Back To Beginnings

Welcome to Back to Beginning. You guys, I am so excited to share my knowledge with you. So let's all stand up. We're gonna warm up a little bit, and then we're gonna go down to the floor and start doing our beginners mat work. So heels together, toes apart for me, please.

I always like to start my class standing up just to feel the foundation of the ground and see where we are within our bodies. The most important thing is to try to breathe as deeply as possible. So just relax the shoulders, relax the neck, and just take a couple of deep breaths for me, please. Inhale and exhale. Again, inhale and exhale.

Inhale and exhale. We're gonna circle the shoulders up and around. So we're gonna create action with those shoulders and on the way down, I want you to exhale. Good. Again, allow the scapulas to elevate and then depress.

One more time, inhale and exhale. Reverse backing around, inhale, exhale. Good, inhale. Why is this so important to me? Because the more mobility we have in the scapulas between the scapulas, the more flexibility you have in the thoracic.

So now place your hands on top of the shoulders and from this position, you're gonna reach those elbows up to the ceiling and then rotate them back. This is a safe way to be able to move those arms and for people that have elbow issues, this is a good way to protect those elbows and even the shoulders. Good and reverse for me, please. Start visualizing the scapulas, how they move as you circle those elbows. Yes.

There's a theory of glenohumeral rhythm. I want you to look it up after we finish our class so you can understand exactly what I'm talking about. Excellent. Bring the arms down to the floor for me, please from this position. I want you to reach the arms up to the ceiling.

Now the scapulas are gonna rotate upward, and then as you bring the arms down, the scapulas is gonna rotate downward. Again, inhale and exhale. Bring it down, two. Again, inhale and bring it down, three. Reverse back, up and around and down.

So basically what we're doing right now, it's the wall exercises without the wall. One more time and release. Now a little bit of articulation through the spine. So from this position, you're still in a Pilate stance, hands down to your sides, inhale for me, please and on the exhale, you're just gonna drop the chin to the chest and inhale, bring it right back up, one. Again, allow the breath to move the body.

So when you bring your head down, you exhale and allow the inhale to bring the head up. Now we're gonna articulate through the thoracics. So bring the chin to the chest, navel deep into the spine and articulate through the thoracic. Yes, relax the shoulders. Think of the scapulas wrapping around to the front of the body and just hang out here and do five little circles one way and reverse five little circles and the other way.

Breathe normal here and then when you're ready to roll up, I want you to inhale and come back to center. Again, exhale to roll down via the articulation of the spine. Scoop the abdominals, find the brace of the obliques and the transversus abdominis, and then circle the arms. Your pelvis wants to be in a neutral position and your lower back should be nice and long. Now roll back up one vertebrae at a time, lengthening the body and this is two.

We're gonna do this one more time and exhale, drop the chin to the chest. Articulate the thoracic as you empty the lungs completely out, pressing the abdominals in and up. Small little circles, five circles, one way and reverse. Spread those toes on the floor and make sure you feel the connection of the heels into the ground and excellent. Very nice.

Now, let's stretch the neck out. So bring that right ear, two. I'm gonna mirror you guys, right ear to the right shoulder and then bring it back to center. To the other side. So we're just warming up the upper body to make sure that everything we do is with grace and joy.

Good, and again, let's go to the other side. Now we're gonna do a half a circle. So take that right ear to the right shoulder and circle the head down and around and bring it center. To the other side down around, navel deep into your spine and center. Try not to move the shoulders at all.

It's just a neck exercise. So you're just allowing mobility in the neck. One more time, over, drop the head down, center and release. Now from the neck, we're gonna go down to the feet. You're gonna articulate your toes because we're gonna use them a lot, also your metatarsal.

So bring one heel up and again, I'm gonna mirror you. So if I say right, I'm really moving my left, but I just don't want you to get confused. So here we go. Lift, excellent. Think of articulating through that foot and spread the toes on the floor and bring it back down.

Good and again, switch and down. Excellent. Now we're gonna test your balance on the next repetition, finish with the left, we're gonna lift that right heel up and then with your powerhouse, you gonna lift the other heel up. Find that balance and let's bring right leg, left heel down. Now let's go left heel, lift it up.

Right heel. Bring that left heel down and excellent. Again, make sure that you lift with that pelvic floor up. Excellent, very nice. Let's do that again and right now just relax the shoulders you have no temper body.

It's all coming from the powerhouse. Now let's move a little bit quicker and running in place. Two, three, four, five, six, and really spring both heels down, chest expansions, reach the arms forward for me, please. I want you to keep your fingers together and from this position, I want you to reach those fingertips down and back. Feel that lateral rotation of the shoulders and look to the right, look to the left, look center and release the air out.

