Big Ball of Fun

Hi everybody, welcome to class. As always I'm so happy you're here, I hope you are happy that you made the commitment to yourself for the next 40 or so minutes. And I called it ball of fun, maybe big ball of fun because last week was small ball of fun and let's hope it works out that way. I always like to take the props and use them in ways that just allow me to build on skills that really go back into traditional Pilates exercises. So some of this we'll just have to be creative 'cause we're on a ball and some of it will be closer to the real deal.

So grab your ball, mine's about 55, 65 centimeters. It doesn't actually say but it seems to suit me and let's begin. Set your intention, mine is have a little bit of fun 'cause don't we all need that? So all I'm gonna start with is, bring the ball close to you and this is sort of the first fun thing, see if you can keep it near you. As we do a roll down to make connection with our ball we're gonna dance with it the whole time.

Take a deep breath and just inhale, find your fit, you're parallel. And as you exhale round down, look at that ball that's your friend for the next 40 minutes. Hang or touch the ball, just fully palm it. Now you may decide you wanna turn your hands and do things like that. But for right now, I just want to feel the ball and gently push into it even as I draw my belly upwards.

Then inhale, exhale and just let it go and come back up. Stay right there. We had a conversation, inhale, exhale, think up to go over. Sometimes even a ball reference comes in on this warmup exercise. Place your hands on the ball, notice your collarbones are wide even as your spine is rounded.

Gently, press down as you connect to your abdominals, almost like you wanted to do a handstand, but not that intense. Come back up and inhale. Beautiful day here in Santa Barbara. It's one of the few that hasn't started super foggy in weeks. So yay, already having fun, exhale down.

This time we'll stay down there a little bit. Add a little bit of pressure. It's not about the wrist of the hand so much, but it's like, can I put more pressure as I draw the belly up and let my head hang, lighten up on it inhale. Go again, we're not coming up yet. Exhale pull up the belly, feels funny that to say sink it when you're in this position, doesn't it?

But you get what I'm saying. Try not to lean back, it's subtle, super subtle. We're making connection with the ground, the ball, ourselves hopefully. Let me do a couple more. I'm just kind of gently pressing as I try to almost lift my waist away from the ball.

One more time. From there, we'll let our body come back up. Our hands, leave the ball. We'll do just a little bit more of a roll down but it'll be more of a roll out this time. Inhale, as you exhale, roll down, find your fingertips on the ball probably on the side, closest to you.

Start to roll down, you can bend your knees and stretch your arms out, stretch your back out. Do bend the knees, reaching the tailbone back. Look for that long spine. Inhale, start the exhale and draw the belly up again. Subtle pressure is cool, but don't overdo that with the hands in that position and come back up all the way to the top.

Inhale, exhale round forward. Find the ball. You can always adjust your hands, right? No one could cue you what you need for support or balance as you get going. So just adjust that.

I'd like to end up somewhere around my forearms. So my hands are actually quite free here. That way I can even shrug my shoulders here. I'm in the long flat, hopefully diagonal line and then exhale from the, well, you know where the lungs of course, but just start rolling back up from the tailbone and come back up. We'll just do two more.

Inhale, exhale take it forward. Find that ball, move it where you need to, let it be your support, let it help you today. I'm gonna bend my knees a little more, tilt my tailbone up a lot more. Draw my ribs in and really shrug the shoulders this time before I roll up a D-shrug, if that's a word and roll back up. Same sequence, last one coming up here and exhale.

Round, adjust, we go. Oh, come knock it, enjoy it. Find some sort of lubrication in those joints. Maybe move it around a little. Inhale, draw the belly in exhale, roll back up.

All the while, I'm just sort of checking in with myself, hopefully you are too. Okay, let's keep kind of that idea. Well, not that idea. I'll come back to that idea in a minute. We're gonna do some, I'm gonna call it foot and leg work but it's really not.

