Classically-Inspired Core

Hi. I'm Gia, and today we're gonna do a straightforward mat class. We're just gonna move and breathe and have fun. So we're gonna start on our backs, feet on the mat, hip distance apart, Your hands can be on the mat with your palms up or down, or you can place it on your stomach. You can close your eyes if you'd like as well. Just take a deep inhale and exhale.

Release all the air. Inhale. Fill up your lungs. Exhale release. Try to feel your pelvis, your shoulders, your ribs heavy on the mat. Inhale. And exhale. Just find your center.

One more deep inhale and exhale. If your hands are on your stomach, you're gonna bring them onto your mat. Palms face down. Take a deep inhale. Do float one leg up to tabletop.

Exhale as you float it back down, inhale, other leg floats up, and then back down. And keep alternating, feeling your navel into your spine, deepening your abdominals, your abdominals are what lifts your leg, other side lift and lower. One more each side. Lift and lower. Last one. Trying to keep your hips stable.

And lower. Bring the first leg up and hold. Bring the second leg up to join it. Legs are glued together. They'll inhale you lower both legs down toward the mat. Exhale lift. And just go where you can.

Inhale lower. Exhale lift. Inhale lower. Exhale lift. Make sure you're not arching your back. Gia going where you can, stopping before you get to that spot where you need to arch.

Last two. And lift. Last one. Hold your legs up. Arms come up to the ceiling.

Take a deep inhale. Exhale. Press your arms down. Curlier head up and hold. And we'll pump your arms for the 100 so you'll inhale 2, 3, 4, 5, exhale 2, 3, 4, 5, inhale, and exhale. Inhale.

Keep curling up exhale. Inhale. And exhale. So it's an active curl. Inhale, so you're never falling back. You're always coming towards your legs. Inhale and exhale.

Inhale and exhale. This is 8. XL arms are strong. 9. Exhale.

Last set. 10. And exhale. And hold. Crop a little higher if you can. And then roll back down and hug your knees into your chest. Just rock side to side, and then rock up to a seated position. Certain do a half rollback.

Legs are gonna be about hip distance apart, feet, or fairly far away from you, and then you're gonna hold on to the backs of your legs. So if it's as tall as you can as you inhale, exhale again around your low back, roll back, and keep going till your arms are straight. Inhale at the bottom, Exhale roll up, lengthen your spine at the top. Inhale, exhale, tailbone under, rounding, pulling your abs in and up. Inhale at the bottom.

Exhale roll back up. I'm trying to keep my feet flat on the mat. Inhale, lift, exhale, round, and roll back, shoulders away from the ears. Inhale. Exhale roll up.

One more like this, we'll add on rolling back. Inhale. Exhale. Roll up. Now you can keep going like this, or you can try reaching your arms forward. Inhale. Exhale roll halfway back.

Try to go that same position, inhale. Exhale. Scoop the abs to roll. You up lengthen. Rolling back. Keep pushing the feet into the mat. Inhale.

Exhale. Roll up. And lift 2 more times. Keep those shoulders away from the ears. Especially as you roll up, try not to let them help you. Put all that work into your center.

One more rolling back, and then roll up. And then you can use your hands to roll you all the way down if you'd like. And then you're gonna bring one leg up to the ceiling. So the other leg is gonna come onto the floor. You're gonna flex that foot, press that heel into the mat.

The leg that's up, you're gonna reach it up to the ceiling, turn it out slightly, and we're gonna do a leg circle. So you're gonna cross it over, around, and up. And over around and up. Make it as wide as you can. We keep the hips as stable as you can.

One more and reverse around. And keep pulling into the abdominals up around up, trying to stop at the top each time, last one, and then reach it like long as you lower it all the way down, place that foot on the mat, flex your foot, push the heel into the mat, and then the other leg floats up. Turn the leg that's up out slightly and then cross over around and cross over and up again, keeping the hips even, making sure they're not rocking side to side, one more, and reverse. Shoulders are nice and quiet as well. And up or around and up to more.

Last one. And then bring that leg all the way down. Good. Bring one knee into your chest. I'm gonna use that to help me up. Then you're gonna come to the front of your mat. I'm gonna do rolling like a ball.

So you have some options. You can have your hands behind your thighs. I'm gonna bring mine onto my ankles, and have my heels together toes apart. Find a little rounded position like on the little ball. Elbows are wide, and I'm gonna keep this ball shape as I roll back to my shoulders, and then up, find my balance.

Inhale roll back. Exhale to roll up. Inhale to roll back. Exhale to roll up. Two more.

Last one. Oh, I lied. One more. I got stuck. And then we're gonna bring the feet down, scoot back, and then use your hands to help you down. So we're gonna do some of the series of 5. We're gonna do single leg stretch first.

