Twisty Spine Corrector

Hi, I'm Blossom Leilani Crawford. I'm here with my friend, Stephanie Mackley and we are gonna do, we, she is gonna do a twisty spine corrector, and I'm really enjoying this because I feel like this is what the spine corrector really does well is make our spines move in lots of different directions. So this is a collection of all kinds of different movements from different lineages. So come and join us. So when you're ready, ankle weights is what Stephanie has on.

She has these really cute Bala bangles. She has sort of the heavier ones. That's about as light as I want them to be. Those, I think are the two pound ones. I prefer five pounds even, but I'm bigger.

So when you're ready, Stephanie, have a seat on the lip of your spine corrector. And now if you have a sticky pad, because I feel like it gets a little slippery on there, you could sneak that underneath the sits bones, right at the very front lip. So it's helpful if you have a bit of a bony bum or to keep yourself from sliding around. So just stay here and your feet are comfortable. So wherever you feel works best for you, and you can rest your hands anywhere on those legs.

So staying here, sitting up as tall as you can, inhale. And as you exhale, you're gonna go to curling the spine. Think of going to the back of the sits bones. That's about it. And come back to sitting up tall.

Do that a few more times. I think when you go to do this, the want, that's much better Stephanie is to use the head to make that curl happen. Really think of the curl happening from breast bone to sternum. And then lifting up out of the top of the head. So the head is really like just this flow, big floating object, yeah.

And come back up. Stephanie, how about reaching those arms forward and do that a few more times. In Hawaii they used to have these big buoys and now they have them more out of plastic, but they used to have these big glass ones that you can find. And I always like to imagine my head as a big glass buoy sort of floating in the ocean. I don't know if that does any work, she's just like really?

That's your image. Yes, it is. All right, we're gonna add on. So from here, she's gonna inhale and as you exhale, let's go down the hill so curl. So you see that slope of her spine curve, she's going down the hill and when she can't go down anymore, she's gonna find that hump of the barrel, stay here for a moment.

And she's gonna come back up, go up the hill, arms can do whatever you wish, you can wind. You can cross them in front of you, whatever you want, rolling down again, and then find the hump of the barrel and maybe go a little bit lower to the waistline and then come right back up. So we're making our way down saying hello to that spine. Yes. And really take that nice pause at the bottom where you decide where you're going.

And then when you come up, you really find the sitting up tall and the sitting up tall is happening from this low, low back not from that upper back. And continuing down curling as you go down, keep going, keep going. And maybe she's toward her bra strap now. Yes. And then you come back up and I think on this next one, maybe let's go for a big release and take your shape, whole shape of the spine corrector.

So she's gonna almost stick her tush out, go back. Huge exhale, oh, that should feel fabulous after all that. And then bring your arms back up, lift your head up, push those thumbs forward for crossed arms and come all the way up to sitting up tall. Take that focus straight ahead. We're gonna do that one more time.

Exhale to curl back, beautiful. And then really take the shape of the barrel, especially in the low back. Nice, again, any stretch you want to do with those arms. Mm hmm. And lift the head, curl and slowly come up, come up, come up, sit up tall.

Hold here for just a moment. So even right here, stay here for a few more breaths. You're sitting up tall in that low back. You're trying to breathe into the sides of the body. Accordion breathing.

One more breath, sides of the body and release. Now put your hands on the spine corrector and scoot your boom, your boom. Oh my goodness. Accents, I don't know where that one came from. We'll see what comes up next.

Go now, from that there, that's it from here go all the way down. Cause I want a little more head support and let's see where Stephanie's head lands. Come forward a little bit more. I think you want your sacrum there. And Stephanie has a very long neck.

And so Stephanie pop this pillow underneath your head and cause you need to, you're gonna be there for a little bit. You want to be somewhat comfortable. Yeah, that looks good. And I'm gonna give her just a couple of little weights. You don't have to use weights, but a little weight could be nice.

And just give me straight arms up to the ceiling, palms face in. Oh you can put your thumbs on the other side. Just easy, open and close. Yes, yeah. Now there are some schools of thought where you really bring the ribs in.

And I think that's great a lot of the times, but then sometimes I feel like if you do too much Pilates, there's just almost too much holding of the ribs and I'm liking where Stephanie's rib cage is. So I'm gonna leave it alone. I feel like sometimes we need to just let those ribs go. Exactly, do a few more. Stephanie, as you're doing this, do you feel one arm opening faster or slower than the other?

Yeah my left hand is opening faster. Can you feel which one's opening faster? No. No? So that was interesting as Stephanie was like this, she was telling me what she was feeling, but she couldn't tell which one was going faster.