So why don't you just sit on your ball and we'll be walking out to lay back on it a little. So give yourself a little room so your feet still stay on the mat or if you have a wood floor, it might be okay too. So just give it a little bounce and kind of be loose about it so that your body starts to go, all right, right, if I'm gonna stay up without falling on the ball, I'm gonna have to naturally without you thinking contract around the spine. Weird sound, I don't know if you can hear that, that's okay. Anyway, yours is probably doing the same but it's the idea that okay, I'm upright.

And if I weren't, I'd feel the compression on one side of my body, but hey, let's have some fun. Just kind of loosen up, you know, truly and I do mean it just like ragdoll it, ragdoll it, new Pilates term, just to kind of let tension go, less tension is more efficiency when you actually get going. Settle down soon, kind of easy, easy, easy and here's where we're going into. It's really to, stuff coming off of me all over. It's really, this next bit is to tap into the backside of the body.

But if you want to think Pilates, think foot and legwork. So I just move myself forward 'cause I'm gonna roll myself out to where my feet feel, knees are over the ankles, perhaps as a way of looking at it, I'm stable on the ball, I'm gonna support my head putting my hands behind my head. Nothing severe here, right now I just want you to roll yourself down, do it so you know, the ball's not gonna slip out from underneath you and then just let yourself roll back a little, okay? And just sort of massage your spine starting that baby's back extension situation. Nothing, I don't even need to cue it.

Just sort of gently rock yourself back and forth finding the ball. If I cued anything, it would be to hinge at the hips as you come down. So they kind of, your back, mimics the ball a bit. Doesn't have to be load and doesn't have to be severe, it's just like, okay, here we go. Depending on where you've been in your day or life perhaps, opening the chest can be kind of startling sometimes.

So I'm taking my time for a second, one more like that and let's just get the feet involved a little as you come up, once you're there flex your feet then draw down, let your toes go down. So you push out, flex just sort of like, all right, my feet matter too. Simple, simple if it bothers you to look up just look forward, that's cool, right? Push it out. It's like right, making a wave like motion with the ball almost, enjoy it now 'cause it's gonna change in just a second, last one here.

Okay, if you need to adjust the ball you do, I kinda, I feel pretty good. Sometimes I have to adjust the ball right there. Now we're down as much as we can. You almost look forward here. Yeah, I gonna adjust it just a bit.

You know, I don't wanna fall, I wanna be, have fun. Okay, so I'm still in a bit of a back extension. From here, instead of rolling the ball, just lift the hips. Until maybe your head is on the ball and you're looking straight up and you're in a tabletop. Then you hinge and come down, balls trying, you're trying not to roll the ball, up again.

So probably don't need to tell you where I'm starting to focus on or bring awareness to but I will 'cause everyone knows I can't stop talking. It's in glutes hamstrings, just find them. It's nothing severe, we're warming up. We go down, we go up. Take your upper body with you though.

So what I mean is don't leave your head there and just lower your hips. That's a different deal, it's not what I'm doing. Let's do a couple more still. Lift so it's really mechanical in its own way. Okay, there we go, stay up or come back up then wiggle walk your feet, wiggle, whatever bring your heels together so you're in that Pilate stance.

It's up to you if you lift your heels, I kind of think we should. Feel all 10 toes particularly that, well for me the big toe try to keep them on the ground and balanced. Same thing, go down, your head's gonna come off the ball. You go back up, down and up, you go down and up, down and up. You get it, how about four?

And squeeze as much as you want but are you squeezing equally? One more and let your heels go down, wiggle, wiggle, why do I say wiggle? Don't wiggle or wiggle, let's have fun, let's wiggle. Parallel feet, here's what we wanna do. We're gonna come down for one.

Then just recommit to the sense of having a straight tabletop when you come up. Yes, you're gonna lift up. For some of us we have to really think pubic bone towards sternum, right? Otherwise you're just sort of dropped into your hips and it's nothing. So find, you'll know when you're there.

Then test yourself. Are you really there? Are you there as much as you can be? Tuck more, that's a tuck for me. It doesn't look like a tuck, does it?

