Beginner Series #6

Alright. So good afternoon. Today's lesson number six and today we're going to do something a little bit different because I'm, we're gonna work with each other as a partner so you can actually help each other get the technique working a little bit better, which is a lot of fun. Why we do this is like in the traditional days when people started out at Joseph [inaudible] with training people, you always work with the teacher privately at the beginning cause each of us is so different and the teacher makes sure that your body could really understand how to do the movement the right way. And often a person doesn't know that the body can go a certain way. So when they're exercising they're not really going as deeply or as directly to an area. So the teacher would help the person find that place.

And then you had experience, you had a real experience of what it was like. So you could repeat that. So what we'll do is we'll just work with each other to help kind of make that happen, which is a really fun thing to do. And you may find that right after you're much more able to do the exercise kind of at the next level. So let's, we are working either with partners or with a theraband today. So just start out with a normal warmup. You're going to lie down, but before you lie down, take the band and just lay it out on the mat lengthwise so that when you're lying down, your bottom is quite close to the front of the band. And if you're lying flat, just check that this band is extending over your head and we'll be using it a minute in a minute. So make sure your bottoms nice and close to the front.

What you really want is that length above your head. So bring your bottom a little further down, Megan. And that's fine, Wendy, to move your bottom down, you have room with your bottom further down, further down. That's good. Be a good. Yup. And then we'll start the same warmup as normal. Yeah, move down a little bit, Sandy. Good. And let's have you lift your head up and place your head back down. But everybody will start with the warmup is normal.

So you bend your knees and bring your feet together, knees together, feet together, and hands by your side, just as you normally do with the palms down and just check. You engage your powerhouse by pulling your power in and up. Narrow the hips so you find your inner size and outer size kind of hugging the mid line. The back is long. Jen could lie your hands down towards your ankles a little bit to shoulders. Move away from the ears and check that the back of the neck is nice and long.

And from there without changing anything, lift your right knee in towards your chest and then put the foot back down on the map, keeping your stomach in and up. Lift your left knee up and put the foot back down and lift the stomach up and lift the right knee up and put the foot back down and lift the left knee up and put the foot back down and let the right knee up and put the foot back down and the left knee up and put the foot back down. Now tighten the hip. So again, this line of the hamstrings, you want to feel the hamstrings moving towards each other. The knees of tight, the stomach is in the back. As long as the right knee again, keep the knee there, lift the left knee up. Tighten your hips here, pull the stomach and put the right foot down. Put the left foot down. Make sure the hips are nice and tight and lift the left knee up. Good.

Lift the right knee up. Now tighten the hips cause your bottom will be loose. If you don't do this, foot goes down and right foot goes down. Starting again. Right knee comes up, left knee comes up right foot goes down, left foot goes down and left knee comes up and right knee comes up and left foot goes down and right foot goes down. Place both hands on the navel. Pull your stomach in again. Narrow the hips. Lift both knees towards your chest, keeping your stomach and keep it in.

Keep it in as the knees come in towards your chest to narrow the hips and float the feet down close to your bottom. Keeping your back long, long, long, long back feet. Come close to your bottom beer. Get there. It'll easier. Lift the knees up again and then float the feet down to just keep a small shape. It's easier to control. Your power has to take the feet all the way down, all the way down, all the way down, all the way down. Well this stomach in. Lift the knees up and float the feet down. And one more time. Lift the knees up and float the feet back down to the mat. So now coming into the upper abs, if you have a towel or a pillow behind your head, just remove it so your head will be resting on the strap on the third bat.

Now reach back with your hands and grab a hold of it so your hands will be just above your head and very slightly stretch it away from you. Now pull the stomach in and up and start to lift up. But as you lift up, control it from the ribs. And just for a moment, check that your head is lengthening into the bed. So you're already using your abs and powerhouse, but not your neck and float back down and lift up again and float back down.

Now hold on a minute. You not want the hands float back down. Get the ans closer to your head. You don't want that band pulling this way. One of the things you want to watch out for is the not yanking the band forward. It's not about pulling up. It's about creating a cushion, a little pillow for your head. So you really isolate the powerhouse. So lift up again and bring those ribs and left.

Now take a moment to pause here and let the head relax into the band. The head drops back just a bit. That's good Megan. And then lower back down and really find these muscles very good. And lift up again and check that you're really making the power housework. So the ribs now head into the band. Do not pull forward with the arms.

She and his rest, they arrest the head in. The band had dropped back and then lower back down. So you're really using the trunk and lift up again. Relax the head into the band so the stomach is working and lower back down. And again, lift up and make those from the ribs to the raced.

Work. Very good and lower back down. Now add the knees to this lift up again. Close the ribs, pull the stomach and bring the knees to your chest as well. Good. And then pull the stomach and even more and float back down. Using the powerhouse to lower you back with control and lift up again. Lift up.

Make sure you're not dragging the behind the head forward. Keep the hands a little moving back. Good. And float back down. Hands a little lower and lift up again. Good lift up. Gently relaxing the head back. So the real, the trunk does a work lower back down. Very Nice Sandy. And one more time like this. Lifting up, contracting from the ribs to the hips, pulling the stomach in and lower back down.

That was excellent. Excellent. Very good work. Okay. Now next one is, so you've got the chance to really get this area working. We're going to take the same principle but shifted around it to prepare for a hundred. So roll to one side and get the band. So you ha you're not going to lie in the band anymore. And just come to a sitting position for a minute and take the band and rapid round the ball of your feet.