So I often like to ask, so maybe you have to watch your arms if you could, or feel them a little bit more. She's like going back and forth. How do you look at both arms at the same time? That's a whole different exercise. So actually her right arm, I think is going a little faster.

So she's gonna make her left arm lead, left arm leads, left arm leads. See how that's better and close. So if you have that faster arm, make the faster arm follow the slower arm. So the right is following your left Stephanie cause the right one is a little bit speedy. Exactly, just one more like that.

That's a nice, a good Kathy Grant check, that's good. Changes the mental game of it, doesn't it? Now from here just single arm reaching back. One hand goes down by the hips and just reach back. And the big thing is really keep that arm straight and enjoy that stretch, gorgeous.

Do that a few more times and really reach back. Yes and this is our first time going somewhat asymmetrical. And really just reach and let those ribs go with it. Let even the shoulder come up. I know that feels so wrong, but it's sometimes nice.

Yeah cause when you go to reach that shoulder up, you get some nice opening in the ribs, which I think is a nice little bonus. And I think just one more side of reaching back and then if your arms are feeling great, let's go for some big old arm circles. Yeah, straight arms up to the ceiling, Stephanie, and then just reach back, palms go up to the ceiling, circle the arms around, down to the hips and reach back up. We're gonna do that a few more times back and around and just whatever breath you're doing is great, but just keep breathing. And then we reverse the circles when you're ready, inhale, exhale, and down and around and really explore that open position, yes.

And one more. Yes, stay there. Now, can you keep the hands together and bend those elbows. So bring both arms back, yes. Hold on, yeah, keep breathing.

Yeah just gonna bring those arms really back by the ear and then bend the elbow so that they're really close. Yes, and straighten the arms. Do that a couple more times. So this is just opening up the shoulders in case you didn't notice. Just yes, and one more Stephanie.

All right, from here, she's gonna straighten the arms. You're gonna hold onto one weight with each hand, lift your head up and we're gonna just slowly come up to sitting up tall, anyway, you can. Thank goodness the ankle weights are helping us. That's what those are there for. All right, let's go for some side opening.

So any way you want to, you're gonna drape yourself over the barrel facing out first would be nice. And let's have you just lie sideways. Mm hmm, I'm gonna get rid of this pillow for you and let's see. So Stephanie is gonna reach over with her top arm and just say here breathing. So while you're there just feel around and is your head comfortable?

If you feel like your neck is hanging, you could lift your head up and maybe sneak a little towel in there. Mm hmm. Did that feel okay? That actually looks a little bit nicer. And then the next thing is, I'd like you to maybe think of where this hip is.

Is it aligned with the rib cage? Hint, hint, hint. Now, once you feel like you've gotten that together and you can point or flex the foot, whichever one, if you're gonna flex, flex that little toe up to you, yes. Breathe into your top rib cage. That's all I want.

And I do say rib cage, but remember the rib cage goes all the way. I'm not gonna touch her armpit because that's ticklish. But like, there's rib cage underneath that. I feel like sometimes we forget because the armpit is there suddenly, but yeah breathe also, low ribs, middle back and then into the chest. Great, and one more breath like that.

I know it's so simple, but sometimes just such a nice thing to do. When you're ready Stephanie, come up to sitting up tall, opening the arms out to the sides. Yeah let's get rid of that pillow now. Yeah let's leave it right there. Open the arms out to the sides, make a letter T of the body.

Let's go palms down. Now Stephanie has her top leg straight. You can also bend your top leg and bring it behind you. Yeah and get a nice sort of stretch across the front of that top hip. So from here, she's gonna typewriter her ribs to the right.

Yes and come back to center. So just as we did those early sit-ups, she's making her way down slowly. Exactly. And her first touch point, hopefully will be hip maybe could be, she's such a long ways this is gonna get her. Yes and that's when you can also straighten your leg if you want a little more help and you go and you can go all the way down, yes.

Go all the way over and take a moment to reach over and stretch, thank goodness. And then come back up top arm swings. Come on up, whoa. Yes go up and over toward the leg. Let's do that just two more times.

Yeah bend and straighten the leg as it is comfortable for you. I remember once I was asking Kathy Grant, so should I straighten my legs more or bend my legs more? And she was like, I don't know I don't have your legs. You have to know what's comfortable for you. Yeah, I think in our Pilates where we sometimes get told so many things of what the position is, you forget that you can actually just be comfortable.

Go over one more time, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. And she's gonna go all the way over and stretch and enjoy. So now we're gonna sneak another prop into the mix. So Stephanie stack your knees and you're gonna take this yoga block and put it between your knees. Now that doesn't have to be a yoga block.