It's not ultimately, but it is this, the energy of one. From here, we lift the heels. Try to keep them parallel to you. I know you can't look at them, but that's all right. Push them down and try not to move the ball.

Lift them up, push them down, up, down. Oh, if you cramp, you just shake it out and up and down and up and down, I wish I had some music for this one only, here we go. Alternate, switch, switch. Just notice yourself, right leg or pick a foot, just alternate and as you do that, you're not changing your pelvis theoretically, your ribs aren't resting, your butt isn't dropping. Think of it that way maybe, couple more, even it out for yourself and voilà, we're gonna let our heads come off the ball.

Our body drop just a little for a tiny little release. Walk your feet further apart like I'm going wide. My heels are on the mat, my toes are not if that helps. Hands back and do you support yourself, right? So here we are chilling and then we're going up and we go down.

We go up and we go down. And so the backside of the body is so critical to some of the most all of the advanced exercises. If you can't connect to it, you're gonna struggle with just making the motions or the shapes. So what I'm encouraging us to do today is go right, okay. I'm gonna use the backside of my body.

Of course, the rest of the body but we know that part easier. Push, how about your toes? Are they still on the ground all of them? So proud of myself, I'm not even counting so you don't think I'm off count. That's fun for a Pilates teacher, isn't it?

Down and up, down, how about one more time? Down and up, that much I can handle. Walk your feet in yes, from here we're just gonna help ourselves up for just a moment, you can let go your arms, walk yourself up, sit on the ball. Enjoy the view, wherever you are. Give yourself that little bit of the bounce again.

'cause we're gonna change focuses. We're gonna go ahead into, the part we normally would do, a little bit of the front of the body. Okay, good enough. So now going back out, this time we're gonna position ourselves so that the, I guess I'm gonna say, shoulder blade area. You'll know when you get there, you want it feel secure.

So just take yourself out, support your head again. But this time we're more over the ball than we were last time. So now we're gonna keep that subtle sense of a pelvic tuck as we extend the upper back over the ball. I'll move in a second, but just sort of enjoy that or look for the joy if you don't already feel it and then keeping your hips where they are, my feet are kind of wide. They can be closer if you wanna challenge your balance, I'm just kind of going for the fun I told you.

So we're rolling. Head, neck and shoulders forward, keeping the hips up though. If you drop the hips, it sort of just a waste of energy. Let's not waste energy. Use your energy.

Extend just lying back. Exhale, it's sort of your old fashion crunch, isn't it? But... Nice, last week, if you were here we talked about trying to pop the ball. It doesn't work as well here but I do think of pressing the sternum down into the ball or the ribs into the ball or the shoulder blades into the ball, something like that.

So there's a sense of anchoring even as I try to get up, the ball itself is pretty still. Right, no big deal, couple more. Oh, warming up here. Next one, just stay up and curl forward. Reach your arms forward, hand over hand and from here, rotate toward that knee.

So it's a downward angle. Rotating those hands just lined up right outside the knee so whichever hand is on the bottom, that pinky, wait, it's all right, nevermind. Just outside the knee. Come across the center, your hips are still up. Get your hips up, I see you.

You're not moving, you're not rotating nothing. It's kind of small, yeah, that's so fun, I know that, if that's all right. It's fun to try to keep yourself where you think you want to be. And in this case, it's the lower body still, collarbones wide. Almost a sense of pressing down for me from the upper arm, just getting ourselves ready for a little more oblique action.

Voila, voila, voila, last one for me over to the other side come back to the center. You can just put your hands behind your head again. Wind your way back, let yourself back, keep your hips up and if it's available to you, stretch your arms out long, have a strong sensation that a hummingbird is about to come in here as I look back and see it floating. That would be nice too, that'd be fun. Put your hands behind your head, just enough so you can regroup, 'cause we need just one more little thing here and actually I'm walking up so might as well join me, it's easier to situate yourself.

