Exploring Hand to Foot

Welcome back, everyone. Welcome to our class this morning at Hand to Foot which is a kind of probably unique topic or unique theme for a class for many of us. Shirena is joining me to explore and demonstrate everything, so you can alternately feel it in your own body and look for it in hers. So we're gonna start with a few kinda preparatory things so that you get a feel for the extra stuff that we're gonna play with today so just stand on your mat and you can be at the front of it to roll down if you wish or just anywhere that you're comfortable, and feel your feet parallel on whatever surface you're on. And notice maybe as an aside whether or not you lean forward into your calves or you could lift your heels readily or could you lift your toes?

Stuff like that just start to get a little gentle assessment, and then picture the soles of your feet doming up. You're gonna draw your toes towards your heels and your arch is gonna rise and then relax, and then dome them up and then relax. And see if you can start to begin to feel that when your soles come up and it doesn't have to be a whole lot, 'cause remember those are small muscles and we're not doing much with them at the moment. So when they do dome up you're gonna start to feel some ramifications up your body. So relax and go yes, no, yes, no, and feel that the soles toning let you start to feel your upper inner thighs, perhaps your upper hamstrings and low glutes, maybe low belly pelvic floor.

So when the soles, and notice maybe not even the toes yet start to tone up and activate they actually lead you to other places. So on this foot now, take a knee bend that keeps your sole active. So you're gonna bend a little bit and then straighten. And feel that maybe the moment of rising you're gonna increase your soles just a little bit to help you rise. Notice, I'm hoping, that when you do that you feel more low quad, upper hamstring, low TSH, upper inner thigh, the same stuff only more.

All right, so then I'm gonna hold you for balance. Luckily, Shirena has me and we're gonna raise up your heels and then tone them up there and lower them down, and raise them and lower them a few times like so and feel that the arch and doming of your sole come still right up your inner thigh, up your hamstrings, hopefully gives you some tummy. And then here at the top, let your soles go whatever that means to you this morning, and go down and up a few times and feel how you have less sensation, less control, less balance, okay? And then rest a minute, everyone, and then use that feeling, we're gonna take squats. You're welcome to go as low as you want as low as you can.

We'll do five or six of them and you can start out small and go bigger, whatever feels good to you this morning but feel the arch first, like initiate each half movement with the arch toning and feel like you. So here you are doing foot work, double leg stretch. Anything here you're gonna stomach massage and reformer so feel how beautiful, how the moment doming your arch up gives you the control to come up, good. Now, if you would Shirena go down this time and try not to stick your TSH out too much like stay hold onto me all right girl and then feet nicely done do one more. Right, beautiful and rest.

So now come to the front of your mat and we'll come down into footwork and feel the soles that you've created now they're warm, arms up in front of you make use of them the whole way down to the best of your ability. Inhale, roll down, exhale into position and then feel even in broad on a purchase, you stretch out an end have the sole of the foot toned up, gives you still search around If it's elusive search around if you want more gives you upper inner thighs, upper hamstring so it supports and strengthens your pelvis. So now you have more pelvic power, beautiful let your toes relax 'cause it's not about that it's more soles, nice. Last time add in and then hot exhale at your back rest and then bird on a perch. So here a bird on a perch, right is exactly more like what we did against the mat don't work quite so hard.

Rest your head in your shoulders and pick your shoulders up the hair, now the girl, and feel that your heel reaching out matches the ball of your foot so you're not clenching your toes so much. One more time as you're feeling the arch, nice and then flex your foot take what you dome to up and lengthen it. So it's not just chose back but pick up the ball of the foot over your toes and see if you can't stretch the whole sole of the foot and in doing so feel what you get coming up your inner thighs to your soles come up your upper hamstrings to your TSH, beautiful. Bring the outside of your toes back just to hair more as you stretch your soles. Now you're preparing to stay out there so you need all that one time out and then point and flex and now change instead of pointing and flexing your toes so much change your arches.

So as you move the sole of the foot remember you have like 40 joint surfaces. So move the soles, gorgeous, beautiful. Feel how it comes up the back of you and tones your TSH, gorgeous and then finish and bring your arms to the side and start your 100. And as you pump open the chest and feel your blades, beautiful press your legs into me a little, let your back lengthen and your tummy turn on and then dome up your soles even again, nicely done Shirena. So feel how, when you go, yes, no on your soles.

