, down, right center. Bend the knees, now one hand comes up, then the other hand goes up, push in with the lower back, bring the knees into the chest, extend the legs up. Same thing, circle right, down, left center left.

Keep that backward push through the lower back right down, left center, left down. If you make it too big, you're gonna do too much hip flexor not enough core and left down, right center, bend the knees, then round over and stretch for three, two, one. Gonna roll up to your spine to nice tall, straight back. Then from there, let's do some swimming. all right, same idea.

Pelvis is gonna be on a scale, keep the scale nice and balanced, arms are gonna go forward. You're gonna lift the upper body up right arm up, left leg up and swim, swim two, three, four, five, and exhale, three, four, five, inhale and exhale three, four, five in with the air and exhale three, four, five, lower down, go onto your hands and your knees round the back, like an angry cat, arch the back, head up, tail bone up round the back two and then arch the back two. Last time. Round the back three and arch the back three. Then from there, you're going to make a straight line.

I want you to imagine you have a bar across your waist. Keep the bar even, lift the right leg up, think of it as a long tight rope bar. And then right leg lowers, left leg lifts, left leg lowers, right leg lifts. Don't allow that imaginary bar to tip. Left leg up and lower, one more time.

Right leg up and lower, left leg up and lower, bend the knees and rest two, three. We're gonna do the same thing, but this time we're gonna add on a heel rock. So first lift up, don't lift the leg yet. Just rock the heels back, back, come center, back, back and center, back, back, center. Now keep the pelvis still, right leg goes up, keep it still as go back, back, center, change legs, go back, back, center.

So it's not about how high the leg lifts, it's about how stable can my pelvis stay. And now lift back, back, forward. One more back, back and center last time back, back and center. Okay. So what you're gonna do is you're gonna sit down I'm gonna mirror you.

You're gonna bring your right heel, right in front of your sitz bone. You're gonna bring the arm up then from there, bend over and take a side stretch, two, three. Now lift up today, open, switch, and now push down with your opposite hip and then come up, two, three, go over and stretch, stretch, stretch, equal weight on both sides of the pelvis, lifting up, balance of any equal weight on both sides as you push down with that opposite side, and coming up two, last time over to this time. Bend the elbow, stretch the arm one, bend two, stretch two, bend three, stretch three, lift up, find your balance change, and now reach, reach, reach, and up, two, three. Okay, both arms side, stretch, then bring the other heel in.

So this one will be your left heel. I'm doing my right to mirror you. All right, arm to ear, and you're gonna go over and stretch and lifting up two, three, then reaching opposition, pulling down through the hip as you reach out through the fingertips and lifting up two, three. And over you can use your elbow to help push against your thigh, two, three, and reach, reach, reach, and up two, one more. Over in the hole, let's get a little bit upper ribs as you bend and stretch one, bend stretch two one more time.

Bend stretch three, lift up, two, three, then reach, reach, reach, and up, two, three. Now both legs, side as wide as you can get them. And then you're gonna bend to one side as you thread the other arm underneath. And then come up and then bend to the other side. Notice that one side you're able to move further and center, and bend.

So for me, this is my more flexible side, I can go much further over. As I go to this side, I can't go as far. I am, I do have scoliosis, but everyone has a little bit of sideness. And now one more, you're gonna go over. Just take notice which one is your looser side?

That's mine. And which one is your tighter side? This is my tighter side. I can't go as far over on the side without compromising the stability of my pelvis. Now I want you to now go to the side that you can move less.

So your tighter side. You're gonna go over and stretch and hold the tighter side. Take a deep breath in on the exhale, see if you can go a little further. Inhale, on the exhale see if you can go a little further, one more time. Inhale, and exhale, exhale, exhale, and then come back up and relax.

Okay, let's go for the seal. So you're gonna reach through, you're gonna find your balance behind your sitz bones, and then you're gonna clap your feet three times. Clap one, two, three, and back. Clap two, three, and two, clap two, three, two, clap two, three and three, clap two, three, three, clap two, three and four. Clap two, three, four, clap two, three and five clap two, three, five, clap two, three, one more, six, and six, clap two, three and stick it, glue it, pack it, rest your feet down.

Let your head rest forward, take a deep breath in, and a big exhale, exhale, exhale. And again, breathe in and breathe out, out, out. One more breath, breathe in and breathe out, out, out, rolling up to your spine. Now the next exercise we're gonna do, it's a little bit better if you are on a harder surface. So what I'm gonna do is I'm just gonna bring this back a little bit, just so I can go in the front.

