Beginning Floorwork

I'm Debra Mendoza and we're gonna be doing a beginning to intermediate-level floor work class from the "Every Body is Beautiful" book. So to begin, we're gonna turn and start seated, feet nice and flat, hip-distance apart, placing the hands right on the front of the knees. Really think of gathering in the abdominals, feeling length through the spine from the tailbone all the way out the top of the head. From here, lifting nice and tall, exhale, taking a contraction back, and lengthening up. And again, contracting back, and lengthening up, two more like that.

Pulling from the belly, opening the spine and lifting. Last time, (softly inhales) (softly exhales) making sure we're using the breath, really breathe into the back, deepen that contraction, now rolling yourself down, (softly exhales) placing yourself onto the floor. So our first movement we're going into today is Kitty Tanen's Abdomen Flattener. So beginning here, feet nice and solid, feeling that pelvis heavy into the floor, reach the arms up, finding an upper contraction so we're curling forward. Again, really being aware of the sense of the feet being solid on the floor, the organization, the pelvis solid against the floor as well.

We inhale here and exhale deep in that contraction, curling up to the waistline, keeping those feet nice and solid, that pelvis nice and solid, and inhaling back. Exhale, deepen, (softly exhales) inhaling back. Exhale as you deepen, (softly exhales) inhale back, two more. (softly exhales) And back, one more. (softly exhales) And back, let's curl forward to stay (softly exhales) rooted deep in that contraction with the pulse. (softly inhaling) (softly exhales) Keep sinking the belly down to the spine.

(softly exhales) (softly inhaling) (softly exhales) (softly inhaling) (softly exhales) Excellent, now we're rolling all the way down, lengthening the whole spine out on the floor. Placing the arms to the floor, let's take a big breath in, lifting the arms, exhale, stretching overhead. Inhale, lift, and lower. (softly exhales) One more time. (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) And lower. (softly exhales) So after that nice warmup for engaging the abdominals, we're gonna go into Susan Dey's Roll Up and Belly Tuck. So we're drawing our legs together, lengthening them out across the floor, lift the arms, stretch nice big stretch of the body along the floor. Watch that tendency to allow that back to maybe lift up, think lengthen through the breath to feel the length of the spine stretching across the floor.

Big breath as you inhale, circling the arms around, pull everything in from your center, contracting, drawing your legs towards you. Deep contraction as you reach. Tips of the toes just barely touching the floor and we can track back stretching the whole body out, reaching nice and long all the way out to the floor. Circling, reaching around, gathering the space as you pull in from the belly, wrapping around. (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) With control, arriving at the same time, the legs and the arms stretching, reach around, gathering that space as you pull it back in, again, trying to arrive with the top and the bottom half of the body at the same time, stretching out nice and long, reaching, circling out, gathering that space.

(softly exhales) Reaching out, so remember, I keep saying this cue, but it's one of the ones that I loved that Ron used to talk about was that idea of reaching open and really embracing the space. So you're not just flinging the arms forward, but we really want to think press and pull from the center as if you're gathering everything in nice and tight, holding that balance, stretching it out. We're gonna do two more of these, keep it working, reaching out, pulling yourself in, (softly exhales) reaching it out nice and long. (softly exhales) Last time. (softly inhales) (softly exhales) And reaching all the way out. Big breath, feeling the stretch of the body on the floor, exhale (softly exhales) sinking deeper into the abdominals.

One more big breath here (softly inhales) and exhaling. (softly exhales) So from this nice, long lengthened position of the body, we're gonna move into Mary Swanson's Inner Thigh and Abdominal Firmer. Circle those arms out and around to the sides. Draw your legs into you. We're gonna extend them straight up towards the ceiling to begin. Reach those arms up, and curling forward, find that upper contraction.