Remember, I want you to inhale deeply, blow up the chest the back and look to the left, look to the right, center and release the air. One more time. Look, look, and release the air out. Now this time we're gonna use our feet. You're gonna reach those arms down and back, connect to the back and then with your glutes and hamstrings, lift those heels up.

Now this time look to the left, look to the right, center and release the air out, one. We're gonna do two more just like this. Reach those fingertips down and back, deeply inhale, look, look, center and release. One more time. Look, look, center and release the air out.

Reach the arms forward and cross the arms in front of you. We're gonna go into marching. We're still warming up the body. This is dynamic stretching. I want you to bring that right heel into the chest and then alternating.

We're to do six sets. So here we go. And once we do, once we finish the sixth set, we're gonna take it out to the side and kick to the side as well. So here we go. Ready and start.

One, two, three. Try not to sway the body side to side. Five, six, and take those legs out to the side and we'll do six to the side. Four, five, six. Let's take it to the front four sets.

One, two, three, four to the side. Four, three, two, one to the front. Two, two and side, two. Now we're gonna do single. One and side, front and side, front and side.

One more set, front, side and release. Very nice. Now we're gonna go into what I call Joseph Pilates back lunge which is very interesting because it alleviates any pain in the back and it really forces you to use your glutes. So we're gonna step back with that right foot and you're gonna twist the body to the opposite side as if you're picking something up from the floor and then come back to center one. Let's do the six sets.

So here we go. Step back, scoop the abdominals and up. Use your powerhouse like you're going into a rolling like a ball position and come up and again. Scoop the abdominals, step back. Your feet are in a Pilates stance.

So every time you come back, we turn those feet into a Pilates stance. Excellent, round the upper body make sure the back of the neck is nice and long and let's continue. Over and up, good. Over, scoop the abs in, good. One more set and finish off to the left come back to center and release.

Excellent, good. So we warmed up the hamstrings, the hip flexors, and now let's work a little bit on the back and more of the hamstrings. And I like this particular exercise. We're gonna hinge from the hips into Caesar, but we're gonna gradually built into that movement. So from here, what I want you to do is open the legs, hip width apart, and just hinge from the hips for me, please.

Make sure your lower back is flat and your shoulders are rotating back and then you come back into an upright position. If you need to soften the knees a little bit, you can for now. But what I want you to imagine is that you're working to be able to sit upright for spine stretch forward and the twist and the saw. So here we go. So lengthen.

All we're doing today is priming the body for the next three lessons. Good, excellent. Now we're gonna pinch from the hips and then from here, you're gonna bend the knees into very deep bend of the knees. So now you feel the stretch of your Achilles tendon, tend your quads and your knees. Now straighten the legs out for me, please.

Keep the body parallel to the floor and then from here, come up one. And again, hinge from the hips and bend the knee, second. Good, press those heels into the ground to straighten out the legs. Your body's parallel to the ground and you come up, two. Let's do this one more time.

Scooping the abdominals, lengthen the spine. The shoulders are rotating out. You bend the knees, press those heels into the floor and into an upright position. Excellent. Now what we're gonna do, we're gonna hinge from the hips first and you're gonna bend the knees, second.

Now you're gonna go into catcher's position. If you need to use the floor, you can, but I want you to be as upright as possible in this position. Good, now press the heels down to the ground so your body is parallel to the ground. And with your hamstrings and glutes, you're gonna lift yourself up, one. Again, here we go.

Hinge from the hips, first, bend the knees, second. You don't have to use your hands if you feel a good balance, go into a catcher's position. Now press those heels down to the ground, straighten the legs and with the back of the legs, you come up into an upright position. One more time, here we go. Hinge, bend the knees, catcher's position, long torso, long back, press the heels down, straighten the legs and upright position.

Excellent, now we're gonna go into Caesar. So hinge from the hips first, you're gonna bend the knees, second, you're gonna go into that catcher's position here, you're gonna bring the knees down to the floor, flatten the top of your feet and just sit down into Caesar. You should feel a nice stretch in the back of the legs. Now, let's reverse that. From the glutes and the quads, lift the pelvis off the floor, curl the toes under, sit back into a catcher's position.

If you need to use your hands to help you balance, you can, press the heels down to the ground, straighten the legs and come up into an upright position. Very nice. Let's do that two more times. Hinge, bend the knees, deep bend, catcher's position. Good, bring your knees down to the ground, flatten the top of your feet and sit back on your heels.

