Find Your Rhythm

Hi, I'm Monica Wilson, and I'm here with Lindsay. And we're gonna be doing a rhythm and dynamics class on the reformer. Lindsay did a few classes with me on the mat and with the magic circle, and now we're gonna take it, and challenge her on the reformer. She is well versed in all of these, but maybe doesn't practice these exercises all the time. And maybe you don't either.

So we're just gonna let our mind be more controlled by our will, and we're just gonna go for it. And play around with the rhythm and the dynamics of the exercise to give us that energy and blood flow that we need. Alright, let's get started. Let's go ahead and lie down. You're gonna be on three or four springs.

I'm not gonna be going over super technical things all the time 'cause we're moving. Alright. Pilates stance. And we're gonna drop that hip a little bit. Awesome and pulling in and out and in. Good, so she's on toes.

Toes

And arches and out. There you go. Good, alright. Use those feet like hands as you stretch out. Pull and stretch out, pull and good. Like a piece of taffy stretching out, and pull back in with control.

Arches

Heels

Tendon Stretch

It's gripping a little. And stretch, and two more. Reach two, three, last one. And we'll prepare for the hundred. Come on in, lower your bar, grab your handles.

Hundred

In two, three, four, five. Exhale. This is your time to really warm up. And exhale two, three, four, five. Good. Feel those legs lengthening. Let go of any gripping.

That 60, exhaling 70. Feel that scoop. It's pulling in and up against your handle. Maybe try to go a little quicker. And that's 80. Now go real slow, and feel that scoop.

Feel the upward stretch of your back, and think about the overhead that's coming next. And bend, drop two springs, one spring for you. Lower your head piece. So you should be on two springs for overhead now. Good. Arms are straight up.

Overhead

Really important, this energy that she's giving. And one more. It's over and up. Very nice. Keep using those arms, keep pulling in, and take your time to lengthen. And get into coordination. Still on two.

In with your out, quick open, close. Exhale in, exhale. And so it's four counts. One and two, three and four. Inhale out, and two. Exhale three.

Coordination

Coordination Variation

Back - One

Sitting up, pull back one from our powerhouse, open two, press back, and scoop in. And lifting up, and enjoy that as you exhale completely. One more into the chest. Open up, and press, and pull, and lift, and good. This time, I want you to do this right angle, and have tension consistently, no shape vibrating.

Back - Two

Powerhouse lifts, in and up to go back, and go forward. Hands go back to the tailbone and lift, keeping a nice lift in your back. One more time. Nice and tall. Sliding up an imaginary wall. Exhale forward, inhale to your tail bone, and lift up those arms and exhale all the way home.

Did you exhale the whole way home? Handles by your side, spin around, and we're gonna do from the chest. There we go. And in with the air, exhale, exhale, grow tall. In with the air, all the way up, keep inhaling.

Front - One

Hands by your side, and inhale. Stretch to your heels. Exhale, roll up with your hands shoulder height. Inhale, lifting up higher, and same ending. You're really filling your lungs up with air. Two more. Inhale, exhale.

Front - Two

Nice job. Cross your legs. Circle the arm simultaneously and make a diamond. And bend, and stretch, and bend, and stretch. Lovely. Keeping that spring moving. Three more. You're doing a beautiful job. Just continuously moving.

Shaving

Hug A Tree

We're gonna set up for swan here. Are you okay doing swan here? Good. Alright, so we'll put this here. Alright. And go ahead and get on.

So if you have a ladder barrel at your studio or at home, it's much nicer. Sometimes. Some people really like it here though. Maybe teeter totter just a teeny bit back more. Good, heels together. And again, allow like just the freedom of the movement.

Swan

And in with the air, go ahead and exhale big. And inhale, reach out, lifting, levitating and exhale. Good job Lindsay. One more. In with the air, exhale. In with the air, exhale. Nice.

And use those hips, hips, hips. Inhale, reaching out and hold, and exhale. Beautiful. Lift up, drop a spring. Put the pad down by your side. And get ready for your pole straps. Nice.

So we're on one spring now for pole straps. Legs are long. Learn to use your hips when you use your arms. Pressing down into the box of the belly, lifts to your sternum, and the same energy down. The same energy up. That was a flyaway.