So you have this section of the foot and the toes, right? So you want the band kind of nicely open. Good. And from here, lie back down on your back and slightly pull the toes apart. So the heels are together, but the toes are slightly stretching the band. Now here, stretch the legs away from you into a straight position and lift your head and chest up. So just like you're going to the shape, you'll be full hundreds. But pull the shoulders down, shoulders are down, stomach is in like some long. And then bend the knees back and lower your head and chest down and lift up again. And as you lift up, same thing. You make the rib cage close in a little bit.

Shoulders move away from your ears, lift your head and chest up. Shoulders await that set and lower back down. So help pressing into the band helps you get that hollowing out of the ribs. Lift up again, hollering out, shoulders away from your ears, good stomach is, and really get the mirror that position and lower back down. Branding the knees in, knees come to your chest, him into your chest. That's it. And one more time.

Close the rib cage. Pull the stomach up, lengthen the leg slightly away from you. Your shoulders should be off. Ideally you're just touching the tips of the shoulder blades to the mat with check that your neck is relaxed, but your trunk is doing the work and lower back down. Very, very good work. So that's the shape you want to be in. Did you get a chance to feel a little deeper into this area? Now the way you'll go into the hundreds, keep your strap around your feet.

You will extend up the same way. Then let go of the strap and do your hundred. So you really set the area up. So up you come into position, pull the stomach in, extend the legs up, pull the shoulders away from your ears. Lift your shoulders and ribcage slightly up. So the rib cages down. Now let go of the strap.

Just pop it away. Stretch your arms. Start pumping with the arms. Reading in three, four, five. Exhale, three, four, five, two, two, three, four, five. Exhale, three, four, five, three, four, five. Exhale, very good. Four, two, three, four, five. Exhale, three, four, five, five, four, five. Exhale, three, four, five, six, two, three, four, five. Exhale, three, four, five, seven, two oh five. Exhale, nice and deep. Eight, two, three, four, five. Exhale, three, four, five, nine to five. Exhale, three, four, five, last set, three, four, five, six, seven. Very good. Bend your knees in. Drop your head in, chest down. Put your feet on the mat and rest. Very, very nice. Now let's have all of you stretch your arms out, stretch your legs out and roll up to a sitting position.

So either roll up or bend your knees and rock up and come up to a sitting position. So when we do roll up this another, this one, we're going to work with a partner to do this. So what normally happens if you, we were in a real Pilati studio. Often people, when they come up, they're not able to come up. The legs fly up, they bend a little bit because the body's still stiff and tight and weak. In a real studio, you would have a strap and sometimes you would be working with the bar to help you really start to open out the back of the back of the spine, increased the flexibility beer get. I'm going to demonstrate with you how you will work with partners. So first of all, be a good stretch on that.

I want you to make hooks with your fingers. So I'm going to make hooks with my fingers like this. So we have a nice little Collette nexion. Now beer gets going to start to roll back and I'm going to lower you slowly to the floor so you really get a chance to feel how one bone at a time is dropping from one, two first score to look down towards your neighbor and pull your stomach in and start to roll back. Now if you notice as I'm lowering her, she's literally hanging off my hands. Now she's dropping her tail under and walk a little further forward.

Her sake grim goes under. Pull the stomach way in. Look at that. Look. Now he's really stretching and lengthening into her middle spine. Lower spine ribs. Go to the mat, pull the stomach and even more. That's it. And then she rolls all the way down, all the way down, all the way down, and now it'd be over. Take your arms over your head.

Now beer good has a lovely stretch here, but not everybody does. Sometimes people have tight shoulders, so if your partner has tight shoulders, you gently give them a little stretch. This is good to loosen them up and gently stretch down. This helps loosen up the tissue of the shoulders. Now to come up the hands come up again, little hooks. I'm going to be here now. First thing, beer. Good. Pull the shoulders down. Good.

Lift your head and chest stop and I want you to literally imagine someone pressing your belly into the mat and you're going to roll up slowly. Now hold it. I'm got, you're going to pull down with your stomach. We're going to have a tug of war. Your job is to pull down there and I'm going to help you roll up, roll up, and now I'm going to give her a little stretch. I'm going to walk back. She's going to come forward and she's lovely and flexible.

Let your head drop and I'm going to give her a little stretch and I'm going to lean back just a stretch her back out a bit and then we'll start again. Now a few things. The person rolling up, if I see you bending your arms or you see a partner that's not a role app, that means that the person is doing a chin up and the using and you will be tempted to do that. So the person rolling up their job, your job is to really pull the belly in and literally let the person help you stretch out because you get this whole beautiful opportunity to open up when someone's helping you this way. So what we're going to do, I'll work with Wendy. You can, you two can work together, you two can work together. And then I'll also come around and give you all a hand. So you'll do three roll-ups and then you flip around and change. Okay? So let's now get with your partner. So Tim, you're going to be sitting up. So remember that man, the person. Yes, exactly.

The person doing the role in your arms are going to stay long. And the person or one of the thing person who is lowering them, I don't want you all crunched up and destroying this beautiful long body. You know, you stay nice and elegant and pull your stomach in. Use your powerhouse. So drop your head and start rolling backwards.

Pull the stomach in and literally feel that you're hanging off the person that's lowering your good a little bit further. Tuck your tail way under und. Yes, that's it. That's a tail under your tin. That to pull the stomach in and just feel them slowly lowering down. Very nice. And then stretch way back. Way Back. Right back. Nice stretch. Yeah. Good.