With your glutes and your quads come up onto your knees, curl the toes under and sit back, pressing the heels onto the floor with a body parallel to the ground, straighten the legs and up. One more time, here we go. Hinge, bend, catcher's position, knees down. Use your powerhouse, scoop the abdominals and sit back on your heels. Lift from the glutes, curl the toes under and sit back, press the heels down to the floor, straighten the legs and come up into an upright position.

This is inspired by an old clip of Joseph Pilates. Now we're gonna do a back extension along with this movement. So you guys ready? Here we go. So we start exactly the same way, we follow the same patterns.

Hinge from the hips, bend the knees, second, go into a catcher's position, press those heels onto the floor, flatten the top of your feet on the floor and sit back. Now, you're gonna reach the arms forward, you're gonna bring your chest to the ground and extend the body into an extension. Scoop the abdominals back, sit way back onto your heels into a child's pose. Now roll up one vertebrae at a time. Lift with your glutes and quads, curl the toes under, catcher's position, press the heels down to the floor.

And this time as you straighten the legs and bring the body up here and lift the arms up to the ceiling with a big inhale and open the arms up to the sides. Let's do that again. Isn't that fun? Here we go. Bend from the hips.

Bend from the knees, go into a deep catcher's position, whoa, and bring the knees down to the floor, flatten the top of your feet. Reach your body forward and go into an extension. Lift the sternum up. Round the upper body forward, sit back and scoop the abdominals, lift from the glutes, curl the toes under, catcher's, you can use your hands if you want, press the heels down to the ground. Now straighten the legs and as you bring the body up, inhale, lift the arms up to the ceiling, allow the scapulas to rotate upward and they rotate downward.

One more time, here we go. Hinge and bend from the knees. Good, catcher's position, knees down to the ground. Whoa and sit back on your heels. Lift out of those hips.

Well, sorry body forward, extend, lift, scoop the abdominals. Sit back on your heels, good. Rolling up, lift from the glutes. Curl the toes under, catcher's position, press the heels down. Straighten the legs.

Start using arms to lift them up to the ceiling, opening your arms out to the sides and now this time we're gonna dissent to the floor exactly the same way and we're gonna go into figure four. Hinge from the hips, bend the knees, catcher's position, knees down to the floor. Good, sit back on your heels for a second and we are ready for fourth position. Good, excellent. Let me fix my mic for a second and here we go.

Navel deep into the spine. So from this position, what I really want you to think of, I really want you to not move your feet, but sit up as tall as possible. We're still warming up the body. We're still getting some mobility in those hips. If this feels a little tight, just lean back a little bit.

You can use your hands for now, but eventually it's gonna be an exercise without hands. It's gonna feel almost like stomach massage. So here we go. From this position here, I want you to stretch the body forward first. Open the arms out to the sides.

And scoop the abdominals. Now take the arms behind you and lift the chest up for me, please. And again, here we go and lengthen the body, stretch the body forward and come up just a little bit just to feel a nice openness in that left hip. If I'm mirroring you, that would be your right hip. Forward one more time.

Let's take the body back. Good, now we're gonna turn to the other side and what I want you to do is I don't want you to move your feet. You're just literally gonna lift those knees up and you're gonna go to the other side, but I'm just gonna turn around a little bit so I can see you. Here we go. So let's stretch the body forward, lengthen.

Good and come up and take the arms behind you. Eventually you want to go all the way down to the floor, but for today we're just warming up the body and losing it up. And again, go back. One more time, stretch the body forward. And then the future classes you guys are gonna see me developing this movement a little bit more.

For now, let's just keep moving. From this position here. Like I said, you don't move your feet. You just lift those knees up and take the knees to the other side and one, good. And again, to the other side, just go side to side.

If you can stay upright as much as possible, that would be great. So you're gonna use your lower abdominals. Really scoop the abdominals as you lift those knees up. It's almost like that position of stomach massage in a way except that your feet are open, but it's that same connection. Good.

Now let's add a little bit of twist with the upper body. So take one arm and reach it behind you and come up to the other side. So if I'm mirroring you, you're taking that right arm and reaching it behind you and the other way you take that left arm as you twist the body to the right, as you twist the body to the left, you pick up that right arm. Scoop the abdominals one more time and release. The moment of choose, 100 for me, please.

Let's bring your legs to the front of your mat. Lengthen the body. I like personally to start with a body flat on the floor instead of bringing that knees into a tabletop. And I'll tell you why, because I believe that if you're in this position, your shoulders is elongated. The front of the hips is open.

So what are we gonna do today? We're gonna break it down in three sets. We're gonna do 30 instead of 100 and we're gonna take a rest and we're gonna regroup again and do that three times. The last set it's gonna be 40. So here we go, lengthen everything nice and long.