Pulling Straps

Pulling Straps - T Position

Lifting the chest, and reaching back. Backstroke. Both handles in one hand. Add a spring. Both handle one in each hand, and always hand, foot, hand, foot. Front edge a little more. Good, and exhale to curl into a ball.

In with the air, up, exhale, open, in with the air. Beautiful, and bending. Lift, open, exhaling. And keep using that powers to go, go, go and bend. Two more. Up, open.

Backstroke

Drop the spring for your teaser. So you're gonna keep using that powerhouse. Showing the control. Keeping the transitions moving allows you to keep your powerhouse working the entire time. In with the air. The head comes up.

Teaser

And over, keep the tension in front of you. Don't let it go behind you. One more, open. Reaching for your toes, and unfolding. Beautiful. The reverse. See if you can open on the way up, but keep 'em in front of you. Beautiful.

In with the air, exhaling. In with the air, exhaling. One more. Exhaling. Good, scoop it in. And now unfold, and take both handles in one hand. And we're gonna step off to the side for breaststroke.

Good, I'm gonna put a pad on the back edge, and you're gonna lie on your tummy with your knees off the back edge. Take one handle in each hand. Good. Pull forward to the front edge, and lie down. Let's get those hips working to support our back extension. Alright.

So no space between your hips and the box. Thank you, and you're gonna do three beats. One, two, three, shoot out, and lift. Pushing into those straps, open those arms as you come down and bend. Nice job, Lindsay.

Breaststroke

I'll grab one more pad for you for the reversal of that. You just did a phenomenal back bend. Now your body wants to do the horse back. I promise you it does. It just is dying to do the horse back.

Good, so we just did a big back bend. Let's reverse that curve, flex the feet to start, and ripple effect. You're gonna scoop in inner thighs and hold. Find those hips, hold. Inner thighs, hold. Beautiful. Now circle the arms with, yes.

Horseback

Pressing with those hips and inner thighs, stable pelvis. That's it. And circle one. Keep the spring moving. Keep your carriage moving, ending with the arms forward, and sit. Hey, that was much better that second time.

Good, with that rhythm and movement. Alright. Let's step off. Good. I'll take these. And we're gonna get into our short box so you can hang those off the back edge. Your bar's already underneath your bar.

I'll add a spring for stability, and I'll help you with your straps. Let's add a pad to sit on. Yeah, alright. So we're gonna make sure your first one, the round back, goes like the roll up, and with your breath. We're gonna lift up into a big C curve. Just show me your horse back again.

Round Back

In with the air, exhale. Lifting up into a big C curve. A little break. Lift up, in with the air, rolling out, exhale. In with the air, exhaling up, up, up, up, and a little break. Just one more. In with the air, rolling back, exhale.

In with the air, up, and exhale, exhale, exhale. Good. Have this strap a little close, higher up. There we go. Nice. Grab your bar, and here we go. And in with the air, and exhale back.

Flat Back

Side to Side

Alright, we'll do one regular twist. Lifting up. Twist that by twist more of the belly, twist more of the right hip, and lead with the right hip out. And exhaling up. Good. Twist. Rotate more, and that's it. Good. Now we're gonna go fishing.

Twist

Fishing

Around the World

Forward Fold

Tree

Switch legs, nice work. Pulling out the left leg, and it's stretch, and bend, and loose, and bend, and easy peasy. And up. And now stretch over that leg. Relax, exhale. Use that breath. And rolling back. Leave the leg.

And one regular, exhale. In with the air, good. Stretching over it, head down. And strong base, and grabbing, and one, and two. On your own. Three and reverse. One, sweep it around.

And two and three. And in with the air, empty your lungs, and then grab the apple off your tree. Pick it, lift, lift, lift. Great job. Go ahead and bring down your box and your bar. I'll keep your pad, and set up for the long stretch series.

Before we get on, I want you to think of the long stretch series, visualize it, put it all in your head, and we're just gonna have them flow one into the next as if the spring doesn't stop. Okay? Alright, so we're gonna get on hand, foot, hand, foot. And let's do three, pushing out. Beautiful work with your hips, and push, and pull. One more, and we'll bring the hips forward for the down stretch.