See what it feels like to not have them or to cleanse your toes instead of your arches. And then, excuse me, see what it feels like to let your toes rest a little gently point and soles turn on. So hopefully you feel what you felt in the squats even though as you get tired it's harder and harder to find how to exhale last time and then bend your knees and hug them to you today, all right. So now we're gonna shift gears just a little bit now that you're all warm and we're gonna do an exercise called Claris Cast nets. So come stand up Shirena if you went on the mat and face the camera.

And so, we're gonna take our hands down in front of us and the full-out exercises done down at the bottom. This is a bally thing that infiltrated the studio with all the dancers back then and then in front of the chest, up above the head which we'll do again later in class and then finally behind you here. (throat clearing) So we'll start down here you're welcome today to look at your hands. You don't have to even pull your tummy in at the moment but you're gonna take your little finger and roll it independent of the other eight to the palm center of your palm and then roll it out far from you. And then the fourth finger to the center of the palm and then roll that one out.

And third, don't worry if it's far from perfect just doing this is gonna be beneficial and then the thumb and then we reverse it. So the tip of the thumb is your goal coming to your palm and out the tip, the pad of your finger each time. And you're rolling around like say you had one of those balls, that's the soft 2 1/2 inch diameter balls in your palm. You're squeezing the circularity of it, the sphere coldness of it around so you do it three times. You breathe.

(laughing) And if you can take your elbows a little bit out to the side, that's great too, because then you'll get a little bit of upper body and upper abs. So as your fingers start warming up and your palm start warming up, make sure you release tension in your neck, elbow, wrists. Nice. And then you're gonna go swiftly that's the cast net part. So you're just gonna like play the scales three times in one direction and then reverse it thumb first three times in the other direction, nice.

Yes, that's right and then rest. Okay, so you can imagine if you did all that down one, two, three, and four places how warmed up your hands and wrists and arms and shoulders and upper abs would be. So now come back down to the mat and we'll do the roll-up. So now you have not only your feet warmed up under the strap if you have one or under your leg weights, if you have them but you're holding onto the bar with these beautiful hands, you just warmed up. So you take your bar up and see if maybe today with fingers, give that a try.

So you have to do something new and different maybe than you're used to and then exhale your arms behind you and make sure that your interest of your palm surrounding the bar is maybe primary or at least higher than it would normally be. So you inhale, you bring your arms and ears up and you exhale, curl over and reach forward. And then you roll your pelvis, say five, four, three down. See what happens if you try and put every palm cell on the bar. So you'll make gentle arrangements of, "Okay, well "I can get my fifth, fourth finger lateral side down "but it's hard to get my second finger down.

"How could I do that?" Notice when you start to play around there you actually end up with different shoulder tone. What if you took all those palm cells and you pulled the bar apart. So when you pull it apart, you feel the outer shoulder and probably a little more upper abs. What if you tried to bend the bar and to then you feel more blade muscles come around to the upper abs and you probably bend somewhere differently. If you haven't already bring the ball of the foot up over your toes in an even better flection, gorgeous Shirena and feel how your belly turns on from below and above with your palms on the bar, your soles talking to that strap, or just talking gives you more abs throughout last time down, straighten your elbows gently and exhale.

So now place your bar by your side, everyone and now your arms are more ready than they would have been for rollover. So now you have a shoulder girdle that sits on the mat better than it would have. So tummy in brings your knees towards your chest and straighten your legs up to the air and your palms are like every cell possible is on the mat to the best of your ability to today and you curl up and over and you open the soles of your feet and flexibles towards your eyebrows and you roll down exhaling. And then when you point your feet don't just clench your toes, feel the sole of the foot change, nice. And then open the soles, pull your outer foot back so it's yep, gorgeous you get out outer hip, one more and then we'll reverse it everyone, inhale up and over, let the soles open it's like if they were eyeballs, they'd be astonished.

Feel them bright-eyed and wide and then reverse. Do you want to scooch back a little it's fine with me? (throat clearing) And as you continue play with that maybe your fourth toe more than your fifth toe, maybe your point only your big toe and see if it gives you the inner arch up your inner thigh differently than if you pointed all your toes or if you didn't point your toes play around and see what you get because of then if you have a black strap you can roll up to put your foot under for single leg circles otherwise just split your leg and have your leg up in the air. So when you feel your sole wrapping around something, it's like making a fist it's wrinkling up in your arch that should give you some inner thigh and low abs. And if you do it really well you should be able to get your outer hip to.

