Magic Circle Mat

Hi, everybody. Amy Haven's here at Pilates anytime for a magic circle. MAT class. And I titled this in my head, X's and o's, o for this, but also just the Circum, like, the capturing the whole embodiment of the work, but the act is part is really interesting to me in my mind. I use a magic circle often for mid line orientation, right, to connect to the mid line. So in this, there's gonna be quite a bit of oblique work connecting to your adductors in the front And then in our back thinking about our lats toward our glutes, so you can you see those cross patterns, so obliques to adductors and lats to glutes. So that's the x's using the o. Okay. So place your feet together.

It's a nice way to look at it, I think. And it the ring is between the knees I'm in a diamond set. Souls a feet together. And have enough clearance here that the ring is not touching the floor. And you have to bring your knees up just a little bit to hug the circle. So right away, your adductors are saying hello, probably.

And I'll show a couple from the front. All I want you to do is cross your arms over your chest, part of the x, take a breath through your nose, And as we exhale right away, press the circle with your legs round your back. You'll see it more in this side view in a moment. And think about your back body with another x on it and widening the x on your back, narrowing the x on the front. Inhale as you come to sitting.

And, again, just practice that a couple of times. So contract your adductors Right now, you're probably not gonna feel too much of, obliques, but you can. And then inhale come to sitting tall. We're gonna add a little to that, and then I'll sit sideways. Exhale contract, your adductors, engage the abdominals, narrow your waist.

That's in my mind where my ab obliques are connecting. And then we're gonna start adding an expansion of the front. K. That'll be inhale. Exhale is cross and contract. Inhale is broadened and open.

You keep going. I'm gonna turn sideways. We'll do about 4 more. So your exhale is contracting the adductor, see how it can help you open your back. Feel the side of the waist tapering and exhaling, inhale. You come up on the sitting bones. Just press your hands wide and open.

Exhale cross and contract. So you wanna use those legs. That's a narrowing of the front while the back is getting open. Inhale up on the sitting bones expand. I just like to look up.

It helps me. Exhale contract back. I think about using the legs, open the lower back back, and press And one more time, x is on the arms. Use the circle and contract. And your probably already wondering how much leg work is there today, quite a bit. Inhale.

Okay. Place your hands on your sternum. Feel your shoulders settle down. Everybody just use your legs slightly taken to breath and wait to rotate toward one side. I'm squeezing the ring just a little bit and now probably feeling a little more of your oblique kicking in. In hill center, release the squeeze.

Use the squeeze twist. Okay. So inhale release the contraction of the ring. Use it exhale and my fingers on my sternum so I'm turning from my sternum inhale center and contract and rotate Yes. Your hip flexors are working. That's part of your body. And body all of it, exhale twist, But who starts to feel? Who can start to feel, the muscles around their back? Also, there's another line of x's right through there.

The lats, exhale to one side, inhaling center, and just one more exhale twist and inhale center. Okay. Good. Separate your feet. Might need to move your hips toward your heels slightly. Adjust your ring a little bit, hands behind our knees. Let's use that contract and very slowly roll back.

Use the circle. Open up your back. Now the oblique muscles Yes. On the sides of the waist. Right? So here they go. They cross. They taper.

And as you squeeze your ring, do you feel how that connects? Here toward your inner thighs and just do that. I'm just gonna use my hands a couple times and just squeeze the circle, use the inner thigh. I think you see the x. You can just put your hands down.

2 more uses of the squeeze. Just connecting into the legs and the obliques and contract. Okay. Now take your hands behind your head. I want you to take two times just a chest lift and use your legs to contract. Now mainly feeling the adductors for sure, but think about the waistline and use it to taper in.

It's also gonna help you flex your spine more forward. Those obliques. Okay? Now release one hand I'm gonna keep one hand in my head. That's my right hand. Other hand on my ribs right here.