It could be a ball or anything. Now when you're ready, put both hands behind your neck, trying not to twist in your pelvis. In fact, I'm gonna hold hers slightly. You're gonna bring your right, your bottom elbow forward, twist, yes and just look up to the ceiling and try to breathe. Head can go back.

Yeah, head can go back. Yes, that's what we're going for. Ah, yes so one of the things I'm trying to do here is I'm trying to get the hips going in one side of the barrel. So letting the hips sort of slide down one end of the slope and at the other end of the slope, my head and rib cage. So now we move on.

You give me a, I'm gonna change this block for you just a little bit cause I think you're gonna want a little more there. Squeezing the inner thighs, maybe slightly. You're gonna use that to lift your head up, come up. Yes, that's all it is and rest your head back down. About five of those.

If you're speeding along 10, but see how it feels first, the coming up is important, but equally important is lengthening away from this hip. Exactly. So you lift, grab, engage, maybe stick the booty out and let it go. Just one more like that. Inhale, exhale, come up.

It's exactly it and you rest down and breathe. Whew, from there she's gonna twist to face the floor for a second and come all the way up to sitting. I forgot, I cued that badly. Come up to sitting, yeah. So you're gonna open the arms out to the sides.

Let me get this properly. Mm hmm. Yeah and straighten the top leg or bend it. It's up to you, Stephanie you're gonna just twist to your right three times. Yes, keep twisting, keep twisting, keep twisting, exactly.

So now her right arm is doing a lot of work. Bring that left arm more toward me so that you're really bringing it around around, yeah. That gets that twist going. Just one more to really get the waistline, put your hands on the sides of your barrel and stay there. Wow.

So from here, you're in a twist and we're gonna do a twisted cat and cow. So if you need to change your position, hands or legs, please do so. Yes and then reverse your spine. In that reverse you pull twists. Exactly.

And just like when we were sitting at the top of the lip to begin, those curling happens from pubic bone to breastbone, head is following, exactly, mm hmm. And reverse, stick the tush out. Great, what do you say one more, doesn't that feel so good? Yeah, and curling, yes. I hope you're feeling this.

I mean, I think it looks like a lot, but it's more of a, wow. I didn't know my spine could move like that, yeah. And then when you're ready, let's do all that to the other side. She's like, oh yeah. So yeah, do you wanna just have the back facing?

Is that okay? Okay, great. So and lying on your side and just go over and get a nice stretch. And we'll sneak this pillow back underneath there. So here you are, other side please.

So you're just breathing into that top rib cage. And while you're here, remember you're trying to think is my hip in line with that rib cage or maybe my rib cage needs to come back ever so slightly or a little bit further back, there we go. And just breathe, breathe, breathe out. So my image for this is sort of silly. I imagine it's like bread rising, cause I like food.

So I liked the food imagery. Exactly. That's exactly it. And you know I make sure that this is my whole loaf of bread, that big rib cage. Yeah.

And last one. And those, I just like to imagine that in between those ribs, I can just increase that space with breath and thought. Ah, okay. And then when you're ready, you're gonna slowly come up. Woo, ready for some typewriter?

So remember the leg is doing what you need, open the arms out to the sides, into your letter T and you're gonna start to typewriter. Notice how Stephanie takes her head with her and come back up, make your way down slowly so that you sort of work on getting every part, that looks so much easier than the other side. Oh yeah it is, I see what side that is. I was like, hey, it's a different person. And that's the kind of interesting fun part about Pilates is you kind of go, huh that side's really different.

Wonder why? Yes, I know why for Stephanie but that's different conversation. Yes and go all the way over and enjoy that stretch. And she's gonna breathe again and then just a few more breaths and then we're gonna get ready for that big twist. So I'm gonna sneak that yoga block.

Mm hmm mm hmm. And you decide what's, bolster pillow from the couch, whatever you want. Yeah and then both hands behind your neck and she's gonna, no okay do that again. No, no, no that's okay. So watch what Stephanie does.

She takes her bottom elbow and she really twists it around. Yeah you can do that. And she has, see how she really got to twist herself and now her hips are right over her rib cage or her rib cage is right over her pelvis. Then elbows in for me Stephanie, and look back. And remember, you're imagining that the pelvis drapes to one side of the barrel and the ribs and head drapes to the other side.

And that's when the weights and ankle, ankle weights and yoga blocks kind of help. Feel good? And so breathe. And even here maybe breathe into the rib cage. And as you exhale, feel the weight of the pelvis in the head and just one more like that.

All right, here we go. Just the upper body. I like how I say just, it's a lot. Inhale up, yes. She doesn't need the help on this side and slowly come down.

Yeah. About five of them. If you make three in great, if you're 10, awesome. Yeah, mm hmm. And think of almost letting the pelvis go as you release.