Pull it. Um, Megan, pull his arm. Pull it away. Give him link. That's it. That's it. He makes space. Yes. Lovely. Bring the arms up again. That should feel good to the person being stretched. Lift your head and chest. Now press your stomach down and I want you to let, let me help you roll out. Pull your stomach in. That's beautiful.

That's beautiful. That's beautiful. And now lean forward. Pull this stomach in and I'm going to give you a nice little stretch. Yes. And I'm going to just check what's happening here. Good. Let's have a look. Nice. Very good. Excellent. Excellent.

Wait, good stretch. Really. Now you want to hold her on tablet and pull up first you make legs lengthen and then that's a tool to feel nice. Yes. Yes. So more lengthen. That's it. Excellent. Good. How did that feel, Sandy? Yes. Okay. All right, Wendy, let's have another go. Good up. Down. That's it. Megan.

Keep pulling his right arm length and the right side as you lengthen. Yes. Good. Now shoulders away from your ears, Wendy. Pull the stomach in any way. Yes. Beautiful. And Lots of love. Legs. Good. One more time. Shoulders away from your ears. Stomach and lift your head up and you pull down and drop.

Let yourself roll. Lovely, lovely, lovely. Pull your stomach in and nice stretch. Stretch, stretch, stretch. Super. Okay. Yeah, it should feel good. Shoulders down, Tim. Good stomach in. Now will your bottom under you eat? Yes. Even more. Pull that stomach in. No wiggling. Just pull it in. That's it. Shoulders down, down, down, down. Yes. Yes. That's very good.

What you're doing [inaudible]. Now if you're done, try and do a few roles on your own. So have a look. If you give him, I'm giving him Lang and then stretching out because he's got probably a frozen shoulder. So this side is [inaudible] extra. So just giving him length and stretch. How does that feel to him?

Bring the arms up and shoulders. Why and head in now. Pull the stomach in, stomach in, stomach in, and almost let Megan pull you up. You pull down here. Good. Good, good. Yeah. Nice there Wendy. Very good. And have her roll up. Shoulders down.

Oh yes. Oh yes. Oh yes. Now let's have you to flip over. It's nice to work with each other cause sometimes when you help somebody else, you understand the exercise and a whole other level. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You start up and then you start rolling back. So you're going to start lowering. So you want to be standing up straight and start walking forward with your feet.

Walk forward. So you're kind of lax. They keep walking forward and now really pull your stomach in the beer. Good. Yes. Good. Keep walking forward. So you, so you can lower it down literally by just progressing upper body. Yup. Good, good, good. They're a good stretch. So with, yeah, that's it. I know. Oh, okay, good. So for you, press these ribs down a bit as you give her steps. Good.

Give her a stretch anyway. It feels good. It's good to, a little length and traction. Very nice. Very good. And then bring it, come bring your arms up. No. So you don't need to sit. Bend down. You can stand up straight up. Stand up straight. And now lean back. Lean, lean, [inaudible] and then one more time roller down. Nice. That's so good. Megan.

You don't need to bend down there Tim. Stand up straight and just lean back a little bit. So you're giving her a lot. You're stretching. You're on a long diagonal. Now one more time. Lower her down and spread your shoulders so you can drop back. But for you, your job is to keep the shoulders.

Why [inaudible] that's where I've been a little bit. Yes. Shoulders a wide. Good, good. That's it. So for you, this little ribbon here, you want to keep pulling it back to get yourself as even as you can. That's so nice. They sold shoulder down. Yes. Yes. Look how lovely and square you now are. Excellent. Excellent, excellent.

Low. Keep lowering your back. Walk forward, Tim. Walk forward. Walk forward. Walk forward. Now Megan, keep these ribs down cause you're nice and loose. Keep them down. And now take your arms back. Don't let your rib cage leave the Mat. That's the next level. Good Tim, go and give her a stretch. Now she needs a stretch. Don't let these ribs go. That set sees how it's different.

Keep your hands a little wider and now press them down a little bit to open up the cuff. Open the show. Broaden the Chicago bones. Yes, that's it. Feeling a stretch. Excellent. And come back up. Keep those ribs down because your dice, your loosey Goosey type. Yeah, so that's of course the next level first just opened up. Then once you open, you start to contain it. So great. Yeah. Yeah. That's kind of not beginner level talk, but it's good for you. Anyway. Hands Wider. Sodas down.

Good. Good, good, good. I'm stretch. Okay, so I think this is good to let have all of you all got a chance to feel everything. Let's have you come back onto your own math. That was very nice. Very nice. And this next one is, we'll be single leg circle. Very important. The third band will come again on the ball of the foot and the toe. So you want to be sure that you're press covering that area with your band.

Now when the leg is extended and you hold onto the strap, you don't want a flexed foot. You want what I call a high heel shoe possession, where the ball of the foot is reaching at the toes or back. So it's kind of like this position. So your press, so you imagine you're in high heels, stiletto shoes, not earth shoes, not flexing, just flexor minute sandy, not flex, but extended up a little bit now, then pull the thigh up and very slightly turn the leg out. So usually people have a pretty bent leg here, and when you have the band, it's an opportunity to kind of really find that extra little bit of stretch to make the muscles very lean and fully elongate the joint in. And then check that the leg is turned out and you still have that, what I call a high heel to position and really pull the kneecap up. Now, once you have that position, you'll start your leg circles and the band helps you get the stretch going.

So you'll do five and five and now. Now make sure your leg is still slightly turned out. And now Sandy, stretch this leg out on the floor. This is where you are. If you're stiff or this is where it gets very interesting. He the hip turned out check that the shoulders are down and now this movement, when you take the leg across the body, there's a huge stretch on this is called the it band owl. Yes. And this can get very, very tight on people.

