Core Connection

Hello, and welcome. My name is Shantani, and we're here for an incredible core workout today. For your class, you'll need a matte and a resistance band. I recommend using something light or medium heavy is just gonna be a little bit much for the work that we have planned for today. So let's go ahead and get started. You're gonna bring your feet hip width apart, soft bend in your knees, and we'll just start with some arm circles, just getting the blood going, moving, Today's intention is just about feeling how all our extremities are connected to our core.

Reverse the circle other way. How everything that you do on the mat off the mat is really fueling from this strong sense of center. For three, for two, reach your arms up, marching it out here. You'll lift one leg and then the other. So I like to point my feet, but you can flex as well.

So even as we're marching, can you feel your lower abs pulling up? Maybe you go a little slower to feel it. Good. We're here for five. Good for three, for two, and one. Let's come down to the ground. You're gonna bring your hands underneath your shoulders, knees, underneath your hips, and pick your favorite leg, and just make some hip circles here. Really start to explore your full range of motion here. Okay? Reverse other direction.

It can be really easy to just move the leg, but we really wanna mobilize the joint and get some strength in that joint as well. Let's try other side. So really reaching that knee as high as you can, as far back as you can. Good and reverse it other way. And release that.

We'll take three rounds of cat cow for all time's sake. Take a deep breath in, arch your back, exhale rounds by impressing into the ground. Again, inhale opening up, feeling the collarbone spread, exhale pressing into the ground, using it, almost like it's another piece of equipment. One more deep breath in, and exhale round. Coming back to a neutral spine.

So somewhere right in the middle, take a seat. As you take a seat, we'll only be here for a few moments. You can sit on the back of your heels, inhale, reach your arms up, exhale finding a twist over to one side. Keeping your spine long, inhale reaching up, and then take it to the other side. Take a few of those on your own.

And even though we're still warming up, still playing with that. Concept of mobility is range of motion. Right? So how far can we go without hurting ourselves? And that was your last one. Okay. So now we'll get into the work beginning with our resistance band. Go ahead and grab it. You need to take it and place it just above your knees, like, right above and make sure it's nice and flat.

From there, you'll roll back onto your back. Arms can go long by your sides. Your fingertips might be dusting your heels. Working on our glute bridge, and we'll talk about how that's related in a second. So take a deep breath in, exhale pressing into your feet, lifting your hips up, and also pressing into the band, and then lowering down. Good.

So we'll take a few of these on our own starting to feel our glutes, but really focusing on your core. Right? So I like to think of myself like a sticker. Like, I'm being peeled off a sticker mat, and then laying myself back down. Good. Keeping that tension in the band. And noticing if your shoulders or your jaw starts to get any tension, working one bone at a time, which requires you to really pull up, especially right there at the end. Good. Let's get two more like this. And that's your last one there.

Take a moment. You can hug your knees in towards your chest while I explain what's next. Up next, this one's called a dead bug. We can work on a rewrite for the title, but it is what it's called. So you're gonna bring your legs to tabletop. Arms Moore gonna reach up out in front of you.

I like to flex my feet on this one. Opposite arm as leg is gonna reach and extend. We go in three, two, and one. You can join me here. So really firing up that extended leg. And bringing your awareness, again, to your Moore, that's the focus.

Do your best to bring an awareness to your lower back and making sure that we're not overly arching in an effort to get that leg extended. This is one of those exercises that if you don't have a lot of time, but you really wanna focus on your core, it's so good, especially if you're doing any kind of physical therapy and you really wanna get deep into that core, strengthening your back, This is gonna support anything that supports your back. Alright. What do we got? Let's do, like, two more. Last one. Moore rest. Okay. Hug your knees in.

Take a moment. Deep breathe in and exhale. Carefully start to rock and roll yourself all the way up. You can keep the band exactly where it is. From here, you're gonna place your hands underneath your shoulders and finding your best version of plank. So we still have that band. You wanna keep tension in it. We're just going from plank to down dog in three, two, and one.