That's equally important to come up and equally important to go back down and just one more time like that. Yes, and come back down, go for that stretch one more time and breathe. I'm gonna give her a little bit of a yank. After this we're gonna come up to sitting and we're gonna do our big old twisty thing. I have a perfect, oh good she's so good at getting rid of those props, open the arms out to the sides and just enjoy that straightening the arms.

Now I'm gonna try not to get my legs sliced off as she twists around. Whoa. Oh, that's different. And come back to center. Stephanie, bend that top leg.

Cause I feel like your hip was going with it. Yeah, I got more than I bargained for on that one. Thank you, exactly. And Stephanie, for you really reach that left arm as you twist. Yes, yes, yes.

The hands on the sides of your chair, chair, barrel. Oh my goodness round and arch. Yeah. And oh, that's not easy for her, a few more times. So think of the rib cage, staying parallel to your barrel.

Yeah, or at least the shoulders. You know what I'm saying? Mm hmm. Yes, there we go. One more time.

This side just must be tighter for her when she goes rounding especially. Yes and I'm really using my hands on the barrel as leverage, I'm pulling as I arch one more time Stephanie. I push as I curl. Exactly, exactly. And I pull to really reverse the spine, lift the chin, lift the chest.

Oh, you feel good. Yeah and come back to center. Okay let's do the full. So when you're ready, go back to the first side again, definitely yoga block. And we're gonna try to do, so that was sort of a prep for Kathy Grant's weather vane on the spine corrector.

And we're gonna try to do the full thing. So begin in the twist, twist it to face the ceiling exactly. With both hands behind your neck and you breathe and try to relax, exactly. So I'm gonna give her a little bit of an assist if she needs it. So when you're ready, you gonna inhale, lift your head up, look for your hips as you exhale try to twist to face the floor.

Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Bring it back up and around, head goes back and oh my goodness she did one, two more to go inhale up. I like to exhale to twist. Inhale, bring it back up and around. So that's me helping Stephanie and release.

And one more time just to give a little more reality. Yep. Yeah, it's much more fun when someone's helping you, but you know, you do what you can yes. And release. I didn't want them to have unrealistic expectations.

Other side Stephanie. Yeah. Cause some people would be like, how come I can't do it like that? And you know, yes sometimes people are just really strong or maybe they're secretly getting help and you don't know it. Yeah, so starting that twist.

Yeah, ooh yeah. And Stephanie for you reach your top knee forward to begin. Oh uh huh. All right, here we go. Oh, I'm supposed to help, inhale, lift up.

As she exhales, she twists around really twist twist. That was, Stephanie, right elbow toward the floor, yes. Bring it back up and around head goes back, exhale. Two more to go, inhale up. Exhale twist.

I like her timing, but it seems to work well for her. Inhale to come back and around, exhale rest. Good luck. Yes, yeah don't worry about coming up so high. Yeah, exactly.

It's more about trying to get that twist around. Awesome Stephanie and rest. Ooh, let's get some extension in our lives in a different way, shall we? Yeah. So remove all the props except for leave your ankle weights on.

So let me get rid of this. So Stephanie, let's go for swan on the top of your barrel. So come around. And so yes swan is often done with the legs to the lip part. Instead, I want you to do it the other way around.

This happened in a barrel class I was teaching and someone had a much easier time doing it this way. I've been enjoying it so let's try this. So you have to find your balance spot, ankles, Stephanie just went, are you sure you want these weights on? Yes, I'm sure. And if you at home, if you're like, wow, this is a lot of weight, but that's on purpose.

We're trying to work this department, yes. She's like this is working. So it's a struggle, I know, do what you can. So when you're ready. No, you can keep her, she's like, so first put your hands down, Stephanie, exactly.

And just work on lifting those legs up and down a few times. Yeah, and you can drop your chest anywhere you need to and just, that's it. Isn't that a lot of work? Can I hold on to it? Yeah.

And take it down. She just said, can I hold onto there? Yes. So here's the big thing as you do this, keep your legs straight. I don't care how high they go.

And actually you've taught me that before. Yes, I was like, wait, I know this and keep those legs super straight, that is beautiful. Now can you keep those legs lifted and bring your arms out to the sides and find a balance? If not, you can more forward or back, everyone's got to find their own balance spot. Mm hmm, nope arms out to the sides.

Yeah. And bring the hands a little lower if you could Stephanie, there we go. Here we go, we're gonna bring the hands to the thighs. Your toes will touch down. Lift the chin, lift the chest, give me a big exhale.

It's okay if they don't actually touch down. Yep, so bring the hands to the thighs, lift the chin, lift the chest. Look down to the floor, come into that beautiful T. I call this the baby Swan. Good, do that a few more times.

Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Look down at the floor. Find that T, just one more. So this she's gotten. Now Stephanie look down to the floor.

Don't just drop your head. You're gonna work the legs as you open the arms to the sides, beautiful. Actually come back up into it one more time. From here, flex those feet, put the toes on the floor. You're gonna reach one arm up to your ear and look down to the floor.

Look over your left shoulder now. Yeah and then switch arms. Left arm goes forward, right arm goes down and twist the torso. Yes, change. So she's kind of doing like a little up and twist, come to that letter T.

Yep, there's a lot of work. One more big twist, thank you. And now you get to rest, OMG. Now, if that was a lot and too much, you could come back and find the knees down position and really just work that upper body, feel that back? She's like, yes I did.

Child's pose please. So sit back toward your heels and put your hands on the top of this spine corrector as you sit back there and stretch. I like getting a little extra stretch for the shoulders after that. One more breath. Okay, when you thought you were done, you're gonna come back on again.

We're gonna sneak a little seahorse in. Same situation, except for we're gonna bend the knees next. So when you're ready, hold on to any part of that spine corrector. You're gonna first just lift those legs up again, Stephanie. And you're gonna just simply bend and straighten the legs a few times.

Again simple is not easy. Yeah, good Stephanie. Two, beautiful one more, three let your knees open. Flex the feet and keep the knees bent. So that's it, keeping the heels together.

Lift those thighs three times and a three, yes. Two, one more. Take a little rest and breathe, but don't come off the barrel cause the spot's perfect. Just to have you give your hamstrings a moment and then when you're ready, gather it all back up again. Lift the legs, lift those thighs.

Keep the knees bent if you don't mind. And she's gonna sneak a little seahorse in, this is from Irene Dowd, she's gonna twist the feet to one direction and then the other. Mm hmm, yes, that's it. Yes, yes, yes. And come back down, yeah.

To the other side. Yes. And just so you know, mine doesn't look as good as this, it's much smaller and if yours is, that's awesome. And if yours looks like Stephanie, you know, great. One more side, yes.

And rest, push back, sit toward those heels one last time. So I'm hoping that you felt a lot of hamstring and butt, and definitely some of the low back, especially one more than the other as you go from side to side, which is really fun. I think. You got to love that Irene Dowd for those intense moments. So let's do one more thing from Irene, when you can let's, I think the barrel position's fine, I'm just gonna pull it back a little bit more.

You're gonna do that extension dip over the barrel. But backwards. Okay. Yeah. She's like I hear the words coming out of your mouth Blossom so yes.

Yes. So there's a whole sort of abdominal series that I've done before on this, but I want her to just do the really hard part. Yay. Okay so when you can Stephanie, come a little more forward. Yeah so find your spine alignment.

Mm hmm, yeah she had a lapse, okay go ahead, stretch, stretch over the barrel for a moment. That's like when I say to my kids something and then a minute later go, did you hear me? And then he goes, oh no, what? That was like, you just had that moment right? Okay so when we're all ready, we're gonna come to a spine alignment and go to straight legs forward.

Yeah and just hold here. And honestly this is plenty. So Stephanie you're actually almost overachieving, lower the hips a little bit more, lift the chest a little bit. Oh this is great, part one, you just could transfer weight from side to side to try not to move the hips. That's part one.

Yeah, part two. Bring one leg up. Oh this is good, change sides. Bring the other leg up. Oh yes, one more set like that.

So this is the beginning, yes. One more side, stretch, relax over the barrel. And now we're gonna take a moment to take those ankle weights off, shall we? Yeah, before we go to this next bit, why don't you take those ankle weights off? I know, I was like, hmm.

I forgot about that. Let's take those ankle weights off cause we're gonna start to twist a little bit and that's not necessary. You could even roll them up into like a little thingy and we might use them later. So when you can have a lie. Mm hmm, mm hmm.

And so here we go, I better get out of the way. So she's gonna find that beautiful spinal alignment again. Oh, again, this is good. You can just repeat that last thing we did. Stephanie, if you can one knee into the chest, this time, stretch it up to the ceiling.

Yes and when you can take the leg across, down around up, yes. Four more, two and three, that's work, four, one more, five. Look up to the ceiling, reverse it. Yeah, so that she's not all neck. Yes, oh my goodness.

Really straighten that bottom leg. Three, two more, four, you have one more, that's it. And rest for a moment, rest. Yeah. And then we'll get ready for the other side.

So first set, head up, hips lifted and let's do first set of circles looking forward, other leg up. Right, and let's go for some circles. Yeah, try to straighten both legs, one yes. And two, oh three. Yes so here we go, asymmetrical right?