So you're gonna have one hand on your opposite knee, that same hand on your ankle, curl up into your nice little chest lift, and then reach the other leg out. You're gonna pull in and switch and switch. Breathe. However, it feels comfortable to you. Keep curling your chest up. Let's do 4, and 3, 2, Last set, both knees in, rest your head down, take a breath, and then into double leg stretch, curl the backup.

We'll inhale your arms and legs reach out away from each other, exhale circle your arms, hug your knees into your chest, inhale reach, Exale circle and hug. Keep lifting your chest, especially as their arms are back. Circle and hug. 2 more. Circle and hug. Last one.

Circle and hug. Rice your head down, turn your head side to side if that feels good to you, and then curl back up for scissors. Both legs up to the ceiling. Grab one leg right behind the calf or the behind the thigh. The other leg will lower down. You're gonna pull this leg in two times and switch. Pull pool switch.

Should feel a nice stretch as you're working your abdominals. Pull pool switch. Last two. Last set. And then hug both knees in, rest your head down. We're gonna do one more in the series for crisscross. So hands are gonna go behind your head this time.

One hand on each one hand over the other. Elbows are wide. Curlier head and shoulders up. You're gonna twist to one side, stretch the other leg out, and then switch. Twisting from your ribs.

Think of the armpit coming to the opposite knee. Twist and twist. Steve 4. And 3, 2, last set, and then hug your knees Gia. Rest your head.

Take breath. Rock side to side if that feels good to you. Okay. Rock on up. We're gonna go into spine stretch. So you're gonna sit with your feet about as wide as your mat, feet are flexed just like they were earlier, and then push your heels into the mat. Arms are gonna come out shoulder high and shoulder distance apart. Inhale, grow a little taller, exhale, bring your chin to your chest, round forward, and reach your head between your arms.

Inhale, roll back up. Exhale, as you're reaching forward, your abs are pulling back so you get a little bit of a opposition in that in that position. Inhale roll up. Exhale, roll forward. Keep the shoulders away from the ears as the arms reach forward. Roll up. Keep pushing those heels into the mat.

Active legs. And then roll back up. Arms out to the side for into a t for saw. You're gonna twist to one side, reach towards your baby toe, and saw for 3, 2, 1, and then come back up. Twist to the other side and reach for 3, 2, 1.

Just like with spine stretch, you wanna think of your abdominals pulling back as the arm is reaching forward. 2, 1. And then that opposite arm is also reaching back. So you have opposition, think of being pulled in two different directions. Up. One where each side. Twist and reach.

2. 3 and up. Last one. Twist and reach. 2. 3 head up. Now you're gonna come onto your back again. Arms are gonna come out to a tee.

Palms pressing into the floor, legs up to the ceiling, and do tiktok. Keeping your legs glued together, you're gonna reach both legs over to one side and then feel your obliques pull them back up and then to the other side. Just go where you can and lift. And reach trying to keep both legs as one unit and over. One more each side, you can let that opposite hip come up as long as the legs are staying connected.

And then hug your knees in, rock up, and we're gonna switch into a prone position. So we're gonna go into a swan prep. Legs can be together or apart. I'm gonna keep mine hip distance apart. Then I'm gonna have my hands on the outside of the mat Gia in front of my shoulders.

Elbows are pointing back. Spine is long. Abs are pulled in. You're gonna lift your chin up. Keep reaching up. Push into your arms and lift up as high as you can.

If your arms stay bent, that's okay. And then lower back down. Just go where you can. Chin comes up. Lifting.

Just keeps following the direction of the spine, and then lower back down. Shoulder stay away from the ears. Two more like this. Lift and then lower down. One more. You're gonna hold this one up and do a little neck roll.

You're gonna turn your head to one direction, lower it down and around to the other side and back to center, and then second side down and around, back to the first center and then roll down. And then push back in the child's post. Gia take a little breath, push down into the arms, and then come back up. We're gonna come on to your side. So you're gonna lie all the way at the back of your mat. Feed are gonna come in front.

You're gonna hand your hand behind your head, bottom hand behind your head, and then the other hand's gonna be right in front of your ribs. Lift up out of your waist, so you're gonna have a little space underneath you, and then keep that top hip stacked on top of the bottom. Top leg is gonna lift up about hip height, and then you can flex your foot. You're gonna kick it forward, and then back. We're gonna keep the foot flex the whole time, and back. And front. Keep pushing into that bottom leg.

Front and back. 4 more. And back. 3. And 2, try not to rock in your torso. And then bring both legs together.

You're gonna lift the top leg up. And then lower down. So you wanna imagine that you had, like, a ankle weight on, or you're moving through something thick like peanut butter. So you're finding that resistance in both directions. So you're not just lifting it up and letting it fall.