Long body, point the feet. Yes, feel the two-way stretch. It's very similar to what you were feeling on the wall in our last video. So from this position, I want you to scoop the abdominals and inhale and come up into this position. I know, pump those arms above the thighs six to eight inches.

Inhale for five, exhale for five. Inhale, make sure the back of the neck is nice and long. One more time. I know you're getting tired. You're feeling in the neck.

Scoop the abdominals and we're gonna come down and stretch the body nice and long. We're gonna try that again. We're gonna do another 30, so here we go. Lengthen the arms up to the ceiling, with the inhale, length those legs off the floor. If you can keep those legs, heels two inches off the floor, that would be great.

Breathe deeply and exhale. One more time. Inhale, exhale, and breathe down. We're gonna regroup again making sure that your legs are reaching as long as possible. You have that lateral rotation.

And yesterday we talked about engaging those inner thighs and lifting those legs with the inner thighs. Now we're gonna go for 40. inhale for five and exhale. Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale.

We have one more. Come on you guys. Take a deep breath, inhale and exhale through the nose, empty the lungs out completely and release. You've accomplished your 100 Joseph Pilates style. So here we go.

Now we're gonna go into roll up. Flex the feet, reach the arms up to the ceiling and with the exhale, I want you to come up and not hold this position here, which is beautiful. I want you to go a little bit further, press the hands into the floor, pull the belly button, the opposite direction, point your sit bones back and with the inhale, we're gonna roll down one vertebrae at a time. And as you get to the bottom of your movement, you're gonna point the feet. And again, find that walking up the spider up the wall position.

So here we go, flex a bit again, scoop the abdominals and up we go and reach the body and exhale one, exhale two, exhale three. Feel that lateral rotation which we're gonna talk about it later. Lateral rotation in the shoulders and point the feet. Good, one more time. Here we go.

Use your exhale. Flex the feet, feel the back of the line lengthening on the mat and reach forward. One, feel that lateral rotation two, three, scoop the abdominals, roll down one vertebrae at a time and point the feet and spider up the wall feeling right here. Excellent, very nice. Let's bend the knees using your lower abdominals.

Your powerhouse, bend the knees in, feet flat on the floor. Now from this position, what I want you to do is we're gonna do breathing. Open the legs, hip width apart. Using the inhale, you're gonna lift the pelvis off the floor one vertebrae at a time. Hold on to that breath, reach the arms over the head find your longest point.

And with the exhale, I want you to melt the spine down one vertebrae at a time. See if you can lengthen those arms a little bit more and bring the arms down to the ground one. Again, inhale. Arms over the head, and see if you can use your nose to expel the air out because we want to retain that heat. We're still warming up the body, believe it or not guys.

Here we go, inhale. So this is what you should feel. I know it's challenging, but this is what you should feel when you're doing rollover. Yes, that articulation. A lot of times we skip that middle part of the back and I want you to be aware of that middle part of the back as you've rolled the spine down.

So allow the scapulas to rotate upwards so there's flexibility in the mid back and then melt the sternum down as you exhale, right this particular area right here, see if you can spread that mid back onto the ground, bring the arms down to the sides and release. Excellent. Straighten out the legs for me, please and now you are ready for leg circles. Now give me just one second. What I want you to think of, we did this exercise in our last class.

What I want you to think of is that leg circle has to have somewhat of this feeling. Just do this for me, please. Cross the right leg over the left and just take both knees to the left and then bring it back to center. This is the kind of feeling we're going for for the leg circles. Let's go to the other side, which is more of the Joseph Pilates theory.

It's to lift the opposite hip off the ground. So that's what I want you to think of today when we do the leg circles. Having said that, here we go. Straighten both legs on the floor for me please and we're to flex the left foot, bring your hands down to your sides. The right foot is gonna be pointed and press those arms close to the body if you can, and what we're gonna do, we're gonna circle cross over.

Notice how my hip comes off the floor and exhale through the nose, one. We're gonna add breath to it. Exhale and inhale two, inhale exhale, three, four and five. Reverse that. One, two, three.

So it should be more of a massage on that lower back. One more time and release. Let's change the legs in mid air. Right foot flexes, left foot points crossing over. So notice my right arm serves as a stopper, so I don't go beyond my line, my center line.

Now reverse. Crossover one, five times, two, three, four, one more time and five. Excellent, bring both legs down. Roll onto the side of the body for me, please and that's how you're gonna sit up today. We are ready for...

What are we ready for? What are we ready for? Let's do roll down for me, please. I really want you to cement that feeling of a roll down. So here we go.

Scoop the abdominals and navel deep into the spine and go back, scoop the abdominals even deeper, deeper, and round the upper body forward. Push the air out and sit up nice and tall for me for a second. Excellent. Find your powerhouse. Find that breath.