So you have to really hold on, look up to the ceiling for this next set. So good Stephanie, open the left elbow a little bit more. Yes. Two more. Four, just one more, from there hold it, leg down, rest back.

Yes, it's done oh my gosh. I would've blamed Irene for it if she was here making you do it. Go forward, stretch over your legs and just get a nice stretch hanging over those legs and breathe, yeah. With your head hanging down. Have a little look side to side of the head and with your head hanging down.

How about a nice little circle of the head? Awesome. And circle in the other direction. Okay. So from here, I'm gonna take a borrow from the Fletcher people.

So let's have, come to standing for a second. Let me just get this stuff out of the way. So we're gonna align the barrel in a different way. I think you might want these on again. Yes.

It took me a second. So I'm gonna have Stephanie face you this way and you're going to sit in the crevice of this barrel and we're gonna take a strap. So the Fletcher folk, they would use a Fletcher towel. I'm just using this lovely elastic band that I think my sister sent me from Germany. You want something with heft.

You don't want a thin TheraBand. A thin TheraBand just has too much pull like this you can really pull on and it gives me a lot of feedback. Now, Stephanie is in what I would call a frog position. I want your feet a little bit wider, more diamond shape than frog. Yeah a little, that's it.

Okay, good. And then you're getting it further out? Yes. This is why we're friends. She's like, and now it's straight.

Okay, but now it's not straight. No, it's now freaking me out. Please hold, we're just having a prop moment. I should have handed it to her perfectly. You know, I'd be terrible to be one of those Broadway people dressers kind of be like, or maybe I'd be really good at it.

Okay, so here you go. Let's just reach the arms forward. Stephanie, take a little bit of a moment. So reach the arms forward. So let's just, oh no, that isn't going, she was like I would like to drop my, so bend those elbows wide a few times.

Yep, that's right. So in this elbow bending wide moment, Stephanie wants to sort of throw her chest forward, she's gonna instead think accordion breathing and really lift up on that low back, exactly. I liked the idea of pressing those big toes in toward each other to find that fire up that middle line, you got one more to go, elbows go wide, thank you. Now from here, just reach up to the ceiling. And now we go, I believe they call this the rainbow.

So pressing those feet together, side bend over to one side. They don't care which one. Yep, yep, yep. And keep going, keep going. You maybe even touch the floor with that right hand.

She's like I do and come right back up again. Got ya, to the other side. Mm hmm. And Stephanie has torso for days. So you get to really see her move this rib cage.

One more set, but this is good. We need to move this rib cage, yeah. And when you're pulling, be careful of making sure, she's not doing it, but that you're not going up into the shoulders. A little external spiral of the upper arm is good. And come back up, we add on.

So Stephanie, you will go all the way down, to her right she goes, she's actually gonna put her right hand down and her left hip comes up out of the crevice. Yes. So here she is. She's gonna reach her left hip back down, reach that left hip up. So reach that sits bone down, doesn't that feel good.

So you should really be feeling lots of stretch in the low back, you got one more. Get it on down, from here press those feet together. Come back up. Hoo, oh, exactly. Over to the other side.

Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Oh yeah. Uh huh and then right hip up, reach the right hip down. Exactly, two more times. Deliciousness.

I know, I love the highlight that this gives on this low back, don't you Stephanie? Yeah. And then from here, press the feet together. We add on you go over to the right. Yes, and from here, you're gonna do, stay here, you're gonna just think of rounding the rib cage forward with that left arm, keep the right hand right where it is and come back to facing sideways.

Yeah do that again. Round the rib cage curl, curl, curl, curl, curl. Beautiful and come back, reach that left hip bone down one more time. Curl, curl, curl, curl, curl. Beautiful.

And from there, press it. Now find that lift of the rib cage, press the feet together. Come back up. Woo, it's a long way up when you got a long torso, go back over to the other side. Yes.

Oh, that's a really long way down. Right hip up. Oh no, I forgot to get, keep the right hip down. She's gonna round that spine, move the rib cage. Yes.

And come back. So she's really sort of sending her right sits bone back to stay back so that she's twisting away from something. Oh, that looks like she's having fun, one more time. Yes, and go back over to the side, press those feet together, come back up. Oh, there's so much more to that, but that's all we're gonna do, are you okay with that?

Yeah, put the strap down on your sides or on this down. Seek your hands behind your neck, Stephanie, bring your elbows in and just look up to the ceiling and just give me some extension for just a moment looking up yeah they have so much more beautiful choreography to it. And if you're interested and want more of it, go check out some of those videos too. Okay come off. I don't know why I whisper it.