So here we go single leg circle, crossover inhale down, around and exhale center, nice. So as her foot takes her attention and she's wondering, gorgeous exactly right two more She can feel it come right up inter under my fingers here beautiful and then reverse. And then if she let's say pulls the little toe through her ankle to her outer hip she gets more outer hip and abs newly differently, gorgeous. Take your hip way over now you're getting warmer and let the sole support you last time, bend your knee to your chest hug it to you if you wish and then slide it under your strap and then pick up your left leg. Wrap your sole around an imaginary something, clench it up a little bit like the doming and here we go circle cross down around exhale, beautiful.

As the sole starts to give you what you hope for what you've come to demand because you've woken it up early make the palms of your hands and fingers even the cells between your joints do more for you. So they're searching the mat as you exhale and change sides you feel the palms coming up to the back of your shoulders you can across your upper back hot exhale got a little more right TSH, our girl nicely done, good and then bend that knee and hug it to you. Now take your palms on your shin. Spread out every possible place on your palm and in-between your finger joints to access your shin and then gently pull your shin towards your upper back and let your shin rise up into your palms. Feel the connection from your shin palm finger all the way through your arms to the back of your shoulders, upper back and use that to curl up, which gives you upper abs, nicely done.

Put your hands on the mat and don't just put them any which way pay attention as they are picking up your TSH to bring them to your heels, rolling like a ball and then you replace those beautiful hands your soles are domed as you curl back inhaling and exhale forth, beautiful. So make your palms and soles be more lively than normal whatever that is for you and feel instead how you get to do less work elsewhere like more things are organized. More things are under your control and precise so that you don't need to do less and less thinking about lists of things to correct. Last time up beautiful. Put your hands down very thoughtfully make use of them wonder what their use is as you lift your hips back for single leg stretch, pull your shin to your elbow knee and change inhale for two changes, exhale for two changes feel that your sole is maybe flashlight shining on the wall across from you and it always shines in the same place.

Like however you played with the cat and a dog with a flashlight you roll it around for them and they chase it. Make your sole stays stationary on, nice done in other words, don't drop and lift it both legs in exhale your breath and double leg stretch. So as you reach, try not to tense your fingers and wrists but instead feel your palms and fingers give you shoulder. So as you lengthen and make use of your Claris cast net at hands and last time in and then scissors and as you pick up each ankle and change to and you pull your let's say today pull that up over your head so not just to you, but up and out of, right? So now it comes into your upper back, turns on your belly more, turns on your TSH more, beautiful.

Last time and then hands behind your head holding your head, double leg lower inhale, exhale, picture the soles of your foot pushing a football down or a fit ball not a football and let the fit ball bounce you back up so feel the soles initiate, nicely done. You should get a deeper exhale when you get more full body last time down and up and then elbow to knee so as you switch, you got your sole flashlights. Your head is back in those palms, but your blades are up. And therefore you're feeling those gorgeous obliques that we worked on last week, finish it so you're even and good, tummy in sit you up for spine stretch. So as you take your spine stretch forward lift your arms up Shirena if you would feel that your palms rising, pick your ribs up I'll get out of the way so you can see her, pick your ribs up and your tummy.

So the fact of your palms lifting excellent and then exhale over and feel that your arms lag behind you a little bit like your tummy has to pull them down, inhale up and leave your elbows back by your ears and exhale over nicely done. So palms active and not tense, but just lively come right through your elbow might even be easier to straighten your elbow into your shoulder blades and make you use your upper abs better. Soles picking the ball of the feet up away from the heels make you feel more inner thigh up high, upper hamstrings and TSH. And if you bring your little toe back in case that isn't you'll feel more outer hip. (chuckles) And then come on up and let your palm circle around take hold of your shins for open leg rocker and sit back.

And this time you use your palms wait just a sec, use your palms to pick your shins up to the best of your ability do it a couple times. Don't just straighten your legs from your hip flexors, pull your shins up, add your soles if you hadn't thought of it and feel how the palms through to the soles and open leg rocker give you abs gorgeous. Last time left equal to right? And then you just gently rock back gravity takes you exhale forward don't worry if you don't come up as well as you might today just play around with less toe and finger risk tension more sole and POM activity. Let it give you upper hamstrings, upper inner thigh, pelvic floor, low belly.