Really make sure here that you're feeling the back of the pelvis nice and anchored against the floor. Turning the legs out from the hips and back to parallel, just feeling the rotation of the leg and the hip socket while maintaining the organization of the pelvis. (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) We're gonna turn those legs out. We're gonna lower them to about a 45-degree angle. Keeping that lower back lengthened on the floor.

We're gonna do crisscrosses, right leg over left, and switch. (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) Really think squeeze from the tops of the inner thighs as you cross one thigh over the other, two more. (softly inhales) (softly exhales) Last one. (softly exhales) Open those legs nice and wide, second position, hands on the inner thighs, and pulsing those legs open. (softly inhaling) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) Keep the stretch going. Really feel that stability of the pelvis, stability of the spine. (softly inhales) (softly exhales) Opening from the inner thighs.

Don't let it become too much of a bounce. It's a reaching further, further, further. (softly inhaling) (softly exhales) (softly inhaling) (softly exhales) Holding here, deep in that upper contraction. If you need a little support for your head and neck, you can place the hands behind the head and we'll flex the feet and point. (softly exhales) Flex and point.

(softly exhales) Keep stretching nice and wide. Straight knees all the way out, energy out the toes. Two more times. (softly inhales) (softly exhales) Last one. (softly inhales) (softly exhales) Reaching the arms up again. (softly exhales) And we have crisscross and open.

Crisscross and open. Crisscross and open. Crisscross and open, two more. (softly inhaling) (softly exhales) (softly inhaling) (softly exhales) And legs together, parallel, draw those knees in, lengthen down, (softly exhales) whew! Rolling the head from one side to the other. (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) And finding center.

(softly exhales) All right, so we're gonna move in now to Allen Peterson's Open Leg Stretch. So from this position, find that upper contraction, (softly exhales) deepen the work through the abdominals and rock yourself up to a seated position. Opening from the hips, stretch those legs out to a second position. Flex those feet, we're gonna lift up, open those legs a little bit wider, set yourself down at nice open second position, pointing through the feet, (softly exhales) Reach those arms out to the side. From here, really thinking of not letting yourself push forward through the chest, but thinking of drawing in through the abdominals, sitting nice and tall, really feel those sitz bones grounded through the floor.

Think of that open second stretch. We were just doing line supine, really get that length out of the knees, that opening from the inner thighs. Reach those arms up, opening out to a second position. From here, one arm comes off the other arm, round, and we reach to the side (softly inhales) (softly exhales) Up and over, stretching out, and coming up to center. (softly inhales) Stretching to the side.

(softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) Stretching over. Really making sure as you go to the side that you keep those sitz bones nice and grounded, feel that stretch from the hip all the way out through the fingertips, reaching over, and lifting, organizing the spine as you come to center. Reach, find that stretch over from the hip, all the way out the fingertips, and up. (softly inhales) Really see how much can you make that side stretch and open up without losing the organization of the pelvis and the legs. (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) Two more, reach up and out.

Lift to find center. Up and over, and lift to find center, that felt so good. We gotta do two more, reach it out, and lift to find center. Reaching out, and lift to find center. Big breath up. (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) Last one. (softly inhales) And lower. (softly exhales) from this open second position, we're gonna draw those legs together.

Really connecting, as Ron would call, those magnets, pulling the legs in, lifting up out of the spine. We're moving into Leslie Curtis's Leg and Butt Trimmer. So really feeling the work of the length of the spine, but also that sense of the connection narrowing the pelvis, front and back, side to side, feeling that connection. One of the things that I love in Ron's work is all of the organization of the pelvis and working in the side position. So we're gonna go into a few pieces right now that start to work that rotation of the pelvis.

And how do you maintain that organization as you move through the space with the pelvis? So from here, thinking of those bolts, pulling, narrowing the pelvis in from one side to the other, we're gonna rock onto one hip, reaching that arm out over the legs. Again here, don't just let your legs relax. Really squeeze in, hold onto those magnets, energy out the toes, energy through the arm. Keeping that connection, we're gonna rock to the other side.

(softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) Pull through center and over. Think suspend through the space and reach. Suspend through the space and reach. think of your legs as a unit squeezing together and lengthening. (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) Looks simple, but it's a lot of work to maintain that organization of the pelvis.

Get that length through that underneath side and keep the connection to roll smoothly through the space. (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) Last time. (softly inhales) (softly exhales) Then we get to add onto it. So we're rocking through, we come up onto one hip, that top leg bends in and you sit up to a fourth position, sitting nice and tall, lift through that spine. Reach that back sitz bone down towards the floor.

It may or may touch, don't worry about whether it's hitting the floor. Think more about the lift through the center of the body. We reach the legs back out, stacking those hips again, and we roll to the other side. (softly exhales) Top leg bends in, and you sit to that fourth position. Again, reaching down to the sitz bones, reaching up through the spine, and...

(softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) Really lift, reach. (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) With a little bit more pace, lift and reach. (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) And lift (softly exhales) and reach. (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) Last time. (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) Lift. (softly exhales) Reach out, (softly exhales) centering the hips. (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) Lift up out of the waist. (softly exhales) Feel that nice length that you were just working with. (softly exhales) Follow it all the way through the top of the head.

(softly exhales) One more time. (softly inhales) And lower. So we're gonna move into Marsha Manson's Waist Cincher and Chest Lifter. Another great one for working the organization of the pelvis and that lift up out of the waistline in that side position. We're gonna rock up onto one hip, fold both knees in this time, sitting yourself up nice and tall.

From here, reaching those arms out, hands will come behind the head. So one of the things to watch in this position is that organization of the pelvis, one hip is higher than the other. So that tends to want to kind of drop you off to the side. So really thinking of that work, of that standing side from the hip, pulling up through the inside along that side of the spine, all the way up and out at the top of the head. So thinking of the organization of the rib cage, sitting on top of the pelvis, not letting yourself collapse into this space.

Lift up out of the floor. You're reaching those arms up. They come behind the head, first working on opening up the chest. We stretch and press the elbows back. With a little pulse, we keep opening up the chest.

(softly inhaling) (softly exhales) (softly inhaling) (softly exhales) (softly inhaling) (softly exhales) (softly inhaling) (softly exhales) Keeping those elbows really pressing back to keep that chest stretching nice and open, lift and side bend over, trying to reach that elbow all the way over towards that foot. And we pulse it over. (softly inhaling) (softly exhales) (softly inhaling) (softly exhales) And lifting to vertical, organizing through that spine, we reach the arm out to the side and feeling that length from the side of the body all the way up through the elbow, we pulse the arm across. (softly inhaling) (softly exhales) Reach that arm all the way out. Think as if you're trying to touch your other hand.

(softly inhaling) Last set. (softly inhaling) Coming back, (softly exhales) both arms lift up and open. Stretch the legs out, switch those hips, and come to the other side. (softly exhales) So again, working for that lift up out of that standing side, looking for that vertical axis. If you're looking in a mirror from that hip all the way up, the one side of the body, reaching those arms out, opening the chest with those pulses, elbows stretching back. (softly inhaling) Think wide across the collarbones.

(softly inhaling) (softly exhales) (softly inhaling) (softly exhales) Last set. (softly exhales) And then we feel that stretch coming up and over into that side bend. Really watch that tendency to let this start to collapse and sink into yourself. We want to think pull up out of the back of the pelvis, up from the belly, get that stretch from the hip all the way over, and then we pulse that stretch. (softly inhaling) (softly exhales) Remember with any of the pulses, it's not a bounce.