I just wanna do a lateral shift of the ribs. So I'm not a dancer, but if I were I don't know what they call that thing where they do it with the ribs. I just wanna do a little bit of that before we keep going. So what that means is we want our heads fully rested on the ball. Again, it's not always available to everyone but I hope it is to you.

All right, I'll deal with the shirt later. All right, arms are out to a T. My feet are basically parallel maybe a little wider than my hips for balance. Hips are up, tabletop position, slide your ribs to the right or as if someone pulled that right hand, then come back to center. There's not a rotation here or I'm trying not to.

If your ball is a lot bigger than you, you might naturally have one or before just have one, I should say and center, I went left. I'm going back to the right, hips still move theoretically and center. It's just like, all right there I am. Over and back, if you wanna challenge you could put your hands behind your head. That gives you a little bit more balanced issues but also kind of forces me into a rotation.

So I do it like this. Over and back. You feel more weight on whichever leg you're going towards probably that's cool. Over and back and over and back. Right, Just while we're here, close up the arms like you're hugging a tree or perhaps a large ball.

And I think of that from the biceps more like, when I'm up top, I'm like squeezing my pecs and everything rather than a pretty thing. I'm squeezing open, stretch wider but not lower than your shoulder height and up and open, feel your backside yet? And up, are you sagging? No, that's not what we do. But we check though.

Definitely gotta check and up, 'cause sometimes even when you think, you know you're working, still could be a tiny bit more. Next one, stay up, all I'm doing here, we were hugging it's almost like we were about to clap. I'm turning my palms away from me. So just away, like you're about to do the a hundred, but you're not. You're welcome.

Reach your right arm backwards. Your left arm forward to the line of your body. If you can, bring them back up, switch, left arm back, right arm forward to the line of your body. Meaning not way down to the ground and up. And it's best you can try not to shrug the shoulder of the arm that's going back.

If you have to go a little wider that's okay. Try to keep it straight off your shoulder. One more each arm. Feel your glutes yet? And switch, isn't that fun?

Not really, okay, here we go. Same, same start, we'll go right arm back, left arm down, just turn your palms up and go into a T position, continue to the other side and come back to the start. So it's on same side, right arm's going back. I circle around through that T position. Hips are still there and come back to the start.

One more time. Right arm back, left arm down, circle through the T, open up those shoulders and come back up. Reverse it, so the left arm goes back, open through and around that T and come back up two to go. Back, open, do what's natural with your hands, no thinking there just trying to open the shoulders. High, easy, no stress sort of except for my glutes right now.

And that's not gonna get a whole lot better. I think that was three. So we're just gonna let the arms come down pick our heads up, help ourselves all the way up and just kind of shake it out. Ragdoll it, again wish I had music, but you can hear the beat in your own body. All right, now then we're going to the floor when put our feet on this ball and do a little bit more spinal articulation and get on with the, you know, the abs.

So take yourself down. Just make sure your head's on the mat, feet come up on the ball parallel. And if I were just doing a pelvic curl which is not really just a pelvic curl again we're back into those hamstrings. My suggestion would be try not to grip your feet for a couple of reasons. One, you might push the ball out from underneath you, but two, it just makes it harder.

So they're there, they're planted and you have a spine that moves. Arms are down, we inhale , as you exhale sink the belly, like climb up almost like you're climbing your spine up your legs and your legs are just lifting you up to that nice long line. You get to use your arms. You know what to do, if you cramp, you just shake it out or come down inhale exhale from the top of the spine or the throat. I kind of think this is from the front of the body, spreading out the back of the body and inhale, exhale, scoop, and lift.

Adjust where you need to, right, like it's the arms might creep up, shoulders, et cetera. Tention might come in, inhale, exhale down. The balls are relatively still. It will teach you. It will tell you what you need, it needs, inhale just stay still, exhale.

Check yourself out. I don't want you to keep looking down, but get a glimpse that your butt's not way lower than your ribs. You want them up there and exhale down, Okay, here's where it gets fun. Exhale, curl up. Try to keep your toes on the ball if you can.