Let it give you outer hip bring your legs together and try a couple, beautiful exhale for it a little faster if you're willing, yep. And then those of you who wanna take hold of your feet, go ahead and do so and feel that you're pulling the ball of your foot. Pick the cherries over to your left side equal to the right last time, good. Finish up here, open your arms and let your palms be valuable. Turn your legs out and crisscross your legs, feeling the soles crisscross giving you upper inner thigh a better teaser position.

Palms come to your hips we'll do corkscrew Jackknife up and over. Feel the sole's circle like they do the painting. They do the search light moving around the ceiling. Feel like perhaps your palms and back of your arms are on a moving walkway, like at the airport coming up your shoulders and past your head so that every cell that was nice of the back of your arm from fingertip to posterior shoulder is holding your stance. Last set, hot exhale.

Do the soles and palms give you more access to your belly. I'm hoping you think yes. Gently roll down the middle. Come sitting up, arms out to the side for saw inhale twists to, exhale reaches, low tummy lifts you up and twist you hot exhale. Now, if your front hand is palm down as it goes past your little toe and not lower it should give you the back of that shoulder.

If your back hand is palm up and high as possible it should give you that flection. So as this hand comes down and up, stay here and breathe two breaths everyone, shed tension, access more flection, yes. Why not? Tummy in and same thing on the other side so that hand comes down, fixes the shoulder, beautifully and lean right-ish a little bit and let it bend you beautiful. And then tummy in, now pay attention to the front hand.

So as the front hand goes forward palm down by little finger, keep it in your blade so that by reaching it twists your spine and rib tummy in brings you up, twist last time, stay here for a couple of breaths. Feel your front palm give you the back of your shoulder, twisting your spine, gorgeous. Tummy in raises you up and do next, beautiful. Bring your legs around behind you and today we're gonna do an extra little thing here in swan. Flex your feet on the mat toes forward.

Feel the sole of your foot stretch open you on the sole of your foot. When you do that, your legs should rise off the floor as they rise your hamstrings tone and pick your femur bone up under your TSH so you should feel upper hamstring, low TSH and because of that you should feel low belly with the soles, even opening more as they get more stretchy you can increase that. Now when we do our first mild swan up and down you won't go as high don't expect it because your feet or your legs are in your way. However, do feel the support of the foot coming up the leg into your pelvis that gives you abs. So you eyes, nose, chin and chest go where you will and make use of your soles.

Come down exhaling and notice you could get more belly because of your foot is toned. Now gently point your feet along the mat and keep the sole and tone the soles in a dome now clench your toes, but tone arches try and get the same business coming up your inner thigh hamstring as you eyes, nose, chin you probably can go higher but don't sacrifice the soles to do so. On the way down keep your soles toned, like they're holding whipped cream or something and exhale down good. And one more time, come up and stay up as you're up here, we're gonna breathe three breaths to strengthen arms and abs and breathing mechanism. Gently push your hands forward for a breath.

Pull them back towards you for a breath. Push him outward for a breath. How do they relate to your surface and give you more of what you want? Okay, and now we're gonna swan dive, exhale down, inhale up, beautiful Lovely, palms up over here Shirena we'll even give you more upper back last time and rest, good. Now tummy in, put your hands down and make use of them as you sit back heels to TSH or TSH to heels.

And then we're gonna stop again briefly and bring your hands closer to you and come into standing on the balls of your feet down here in squat. So your knees will be off the mat and you'll be on your hands and feet so you'll be down here like this. (faintly speaking) That's all right. That's okay. All right, so now stay here briefly and roll your foot forward and back while you're here.

So you're doing a little bit more now that your feet are warm everything's warm, ankles and calves are warm. So as you rock back and forth you get to more flection in your toes all of them ideally only go where it feels good and valuable, and then start making a corkscrew action circling around, getting at them differently, rotating around those joints and then reverse, nice. Spread your toes out a little farther if you can even in the middle of that action and feel that your soles are singing to you in a very nice way. (chuckles) And then gently rest and kneel with your knees down but your hips in the air so come kneeling and point your feet behind you. Now take a moment to pay attention to your feet so they're lively, they're talking and I want you to try and feel come erect if you would Shirena, kneel upright with your hands by your sides, all right.