Flex forward and chest lift. This hand on my rep, abdomen, I'm gonna use it and sweep across my ribs to help me turn. That arm's gonna reach toward that knee. Then I feel that diagonal relationship. I like to take my hand down, and I'm just gonna pulse this top arm toward that knee for four reps. 3 and 4 and bring yourself back down.

K? Other hand on your ribs, take a breath, contract your abdominals, chest lift squeeze the ring. Now the top hand, guide your ribs to a little rotation, left that arm reach to that diagonal, other arm on the floor and you're reaching 1. Squeeze a little more twos who use those waist line and midline muscles. Let's do each side again. Okay? Left hand on abdomen, right hand behind head, You're flat with a breath in, curl forward in the chest lift, contract your legs. Use the hand on the top to sweep your ribs a little to the right reach to the diagonal, arm on the floor, and reach 1. You could squeeze more with your legs.

You could really use that 3. You can pulse and 4, bring everything down, second side last time, breathing in, chest lift, use the circle connect to your midline, rotate, reach that arm, the other leg on the floor, 4 pulses reaching to the diagonal. 2. So I'm feeling this diagonal in my midline and everybody come down. Both hands behind the head. Breathing in.

Things we know. Chest lift now just a simple rotation. Right. Across center over to the left. Use the ring. Let it help you connect.

To your midline muscles, the obliques, and your adductors in this exercise for 4 more. You could pulse the legs. I just have a gentle, but very easy to feel contraction of the legs. And center and last one and center and bring it on down. Okay. Moving the ring up to your ankles.

Everyone loves that position. Lags are nice and straight, arms by your sides. Can you use your legs and your obliques right now and change the shape of the circle? I'm gonna flex my ankles. It feels better for me. And then release. Try it one more time.

Right? Not a lot happens, in this changing the circle, but a lot happens in this body. Coming up, here's the deal. We're gonna pump the arms 5 pumps and pump this 5 pumps. Here's the inhale. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

I'm gonna change my feet. And the point when I pump my arms, 3, 4, 5 feet, flex, 3, 4, 5. 1, 1, 2, 3, 4. 5. Flex the feet. Pump the legs for 5. 2 more sets, 3, 4, 5, 1, 2, l, low ad doctors. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 1. 2, 3, 4, 5, hold, hold, hold, hold, hold, hold, and relax. Wonderful. Bring yourself up I want us to do spine stretch forward.

Put your ankles right here on the inside or the inner heel on the inside of the magic circle. Okay? Get right up on your sitting bones. So as we take our arms forward, adjust your shoulders, use your legs, adduct the mid line, start to feel this relationship here, breathe in, use the obliques and the legs to create the flexion. Open your lower back back. Right? Now just undulate into a little hinge of your spine lean and keep using those legs. I have my ankles inflection.

Come to sitting tall, open your arms similar to what we did at the beginning. Take a breath. And, again, squeeze. Contract your abdominals. Open up your back. Relax at the stomach a little bit and undulate your spine, hinging Open your arms to come sitting tall, take your breath, and 2 more.

Inhale as you undulate your spine. You're in a little hinge. Open your arms to the side. Take a breath. And one more. So feel the work bring it to the midline.

Legs abdominals. Your back is nice and wide. Inhale and exhale. And then come to sitting tall for saw. Give your legs a little moment. Use the press of the circle to allow you to rotate to one side.

Rounding forward. There's that diagonal reach again. We did just a moment ago. Both arms are reaching. Use your legs, everybody.

Let the back arm reach it back. Come up to sitting. Take a breath. Press the circle to allow and create the rotation of the trunk and reach. I'm reaching my back arm to help me come up and center breathe in.

Connected the midline. And diagonal reach. Back arm reaches back, coming up to sitting tall. And So a lot of times when our legs are just out in front of us and we're being queued, use your legs. Are you really using your leg? So does this prop help you connect to that idea, that cue that we hear and that we give our clients, right, and our students use it.

You've gotta use your legs. Read back the quad so much, but the inner thighs. I think you're getting the message. Okay. And relax for a minute. Let's play with Open Lake Rocker.