That's not really possible for a lot of us but we get to try for that. From here, we keep those hips in the position meaning the tech position. They will lower as we push the ball away. In other words, the whole body comes down a bit. And then as the leg, the ball comes back in the hips rise up again and push it away.

Doesn't have to be straight. I don't even want it straight and come back up. Used your triceps, extend, Pull up, push out, pull up, keep the connection the whole time. I haven't sighed yet? I'm gonna pretend each and every one of you said yes.

Yes Kristi it's awesome. Okay, we're in. We're gonna roll down, I'm gonna be so happy we did. Her feet are relaxed, they're still parallel. We get to take one leg off, hug it in.

Stretch the other leg out, flex it, drag the ball back in, or just bring it back in. Switch, flex that other foot enjoy. Good, good, good, good. Here we go, I am skipping the a hundred, i've meant it earlier. So you don't have to worry about that.

But what we are gonna do is just take your legs outside the ball, stretch them out so the ball's long. I have to, I liked my legs slightly lifted. You could do it from the ground or you could just roll up but I'm gonna hold the ball a little bit higher and roll up to it. Ah, take that stretch your hands, your hamstrings kinda need it. Do what you can.

Alright, here we go. Pick up the ball, put it on your feet and where are you put your hands it's kind of up to you. I think holding the side is probably gonna be most enjoyable, again, that's the point. We're gonna roll the ball down our body just to our shoulder blades. Just bring it with you, just bring it.

Adjust your hands as you need to, stop there, inhale then roll the ball away from you. Roll the ball away from you Roll away from you almost off your toes and come again. If you want a breath pattern, I inhale right here. I start this exhale as if I could push down on the ball on my legs or belly, but depending where it is. And then as I roll forward, still exhaling, still exhaling, taking the big stretch, holding those hip bones back.

Start rolling back, exhale to take you all the way down, back of the head touches, inhale, exhale, rolling it up. Kind of light on the hands, right? It's just like, it's just here, but it is like the sense of, sometimes you hear this giant C curve as if you're rolling over a ball, let this be your guide and take it down your image if you will. Back, and down, inhale, exhale, up ,keep going, take that stretch, pull those hips back. Last you roll back, I am gonna be picking up the ball you don't have to, but I am going to, so I'm picking it up and I'm my entire arm is connected, not just my hands, I reached back a little, maybe I'll even touch this ball big and come again.

Roll up, this time you don't have to roll on the legs, but you can, stretch, Inhale, exhale, roll back, It's up to you whether the ball is or is not on your legs and again. Shark Patrol is outside, as you can hear that helicopter, they'll be gone in a second. If we go down, this is it, for this anyway, up we come. Okay, you're gonna have to choose this next one. I'll give you enough that you can decide.

bring your legs in, we're doing rolling like a ball. Maybe scoot forward a bit and either hold kind of forward of your ball, pressing on to your ankles and shins, elbows wide, or you could hold onto it. I think it's a little hard to hold on to a ball this big, you decide. Sometimes it's easier if you're really thinking inner thigh either way, I think inner thigh, but I'm gonna hold forward and do my best to keep the ball on my ankles. We draw those heels in, elbows, pop out, we hang on to that ball for dear life we draw the belly in enough, pick the feet up and off we go.

Let's go for five. Inhale back, stay with it. Exhale up, oh my goodness. Go again, inhale back, exhale up, inhale back come on, remember fun, fun flavor. Its weird when you add, I was gonna say a little thing, it's kind of a big thing.

I think there's some more of it, already told you I tend not to count Last one, voila, good, alright close up the knees, pick up the ball, come on down. And for now all we're doing is reaching that ball over the shin from one knee in. I got my right knee in. I'm switching to my left and switch and I'm a hold the ball where I don't have to lift it every time I'm trying to reach it forward. Clear the ball and inhale, inhale, exhale, exhale in, in, reach forward, out, out.