It's about trying to deepen the shape and deepen the stretch just a little bit more with each one. (softly inhaling) (softly exhales) Let's do two more sets. (softly inhaling) (softly exhales) (softly inhaling) (softly exhales) And from the bottom of the spine, growing all the way to vertical, we reach that arm out, (softly exhales) and stretching across. (softly inhaling) (softly exhales) (softly inhaling) (softly exhales) (softly inhaling) Keep growing taller, stay lifted up out of the floor, (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) reaching the arms up and open. Reaching, (softly exhales) we're gonna do that again on each side, rocket up, pull those legs in, (softly exhales) reach the arms out, opening the chest, pulse.

(softly inhaling) (softly exhales) (softly inhaling) Here we go, lifting up and over, stretch. (softly inhaling) (softly exhales) (softly inhaling) (softly exhales) And lift to vertical. (softly exhales) The arm reaches open. (softly exhales) Pulse across with the other arm. (softly exhales) (softly inhaling) (softly exhales) And lift to open, switching sides. (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) Open the chest. (softly inhaling) (softly exhales) (softly inhaling) (softly exhales) And we lift up to go over, pulsing.

Keep that tailbone pressing back. (softly inhaling) (softly exhales) And lift to center, reach the arm out, (softly exhales) and reaching across. (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhaling) (softly exhales) And opening, (softly exhales) reaching out and come center. Big breath up, feel that length on both sides of the body, stretching taller, pressing down. (softly exhales) (softly inhales) And (softly exhales) now that we've got that nice length and stretch out of the waist, we're gonna move into Britt Eckland's Hip Trimmer.

Hands are just placed just slightly behind you. You're gonna place those hands down. Keep those elbows nice and strong so you can carry that weight into your arms. We're gonna pull in from the belly, connect those magnets, that pulling into those inner thighs. And unweight your hips, flip the hips, and stretch them down.

Coming back, let's land in center. So just keeping this simple to begin. We unweight the hips, flip the hips to set them down, trying to keep that chest facing forward and up, flip the hips, stretch them down. Up and center. Unweight, flip the hips down, and now moving through center, (softly inhales) (softly exhales) we come up and over to the other side.

Up and over to the other side. Up, keep that chest nice and open. (softly inhales) Get those hips rotated, one hip stacked all the way on top of the other. (softly inhales) It's a waistline workout, keep workin' it. (softly inhales) (softly exhales) Feel those glutes work to support the turn of the pelvis. (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) Holding here, we're adding on.

Draw that top leg in, pulling that knee tight in towards you without dropping your pelvis back. Keep those hips stacked. Reach out. (softly exhales) Switching to the other side, (softly exhales) draw that leg in, reach it out. Other side, (softly inhales) (softly exhales) Draw the leg in. (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) We're gonna take out a breath, moving through it a little bit more. Up, draw the leg in.

Up and draw that leg in. Up and draw that leg in, last time. Chest open and reach it out. Pull to center, whew, lift and press. Let's relieve the wrists a little bit, stretching them through the space, pressing them down.

(softly inhales) (softly exhales) Two more, lift and flex through the wrist. (softly inhales) And press. (softly exhales) Moving on from the Hip Trimmer, we're gonna go into Susan Blakely's Kick for Bust, Back, and Buns. So from this nice straight leg position, you're going to take that same Hip Trimmer, rocking to the side, draw that knee in. We're gonna continue placing that knee down to the floor and just flip yourself over onto all fours. So finding this organization, hands placed underneath the shoulders, leg is stretching straight out behind you.

Straight line, top of the head all the way to the foot. Let's just warm up that organization. Keeping the abdominals in, supporting the spine, take a little pulse of the leg up, make sure that knee stays nice and straight. Pelvis and spine are not disturbed at all, so you're reaching long through your midline. (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhaling) (softly exhales) And that leg draws down, and pulls in.

Other side, that leg reaches back behind you, presses up just so it's in line with the body, pulse it up. (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) And then the leg comes down. So just warming up, getting ready for the movement we're going into, feeling that sense of the organization of the spine and the opposition through the midline. It's really easy to let yourself sink into your standing like hip or release those abdominals. So even as we're gonna take this range of motion a little bigger in a minute, we want to feel that organization stay with us.