Okay, when you can. Let's okay I know what we're doing. We're gonna put both ankle weights on one leg. I know that seems like a lot, but I'm waiting to see what, okay so she's gonna put them on her left leg. So we're gonna go this way.

We're gonna do Kathy Grant's side sit-ups, the ultimate twisty exercise. Okay, yep so when, kind of looks funny. When you can, side lie again, when you can. So here she is. Top leg is bent.

I'm sorry no, top leg is straight, bottom leg is bent and she's gonna reach over and just get a nice stretch. I am also gonna give her the hand weights. Oh, loud. I'm gonna give her the hand weights and I'm gonna take both hand weights. These are about a pound each, two pounds is about as heavy as you want it to be.

I'm gonna start it with her bottom hand. So this is the starting position. This is definitely from Kathy Grant. I'm gonna admit that she, Kathy Grant would start standing or not standing, but seated. I just could never remember the sequence that way.

So I always start down this way. Truth. Okay so Stephanie, when you can, you're gonna reach your left arm up toward the ceiling. Yeah and you reach it sort of on this diagonal. Now here's the hard bit.

She's gonna reach with her bottom arm up toward this top arm and try to put both hands on either side of those weights, come all the way up to sitting, transfer the weights into the left hand, bring the weights down to the leg. You can again, bend this knee however you want. And just side bend and stretch, stretch, stretch. You can bend this knee if you want to. It's kind of more comfortable, yeah.

So good, you're gonna come up to sitting up tall, make a letter T of the body. Straighten the leg now, T is for typewriter. Go on over. Yes, she's gonna stop right about there, both arms overhead. You're good, yes.

And both hands reach over, take your time, take your time, take your time, take your time. Woo, woo. Bottom hand takes the weight and she chills out for a second. You ready for me? Top hand reaches up.

So I always think of this as like this, like a Babe Ruth being like, I'm gonna get the home run over that way. So that's where she was headed, right? Yes, that's the imagery people, gonna start to come up. Bring that arm up, yes. And go over to the leg, bend the knee.

The crowd goes wild and then make a letter T of the body, look straight ahead. Yes. From here you're gonna typewriter over. Exactly, cause you want this leg to help you now. And then from there both arms overhead, and then take your time going over, going over, going over and rest.

Stephanie, shall we do this one more time? Here we go. Top arm, Babe Ruth. Bottom arm reaches up. I have no rights to Babe Ruth's name and they go over, both weights go into the left-hand.

She side bends over and actually let me have this. Yeah, so you go all the way to there. Come back to sitting up tall, make a letter T of the body and T is for typewriter. Yes. And then from here she goes both arms over and lengthened and lengthen and lengthened.

Awesome. I should've maybe not held her each time so you could see how hard that is without, but oh, here's my little trick. So if you have a mat and you can sink your leg underneath the mat, that works really well. What I noticed when I was working in my small room during the pandemic, I was able to, I had this one wall, if I pushed my bit, my foot, just even a little bit into a wall, it really helped. Or you get a teacher to help you do it, other side when you can Stephanie and I'll have her face the back if you don't mind.

Oh yeah change weights, good idea. And that's why I had both weights on one leg. You really want some heft. And that's why I sort of joke about those cute little Bala Bangles. I'm always like, I don't think that's enough resistance.

You want some heft to really help you. Yep, start over. And she's just gonna stretch. Yes. And just enjoy the breath.

You can see why we started with that sort of rib cage opening. Here we go, the top arm is gonna reach up. Yeah, and then she's gonna bring that bottom arm. Oh look, I'm not in the right spot. Yes, but that's the side that's very good.

Right hand holds. She goes over toward the legs, she gets a great side bend. She makes a letter T of the body, T is for typewriter. That's it and that's it, reach the leg, reach the leg, stop right there. Both arms overhead.

And then head and hands reached toward me as you lengthen. Yes, yes. That's the hard part, right, exactly. I'm gonna just give her a little assistance now that you've seen the real life version. Here we go, top arm, Babe Ruth, start to come up.

Yes, go over, stretch and enjoy that. Make a letter T of the body and T is for typewriter. There's other words for T, that's it. Good and now take your time now notice it's head. Think of really arching that head over, more head Stephanie, more head, yes, yes, yes, yes.

One more time. Here we go, top arm great. Oh, wow it's good. Go over and stretch, thank you very much. And then make a letter T of the body and hold, yes.

And then come on out of there, go, go, go, go. Both arms overhead, take a little bit of a moment and then reaching, reaching, reaching, reaching, and rest. So let's get rid of all of the props. And let's do sort of the ultimate twisting exercise. Let's sneak in a little bit of corkscrew on here.