So when you work with the band, you can find it for yourself really nicely. This is going to help loosen up the hips a whole lot because if you think these muscles all around the joint a tight, the joint itself doesn't have a lot of movement. So the things to remember really long leg, long knee, slightly turned out high heel shoes. Now what are your body going to want to do? It's going to soften it. It's going to want to achieve, you could say or avoid. The discomfort by cycle, bending the knee and flexing and possibly rotating in.

This is what will happen if you don't watch yourself like a detective because it's much easier and you won't get the same stretch. So those are the things to watch out for. I'll talk you through it, but I didn't want you to all to know who app will lie down on your back and the first set you will have your left knee bent up. So the left knee is bent up, the right knee is extended, you want the ball of the foot extended up, but the toes stretch down and the leg very slightly rotated out. Your hips should be flat down on the Mat. So same thing. Your back is long and your shoulders are down and extend the ball of the foot up and the toes back. Yes, this is a new position for the gentleman and long knees and the leg is high and right above the hip.

Once you have this position, little circle one and cross over, down, around and up. To circle the lake three, circle the lake four and bend this knee, sandy and five. Now reverse it. Circle out or down across an app circle and to stretch your knee, Wendy and four and last one five. Now check if you have the ball of the foot and the toes reaching up. The knee is returned, is pulled up and the leg is slightly turned out.

Both hips are down. Take the left leg out on the floor. So now very long legs really work that right leg so it's blown. Now take it across your body to your left. Turn it out and keep the right hip down, right hip down. Tim, don't play Yas. Don't let your bottom flop up and then down, around and up.

That's it. Cross down, around and up. Keep the leg turned out here, down, around and up. Cross that down, around and up and circle the leg and up. Now reverse it. Keep the leg turned out. Watson, it hasn't started turning in. Cross oversee.

You open up the outer hip and all over, opening up the hip and over, opening up the hip. Long leg. One more time. Over and up. Now keep the leg in the air and lower to 45 degrees. Check that it's slightly turned out. Pull the kneecap up. It's much easier to have a straight leg here and keep it straight as you bring the leg up again, keep it straight.

Keep it straight and have your heel opposite your nose. Lower down, long leg turn. Now high heeled shoes and lengthen up. Up, up here opposite the nosy. You have a beautiful stretch in the back of the leg and lower down. This are looking very good here. And lift up. Lift up, lift up, lift up, lift up, and again, lower down and lift up. Lift up stomach is in. Shoulders are down. Back is long. One more time. Lower down and lift up. Keep the right tip down.

Bring the leg as high as you can without the knee buckling. Very good. Bend the knee. Put the foot on the mat and she bring the other leg up and put the strap around. Your left leg, so make sure that it, oh, that was good. Tim, you're going to start with the right knee bent.

Make sure that it's wrapped well around the ball of the foot. Extend the leg up. Remember the ball of the foot and the toll is extending up to the ceiling. So the Achilles' heel is pulling up slightly. Have the leg long and slightly turned out.

Both hips down. Yes. That's it. To anchor your bottom into the mat. Take the leg to the right and make sure it's turned out. Circle the leg in up and he'll opposite the nose. Circle the leg. Keep the knee straight in the side. Pulled up, circle the leg and up, bottom tight. Circle the leg in, up and circle the leg up and reverse it. Circle the leg and heel opposite the nose.

Circle the leg inner circle. The leg in, up, leg stays turned out. Circle the wagon up. Circle the leg and up. Check that the heals opposite your nose and take your right leg straight down on the mat. Lengthen it out. Keep the right hip down and the left hip down. Take the leg across your body first. I'm slow to really feel that juicy stretch. Keep the left hip down. Then circle the leg around and up.

Cross circle the leg and not good here. Cross Sir Culligan Up. Make sure the leg is long. Circle the leg in up. Circle the leg in, up and reverse it and circle the leg and upkeep the hips down. Circle the legs. Paws opposite your nose. Circle that like, see, you only do as biggest circle as you can without your bottom flopping all over the place. Circle to the pelvis is long and it's quiet now.

Lower than like 45 degrees. Extend into the ball of the foot. Stretch the leg, pull the stomach in and bring the leg up without the knee buckling. Lengthen into the ball of the foot and keep your left hip down. Lower the lay and then long leg, bringing the leg up. Bring the leg up, bring the leg up, bring the leg up. There it is and lower the leg down and be aware that the heel is opposite your nose and come up because if it drifts to the left, you will miss a section of the hand string. You'll look more flexible but you won't get a stretch. One more time.

Lower down and lift and lift and lift and lift. Very good. And then get the foot out of the strap and put the foot to one side and bend both knees into your chest and hold behind the knees. Pull behind the knees and dis rock up for rolling. Like about to pull yourselves up and just do a few rolls like rolling like a ball so the knees a slightly apart. Backing up now to make sure the head stays forward. See if you can work from the stomach. The shoulders are down.

That's getting better there. Tim and I are good and roll back and up and shoulders are down, Tim and back and up and put your feet down. Very, very nice. All Kay, so we not doing all the exercises and beginner level today. We're just doing some of them to really kind of go deep into the application. The next one, we're just, we'll be working on his lower left from the series.