Long Stretch

Down Stretch

Up Stretch

Combination

Elephant

Long Back Stretch

Round

Flat Back

The last three. Yes, just keep moving. Keep it moving, one more. You got it. Touch those shoulder pads. Beautiful. Bring your arms forward. In with the air, exhale until you touch my hands.

Flat Back Reach

Twist

Last one and pulling in. Nice job. Go ahead and step off. We'll do tendon stretch now. And you're gonna step on. Good, standing up. We're gonna do three regular and then one right back, and back front. And then the opposite side.

Tendon Stretch

Tendon Stretch Sequence

Kick back and up, and down. I think you did that fabulously. You thought it was gonna be a little harder. Huh? Really important to keep that spring going and the rhythm. We're gonna keep the bar up and enjoy semi-circle.

I always think of calling it spine because it's such a delicious stretch for your spine. If you can't do it with your bar up, we're gonna be doing it with the bar down in a moment. So just adjust how you want. I think I want this left foot a little more center, and the right foot a little wider. That's enough. Good.

Alright. Another catch your breath. Take a breath, and exhale. Rolling down. Press out with the hips. Lift up, and come in. Stretch, stretch, stretch. Roll down, stretch out, lift up.

Semi Circle

Good, hug in those knees. I will lower down the bar, and now feet right there. Good, lifting up. Stretch. Take your shoulders a tiny bit this way to the window. Good, and lifting up, up, up. Alright.

Semi Circle - Bar Down

Stretch up. Get the bottom up, get that bottom up. Reverse from the hips. Now don't lower the bottom. Wrap that upper body. Exhale. Are you breathing? Are you breathing? And coming in.

And lift forward, one more. Get this up, up, up, and power in those hips. And in and up, up, up. Good job. Bring those hands forward. Grab your ankles. I want a lot of this more up.

Quad Stretch

And right now we're gonna reach back, slide back, and you're gonna get your handles to prepare for. Go ahead and step off for me, Lindsay. Okay. Now we're gonna challenge our hips while we're kneeling. So you're gonna do chest expansion. Let's get some safety pads in place, and kneel down facing the head piece.

Chest Expansion

Any arm exercise first comes from the hips, and it's a breathing in with the air. Hold the breath, look forward, and exhale. In with the breath. Hold your breath. Look forward, and exhale. So notice we're alternating. In with the air.

You look right, left, forward, exhale. And the other way. In with the air, and now look left, right, forward, and exhale, great job. Go ahead and scoot forward. I'll add a spring.

Thigh Stretch

Lift your arms and come up as one solid piece. Inhale to start. Keep your hips here. Unfolding as you exhale, uh uh. Head back, exhale. In with the air, lift and come up as one solid piece.

Thigh Stretch w/ Backbend

Arm Circles

Easy peasy, one more. Hips forward 'cause we're gonna do sneak and twist reverse. And if you don't have your hips, you're not gonna be able to move that carriage. Up, one more, and where there's a will, there's a way, right? And that's enough of those. Good.

Now we're gonna hang up our handles, and we're gonna get ready for the snake and twist. Come on over to my side. We'll do this side first. Alright. Might be your stronger side. Might be your weaker. We will find out. Okay.

So right hand first. Hand, and then your foot. Good, and then the other hand, and lift. Remember what I said about your hips? They're everything. And alignment. Here we go. We're gonna breathe.

Snake Twist

That was better with alignment. Good. Now strong hips. Let's twist as you go out. Twist, twist, twist, and up. That's nice. Try to lock your shoulder in place. It'll be a work in progress, but you're doing great.

One more. Twist, twist, twist, and up. Beautiful. Take your right foot down. Hold the carriage in with your powerhouse. Keep your head down. That's it. So everything's encouraging, and left foot down.

Your carriage to stay in instead of anything going out. Go to the other side. I'm gonna switch this. Alright, hang on one second. Let's make sure you do hand first. Holding the carriage in, then the other foot. Good.

And good. Alright, scoop in head is where? Tucked in, encouraging the carriage to stay in. And let's take a breath as we start to push out, and exhale the hips down. In with the air and up. Good. And it's like a snake, right?