Move yourself up. Just that circle. So it's right at the edge of your legging. Is there your ankles? Take your legs on your reach. Okay. This is a great place. Just to be.

Use the adductors just enough. Use your obliques They're gonna help you flex your spine, ready. We roll. We roll. We roll. So knowing just enough, using them just enough, Get that chest up. 4 more. Okay.

So roll. Lift. 3. I'm trying to use my legs on that roll to open up my back. It did it. No. It did a little too much. Last two?

Last time Fun to play with that and hold. Let's squeeze the ring. 876-4321. And come on down. Okay. We're moving on to side. So a little bit of sideline.

I want you to back yourself up along the back edge of your mat. Elbow in the back corner. Legs forward. For a moment, enjoy stretching the side of you on the mat. Okay? So you are gonna get a little lateral reflection of your neck. Okay. Still some oblique work for sure.

Now we're working. I want you to fill your lot. The side of your back and your chest, but more the side of your back. Okay? So as you breathe in, prepare Press down as you exhale and raise your legs so you feel your lateral side body and your bottom inner thigh. Inhale and lower. Press your ring. Raise your legs.

You're in a little flexion of the side. Inhale to lower. And exhale press. So connecting to the midline Right? Inertheye for sure obliques. Yes. We've got that.

Why is the lAT part of the midline? What does the lAT muscle do if you didn't know? It helps bring our arm to our body. We'll get a little more on that in just a second. But this right now, we're pressing down. You're using the side of your back. To press here.

Last time in hold. Now just your bottom leg again, down and up one. Down and up. 2, 3 really working that inner thigh today. And 5, light press on the circle. 6, and 7 and 8 and a hold.

Okay. Try to keep the circle there. Lower your legs and pick yourself up so you're more on the tip of your elbow. Raise the legs again, and we're going to flutter the legs. Press on your circle just enough. Keep using the obliques everybody. 8, 7, 6, Then for 3 last two and together and relax. Okay.

Other side, keeping it simple, but clear. Sure you're feeling that. Stretch yourself out. Elbow down. Legg slightly forward.

Try to stretch yourself on the mat. Bring your hand on your circle. Gather your legs together. Organize your shoulder. Taking that breath to prepare.

Here we go. Press your circle. Use your back muscle on the side. To press user side waistline muscles to lift and your bottom inner thigh. Breathe in to lower. And And if you're not completely balanced on your side and you're struggling a little bit, that's okay. Part of a side lying Exploration is balance.

It's okay. And then you toss this little prop in here. Could be really giving you a challenge. But if you keep working your midline, it keeps you in your center. 3 more and press and down. Notice of press helps the legs just kinda lift, but the sideways is really working to wondering if you see my little shake happening.

Last one now, just the bottom leg down and up. Down and up. Lower abdominals up the front and for 3 to excellent you guys. Last time, you're gonna hold. Now keep your legs up if you can.

Lift up under the tip of that elbow. Keep pressing here. And little flutters. Keep pulling your waistline narrow. Those are those obliques. Right?

Using both inner thighs, 8, 7, 6, and 4, 3, 2, and 1, and release. Great. Take that down. Just come on up and just give a cat back real quick. Just a cat Nice little cat, broaden the x on your back. Okay. We're gonna move into some up on our knees work. Okay? If you need some support for your knees, you can always take your mat towards you to give you more padding.

If you're okay, you're okay. So as we're up on our knees, bring your ring into your hands behind you. Lats. Okay. The lats help bring our arm to our body and behind our body. Hands on the ring, knees together or apart.

That's your choice, bring those abdominals in. Now open your fingers, please, and try to press your ring and release and press the ring and release. Not a lot of change of my circle shape, my o, and press, but in my mind, I'm seeing a letter x on my back. So in a way, my right arm pressing toward my left glute my left arm pressing toward my right glute. Right? Couple more of those.

And on your front, your ex is still happening as well, obliques to inner thighs. I really hope that's transferring your brain. Yeah. One more time, please. And okay. And don't be surprised if nothing changed with the circle.