One more in, in and out, out. Put the ball between your ankles. Let your feet come down as much as they can, rest your head. We're doing double leg stretch. Well, just like you think we're gonna do it.

Pick your knees up you might need your hands since the balls real big. In fact, do that, hold behind your legs. Your thighs lightly, very lightly, but you do have to hang onto the ball, or get rid of it altogether that's also cool. Curl up, knees in a little closer. And here we go we're gonna let go and stretch the ball out with the arms going forward for the first couple, we inhale out, we exhale pull in but the rest of the body doesn't change.

Inhale out, exhale drag it in, inhale out exhale in. And if you want to make it harder take the arms behind you on that inhale three to go inhale out. Exhale in body stays the same out, and in, one more out and insert the ball down. You could rest your legs on top for a second. Let's do that arms out so you can balance it.

Just roll the knees one way so that your calves are rested on the ball. Head is down other way adjust. Let me get, make it easy. You deserve it. We all deserve it, don't we?

Trust me, I should say. Here it comes. All right, find the ball again. Pick it up hands behind your head. This time, curl your head, neck and shoulders up.

Now we are going to, what are we going to do? We are going to rotate to the right, as we come through the middle, we inhale and stretch the legs out kind of high, exhale Pull it into a rotate to the left. Inhale, press it out. Exhale, rotate, inhale, exhale, rotate. Stay up with your upper body you can get rid of the ball at any time for this version of criss-cross.

One more, yes set the ball down. Let your legs rest on it rock them out if you need to or just wait for me. Cause I need to. Write on, move it out of your way. Hold onto it if you want to use it for a roll up that's all we're doing is rolling up to seated.

Arms back, if you're coming with me this way. Exhale, up we go. Oh my goodness how the ball gets so light went up in the air. Okay, moving on to spine stretch. So feet are flexed, little about the shape or width of your mat but maybe a little wider because of the big boy, big ball of fun, fingertips may be a little bit lower than on top.

Maybe a lot lower, you'll figure it out. Sit tall, sit tall, sit tall. Exhale, if you're gonna extend your arms, you're gonna drop your head. You're gonna roll that ball forward, even as you pull the hip bones back. Inhale and exhale gentle pressure may be from the triceps, to roll back up to the top.

By that I know that it's just the idea that it's not about the hands. I instantly go to that sketch not about the nail. Just do the thing you need to do. Inhale, exhale round forward, pull those hips up, and edge in that ball where We always talk about, spread out your upper back even as it's curved and come back up. This time we think of the shape of your body instead of thinking of the ball.

And get all that air out, get it out. So that when you come back up it's just easy. Last one like that. Flex feet, you can bend your knees no problem. Spread it out.

And then the subtle sense of triceps pressing down, instead of it being the hands. Subtle change, you can stick with that one for the next four, but I'm gonna hold the side and pick the ball up. Once we get out there and do something else, here we go. Inhale, same idea. As a start go forward.

We'll just let it roll through your hands. Adjust where you need to. When you've gone as far as you can, that inhale is coming well again you know where it comes from a lift on the diagonal. Lift, literally the ball. Find the long line.

Exhale, re-round and come back up. Number two, inhale, exhale forward, Inhale, lift up, it's not about the ball. Find your spine, find your spine, find your breath, exhale and come forward. Nothing particular about how you get back really. Two to go, exhale forward.

Try to keep your head down as much as you can, even if you have to lower your hands on the ball. Inhale pick it up, up, up and down. Unless you thought that was gonna be it, we got one more with an add on, here it comes, exhale forward. If you in my class, you know what's coming. Lift up, grow long, grow long, grow long.

Again, like someone is pulling your wrist, your arms, try to keep your shoulders in place and from there it's you pull back one, try to look a little bit forward so your neck stays in alignment as well. Keep going, I'm gonna give you from now five more, one lean more, two keep your ribs in. Three meaning don't thrust in the lower back, four here it is five, no big deal. Hold on, rotate towards me. Oh my goodness, come back to center, other way.