You'll start the same way you did with the a hundred so grab the wrap the strap around the ball of your feet, right? So make sure it's not crumpled up but really open and it should cover the toes and the reason you want to cover the toe so you can extend them the way we would just do it. And from here, just roll back and lie down on your back. So the knees or shoulder with shoulder with and very slightly pull the big toe, the toes apart. But keep your heels together now just like you did in preparing for the hundreds pressing legs away from you. And as you lift your head and chest up, press the ribs that the base of the ribs into the mat. Shoulders should be away from the ears.

See if you can get the shoulder tips of the shoulder blades, just the tips touching. Everything else is off. So Wendy, can you lift up more? Yes. Now keep the this height and lower the legs a little bit away from you and bring the legs up. Lower the legs a little bit away from you and up beer. Get your too high. A little bit lower. They're lower, a little bit down with the legs.

Lower the legs, shoulders away from the ears. There you go. And up. Now that's a good shape and lower down and up and lower down. Very nice and up. Very good. One more time. Pull the stomach way in. Keep yourself lifted and up and bend your knees in. That was very good. Bend your knees in. Put your head down, put your feet down and stretch your arms over your head.

Just nice big stretch. And then bring your knees to your chest and rock up to a sitting position. So you're going to roll right up and come all the way up to sitting position. Very, very good. Okay. Wendy, why don't you come up and sit with your back to me. So what we'll be doing is sitting bottom to bottom and shoulders to shoulders and your legs are stretched out. And M when the open your feet, the width of the Mat. So when you're on the floor, you're going to have your legs just a little bit wider.

But for right now on this, this structure, so when you sit with your partner, it's a beautiful place to feel this lovely length because you literally are gently pushing into each other. But you want to be sure that one of you is not so strong that the other one falls. So you have to develop sensitivity. Now when we do spine stretch forward, it's an interesting position because you need to be pulling back with your stomach, but bending forward. So it is, Oh, you're bending over a beach ball. So Wendy, I want you to stretch your arms out in front of you. Good. And we'll imagine that both of us have a belt, our waist.

Then the belt never only gets tighter. So Wendy, why do you take a deep breath in? And then as you start stretching forward, you're going to push from the belt and below into me. And that's it. So you push your lower back into me, but reach forward with your upper body so that we read. Both of us really get this round shape. So keep pulling back with your stomach. Aye. That's it. And pushing into me as you stretch forward. That's beautiful.

Now we're going to come back up and stack our spine up nice and straight and lift up nice and tall. So now we'll maybe separate a little bit. One more time. Deep breath in, get taller and then pull the stomach in and push into me in the waist and below. Pull back with your stomach and reach forward and then roll back up. Roll back up. Sit Up nice and tall. Pull the stomach in and relax.

That felt really good. Did you like that? Okay. All right. So get with your partner. Get with your partner, Megan. Stay right there. I'll come over there in a minute. So just let's have you two sitting here and you're just sitting here and I'll just have a look at them and then I'll get with you. So back to back. You want your legs more open than the mat and that's it. See if you can get bottom to bottom. That's going to be a challenge.

And now see if you can both of you lift up your chest, lift up the chest, and stretch your arms straight out in front of you. And Megan, I'll come here. That's it. Now really lift up the spine here. So use the pressure back into the shoulders to get even more height, a little bit. But yes, and pull the stomach way in. Good. Now take a deep breath in and then breathing out.

Start to peel away from your partner's back, but pull the waste in and push into them from the waist up and stretch. Make a really round shape and see how much you can stretch the spine. Check that the hands are shoulder height, so you're looking down, looking at your neighbor, then roll back up again and literally feel yourself stacking your spine up against your partner. The shoulders come down in the chest. Lift Nice, tall spine, tiny, tiny ways. And again, drop your head and reach forward. Rounding forward. Pull the stomach and stretch the arms forward. Nice long stretch. And then roll back up, roll back up, lift up the waist, lift up the spine, get very tall and elegant, and then one more time.

Drop your head round the upper back, middle back, pull way back and up with the stomach. So you make a very round shape. Really feel how you're bending over big beach ball and lifting over it and then roll back up again. Lifting up the spine, stacking up. Now check that the shoulders are down. Yes, lift the waist. See who can be taller. You are your partner. Lift up even more. Lengthen the shoulders down.

Lift up even more and relax. That was great. That was great. Yeah, it makes you really feel that was so good. All okay. Now let's see here. Do you remember the single leg kicks, the one where you're on your stomach and you're kicking your bottom? That exercise, it's one of the things that you're doing in this exercise is lengthening the quads and then and lengthening this area, the hip flexors, while you're holding your spice. Nice and spy. Nice and long.

So who has tight hamstrings here? Yay. Okay, so we're going to use you to demonstrate. So Tim, I'd like you to lie down on your stomach and this is often a stretch that people get in the first few classes to help open this up. Now Tim, I want you to put your forehead on your fingertips like this, forward like this. Now I, what I'm going to be doing is bending the one knee and stretching his heel towards his bottom. Now these are the things you look for. You look for the center of the heel and the center of the buttock because naturally the leg is going to want to go this way. So you want to be sure you're stretching the leg straight and also making sure the knees are as close together.

So if you notice I'm bringing my knees one by the other to keep his legs some flailing out. Now there's a few things you want to watch for. If for you, Tim, you have you, you can feel a stretch in the quad. Sometimes there may be even a gentle pull in the lower back and there can be a pool a little bit and the area where the quad is attaching into the knee, these are all fine. If you feel a very sharp pain under the kneecap, that is no good because the alignment is wrong. You want to stop right away. So the person doing the stretch, you go slow.