So here with your feet down on the mat try and get all your toes spread out and on the mat even though big toes and heels and knees are gently reaching for each other underneath. So here you are and chest expansion, double leg kicks, stuff like that. So with your outer toe, which is hard I imagine for almost all of us to get our outer toe down because we tend to clench our fifth and fourth toes more than we need to, which is one of the reasons I have been speaking the way I have. So as you try and get it down notice that you add outer hip. So when your ankle is correctly toned, aligned you get outer hip here.

So now we're gonna do Claris cast net above us so with on those feet and knees, the arms come up you can't see him now so don't worry about it, but explore it. Little finger rolls into palm and stretches out forth and out and third and out and second, right? And your goal is to make them as independent from one another as you can. It doesn't have to be anywhere close to perfect. This is probably most of your first times and you're trying to relieve tension.

It's like maybe you have 20 joints in each finger instead of what you've got so that you feel like they're round-table, nice and notice you're starting to feel it in your upper back and across your upper shoulders and that's good. See if you can relate it to your upper abs so you do three sets and then we'll go fast return your brain down to your feet and see if there's still a little toes and forth has down on the mat, beautiful. That girl. (chuckles) She's giggling. If you're giggling, that's a good thing and rest good.

All right, so now come for single leg kick so your forearms are down, fist are really valuable now into the wrist elbow and upper back little toes are down, heels and big toes are trying to get to each other. So when you kick, I'm gonna say that you let your little toe lag behind you and your big toe is the first thing to come to your hips. You may not like that so you come up with something else but what that keeps is your little toe down on the mat throughout to the best of your ability so that you give you outer hip, upper inner thigh, low belly among other things because you got your sole ankle beautifully aligned better than you might've, gorgeous. One more set, same thing and double leg kick. So palms are one on top of the other high as possible we talked about elbows down, but not shoulders last time, little toes lag behind you as you exhale, kick three times and then inhale one hand presses the other up gorgeous Shirena.

So your little toes are gonna stay away from you they're gonna be almost not working probably for some of us, but your inner arch might cramp. Shirena was saying, "I think I came in cramp "before the end of this class." So yes. So as you bring them here, beautiful, hold one more set everybody. Shoulders are up-ish in your back, just a hair so you don't relax them, tummy in sit you back on your heels, make your hands valuable put your little toes down heels and big toes trying to touch. Notice that this child's position now gives you a different product than if you let go your foot or if you splayed your knees, okay?

Tummy in rolls you up and we'll do net pole so your ankles come underneath. (throat clearing) And hip width apart and your hands behind your head, support your head not only in your hands, nestling, back and forth but in the back of your shoulders, upper abs you inhale press your head back in those palms as you curl over, you sits bones down, low belly, mid belly and upper belly and you keep your head kinda leading back in your hands which gives you gorgeous belly, inhale curl, head back at the toughest moment and then soles wide open with the little toe towards you. Nice, and you should get a better exhale, beautiful. One more time. So as she comes up with their head back, back, back, back, back, back, back gorgeous Shirena, exhale forward sits down.

Here you are for scissors and bike you feel the pelvis. You feel upper inner thigh, upper hamstring, outer hip because your little toes are back Your tummy is pulling your knees to your chest and you jackknife over and up. Hands as close to the mat and your back is your willing, palms super valuable as you split your legs and exhale home split your soles try not to clench your fifth and fourth toe in step, nice, beautiful. And then move into the bicycling. See if the soles can feel the air like a texture and not that you're gonna lift your in step or cleanse your calf.

The sole is surrounding the air, pulling it to you, gorgeous should give you more belly because of more inner thigh, upper hamstrings and you're gonna come down into the shoulder bridge, one foot in the other foot you change your hands. Last week, we did that clenching of the palms down on the mat and you are welcome to use that to if you experienced and liked it, okay? So you take this moment to slide your foot. Don't pick it up, slide it along the texture of the mat to kick up and exhale down make the sole almost lead you today. If it does, I'm hoping you feel more abs than hip flexor, one more time then the knee drag your foot.