Downward facing dog. And then from here, go tiptoes rolling through the spine, arriving in your best version of plank. And then from here, you can send your hips back downward facing dog. Now as you're doing this, pressing into all 10 of your fingers and knowing that your heels do not have to meet the ground on your downward facing dog. Got a few more rounds here.

Starting to feel that heat, especially through the shoulders, but the upper abs, the middle of abs, the lower abs are really a part of the conversation, especially right here. It's gonna be easy to turn your abs off. Make sure you're pulling them up the best you can. Let's get one Moore, rolling it forward, taking it back. Good and rest. Just take a second. Alright.

From here, We're going into the next one. It's called a bird dog. So kind of think of like the dead bug, but on all fours. Keeping that band right where it is, but knowing that if already you're feeling it's too much, you have options and you can take it off. Alright. So hands underneath your shoulders, knees underneath your hips, opposite arm, as leg.

So left leg goes back, right arm shoots forward, putting lots of tension through the body, feeling that strength, and then slowly pulling it back in. Other side. We're alternating sides. Press, press, press, press, and pull it back. Good. I like to exhale on the extension.

Inhale to catch my breath, exhale, press, press, press as much as you can, and just keep this going on your own cadence. It can be really easy sometimes when we're holding ourselves accountable to kind of let the ball drop and give maybe 90%, eighty %. And that's not to say that sometimes we can't do what we need, but really hold yourself accountable to get that, like, as straight as your body will allow, arm as straight as your body will allow. You got time for two more. Last one.

And rest. Nice job. Now is a good time for water towel if you need it, whatever you got. We're gonna take this gorgeous band off just for a moment. Just have some healthy boundaries with the band. Alright. So you're gonna come down into a forearm plank.

So you I like to come from my actual forearm. So right forearm down. Send your legs back. And then opening up. So my feet are staggered here.

You're pressing into the ground. If this is too much, all good, you can just pop your back knee down, and it's like a kickstand. Okay? So we'll thread the needle. And up, take it through, and up. Think about pressing your hips a little higher. And if you're taking that full variation here, especially you have lots of leverage to get the most out of this oblique work.

Good. Exhaling as you pull through, inhaling as you lengthen. Take with me. I can't do this without you. Let's get three more. Right when you start to feel the burn, that's where the work begins.

Two more. Whoo. Last one. Moore and carefully bring yourself down. Alright. We've gotta switch it out other side. Important to note that I want you to make sure you're really listening to your body, making sure that the work is happening in your core, not in the neck, not in the back, really, really staying focused to keep yourself safe. Alright. I've done enough talking.

Are you ready? Here we go. Other forearm, left forearm goes down. I like to box out my hand to just get my footing, feet can go hip with the part, and then I come onto the sides of my feet. Top hand reaches, and we thread the needle and lift it up. Thread the needle and lift it up. Remember, you did have that knee down option. Okay?

And there ain't no shame in the knee down game. Okay? You do what you have to do. Cause that's what we're doing here is we're focusing on our strength, our mobility, and how those two meet in the middle. And sometimes that requires us to work with what we've got. Good. You got a few more.

You starting to feel that burn. Push down through your forearm. See if you can get your hips maybe half an inch higher. Let's get three more. Two more. Are you breathing?

Whoo. Exale twist and carefully bring your hip down. Rest. Okay. We've got two more exercises in this round. Okay? So I invite you to grab your favorite band. This one can be light because it's gonna require some range of motion here.

And you're gonna pop it right on top of your feet, right, through the arches of the feet. Okay? So making sure it's really lined up there so that once you're in the work, you're set up. Carefully roll yourself back so you're on your back Then from here, bring yourself to your legs to table top. Hands come behind your head, find an upper body curl. So this is where we begin. From there, you're gonna extend your left leg down, just like we did in the the dead butt before, and then left elbow towards the knee. Back to center, other side. Right leg straight.