Now the reason I like to do this is the benefits far, far, far outweigh the dangers of it because as this muscle loosens, this is the way to restore balance to the knee health, to the knee, and full range of movements as way healthy stretch. But it must be treated with respect. So the person receiving the stretch, which is you, Tim, if you feel that it's too much or you feel a sharp pain, you say stop right away and the person doing the stretch stops right away. Usually by the third time we do the stretch, everything is opening up very nicely. So it's going to look like this. Tim, bend the right knee. I made sure his knees are together. I make sure his hips are square and then I have a look. Where's his heel, where's the center of his buttock?

And I will slowly start pressing the heel down and feeling and I'm going really slow so Tim can figure out how to let this release. How you doing Tim? Oh, okay. So He's pretty close. I'm keeping going, keeping going, keeping going. And there's his bottom. Very nice. And then you'll do the other side. You bend and I'm making sure the alignment is right. The heel is going right with the center of the buttock. And what's Nice, he's keeping a nice long back and I'm going slow.

I can feel the quad starting to be stretched. We're going, going, going, going, going, going, going, going, going. And there's the heel and down. Now for some people when you're lying down, they're just going to flop and until you try it out because they're already quite loose. For some people it's a nice stretch. So you, we will test each other first time with the head down and the next level will be up on the elbow. Tim come up onto your elbows and make face and move your elbows a little bit further forward and then put your fist down on the mat. You want to be down and pull the stomach in so you're a long, they just like the way the shape we're in when we do the exercise, so the hips are long, the knees are together, can bend your right knee so I can already feel he wants to roll out. He wants to do this, so I'm not going to let him pull the shoulders down. Tim, keep your stomach long and I'm going slow. So now it's a whole other level of stretch and he actually, yeah, I can feel him releasing really well. Good. By the way, the people doing the stretch bend the other knee. If you're really close, it's very tempting to just want to get to their bottom dollar.

Take your time. You should be, by the time you've done this [inaudible] third stretch, he will go. Sometimes people start here and by the third stretch are beautifully stretched out. Here you are. There's, you bought them. That was great, Tim. Very good. Okay. That was cool. So how did that feel? Oh, wonderful. Oh Wow. All right. All right. So get with your partner. So why don't you work with, um, with, who are you working?

Who are we working with last time? Yeah. So why don't you Tim, give beer, get to stretch and good and I'll come and give you a stretch. Yeah, yeah. Very good. And I'll come give you a stretch in a minute, Megan. So first time with yes, yes, yes, yes. Good. So you want to have your feet on either side of her knees and she's probably going to be a nice loose person. Go and keep going.

You'll pull your stomach in. That's okay. Good, good, good, good, good, good, good. Very good. You can keep pushing post, post, post, post. I know, but she's probably loving it. Okay. Megan, let's have a go with you. Bend your right knee, tighten your hips, pull your stomach can take [inaudible] Oh yes, yes. I know you are going to be a gumby girl. Taking her buttocks nice and tight. That's it.

You hold your bottom nice and tight like that because now lift up on your elbows. This is not a stretch. You need very much. I have to take into the hips even more. Taking them. Oh, there you are. And pull the stomach up. Lift your head, lift your head. Bend your right knee. Good. I have a side. Yes. Good. Now I want you to pull your stomach.

That's it. Tightening. Excellent. Good. Now you keep the stomach lifting against that. That'll bring up the next level. So you do it to me so you get to feel what it's like. Yeah. So you see how like right now my bottoms with ax now my bottoms.

So get your knees and I decide feet on either side. Good, good, good. That keep going. Keep going, keep going, keep going. Keep going. I love it. Thank you. So now block my knees. Block my knees with your feet. Now check. You see right now I release my buttocks. Yeah, my stomach saying that. Good, good, good alignment. Very nice. Very nice.

Very nice. [inaudible] lovely. That was great, Megan. Thank you. So now you can just do a few single leg kicks on your own. Feel kind of what, what, what's happening. So make sure his knees are together. Let's have a look here.

Good. Good, good, good, good, good, good, good. Yes. Yeah. Making come up on your elbows. Do the same thing where you go kick, kick. Um, that looks good. Shoulders down. Yes. Good. That's a pain. So for you, Megan, as you're doing this, I want you to really pull up, see if you can pull this ribbon there just a little bit. Cause you have a little scoliosis.

Tighten your barracks there so you don't let this rip sink. Now go for it. Lovely. And kick, kick. How were, how was that? I expected this one to be easier. I instability here in my SSI, so I thought it would be easier, but it wasn't. It was harder. Yeah.

Well it's gonna start to balance all your muscles out so that you're more centered. That's what's Nice when you go into these stretches. So you should, while we're waiting for them to complete, just do one or two single kicks on your own. Just to see what it feels like. So once you're done, get down on your mat, lift yourselves up on your, on your elbows so you come right up on the elbows and check that the shoulders are down, the knees are together. Remember those hips, pull the stomach up and on your own. Now do a double kick, double kick and lengthen out. Buttocks Long. Double Kip. Keep the stomach and don't let yourself flop. Taking your buckets here, Wendy. Don't let yourself flop other side. Kick, kick and tighten your hips. Nice and tight. First side kick, kick and long and other side.

Oh this is looking very nice and I'm good. Sit back into your heels and stretch your body out nice and long. Just stretch right back, right back, right back. So you have a good stretch, good work and then come up to sitting position. That was very nice. Really. You all look really nice and open here. So next we're going to help each other with Keizer because these are such a hard one at the beginning to get that sense of how to roll up.