Inhale, with the inhale, the spine it elongates. Your transfers abdominals and obliques come to center. Now, as you expel the air out, you go deeper into that powerhouse. Think of bringing that sacrum down to the floor. Keep the sacrum exactly where it is and just fold yourself from the upper part of the body round the upper body forward, forward, forward, forward and sit up nice and tall.

Let's do this one more time and take the body back. Scoop the abdominals deep, deep, deep, deep, deep. Let's round the upper body forward and roll up and sitting up nice and tall. Good. Should we try a rolling like a ball?

So scoop the abdominals and take the body back for a second. Good, lift the heels off the floor, naval deep. Good, bring the feet down and around the upper body forward. Now when you lift those heels off the floor, I want you to use your lower abdominals. So I want you to use your powerhouse.

So scoop the abdominals, lift those heels off the floor deep into that lower abdominal connection, press the heels down to the ground and then round the upper body forward. Here we go. We're gonna do this one more time. Navel deep into the spine, scoop the abdominals, go back. Now, lift those heels off the floor and just gently roll back and forth.

One, good. Navel deep into the spine. And roll back, two. Again, navel deep, three. One more time.

You should feel a massage in your back and your abdominals connecting. Let's kick it up a little bit. Elbows on the floor and try to keep those elbows glued to your knees. I'm sorry, elbows to your knees. Glue those elbows to the knees and then just exactly the same thing.

Yeah, just really breathe into it. I want you to inhale and press the air with your abs too. Good, one more time, inhale, exhale and release. Excellent, very nice. Let's go back onto your back for me please and now we are waiting for single leg stretch.

Bring that right into your chest opposite hand to the opposite knee. I want you to grab onto your ankle. Yeah. I want you to think of your abdominals drawing that opposite leg with the exhale. Yes, with the exhale.

So exhale and press the air out inhale with the right and exhale with the left. Inhale with the right. So I personally like that knee to pull as close to the body as possible. If you have knee issues, grab onto the back of the leg but really tracks and feel that full stretch of your hips. One more time, we're gonna change the breath around.

Now, I want you to exhale with the right, so drive that leg and with your exhale and inhale to the left. Again, exhale, inhale. Three more. Great job you guys. Excellent, again.

Last time and release. Bend both knees into the chest for me, please and I'm gonna give you a little break with the upper body. Now inhale for me, please and on the exhale, I want to bring your upper body. So use your intercostal muscles to press the air out. Now, from this position, we're gonna do at Joseph Pilates style.

We're gonna do double leg stretch. Inhale, reach both legs out and rotate those legs outward, find the inner thighs. Now with the inner thighs like you learned on our last session, bring those knees into the chest, one. Again, inhale and think of your knees reaching towards your ears, two. Inhale, now let's move a little bit quick and exhale.

Inhale, exhale. Inhale, and exhale. And if you guys want a little bit more of a challenge, you can do the Romana's Pilates arm work. Inhale, reach the arms up to the ceiling, open the arms out and then bring it right back in one. Again, inhale but I like the Joseph Pilates because it connects my arms into my trunk.

Good, two more. Exhale. Use your exhale to initiate the pulling of the knees into the chest. Excellent, let's bring your head down for me please and now we are ready for single leg stretch. Right knee into the chest, and we'll do exactly the same breathing.

I want you to pull that leg in one, two, and we are gonna do a little bit of pulls but you have to connect with your body and switch. Inhale with the right, exhale with the left. Again, inhale right, exhale left. Inhale, exhale. Inhale, now we're gonna change the breath.

You're gonna inhale with the right, exhale with the left. Good, awesome. Never grab behind the knee either on the hamstring, on the calf or on the ankle. You pick the place that is best for you, that fits your body and release. Let's pull both knees into the chest and now we are ready for double straight leg stretch.

You have three options for this one. You can place your hands underneath the buttocks, yes and just bring the legs down and up, only to a place where you can keep your lower back on the mat. You can bring the head up to that, or you can place your hands behind the neck and keep your upper body as high as possible. So here we go. We're gonna bring it down for three counts.

One, two, three, and exhale one. Your indicator is if your back lifts off the floor, you've gone too far down. You're gonna go down as low as possible and keeping that lower back onto the mat. Good, inhale, go down one, two, three, and quick. You're working right here.

Your pelvic floor, your transversus abdominis and the obliques, good. Let's do four more for me please. Inhale and exhale. Inhale and quickly up. Two more, inhale and quick up.

Last time, inhale and quick up and release. Excellent. You're gonna twist the body to the right for twist, hold to look behind you. Two, three, and switch to the other side and bring it up and hold, two, three. If you can't get up high enough because of your limitations, I want you to grab onto the back of the thighs.