All right. And this exercise is an exercise that I learned from Kathy Corey. But it's very valuable. I'm gonna have you guys sit down on a hard surface. Then from there, you're going to briefly close your eyes.

Then from there, you're gonna feel if one sitz bone has a little bit more weight on it or a little bit less. So this is why it's important to be on a hard surface because you can feel a little bit better that way. So for me, I have more weight on my right hip, I have less weight on my left. So I'm gonna lift my left hand up and I'm gonna open up my eyes. All right.

So if you remember when we did this exercise, this is the side I couldn't bend as far over. So it makes sense that my left hip has less weight on it because my left side is my short end side. All right, so I'm gonna bring my right knee down onto the floor. I'm gonna have my right hand, just out to the side, my left hand is going to just lightly rest onto my right thigh. Now the goal in the movement is coming from the sitz bone.

So I don't want any movement of the knee. I'm just gonna think of pulling my hip down to the floor, down, down and release. This hand is to make sure that the leg stay stable, two, three release. So for me and my left leg, I'm gonna pull down three, two, three release and pull four. So you're working on the side that had less weight on it.

And pull down five, two, three, release. Let's go for two more. Pull down, down, down, release, one more. Pulling down, down, down and release. Okay, so now we're gonna go to the second side, for me this would be my looser side, pulling down, down, down release.

I have a lot greater range of motion on the side, two, three, and release, and three, two, three release. I'm still trying to stabilize the knee and not allow it to open or close. And one more time, five, two, three, release. So I did seven and five. Let's now go to the first side, now as my hip is pulling downward, my hand is gonna reach upward in opposition.

And I'm gonna pull two, three, release, pull two. I'm still trying not to move my knee and release. I'm working on my sitz bone reaching down, my hand reaching up and release. Let's go for two more. And just reach, reach.

I'm trying to find the length on this left side. One more time and reach, reach, reach, and release. Okay, let's go now to the second side and then reach one, two, three, release. See how I've a lot more range on this side, two, three, and release, one more time. And three, two, three release, did five and three.

First side, you're going to bring the hand and now just frame the knee. So I have a slight rotation of my body. I'm gonna pull my left hip down, down, down, and release. I'm gonna pull it down, down, down and release. One more, pull down, down, down release.

I'm not gonna go to the second side, let's just find center again. Close the eyes. Is there a change? For me, I'm a little bit more even than I was when I first closed my eyes. Now I feel almost equal weight on both sides of my sitz bones.

Whereas before I had a lot more weight on my rights sitz bone. All right, you can open your eyes, we're gonna do one more exercise today. I'm gonna have you guys stand up and you're gonna go, as I'm as tall. You're gonna go to the floor again. You're gonna have your legs parallel, so I'm standing behind so you can see me a little bit better, but actually I could probably stand in front.

So what I'm gonna do, no, I'm gonna stand here. 'Cause I'm going to have my feet parallel. Then from there, I'm going to just bend over to one side, bend over to the other side. So I'm a little bit wider than my shoulders over and over. I'm seeing what side bend further to.

Over and over. So for me, this hand goes a lot further down so that once again, this side is looser for me. This side is a little bit tighter. Not as bad as it was earlier though. So what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna bring my arm up the one that's tighter on that side, and let's go over and stretch, take a deep breath in and a big exhale, exhale, exhale, inhale, and exhale, exhale, exhale.

Try not to displace the hips, inhale and exhale, exhale, exhale. And then I'm gonna come back up, then I'm gonna switch. I'm gonna go over to my looser side, see how this hand goes much further. And so instead of going over, I'm gonna pull up, two, three, release, up, two, three, release. I'm gonna contract up, two, three, release.

All right, lift up and switch and then go over one more time. This is the asymmetrical movement pattern. You're gonna go over and stretch, stretch, stretch, inhale and exhale, exhale, exhale. One more inhale and exhale, exhale, exhale. I'm gonna lift up, bring my arm down, I'm gonna take another test.

I'm gonna pinch, see where I go, pinch, see where I go. And it's fairly even, much more even, much more even than it was when I first tried it. So this is something that Rachana Krishna Houska my teacher used to do a lot, when she saw there's an imbalance she would either go tight, loose, tight, or weak, strong, weak to help find that balance again. So I wanna thank you guys. I want everyone to stay safe, stay smart, wear those mask, be healthy, and I'll see you guys next week hopefully.

Have a wonderful day, everybody.