And it's a combination of flexibility and strength and kind of this invisible ingredient of actually being able to get up. So sometimes if you can help your partner want to try, say sometimes come up on their own. So Sandy, I want you to bend your knees up on the Mat, right? Put your hands by your sides and then lift your left leg up with the knees together. So let's see what had sandy can do on her own and want you to lift your head and chest and see if you can roll up roll ups as she's having a hard time getting all the way up, then come back down. So for me to spot, I will often just put my toes gently here, but more importantly I will place my hands on her foot sometimes where I'm holding her foot here and anchoring her. Now as she comes up, I am very slightly pressing down in this helps give her the stability to come up. So I give her stability. Lift your head and chest, reach your arms forward and see if you can roll up and she rolls up because I'm giving her the counterbalance and then roll down again.

Now the next time, Sandy, when you come up, I want you to lift your arms and reach towards my shoulder. So instead of coming power to lift your arms up, lift your head and chest up and see if you can roll up and touch my shoulders. So you're Amy. That's a more correct. Shoulders are down and now roll down slow and that's so lovely and put your hands on the mat now so you'll have that slight pressure down with your partner. Some people still can't get up.

If your partner is in that position where they still not getting up. Remember how you helped each other up with the roll up? You will the house you're parked, you're up this way so you lift your head and chest. We have this hook and you left. Help them bring them up. Now on the way down, it's the same thing. Pull your stomach in and you roll down, roll down, roll down. So she gets that rolling motion. So you'll do two with one leg, two with the other leg. And now Sandy, bend both knees into your chest, lift your leg straight up to the ceiling.

And what we did last week was the full teaser with the legs in the air. Same thing, diff you aiming about a 45 degree angles to depends on your body height. You know, if you're tall, the legs will be lower, sometimes a tire. Some people just have 'em on the belly, on the size. It's just different for each person and your body size will be different.

So we member, as sandy comes up, I am basically doing this movement and just very gently I'm giving her snippy realty and I put in, can you see this a slight pressure down. So lift your arms, head and chest and see if you can roll up and up. She comes and rolls back down. Now let's do a little experiment. Bend your knees, Sandy, lift your left leg up and see if you can roll up on your own up Yukon and roll up. Roll Up. [inaudible] she almost made it. Sometimes people come up after there few times, but thank you so much sandy. Okay, on your backs. Bend your knees and lift one leg up.

Sinisa together. Knees have to be together. Good. Lift your head in chest. Tim. MCQ You can go up, up, up, up, up, up, up, glute and roll down. Only thing is that sandy makes sure her knees are together. Yes. So Megan, move your, move your left foot a little further out. Yes. And again [inaudible] and go down.

Parents come to the mat. And one more time. Well it's just, you're doing fine. If she's coming up, you're doing it all. You're doing the first. That's excellent. Tim. And roll down. Change Lakes. Let me just check here. And rollout. Is she coming up without your help or do you need your k and wrote down? Good. Good. Very good. Okay. Tim, let's have you changed and roll up again or I'll clap. Good. And bow down. Down. Hands, come to the mat and again, Rola. Keep your shoulder good and okay.

Who are you becoming a good little teacher here. One more time. Rolling up. Yeah, and well done. Excellent. Tim. Ben, both knees into your chest. Lift your legs straight and take them out and up and up and down. Yes. And up and down.

Excellent. One more time. Roll up and roll down. Excellent. Then Denise said that was great. Very good. Yeah. Yes. Okay. Now both lakes. Uh Huh. Now hold our feet for a minute. That's it.

And I want you to push down as she comes up. Let's have a look here. Yeah. So Push, push, push, push, push there and down. Move a little bit further back. Okay. Okay. And again, lift up. Up. You come up upon my mom most. Yes, you're right. I'm done. Very good. All right, good help. Yeah, no, the one thing to watch you see, I would yet don't let her knees come apart. Yell at her.

So her knee has no first yet. First her knee has to be straight, her knees have to be together. Then you place your body according to where her lady's going. There we go. Okay. Oh wait. And so here, then you lift you so you'll, this makes it easier. We wanted nice and hard. Lift your head and chest and up. You can. Yes. She didn't even push again and roll down. Good hands to the mat. So now we remember to keep your shoulders down and bear good as you come up. So it's all powerhouse. They hands float up and now don't let the shoulders pop.

Use that powerhouse cause she's happy. Yes. Very good. Good. Oh yes. Look at that. Rope rope. Very nice. Up, up, up to Sally up. Pick up a blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah. I'm done. You know what? You look back just a bit back. So as I hear lower one more time. Yes. And push down for to come up. That was good. Yes. Good. Oh good. Hey.

Okay, nice and Dow and now do one with both legs just to talk. Very good work. So one time beer get well ro ro lovely work. Now, shoulders down, bear, good hand shoulder with shoulder width and MC don't want their hands together. That's makes it easier cause then you're using your hand strength. You want it to one more time, hands apart, shoulders down, roll up. Really use that power. Keep the shoulders down. Lovely.

And now as you broaden the shoulders, tail. Yes, that was beautiful. Oh k very, very nice. All right. All right, so this, the last exercise we usually do in the middle of the room is when we roll down to the floor and roll back up again. This is emulating an exercise called wall where we actually use the wall. And in some studios you can actually go to the wall and do it against the wall to finish. So today we'll use the wall to see you understand what you're doing. When we do, we do it in the middle of the room.