Form or a lift Keep reaching out through your heel, and 3, and lower, making sure it's parallel to, and last one up, circle the leg around, front and around. 2, 3, 4, and do 8, 5, 6, lengthening that leg, and reverse back. 2, 3, still keeping the abdominals engaged to help support the torso and rest. Now we're gonna switch to the other side. You can just roll over if you'd like. I'm gonna turn so I can still face you. You're aligned towards the back of the mat again.

Your legs are in front. You're lifting up out of your waist, so you have a little space underneath you, and the hips and shoulders are stacked. You're gonna lift the top leg up, flex your foot, and then kick front, and back. Front and back. 3, doing 8 of each, series.

And 4 more. And 3, 2, Last one, bring the legs together, finding that resistance lifting up, and lower. Reach out through that heel a little bit more, and lift. The legs should start to feel a little heavy by now. 4 more.

And 3, keep lengthening it out. It helps with the heaviness. Last one, circle it around for 8. 7, keeping the hips as quiet as you can. Last 2, and reverse.

And back, 2, 3, 4. Shoulders are still as well. And rest. Line your back. We're gonna stretch out your hips. So you're gonna cross one foot over the opposite knee for a figure 4 stretch and just stretch that hip.

Breathe into it. And then switch sides. And then feet down onto the mat. You want them fairly close to you. Hit distance apart and do a bridge.

The arms are reaching nice and long. You're gonna roll up to a bridge 1, bone at a time. Keep pushing into that whole foot, inhale at the top, exhale as you roll down. Try and articulate the spine as much as you can. Inhale at the bottom, exhale, roll up, reach your knees, past your toes, find length in the body, inhale, exhale as you roll down.

We'll do 2 more like this rolling up, and then rolling down. We're gonna hold this next one up and do a little heel raise. So keep both hands down. You're gonna lift one heel up and then lower it back down. The other heel lifts up and down. So just keep alternating.

The heels lifting. As you're doing this, try not to let your hips rock side to side. Do you wanna stay as stable as you can? One more. Now both heels will lift both heels up and down.

Now as you lower the heels down, try not to let your hips lower down. You wanna keep them as high as they were. 4 more. 3. 2, last one, and then roll all the way down.

And then bring your hands behind your legs. You're gonna go roll all the way up into swimming. So I'm gonna do a little bit of a modification first before we do the whole exercise. So you're gonna lie on your stomach. Legs hit the stance apart.

Arms are about a little bit wider than your shoulders. You're gonna lift one arm in the opposite leg and your chest up. Keep the other hand and leg down. And then lower everything down. Other side. One arm opposite leg Gia your chest, lift, and lower. One where each side like that.

Keep pushing down to that opposite side. To use the floor to help you come up? Last one. Now both arms and legs lift up and hold. Find that length in your spine, and you're just gonna alternate arms and legs going up. You'll inhale and exhale. Inhale and exhale.

2 more and exhale, last one inhale, and exhale, and then lower everything down with control. Push back into your child's pose one more time. And then we're gonna come into a plank. So I have a little bit of a wrist issue right now, so we're gonna do four arm planks. So you're gonna have your forearms on the mat.

Your elbows are right under your shoulders, and then we're gonna come onto your toes. Find that long plank position. Lengthen your spine, squeeze your legs together, and then we're gonna rock forward and back. So front and back. If you prefer to do this on your hands, you can.

Let's do 4 more. 3, 2, and 1. Come on down. We're gonna turn to face this side. I'm gonna stay on my forearm. You can do this on your hand again.

You want the 4, the elbow right under your shoulder again. This time, I'm gonna keep my bottom leg bent. Top leg is gonna be straight. I'm gonna lift up into a side plank and then lower back down and lift up into a side plank. I think of using my obliques. And then lifting up and lower 2 more. Lift and lower. Last one and lower, and then we'll switch to the other side.

So, again, this elbows right under my shoulder, bottom leg is bent, top leg is straight, and the lift up, use the obliques to lift you up, and then lower down with control. Trying to keep that shoulder plugged in, So I'm not letting my shoulder come up by my ears and lift 2 more. Last one. Alright. I'm gonna finish with a nice little stretch. So we're gonna do mermaid.

So we're gonna have one leg in front, the other leg out to the side, armed out to a tee. You're gonna lift up and over into a little side bend. It should feel nice. And then up, you're gonna grab that foot and then reach over toward your legs. And then back up.

This part should feel nice. Right the homestretch. And over one more time, because it feels so good. And then back up and over And then back up, switch your legs so the other leg is in front. The other leg is bent out to the side, arms Gia your tee, and lift up and over to your side bend, and then back up, grab your ankle, and then reach toward it. Two more times, and over, and up, and side bend. One more.

And then back up and over, and then come all the way up. Just take one more deep breath. Inhale. Should feel a little bit lighter. Exhale. A little bit taller, and I hope you enjoy taking class with me. I'll see you next time.