Are you having fun? Back to center, that's it and come forward, roll yourself up. Mr. Ball, so easy, easy so. Okay, widen the legs a bit more because it's gonna be a slightly different timing than some of you will be used to. I'm just, the hand that I'm, I guess rotating away from is a little bit on the side, so I can just push the ball with me, no big deal.

So we rotate, we exhale, we roll the ball forward. As the other arm goes up and once again, the hips are staying where they were, inhale, sit up, switch hands and breathe, exhale somewhere, you know, rotate, and to roll the ball. As the ball goes away from you the hipbones are pulling back, particularly that opposite side, come back up and center. Inhale, exhale, find a rhythm for yourself. I'm sort of inhaling and changing at the same time.

I'm not really sure, but the idea I think is coming across. I hope, you can make it mechanical, but I'm not going to today, I just want to flow with this a bit. It's like, I can just let go of the ball and then push it away. It doesn't matter where my hand is. I just want to use it for that sense of pulling up and away from it.

One more each inside push and sorry, stay here, sorry, go back to that side we just went to, now you could bring the ball a little closer and put your wrist on it or your forearm even and use it as a very subtle downward pressure to lift your rib cage, rotate you more. Use the backhand as if it was pushing on a ball. You see what I'm going for there, hopefully come up one more time, slow like that other way as you get out there you might have to adjust the hand or bring the ball back, I mean, settle down with pressure of the wrist or forearm. Use it to lift your body, lift you up. Oh, that's harder for me on that side, but whatever feels good.

Back to the center right , we were getting close. My goodness, where does the time go? I want to do one more here. Yes I do, I just do, all we're doing here is putting our feet on the ball. Fingers, face your heels or to the side.

You could do it on your fist, but it's gonna be tough if you do, try to take your hands back and if you can straighten your elbows here if not try to straighten once you get up, we're just going into a back support. So from here, you're engaged in your hamstrings to start lift up. Oh, don't let that ball get out from underneath you Kristi, up, up, up flat, flat, flat look toward the ceiling. Okay, so I put my hands too far back on that one, come down, which we were gonna do anyway I swear elbow for me, I'm gonna elbow. I have really long arms though.

So skinny, I'm not actually. lift up for a, lift out of your shoulders. You're not sinking. So you're already however much you need to bend your elbows cool. Then straighten them as you roll the ball off.

Oh yeah, that's good, that's much better. Hamstrings, hamstrings, hamstrings. If you hyper extend don't and come down, just two more and up, up, up and down. And up learning about myself today, I think I blew the ball up a little higher than I met two for this one and down we go. Okay, really let's have a tiny bit of fun and then I'll get us into our sides and back and we'll call it a day.

Open leg rocker with the ball. The ball is never gonna feel so heavy. So I'm gonna just say that kind of as a tip to not swing yourself forward too much. And if you do it's okay, the ball will hit the ground first have fun with it. Here's how I do it, I bring the ball, I bring my legs up first so hold I'm holding the ball only for the sense of like connection.

Draw the belly back as if it were about to do a rolling like a ball, put the feet on, hold my legs and you gotta focus on yourself and not me, right? Okay, I gotta adjust my box. It's too far too close to me. Okay, here we go, we're gonna draw down, roll back, come up try that, big girl and roll back. It's sort of balancing between maybe how you normally do it, if you normally do it and how having something between your inner thighs, that is technically pretty late but all of a sudden, really heavy.

A couple more, one more. I tried to stop just behind the tip of my tailbone, but it didn't work that time, it's okay. Let's come up to our knees, please. This is one of those ragdoll moments I'd love to be on the ball, but anyway we're gonna go into sidekick. So how we're doing this, we bring the ball in right into the hip, maybe greater trochanter or just right where the divot is on your hip, lean into it.