Right elbow is reaching. Good. So it's a bicycle with the band. Twist, center, exhale twist, center. Good. Use your breath.

So just like you would do in any other type of workout, right, strength, mobility, pilates, yoga, we're always breathing. Doesn't matter what you're doing, you're connecting with your breath. So really pressing into the band, feeling that connection, you're definitely feeling your core now. Good. Let's get two more.

One more. Keep yourself even though, and then rest. Whoo. Okay. We've got time for one more. Let's make it snappy.

Take your band. Do your best. Pull your knees in towards your chest. And pull that band over your ankles. Okay. I'm gonna give you options for this one. So arms can go long as you find an upper body curl and extend your legs out flutter kicks.

We go one, two, one, two, boom, boom, boom. Options, can bring your hands behind your head for support. You can even rest your head if your neck is just, like, holding too much tension and it's not allowing you to stay in the work. Breathing into the lower abs, especially if you're taking this one, finding that connection. Good. Be a time for maybe 10 Moore, reach reach, reach, reach, reach, maybe legs go a little lower. Oh, we're playing with fire.

We go for five, four, three, two, one. Bend the knees. Rest your head really nice job. Let's take a moment. Take the band off, and it'll give you some time to catch your bearings. So the good news is we've done all of the major work moves that we're gonna do today. Okay? The better news is We get to do it all again. Okay? So we're gonna go back through it.

This is an opportunity. I know. This is an opportunity for us to get even stronger into the work and figure out how does this work in my body? We know that everyone's body is gonna move differently. Mine is gonna be different than yours. It's gonna take time, and we're gonna figure it out. Okay. So you have that band.

You pop it above your knees. Make sure it's nice and flat, and you're gonna lay down on your back. We'll go again. This was a glute bridge. So arms go along by your sides, shoulders are soft away from the ears. Maybe your fingertips dust your heels. Slight tension in that band, deep breath in, exhale, draw the lower abs and press into the feet, lift the hips up, keeping tension in that band, and then slowly layering yourself back down.

Good. So not much is gonna change for quite some time here while we're doing this glute bridge at least. So keep your gaze up towards the ceiling or the sky. Just to protect your neck. And again, really focusing.

For myself, whenever I think glute bridge, I automatically, my brain just goes to my glutes. Right? How are your abs connected to the movement that we're seeing through the hips? Right? The pelvis is connected to the lower abdominal wall. And so how can we initiate from there first? Let's get two more like this.

So think all lower abs, even though your glutes and maybe your hamstrings are burning. We've got one more pressing out into the band, lower abs. Good and carefully rest. Bring your legs now up to tabletop. Again, your head is on the ground for this one.

Arms go up towards the sky. Flex your feet or point. You can choose what? I'm gonna flex my feet. Opposite arm as legs. So I go right arm, my right arm, my left leg, reach down and out, and then I pull it back in.

Really adding that tension. Now as we go through round two, again, keep your gaze up towards the ceiling, opposite arm is leg. It kinda can be, like, your mind gets a little twisted. So just focus. But do you feel how when your arm and your leg go away, the work gets harder.

K? When you send the arms and legs away from the body, it requires your core to activate. So remember that anytime my arms and my legs move away from the body, my core is involved. Let's get two more here. Last one, good and rest hug your knees in.

Take a deep breath in. And as you exhale, carefully roll yourself up. Flipping it over, finding your version of plank. So same deal here, keeping that connection. Hands under shoulders, legs go back in line with the hips, press down into the ground.

And deep breath in, exhale downward facing dog. Inhale, think, tiptoes rolling through the spine, landing into the plank, finding that connection, and then hips can go back. Now you can decide how quickly you wanna go. Yeah. Let it follow your breath. You inhale forward, exhale back.

We're building the strength. This is a move that you might have done in maybe a yoga class. Right? But when you do it over and over and over again, It starts to get pretty challenging. Whoo. Good. Deep breathe in. Deep breathe out.