Mm hmm, it was like corkscrew I remember that one. Yeah, mm hmm, yeah that works. Yep, so she's gonna nestle her hips on in there. Cause we did lock that's it. And then she's gonna hold on, but we're not lying down though.

Yeah, yeah yes. She just had another one of those moments where she left and came back. She's gonna bring her knees into her chest and think, oh, I love the corkscrew. She's gonna think happy, positive corkscrew thoughts. She's gonna stretch her legs up and down three times.

One, yeah. And by the way, this is plenty. If you want to add on, come with Stephanie and go circle down around up and hold reverse, down around adding on a little bit. Down around double pulse to the face. One, two, yeah.

Down around and one, two, one more set. Down around one, two last one. Whew, and rest for a second. Yeah, shall we move on? Stephanie when you're ready, let's go lying backwards onto the floor for just a moment.

Let's stretch the, open up the front of the hips after all that. I think we have enough space. Yes, I mean, of course we do. We planned this out perfectly. So get those shoulders down a little bit more my friend.

Yes so this is what I really wanted to get her to do, put both feet into the crevice, yes. And just enjoy that stretch for a moment. Yeah, find your spot and notice how Stephanie just casually slid on back. Hopefully it was as smooth for you and when you can, you're gonna simply extend one leg forward to straight. Yes, so you're actively pushing down into the crevice.

You really straighten this leg and you're letting that front of the hip open and stretch after all that. And just nice and simple point up to the ceiling and flex down, yeah. A few more times like that. So hamstring stretch and then front of the hip. And as the leg goes down, do two more, you're almost gonna push down into the standing foot a little bit more.

Yes, one more and really lower and straighten and straighten and straighten and enjoy that stretch, exactly. Change sides please. Other leg goes to straight. Yes, and just hold it there. Lengthening, lengthening, point up, flex down just four times and really get that nice stretch as you go up.

And when you kick up, keep the pelvis down. One more or two more I believe, right? Yes, and then one more bit of twisting for my friend here. So she's gonna bring both knees in toward her chest ish kind of more table top of the legs and just simply circle those knees around. And as you circle, yes, you can think of what the shape the knees are making, but I'd rather that you think of the pelvis and think of the weight transferring from one side of the pelvis to the waistline and to the other and then reverse it.

Yeah, exactly. I had a second I was like, where are we? That's exactly it. Ah, and rest here for a second. So last couple of moves sort of.

So to come out of there, you could bring both legs overhead and roll this barrel away from you or artfully roll off of it to the side if you would like not to do that, it's up to you. How would you want to go, Stephanie? Yeah, so then push that barrel away and I'll help as well. And then slowly come down and just rest those legs on top of the barrel, which is like your little treat after all that. Okay.

Just a couple more moves. After you enjoy this nice restful position. You're gonna come and meet me in a kneeling position. Let's do plank on here. So hands on the sides.

Mm hmm, exactly. And find your plank position. In this plank, one long line, Stephanie, maybe lift your head up a little bit higher. Her legs are doing such great work, stick your tush out ever so slightly, yes. Just breathe.

Ah, from here, can you do left hand into the center of the barrel. You're gonna roll to the outside of your left foot and you're gonna find a little side plank. If this is too much, come down on your knee and elbow instead. This is good. Stephanie, lower the hips, look to the right shoulder, lower the hips side bend and come back up.

Yes, one more like that, so sort of the ultimate twisting right? And come back up. Last thing top arm reaches up and then Stephanie twist that right arm through. Try not to move the pelvis, like a little thread the needle and reach back up inner thighs, push up position other side. That's when you're like, oh, plank is so nice.

It's nice and centered other side, yep. Really flex those feet, good. And then when you can top hand down on the thigh, look to the top shoulder, lower the pelvis. Yes and come back up. Good, again, lower the pelvis, exactly and come back up.

Look straight ahead as you reach over for just a moment, breathing and then when you can try not to move the pelvis, correct, rib cage, rib cage. Nice Stephanie, reach up for a moment. Push up position for the last time. Yes, and then when you can Stephanie walk your hands back to your feet. So you're just standing on those legs.

Exactly. Get a nice hamstring stretch. Hanging over there, just gently shake your head no. A gentle nod of your head yes. And let's do one last little release.

Hold on to opposite elbow, Stephanie with the knees slightly bent and breathe into that side rib cage again. And one more breath like that. So I love this cause I feel like I get some nice traction on my back. And then from there you're gonna slowly come up to standing, standing. Ah, you know what I want to say right?

That way. Exactly. And that's it so I know I have this joke where I was like, let's do a back flip at the end. One day, I was like, I know there's teachers out there who can do that, but please do that safely and on your own time. Thank you very much for joining us.