And as you pull that right knee into your chest, twist the body to the right and look behind you. Let's go to the other side and do exactly the same thing. So notice my upper body doesn't come down and I twist my body and look behind myself. And then I go to the other side and same thing and hold, two. Really feel that powerhouse working.

Good, to the other side and look behind you. One, two, three. Stretch that right leg as much as possible. We're gonna do this one more time so you guys can cement this and twist. Two, three, last time.

Bring it out and hold two, three, and bringing the body back to center. Very nice. Let's roll onto your side for me please and now we are ready for spine stretch forward. Spine stretch forward as well. I do it a little bit different.

Spine stretch forward. I want you to open the legs. For those people that are very tight, open the legs a little bit wider than usual, for people that are very flexible, bring those legs a little bit closer in. But what's most important is I want you to feel that two-way stretch. So place your fist to the sides and drop those hips down for me, please.

Make those hips heavy. Yes, feel your back working. Feel the back of the neck nice and long and now just sit down. From this position, I want you to place your hands in front of you and from here, I want you to reach the body forward, one, scoop the abdominals and press forward, two. Scoop the abdominals and press forward, three.

As you press in the arms forward, I want you to feel that lateral rotation here. You're pulling that belly button back, yes and you are allowing that pelvis to come forward a little bit so you feel a stretch in the hamstrings as well. Now, navel deep into the spine, because if your hamstrings are too tight, you're never gonna be able to sit up in this position. So the emphasis I want you to put on to this exercise is trying to get the stretch, not in the back, but in your hamstrings. So press into the floor and reach a little bit forward as you exhale.

Lengthen the back of the neck, round the upper part of the back, pull the belly button back and inhale, stack up the spine, keep your hands on the floor. notice feet are dorsi flexing. So your feet should be as well so you feel that whole back line. One more time, here we go. Press the air out and dig those heels of the palms into the ground, one, scoop the abdominals and reach forward, two and feel that belly button pulling back, feel that lateral rotation of your shoulders so your armpits are engaged and rolling up one vertebrae at a time, sitting up nice and tall and release.

Excellent on your back, please and we're gonna do pre corkscrew. Pre corkscrew. With your hands underneath the buttocks, your head is nice and long, and I want you work on the breath. I want you to think of the exhale, bringing the legs down and inhale, bringing the legs up. Okay, that's how we're doing today.

We're just learning to move with the breath and really pay attention to the breath. What is your breath telling you right now? Do you need to breathe deeper as you come up or do you need to expel more air out as you bring it in? Let's do this one more time, please for good measure. Last time.

Cross it over, navel deep and release. Excellent, very nice. Let's bend the knees for me, please and we're gonna go into what I call cross-legged tick-tock, which I demonstrated earlier for leg circles single leg circles, because I really want you guys to think about this and feel how yummy this exercise feels. Good. I like to incorporate this a lot, especially for my older clientele, because it really relieves a lot of that lower back, a lot of that lower back tension without having to be forceful.

So inhale as you take that leg out and then bring it back to center. Good. In a sense, you want to think of this as preparation for the saw, because you do need some flexibility in that thoracic area. Let's do one more for good measure and let's change your legs for me, please to the other side, here we go. And twist and up.

Good. We're gonna do eight repetitions and look to the opposite side too. Again, three. Again, four, five, six, two more. Inhale, exhale, last time.

Over, come back to center and release. Excellent. Let's turn around for me please on your stomach and we are ready for a preparation for the Swan. So let's all go onto your stomach. Let me fix this a little bit very quickly and we can move on.

So on your stomach for me, please. Try not to take your arms so underneath you, because a lot of times that is too restricting in the spine. I want you to think of a long spine. So bring your arms a little bit further than the top of the head. From this position, I want you to rotate the shoulders outward and then lengthen the spine, point the feet and almost like a mermaid, pull yourself forward out of the water and then bring yourself back down, navel deep into the spine.

And one, and again, lengthen the spine, pull yourself forward, drag yourself forward. Feel the shoulders rotating outward without crunching the shoulder blades together and bring it back down, two. Let's do this one more time, here we go. Use the inhale. Inhale more to protect your back.

Think of that pelvis tilting back with you. And you know what, we need this a little bit more. We're gonna do this two more times and I really want you to use the breath. So inhale to come up and exhale to bring it down. One more time, inhale to lengthen.

Here's your Swan. Here's your preparation for Swan. Lift up, up, up, and bring your body back to center and release, excellent. Let's sit back on your heels, please into a child pose. Just stretch the body out, good.