That's a hard one. Keep getting excited here. We're gonna place a circle. The pad right on your Achilles tendon heels. Push the ring down and set the other pad right underneath sitting bones.

It looks a little silly, but it's a great way to practice thigh stretch because it gives you support. You're gonna lean back on it. Let's place your hands first here in front of our thighs. Open up your front x. Keep your back x wide.

And just start to transfer some weight back to the circle. You do not need to go very far. You can if you'd like. Let's breathe in to prepare. I want you to exhale and use those midline muscles to support you and connect as you lean and come on up.

Okay? Or you can place your hands on the side of your thighs. Remember, Lance helping the arm into the body. I'm gonna do about 4 more like that and center. And And center last 2, broad x on the front, obleaks to inner thighs on my back. It's my lats toward my the glutes and last one.

Holding there. Holding there, and then everybody come all the way up and relax just for a second. Okay. We're gonna go prone, and I'm gonna turn this way for my prone. Okay? So that same thing of heal and sit bone. You're gonna connect, but let's get down first on her stomach. See if you can connect this here. You'll be fine.

And then you can stack both of your hands. Let the other leg be straight on the mat. And just set your forehead down. Okay. I really want you to connect for a second, your visual image of your back. Shoulder blades down, shoulder blades to glutes.

Take in the breath. Contract your hamstrings and your glutes to move the circle start to lift your thigh just a little bit above the mat and then bring it down. Exhale again. And bring it down. 2 more, and then we're gonna add to it. I'm trying to have my pubic bone touching that mat.

And 4. You can stay doing that or extend the right arm. Right arm left leg. I'm not gonna lift the arm. I just want to reach it. I am reaching the thigh up and down.

Thigh And I am trying to contract my leg to my glute, so I'm trying to change the shape of that circle. Right? Here's the last one. I want everybody to hold it. Lift your head off of your hand. Can you lift that straight arm up? There's an x on your back. I hope you feel that.

Ready and release. We're gonna do that on the other side. Yeah. Heal. This is probably the hardest part. And then to your sit bone, stack your hands first.

Organize that pelvis level. Lakes together, press in, break, exhale, and thigh first. And down. We did four here. Yep. Heel toward buttock.

3. And last one for 4. Remind yourself. You can always stay there. You can take the straight arm up with me. Here we go for 4. That shoulder blade down the back diagonally connecting toward the glute 3 and 4.

Lifting the head off the arm, lifting the arm in 4, and 3, and 2, And one, bring everything down and rest. Okay. Move the circle. We don't need it for this next one. Arms reaching. Legs, long. No prop. You are a letter x right now.

I know you can see that and feel that. Choose one arm. Use the opposite leg and lift those limbs. Use that shoulder blade to glute, obliques to inner thighs, and bring it back down. Breathing in. 2nd side.

Nothing like a good slow swimming. And down. Lift hold and lower. Other side, how are we doing? You're gonna go home tonight or go to sleep later and see X's and o's all over the place Last one on this side, maybe. Hit last time.

Now hold that limb up. Hold that limb up at the other and swim. It's a big x moving. Full embodiment of your front and your back. 4, 3, 2, 1, relax, everybody. Come into a real aggressive pose to stretch your back x.

Hold hold. Hold. Read, breathe, breathe. And as we did at the beginning, want you just to sit, you can come into a diamond sit now and soles a feet together. I'm really into this lately. Just compare contrast just to feel.

But can you feel now? You don't even need a prop, but if you engage those legs in, maybe you feel how the abdominals just naturally come toward that center line. Your back broadens do a really soft little flexion of your back. An inhale and a soft opening of the front, an exhale and a soft opening of your back, So some creative and fun ways to use the circle for some specific connection. Stuff I really, really like to do. Let me know how that felt for everybody.

If it gave you some ideas, share them with me, share them with others, it's always fun to do that. Let me know how it goes. See you later.