Feeling those shoulders. And if you feel the burn, press through all 10 of your fingers. Let's get two more. Good. And rest. Nice job. Alright.

Coming down to the bird dog. Hands under shoulders, knees under hips. You extend your right leg Excuse me. Left leg, right arm, and switch out and in. Out and in. Good. So now we're gonna start to pick up the pace. Yeah.

Good. Few more. Let's get two more here. I'm starting to feel the sweat, I'm Moore, and rest. Carefully take a seat.

Set that band to the side. We're gonna find that forearm plank. You with me? Let's keep up. Right forearm goes down. Finding your plank coming onto the sides of the feet.

Left arm goes up, thread the needle, reach it up. Thread the needle, reach it up. Good. So now we're putting a little bit of heat on it, a little bit of pace. Remember, knee down is an option. Good. We shouldn't feel the burn already because we've gotten tired.

Let's go two more. Good. Last one. I think we can handle it straight to the other side. Left forearm goes down. Finding it on the other side, opening things up, and we go through and lift through and lift.

Press your bottom hip up. Soften your shoulders the best you can. Good. Let's get three more. Whoo. Two more. Almost done. Last one.

And that's your last one. Really nice job. Okay. We are so close to the finish line. Are you with me? Grab your band. You're gonna take it over your feet. Remember? So over the arches of the feet. Carefully lower yourself down, legs go to tabletop, feet are flexed, hands are behind the head.

We find that bicycle crunch. We twist and twist and twist. Remember, we are in the home stretch right now. It is tempting to slow down, tempting to quit, but we're not done yet. Stay with me. Press good. Find your exhale.

Doing your best to get your shoulder off of the ground. But again, just do your best. Let's get four more. There's your three. There's your two.

And last one of bend the knees rest your head. Last big moment of work. You're gonna take that band, pull it over your ankles now. Curl yourself into a ball. Shoot your legs out.

Point the toes. You got tension in the band. Fluttered kicks. Let's get it. We go. One, two, one, two. Remember, you can rest your head. If you must, the lower that your legs go, the more challenging it'll be. So you get to decide.

Yeah. To get to play with that. But this is our final moment of push, okay, take a deep breath in, exhale curl a little higher if you're off the ground. Let's get ten more seconds. Whoo. Home stretch, and then we get to stretch for five, four, three, two, and one bend the knees rest ahead. Take that band off. Thank you for your service.

Set it to the side. So proud of you. Let's get a quick stretch in here. From here, you're gonna actually rock and roll up to seated. And face me.

Hands come behind you. Let's get a figure four stretch. Right ankle goes over your left thigh, flex your feet. The closer your hands are to your hips. The more stretch you'll feel. So if it's a little intense, walk your hands back.

Deep breathe in, and switch it out other side. Same deal. Left leg crosses over the right. You wanna flex your feet to protect those knees. Deep breathe in. Deep breath out.

Good. Then from here, let's bring the soles of our feet together. Hands come to your ankles, sit up nice and tall. Exale fold over. I like to bring my elbows to my inner thighs. Sometimes when we do core work and our abs get tired, it starts to move to the legs of the neck and shoulders. So we'll stretch that out.

Deep breathe in. Deep breath out, rolling yourself up, head is the last lift. We'll finish with a seated cat cow. Hands come to the top of your thighs. Inhale opening up the chest.

Exhale round spine. Good. Inhale opening up. I like to pull my knees just a little bit, getting a little more leverage. Exhale round. And we'll do just one more deepest breath you've maybe had all day.

Take it. You deserve it. Exhill round. And then slowly stacking yourself right in the center, feeling where your strength your mobility come together. I invite you to bring your hands to the center of your chest. Just taking a moment to honor this body. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you for showing up for yourself today and for giving me the best job in the world. Thank you so much. My name is Shantani. Thank you for joining me on this incredible core workout. We will see you back here next time.