Rolling up, lift the pelvis off the floor which we did already earlier. Curl the toes under and just sit back for a second, please. Yeah. Now, we're gonna take some time for what people were asking about our last session. What does that mean, rotating the shoulders outward or lateral rotation of the shoulders?

What I want you to think of is a lot of people tend to fall into their shoulders when they're in a push up position. So they kind of go like this and then all the tension is on the tracks. What I want you to think of, is literally, I want you to think of the lateral rotators of the shoulder to take that shoulder back. It's almost like when you do that physical therapy exercise where you twist the shoulder outward. So basically what we're doing is we're doing that.

The other question was, well, what does it mean retraction and protraction of the shoulder blades? So what I want you to think of doing when your lateral rotation of the shoulder is engaged, I want you to think of wrapping the shoulders forward. Notice my shoulders and then retracting you pinch your scapulas back. So that's what we are gonna do into a quadripartite position, in that quadripartite position. So here we go, we are in a quadripartite position.

Yes, and first we're gonna warm up just by literally rotating the shoulders outward. So there we're finding that stability of that shoulder. So it's almost like pinching your armpits together and then release. Let's try that again. Rotate outward.

Now, if you're lucky, you should feel your intercostal muscles in front of the rib cage and your obliques activating as you do this. Right now, it's like, they're killing you right now. And again, here we go. Let's rotate the shoulders outward. So the shoulder joint outward.

See my arm is shaking right now. Now we're gonna go into protraction of your scapulas and retraction. So you're gonna round the upper part of the back and then you're going to retract, pinch it. It's not the same as cat cow. Right now, we're just finding that stability and mobility of the shoulder girdle.

So I'm moving my shoulders because I'm retracting and protracting my shoulder blades. It's almost like when you're protracting, it's almost like you're pushing the floor away from you. Let's try that again. Retract and protract. Whoa, excellent.

So there's a whole burning sensation in the back of my shoulders back here. Excellent. Now let's go into cat cow, but don't forget to use that stability of the shoulders, which you'll be able to use for pushups and all those fun stuff later. So here we go from this position, rotate those shoulders outward. Now let's go into cat cow.

Keep that lateral rotation of the shoulders and exhale. Scoop the abdominals, press the air out with your abdominal muscles. Now, when you go into cow, I want you to curl the toes under an arch the back, one. And again, scoop the abdominals, lift up, flatten the top of your feet and inhale, press those heels back, curl the toes under. Again, exhale and inhale.

It's the same breathing Swan dive. Press the air out and inhale to extend and release. Good, excellent. Let's sit back into a child's pose position, please. Hopefully you're warmed up enough where we can go into a full squat position.

So just hang out here for a second, drop those heels down and just hang out here. Feel that openness of your back. If this is a little bit too challenging for you, you can always grab the back of the sofa or something that will assist you on keeping this position. Obviously, if this is challenging for you, we need to strengthen the front of the legs as well as more flexibility in your Achilles. Now, twist the body, twist that right knee to the center line and then bring it back and sit down in a squat.

To the other side, bring it forward. So right now we're just priming the body for what's to come in the next three days. Yes, good. We want to be able to have full mobility of your feet, your ankles, your hips, your knees. Good, let's try that one more time for me, please.

And let's go back to that low squat position, keeping the chest up and from the back of the legs, come up into an upright position. Excellent, very nice. We're gonna do some dynamic squats. So here we go. We're gonna do five counts down and one count up.

So here we go. Reach the arms forward. You're gonna pull the seat back. Notice where my knees are. They're pulling back.

My hip bones are also pulling back and with dynamic, you're gonna come up into an upright position. This is one, we're gonna do eight repetitions. Inhale to come down five counts and quickly up, two. Good. Slowly down two, three, four, five, and quick.

How low can you go? Can you go all the way down without losing balance? And quick, good. Make sure your abdominals are engaged. You're scooping the abdominals in.

You try not to lean the upper body so much. Three more for me, please. Slow two, three, four, five, quick. Good. Last two and quick.

Last time, one, two, three, four, five, and release. Now we're gonna change the dynamic and I almost want you to think of it as knees off. That dynamic when you push the carriage back home, that's what I want you to think of when you go down to the four in one count. So here we go. We quickly go down and then we go up, one, two, three, four, five.

And again, quick one, two, three, four, five. Again quick, one, two, three, four, five. Five more for me, please. So I'm preparing you guys for primal flow. And I like to do squats because they are such an essential part of our movement.

Everything we do in life, we're constantly squatting. We sit on a sofa, we sit on a chair, we sit in our car. So it's very important to have that mobility and strength. Excellent, we're gonna do this one more time. Scoop the abdominals and sit back and slowly come on up.