You're gonna (hisses) all that air out. And up, up, up, up. Okay. Let's squeeze those hips, and twist them under, over your shoulder. Beautiful. You even got a little smile, and one more. Squeezing out, exhale all that air, twist.

Don't hold your breaths on those. And then holding eyes here, holding the carriage in to bring that foot down. Nice job. Other foot, and rounding up. Good. I'm gonna take this head piece down and remove the handles.

You can move that underneath 'cause we're getting ready now for our corkscrew. It's a lovely sequence. Let's add one spring. Good, and line down for corkscrew. You wanna think of these in your head so you can keep up your rhythm, tick tock. And then a little balance control.

Step off the head pieces down. These are here to really stabilize, not to flare up. Let's draw the knees into your chest, extend the legs up, and let's go over with the hips, and lift up to the ceiling. Good. Alright. Let's twist to the right as you go down. And circle low over to the left and up with energy.

Corkscrew

Tick Tock

And if you do it slow, you'll never get up. Draw the knees in, lifting all the way. And this we're just gonna do a little check with the right, left leg and up. And right and up. Good. And now going into your step off. Good.

Balance Control

And lengthening. Very nice, holding in your powerhouse. Bend that left knee. That's it. Rise up using that left hip. Beautiful. Come down.

Always time to think about our hips and scoop, and up, up, up, and controlling down. Beautiful. Hug in those knees. Hug them in. Good. And we're gonna grab our second long box. Joy. Let's come on over here.

Grab your long box. If you haven't done second long box in a while, it's time. We're not gonna do the- bar down. Sorry. We're not gonna be doing the foot straps on the feet, but we will do grasshopper rocking and swimming. Again, mentally putting them in.

Stand up with control. Then we're gonna maybe use a towel as your forehead will be going onto the frame of the reformer. Good. Alright. Lying down with your ribs. Allow for freedom in motion in the upper body. Your hands can either be where Lindsey's are, or they can be lower on the legs of the frame.

Grasshopper

Six, seven, eight. So a big lift up. That's it, pull 'em in first. Let's bend them in, and then extend, and eight counts long up. We're gonna do one more. Keep those legs straight as you push out. Shall we? And pull up, and then bend in. There we go.

Extend, and then clap your way down. Good work, Lindsay. Do you feel good where you are for rocking, or do you need to slide back a tiny bit? Slide back, I think. Okay, good.

Rocking

And your energy's so up that you get to stretch out for swimming, giving me your arms, and you're gonna swim up two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Up two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. One more with those legs getting closer and stronger. And relax. Step off. You wanna step down with the hands to the floor. Good.

Swimming

Forward Fold

And then we're gonna head piece down because we will be rolling up onto our neck again, and lie on down. You feel good? You feel ready? Good. I got it. I have it. Here we go. Good. Love how you bring both legs over.

That's it, and a little closer. Great. More lifting of your bottom. Notice every time you lift your bottom up, you have to do it with a lot of gusto, a lot of dynamics. Arms down, and a lot of will. Here we go. We're gonna push forward, and right on up.

Long Spine

Keep pushing the feet in front of your seat. Beautiful, reverse. Open and up. Squeeze together, and reaching long. Stretch that spine, stretch, stretch, stretch. Open, really open, and lift. There we go.

Squeeze together, and feet in front of the seat. Feet in front of the seat. One more, open and up, and squeeze together, and feet in front of those seat. Keep going, keep going, and enough. Bring those legs forward to you, and pull 'em towards you.

Hamstring and Inner Thigh Stretches

But enjoy that. Nice job. Good. Alright. Legs together. We'll go ahead and press your arms down by your side. And use your powerhouse to bring your legs.

Good, flex your feet. And those straps will just slide off, and enjoy a stretch. Good. Alright. Go ahead and step off. And we're gonna lift your bar up, and lift your head piece up, and we're gonna get ready for running and pelvic tilt.

We get to catch our breath. Go ahead and lie down. You can do it on two springs, which is what I have Lindsay on right now, or how you started your footwork, whether it was three or four springs. And stretch long, and run, and run. We're running. We're running.