And of course, as always, you'll adjust, particularly if you have a mic, you'll adjust so that you feel stable, that's what I'm going for here. Stretch the other leg out. So you can kind of lean into the ball but ultimately you're gonna hold yourself up. Some may have the ability to reach to the floor, that's all right, I'm gonna encourage you to use the forearm against the ball to kind of pull the ball into you. And then the other hand, I just put behind my head check out your body, reach the leg, hover it, not hover it lift it to the height of your leg, I mean your hip, If you can, check what's going on in your rib.

This is where I tend to kind of splice. I'm gonna hold them in a little bit. So the leg is just sort of effortless, sort of. Just lift five, four, three, two, one, kick it forward. Ooh, don't roll backwards, I mean, you have too little right?

And back, I flex come forward, take it back, kick forward, Kick it back, kick it forward, kick it back. I don't know, one more and hold it there. hold it there, you can rotate your upper body a little like roll of that top arm and just reach it. Keep pushing your leg back as you rotate your upper body forward, come back, let the light come down the ball up and go to the other side and that fancy find your spot, lean into it. You don't want that other leg out there to really know, like could I lift it or am I gonna fall?

Nobody's falling even though it's fall of a sudden, on the day we're filming. All right, I'll find it my spot. Come on girl, so it's that hip. Trying to remember what I said, so I do it, forearms down. Check your middle body, other like lifts.

And we go five other one, up to keep your head in line as best you can. Four and five kick it forward. Oh my goodness, kick it back, forward and infarct I'm gonna do four more and I am gonna count one and back, and two, I'm trying not to turn my toes out but it's not working out three. Here it is, take it back, back, back, back. You can stretch and rotate your body over the ball a little as you continue to press the leg back, tough arm can free you up to balance you and come on home.

Last one, little Swan version. Leaning into the ball with your hips, belly, everything enjoy, enjoy this and I honestly can't decide if I want to go feet together or part I've learned this both ways. I'm thinking spine corrector, when I say that I'm gonna go parallel. So that's what I'm gonna encourage you to do too. I'm just shifting forward enough that my knees are hovering.

I'm anchored with my toes as best I can, hands behind your head. And then you drape over the ball. You may decide you want to go a little more forward, but I'm not gonna you just lift up. And if your feet slip, you just keep adjusting them, okay? And I'm looking for the connection with a whole back of the body.

So that's how you kind of decide when you're in the right position. Can you feel a little bit of hamstring? If not, maybe go forward is what I think would be and down. And I lift my knees are just staying bent for now. And down and lift, look to the long line.

Feel the head in the back or your head, the back of your head in your hands and down changing it ever so slightly, lift up from here. Straighten knees, extend the arms, okay? refill the arms and you can roll back a bit to bend the knees and draped down. You can adjust if it got too heavy out there for you or too long or too precarious. So start I hover, inhale lifting my upper body with the hands behind my head.

Now I'm gonna straighten the legs and straighten the arms. Maybe even look forward a bit, smile. We're almost done refill the arms only. Now re-bend the knees and come all the way down. Just two more inhale, knees are hovered lift the upper back, exhale, straighten yourself out, long diagonal.

Feel the back of the legs maybe look up and even smile, inhale, re-bend and come on back. Last one, hover knees, lift your upper back. I kinda do that tuck thing right here. Thinking pubic bone to ball a little bit then extend the legs and the arms. Hang out here, hang out here.

Maybe think lower the chest a little and raise the arms more. Come on home, hug the ball, rest yourself. Oh, I'm rolling around just a little, let your head hang as much as you feel like you can. With the other way, you know, I'm ending with a ragdoll right? That just came to me today, but that's sort of what I need.

And I think that sometimes it's good to just shake it out. Where does it want it look. Hope you come with me. All right, rest of my feet, sitting back upon top. I hope you have fun, Let me know and just let it go.

Whatever tension we might've collected by having to listen to someone else teach, now's your chance let it go. Like you can do anything. No one's at my house, no one's watching me. What about you? Anyway, settle into it.

I hope you find the gratitude that you might for being able to move as you did and as you always can, I hope you continue to do that. And I hope you will be back here next Thursday. Thank you so much for being here keep breathing.