Use it to get hamstring TSH left. Slide, point up, flex down nicely done. Feel that your hands are not just holding your pelvis but they're supporting it. They're lifting it up so you get more upper back. So you get more abs nicely done, last time down, bend and drag your foot so you get more upper hamstring TSH, roll your spine down and curl up into spine twist.

Now your legs for those of us who have a hard time sitting at 90 should be even better inhale front and exhale twist once and twice inhale and exhale, good. Press your palms without tension into the air down and let them lift you up so that your spine extends like an elevator coming right on up, one more set, beautiful less toe flection, more sole, beautiful. Now stop in the middle, put your hands down very valuably and jackknife three times. So feel as you jackknife back and forth keep moving beautiful Shirena, feel how the soles to the palms. It's like, you're this one cell you're an amoeba and the soles to the palms are uniting you throughout the whole thing, gorgeous and enough.

Exactly, sidekicks. So as you prepare for sidekicks, get your hands if you're willing, like we did last week without resting your head and your bent wrist get both hands behind you. So this bottom wrist we always wanna rest so press your head back into your hand and make it give you all this and then lift your left foot and inhale, kick front with a flex, point your foot. Now, as you continue, that's all right. As you continue your kicks, feel that you're gonna move your foot before your leg so that you're gonna flex and point before you move your leg let it invite you through the movement even more point before you kick flex, yes point flex, gorgeous.

You feel more belly I'm hoping and you feel less hip flexor, gorgeous exactly last time and then legs together, good. And bring your left hand down to the arch, top hand down but don't sacrifice by losing what you had before. Point your leg up, flex and down, point up and hold it there stay turned out a little more then flex and then down, point up and hold and down nicely done. Let's just do one more and reverse it. Flex up, hold it, point and down, good.

And when you point don't just change your calf dome your arch, yes, gorgeous. And then let's do a devil pay right up the side dome your arch at the top, flex it on purpose, right? And then let's reverse, nice Shirena that girl. Alrighty, and that's enough of that let's turn over onto your tummy for the grasshopper. So here we are back in swan take a brief moment to flex both feet on the mat and feel the soles of your foot toning, giving you upper hamstring and TSH pick this up.

Yes, a little belly. Now from that place point your feet in the air turn out your hips and clap two, three, four, sail, seven, eight, nicely done. Feel the soles of the feet, holding like a whipped cream you don't wanna splash it you wanna control it. Nice, beautiful, and lower your legs and turn over to other side, gorgeous. (chuckles) You wanna face that way or no?

Either way it's up to you what you want them to see? (laughing) All right, so both palms behind your head, like every cell in your hand is valuable, not in your wrist bend so that you find something else which will be upper back and upper abs pick up and for Shirena, I'm always saying, especially on that foot to bring her little toe back to give her outer hip and flex to the front and front point to the back and flex first. Like even if you have to go a little slower at that moment, make sure yes, see what it gives you when your foot is more valuable than it might've been. When you go to the front stop and go further, gorgeous point and back hold and go farther nice Shirena, one more set. Legs together you can bring your right hand down, but make use of it to push your arm, bone up into your blade turn out and point, up hold it flex and down.

I'm thinking maybe I should quit using those words like stretch the sole, right? Like what if it were a camera zooming one more and then we'll reverse, beautiful. Look at that control is gorgeous. (chuckles) I'm reveling in Shirena's capabilities. So, and all of yours to I'm sure.

Good, one more time I think. And that will go right into the devil pays and the sole itself, right? We always say, let the big toe drive up the inner thigh and then not that that's wrong but feel that the sole is more valuable to you than it would have been, beautiful. Okay, so now you are ready for teaser so sweep your legs around and reach your arms up in front of you and feel that you're aligning without tension as you sit back just a hair, but lean forward in your spine you exhale down, you inhale up. So feel that the soles do for you now what they've done from the beginning dome them into your abs, gorgeous lift your arms and lower lift the legs.

Exhale, inhale, exhale, exhale a little sooner. Beautiful, lay everything down we'll come up twice. Inhale reach, exhale palms reaching for soles, better. Nice okay, rest of moment. Good, come up and let's do a hip circles.