So Wendy's here against the wall. Wendy, I want you to move your feet away from the wall. Maybe a foot may be more so that you can feel this whole lower back area against the wall and your ribs. So if some people need to have the feet quite considerably away from the wall and some people have the feet less away from the wall. Once you hear again Palati stance. So your heels are together. That's right. Now in this position, just be nice and tall.

Most important thing is the base of the ribs and the hips. And then this beautiful lifted stomach in the middle. So you connecting and lengthening this whole trunk area, which we work with all the time. Now when you roll down, you want your arms nice and long and you'll drop your head and then start to roll a few bones down and check from here that the arms are nice and loose. So the feeling is when they stay right where you are is that you're actually pushing backwards into the wall. You're literally pressing and opening the back body.

You Roll a little bit further and pull the stomach in and then keep rolling down the arms dangle like a dead weight. So as Wendy is rolling down, she's opening up the back again and pulling the stomach in and make sure the arms are long. So some people get to the floor, some people get halfway. But the furthest you go is where the hands are just off the floor. Now you do your three little loose circles with the arms. Everything's loose, just dry grading down. Very Nice Wendy. But the stomach is still up. Now on the way up, you start from the base of the spine. So as you roll up, you tuck and lengths in the tail down. Then you get the Sacremento, the wall. Then you sit and get the waste into the wall before the ribs touch, which is not easy. Not everybody can do that.

You check that your shoulders are not riding up by your ears and then you roll up. Once the base of the ribs are touching as well and you come further up to an upright position. Not everybody will be back against the wall long, but you lift up as best you can. So when your beginners, sometimes the back is still pretty tight. So maybe you end up here, you're not in a completely lifted position because you've lost those planes. Cause we are still working just to create length in this part of the body. Later at intermediate we work more and more into the full length. But what's so nice as Wendy was showing us is that you get a chance to actually press into the wall and find those areas that are tight.

Some people when they go down, there's a whole section of their back that leaves a wall in one piece. So you get to feel that and get to correct that. So thank you Wendy. Okay, so first of all, make sure your feet are away from the wall. Remember you're not standing up right. You're standing with the legs away from the wall and because the legs are forward, it makes it easier to get that lower spine long.

So the feeling is the lower back is long. And then check because the ribs will use really often be riding forward that you take those back ribs and you relaying some them into the wall. So sometimes you feel kind of a little bit rounded at first because you're focusing on that part of the body. Tim, bring your feet for the fall and bring your heels together right now. As much as you can, pull the stomach in and lengthen here and just make sure your head is lifted. So it's long. And then to start, we are gonna roll down in a progression to drop your head and just roll so that you come into the base of your rib cage, only your ribcage, the arms are hanging, their head is hanging and your stomach is pulled away, in and up.

So you feel how you're pressing your back ribs back into the wall. They're bigger, too low. Yes. And then pull your stomach in and roll up again. So we just did like a quarter of a roll and then lift up without letting the ribs leave. But the shoulders are down, down, down, down, down. Good. Now drop your head again. And this time roll down.

Roll down until your pelvis is still on the first year old, halfway down, or just about just below the waist. Just like spine stretch forward. But keep pulling your stomach in and pressing the waist and the pelvis into the wall so they can come a little lower here. Be Arrogant and then check that the head is long. The arms are dangling. You can come lower. Sandy, roll, roll, roll, roll, roll. Good. And then roll up again. Roll up, roll up, roll up and unravel the spine. Nice and tall. The shoulders are down.

Just find that length in the back. Now one more time. Pull the stomach up and drop your head. And this time you're going to roll down as low as you can see. You Peel yourself off the wall. One bone at a time, rolling down the head is relaxed him that they had dangle. Pool the stomach up and keep rolling down till you get either as hello as you can or your hands are about the height of your ankles, but they are not touching the floor so your stomach is still pulling way up, lifting up. But everything else is hanging.

Now three nice loose dangly circles with the arms. One way, make sure that arms and shoulders are loose and then three circles the other way and then start rolling up again. Same. Get your tail under you if you need to. You can even bend the knees a little bit to help get that length in that lower is fine. So you roll up, roll up, roll up. So the lower back is long, the ribs are back and slow. You lift up and then one more time. Drop your head and wrote.

Repeat this. So you're rounding and opening the back body, pulling the stomach up, letting the arms hang and articulating through the spine to go down nice and long. Once you get down there, check that the belly is still lifting way up and active belly. Three circles with the arm beer. Good. Really? Hey, let the arms hang. They should be like a just naturally long and loosen a dangly. Reverse your circles. That's it. Nice loose arms and then pull the stomach up and start to roll up.

Roll up so you can get the sacrament to the wall. Pull the stomach back towards route, fill up the back ribs into the wall and roll all the way up all the way up til the head lifts. Now in this position, just put your hands against the wall so you have your feet away and just gently push away from the wall so you're standing on your feet. Now once you're standing and the legs are right under you, the natural curves of the spine will come back in, which is the natural healthy way for the back to be. But you've done a lot of work to to separate and open the back. So take a moment to really feel this length in the waist. That's it.

Take a moment to feel how you're standing right in the center of your legs and the center of the legs is going down and there's a nice lift up through the crown. So there's like a string at the top of the head lifting you up or also imagine behind the ears lifting you to the back of the neck is long way. When usually when people wanted to be upright, they do this and then the neck is short to back of the neck. Is Law. Just take a moment to look straight ahead. We never looked straight. We usually look down and also check that the shoulders are wide.

Very good. You all look so gorgeous. Take a deep breath in and breathing out. Let everything go. So thank you very much. You did very well.