Excellent, very nice. Let's go into static beast. So we're gonna do the same setup. We're gonna go down five counts one, two, three, four, five. You're gonna reach the arms forward and guess what?

You're gonna go into a knees off position. Remember that lateral rotation of the shoulders that I was talking about earlier? Wrap the scapulas forward, navel deep into the spine, hold it here for a couple more seconds. Now with your chest, not your shoulders, nor your arms, you're gonna push yourself back into that squatting position and up we go. Excellent.

Let's do that a couple more times. See my heart rate is already going and that's what you're gonna experience starting tomorrow. So we go one, two, three, four, five. Hands on the floor, knees off the ground, hold. Two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.

Push up and press those heels down to the ground and up we go, two. Let's do this one more time. Here we go. And we go down one, two, three, four, five, hands on the floor and navel deep into the spine. Scoop the abdominals, stay.

Two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Press back onto your heels from the back of the legs. Scoop the abdominals and bring it down. Excellent, good. Now let's go into elephant.

We're gonna start doing elephant. If you guys remember on our last lesson, bend the knees for me, please. We learned how to move from a child's pose position to an elephant. So just press those heels down as much as you can and push away from the ground. That stability cue that I gave you earlier, I want you to apply it here.

Bend the knees again, down to the ground, just like that. Navel deep, use your core and push up. Push up again. You almost think of you going into hand stand, if you will. Good, and again, bend the knee, navel deep into the spine, scoop the abdominals, bend, bend, bend, and press your heels down.

If you want a little bit more challenge, just walk your feet forward for me. Walk them forward. See if you can walk your feet through your hands. Keep your hands flat on the floor, relax the neck and let's walk your hands forward again. Yes, so you're in an upside down V, close the armpits, walk your feet forward again, navel deep into your spine, walk forward.

How forward can you go? You figure out for yourself, but always make sure that your sit points are pointing up to the ceiling, you're lifting the abdominals in and up, navel deep into your spine, and roll up one vertebrae at a time, long torso, long back. Excellent, you guys. That was awesome. Let's just do a breathing exercise to finalize our workout.

Spread the toes out for me, please. Feel the connection of the heels into the ground. One third of your weight on the front of the foot and two thirds in the back of the foot. Now, these are Joseph Pilates standing exercises. So inhale, lift the arms up to the ceiling for me, please and you're gonna release to exhale out as you bring your elbows close to the body and lift the sternum up towards the ceiling.

Now, as you lift the arms up again, you create more space for your lungs to inhale and exhale, bring it back down. So here we go, inhale, exhale. Exhale, inhale, and bring it down. Already I feel energy just zipping to my brain as I exhale. Exhale and inhale, lift the arms up to the ceiling and bring it down.

Again, inhale and exhale. Open the legs out for me, please. Extend the arms out to the sides as you inhale. Now, I want you to press the air out with your abdominal muscles, press those knuckles up against each other and inhale and exhale, bring it down. Again, excellent.

Inhale and let's press the air. Press it out, press it out, press it out. Press the knuckles up against each other and inhale, lift the arms up and bring it down, two. Good, one more time and press the air with your abs, intercostal muscles, obliques near the waist and inhale, lift the arms up to the ceiling and bring the arms down to the side. So let's bring the legs together and now we're gonna do the last breathing exercise.

You're gonna lift the arms up to the ceiling. You're gonna place one hand on top of the other like this over the head, so you're in this position here. Now you're empty the lungs out, you're gonna inhale, you're gonna create more space for those lungs, you're gonna exhale again, inhale, and then bring the arms back down. Let's practice it a couple of times. So inhale up, exhale down.

Inhale up, exhale down. Inhale up, bring it down. Let's do a little fast temper. Not that fast. Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale, and bring it down with control with a breath.

Again. And empty the lungs. Good, two more. Here we go, inhale. Exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale, and bring the arms down.

Very nice, good. Just to finish it off, let's see how well you have your balance for today. We're gonna go into what I call the elevator. Rotate those legs out a little bit wider and we're just gonna go down the elevator one, down the elevator, two, down the elevator, three, four, five, press the heels down to the floor just as if you're going to the fifth floor. Let's go down to the first floor, one, two, three, four, five, press the heels down and let's go to the fifth floor, pressing the heels down every time.

Good, one more time for me, please. And down two, three, four. How low can you go? Press the heels down one, two, three, four, five. Inhale, reach the arms up to the ceiling.

Open the arms out to the sides and you are finished. You guys, thank you so much. Stay tuned for Q&A and I will see you tomorrow with step into flow. So, awesome work and I'll see you tomorrow.