You're welcome to do hip circles any version you like arms up, arms down, arms straight, arms bent. All right, tummy in when sit you back and you straighten your legs up and take a brief moment to get your alignment without tension, but with doming or whatever that means to us and then you circle your searchlights, hard exhale, gorgeous. Feel every cell of your palms if your fingers are apart, pull them together. See what that makes happen in your back of your arm, back of your shoulder, cross your upper back one more set. And then we'll just sweep it all the way around immediately into swimming.

Remember, how you did that flexed foot in swan and a moment ago, and then go and inhale up toss your soles up. Toss your arms up eyes forward, good exhale down. Bend your arms, plant your flexed feet and we'll press up into control. So here once again, we've prepped this we've already been here we know what we want. Come on girlfriend up, up, up.

Yes, and then raise you beautiful. And then lift one sole look, change the texture of the other sole. Use your arch not your in step, not your calf, of course, but the others, beautiful one more and then we'll bend back down to the floor, excellent. Control it down, soles and palms give you shoulders and TSH, nicely done. Sit on your side and let's do side bend.

Okay, so this is our first one armed exercise it's in a mermaid position and we talked last time about how to keep your shoulder very supported and usually up and back. So now your palm on the floor, so lively it has a whole orchestra itself in there and it's coming up here which gives you this whole bottom side of you. You exhale up and the soles of your feet try and reach the floor. You exhale down into, inhale down I'm sorry and exhale up, beautiful. Let your standing palm support your shoulder armpit higher when you lower your hips higher, gorgeous that girl.

Less tension in your ankle wrists, more sole and palm come all the way down, hot exhale, change the other side, shoulder up and back palm like deeply rooted in through the mat to give you abs on the left on the standing side, exhale yourself up, gorgeous, inhale, lower with control and exhale up, beautiful. Feel that you're standing palm supports the shoulder that doesn't move around so it stays stable you move your spine, gorgeous that girl, beautiful hot exhale, come down and bring your legs forward for Boomerang. Cross your right leg over your left, soles are pointed. Now you all know the bottom leg loves to flex its ankle to hold you up so keep both soles radiating as your palms provide you support you inhale over you open and close, you teaser up, you circle your arms down and up as you control forward, you roll up and you go again, beautiful. Play not so much with the choreography but with your palms and soles, what can they give you?

Have I been lying the whole time? What can they give us? That gives us more of, so we get more out of our fewer reps, beautiful. Soles to palms, palms lift, and enough seal, excellent. And then you clap and you rock back and you exhale and inhale.

And so, now play around with your feet some of you do Pilates V like classical Pilates V with your feet pointed toes apart. Some of you do prayer feet bringing your toes back to your sternum play around with the value, not just of the shape but of the sole connecting one to another even the big toe of the sole and how that gives you more through into your low back, abdominal muscles, hips and then we'll do one more back and we'll change to crab. And we're just gonna stay in the crab balance today on our heads and breathe deeply and we're picking up the sole to the TSH so it raises and we do that by lifting the shoulders higher come on, widen up that girl. So you're an elbows aren't necessarily high but they're wide and the upper arm is high that should give you your whole belly in the most gorgeous scoop you've ever had. And then put your hands down gently and have a seat.

Lovely, and then let's stand up and do push up. All right, so we're gonna take our most advanced push-up today which is one legged. So start by organizing your thoughts and your energy so that the soles of your feet, although they're be in different places are valuable to you from their different places. Same thing with your Claris cast net hands make not tension, but liveliness as you stretch one leg behind feel both soles as you curl forward, tummy in, walk carefully on each hand, each time, beautiful bend two or three times keeping this sole down here lively and open and this sole domed, and then keep them so as you walk in nose to knee, hand to toes and then stretch your body forward sole to palms, gorgeous as you come back together, nice other side, soles to palms doing different things but equally valuable and efforting, exhale forward, walk out carefully with your hands and like pause and you bend and stretch. Make your palms support you not just your wrists and elbow, gorgeous.

Exactly, right. And then feel the sole come to the floor as you curl in and place it there every cell important, reach forth bring the whole thing together so good. Almost perfect. (laughing) Good job. All right, my friends.

So hopefully you enjoyed that class and you have a new appreciation for how even more obscure parts of the body or maybe parts of the body we take for granted can actually give us things that replace us having to have a list in our head of don't forget this and that, this and that but they actually unify us more readily because we've brought them into our full bodiedness. All right, thank you for joining Shirena and I here at the Pilates Center and PilatesAnytime.