So as we start to press that leg a little bit higher, allowing the back to come into a little extension. We're not sinking down into it and letting it compress in the back. Keep the energy in the opposition. Lower so it's level, and draw that leg in. Other side, reaching it out, press it level with the body, press that leg a little bit further, and bringing it back, and drawing it in.

Let's do that again, real simple, feeling the organization of the body that we'll need as we go into this bigger movement in a minute. And in. (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) So now we reach that leg back. It extends all the way out and up. From here, initiate from those abdominals, contract and draw that leg into you. Reach it back out, let's do that just a few times, drawing it in, (softly exhales) reach, and draw from the center.

Reach, and drawing from the center. We reach it out and hold. We're gonna now take a bend of the arm, stretch the chest to the floor, lift it back up and draw it in. (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) And place that side down. (softly exhales) Other leg reaches out.

(softly exhales) Stretching it out and up. Exhale, pull from the center into the contraction. (softly exhales) Reach it out. (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) Reaching out. (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) Reaching out to stay. (softly exhales) From here, stretch the chest, and pull it in. (softly exhales) We reach and bend, lift, pull from the belly. Reach and bend, up, pull it in.

(softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) Center. (softly inhales) (softly exhales) Just to feel where center is, let's contract and round. (softly exhales) Lengthening out to extension center. (softly exhales) Contract and round. (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) Center to a lengthened spine. (softly exhales) So let's move through that again on each side.

One of the things that I loved about the rhythms that Ron Fletcher taught in was it was about organization. It was about those fine-tuned fundamentals, but once you got moving, it was about movement. It was feel all of that organization, feel all of that energy, but move through it and find the organic rhythm that wants to happen with any movement sequence that we were going through. So let's have fun with this one. Let that energy flow.

Reach those arms up, stretching over, find your all fours. (softly exhales) Starting with that right leg and reach, and contract. Reach and bend, lift and contract. (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) Lift up, and in, other side. (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) Last one. (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) Lift up, and in, contracting back. (softly exhales) Big deep breaths.

(softly inhales) (softly exhales) Feel the movement of the breath, expanding the back of the ribs. (softly exhales) One more deep breath in. (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) Rolling up. (softly exhales) We're gonna move into Katherine Ross's Leg Lift for Waist and Buns. Really getting that activation at the top of the hamstring.

So we're coming onto our stomachs, sweep those arms around. We're gonna lengthen the legs back, laying yourself onto your stomach. Forearms pressing against that floor. Really feel the opposition of pushing up out of the floor, opening the chest, reaching not just with your sternum, but with your eyes out and forward away from yourself. Feeling again, not resting against the floor, but drawing those abdominals in to feel length and opposition through the entire body.

We begin with a simple leg lift. Find that connection at the top of the hamstring, base of the glute, we lift the leg up, and we lower it down. (softly exhales) Lifting up, and lower down. (softly exhales) Stay lifted from the belly, open through the chest, open through the eyes. (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) All right, we're adding onto it.

That leg now lifts up, turn it from the hip. Allow the pelvis to rotate, reach that toe all the way back to the floor, stretch it back and lower it down. The other side, press it up, turn it out, reach it back to that attitude, lift it out, and lower it down. (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) Ooh, that's tight. You got to keep that oppositional reach of the elbow towards the floor, opening up that top hip. Reach and lower.

Lift. (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) From here, really feel that work, the base of the glute, pushing your leg into that turnout, opening through here. If you're feeling compression in your lower back, you've let go of those abs. Pull them up and in, open that out. We're gonna bring that opposite arm up. It reaches out that same line of your leg.

Feel that energy, open those eyes back in that diagonal. Stretch that arm back to the floor. Reach that leg out, and lower it down. Other side, up to that attitude, that arm reaches to that diagonal. Find that energy, reach out.