Running

Arches on the corners. We're not doing in this for nothing, and lift your seat up. Good. And stretch, and pull in, and stretch, and pull it in. This area gets dead a lot. Let's make sure we're working it right now.

Pelvic Lift

Slide your feet together, hug your knees in, and we're gonna do the control push ups, front and back. So we put it in second gear, still on two springs. So I'll slide it out. Put a little safety lock in. Second gear, two springs.

This is like the traditional pushups. And then the other one will be like a traditional tricep. Hands on the shoulder pads, right here with that foot. Good, squaring off the body. Always have to use those hips, right?

Control Push Up Front

Push out, pull it in. Gimme one more. Push out, pull it in. Right foot down. Left hip up. Good. Push out, pull it in. Push out, pull it in.

Hold left foot down, and three pushups. Head up, lengthen out the crown of the head. One more for me. Don't lower that head. Good, now pike up to keep the carriage home, and carefully step off to the side. Good. Standing there, you on your own.

Control Push Up Back

And now fan kick right. Fan kick left. We're gonna go the other way. Good, other way, and hold with control. Dip three, two, use that seat. Last one, and hold up those hips as you elegantly step off. Nice job.

We're ready to enjoy some good stretches. Come on this side with our side splits. You did fabulous with those. There was definitely a will, and there was a way. So we're gonna stand up. Good.

Side Splits

You're gonna push out with this guy, and up, up, up. One more, pushing out, staying even in your box. Good. Hold. Stretch forward, and pick up a dozen roses for your fabulous performance today. Lifting up a little, break, a little upper back bend.

Upper back bend, so you're gonna look up to the ceiling. There we go, and center. And lift everything home. Aww. And now reach down and give your roses away to your favorite friend, and roll up. Hips forward as you lift your chest up. Nice.

And it's nice and tall and controlled. We're holding it home, and heel toe the right foot in. Good, keep going for me. That's it. Left foot. Now carefully turn towards the springs. Nice.

Staying there. Good. Heel toe, no banging, hold it in. Good. Alright. Now it's time to work this hip. We're gonna push out with the right hip, and lifting up.

How far can you go out? Stretch, stretch, stretch. That's nice, and up. One more. Stretch, stretch, stretch, stay here. And it's like saw. Good. Left hand, and lifting up.

Hips under you. There you go. Don't forget about those hips. Hips under you, and now lift up, up, up. And one more time. Those inner thighs should be on fire.

Hips, hip, hips, and lifting up, up, up. And heel toe the left foot in. Heel toe. Heel. Right foot onto the mat, carefully step forward. Good. And we'll finish our grand conclusion today with our Russians. Two springs.

Bar up. I'll use this one. And you're gonna face this way. Stepping hands onto, uh huh. Good. So she put her left foot back on the bar, right foot. Now we're gonna go out into a deep knee bend.

Bend that front knee. Good, good. Alright. Now still give me some dynamics. Push out, pull in Push, pull, push, pull, hold. Find your tummy. Lift up with your tummy, not your hips, and hands right there.

Russian Splits

Pull it all the way home though. There we go. And go on out. Enjoy it. Enjoy breathing, and up. Delicious. All the way, and bring that right foot back. Bring the left foot down.

Right foot back, and left foot into place. There we go. A little further back actually with the ball of the foot. There we go. Nice. Let's push out into a deep knee bend. We're gonna work that there. There we go.

And push, and pull, and push, and pull, and push, and pull. Nice, now find your tummy, hands up behind your head, and push, and pull, and push, and pull. One more. Yes. And reach those arms forward, and lift your heel up. Now, keep going, and straight legs.

And go ahead and enjoy. What I was gonna say is you might not be able to tell, and lift up both legs, how hard Lindsay's working there on that left leg when she's doing the Russians. Enjoy, enjoy and up. Let's just do one more for that left side, that worked so hard. But it took everything she could to just stay determined in that hip and that stomach to keep filling up her left side, her weaker side.

And she had all the energy and the will. Bring your left foot under you, the right foot. And come on off to this side. And let's give Lindsay a round of applause for a good rhythm and motion. (both clapping) Thank you for joining us.