Even with those eyes, look to those fingertips. Stretch back to the floor, reach that leg and lower. Again. (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) Let's work that hip a little bit more. Find that attitude, reach and hold it here. Really working that base of the glute, pulse that knee up towards the hand.

(softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) Keep going, watch it so you don't start sinking into your bottom arm. Push up out of the floor, reach through the eyes, lift with the arm back to the floor, stretch that leg out and lower. Other side, lift to the attitude, stretching up out through the arm. Pulse the knee up. (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) Last set, (softly exhales) work that hip. Stretch to the floor, reach and lower.

Pull back from the belly, lifting up, walk yourself back into rest position, breathing again into the back of the ribs. (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) So moving into our last exercise, we're gonna do Jo Ann Ganz's Total Body Stretch. This is one of my favorite exercises. Ron Fletcher taught a lot of variations of this piece. We're gonna do the version that's showing up in the book, "Every Body is Beautiful." But all of these sequence really flows.

It has a nice sense of energy through the entire body and flow and articulation through the spine. So really enjoy the movement and get all the yumminess through the movement and the articulation of the spine you can find. So we'll begin by reaching the arms up, stretching out. You're gonna start on your stomach. So open those hips, hands will be directly underneath the shoulders.

Shoulders pulling down. From here, drawing our shoulder blades down, we lift through the sternum, opening the chest all the way up into a nice big extension of the spine. Pull in from the belly, pulling yourself back into a deep contraction, hips reaching towards the heels. Sweep those arms around behind you as you roll up through the spine, lifting up onto your knees. Right here, we just did that work for opening up the hips and working from the glutes.

Use it here to get lifted up out of your hips. Keep that as you inhale, lift the body, opening the chest, stretching the arms back, place those hands right at the base of the glutes. Feel that work, stretch that chest open. Pulse those elbows back in together. (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) We reach the arms back and up, find your contraction over. (softly exhales) Reach those arms as far forward as you can.

Don't let 'em pull in here. You need that space for your spine. From here, press your hips forward, placing your hands down. Reach the chest up before you roll the spine down to the floor. And again, coming up. (softly exhales) Contraction. (softly exhales) Sweep the arms around, lift the hips open.

Lift open the chest. Pulses. (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) And reaching back to contract, stretching forward, and press those hips forward, stretch out and roll it down. (softly exhales) Coming up, (softly inhales) Lift from the belly, pull into the contraction back. (softly exhales) (softly inhales) Press those hips open. (softly exhales) Breathe, inhale, lifts the chest, stretching around.

Pulses, opening the chest. (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) Reaching up, contracting over. (softly exhales) Press those hips forward. (softly exhales) Moving through it and. (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) One more time. (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) Lift, open the chest. (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) Lift up, contract it back.

(softly exhales) Roll up through the spine. (softly exhales) Work those wrists again. (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) One more. (softly inhales) (softly exhales) Sitting to the side, bring your legs around front of you diamond shape, sitting nice and tall. Let's just take some air in together, big breath up, press it down. (softly exhales) Double breath. (softly inhales) (softly exhales) Three. (softly inhales) (softly exhales) (softly inhales) (softly exhales) Single breath in.

(softly inhales) And pressing down. (softly exhales) Easy breath. (softly inhales) Feel that expansion, that space underneath the armpits, (softly exhales) growing taller through the crown of the head as you exhale. One more, big breath in. (softly inhales) (softly exhales) So I hope you enjoyed our venture through a few of the pieces from Ron Fletcher's book, "Every Body is Beautiful," exploring some of those old movement patterns.

One thing I love about Ron's work is how he really organically pulled all types, type of movement together, working through the body in different planes of movement and different motions of movement. And it just feels so yummy. So I hope that's what you felt as you moved through the class, is that feeling of feeling good and deep movement within the spine, the hips, and feeling that energy expand all the way out through the feet and the arms.