Simple Mat Flow

Hi, everybody. Welcome to Pilates Anytime live. I'm Kristi, and Thursdays at this time is usually my class, but I couldn't stay for the whole duration today, so you're in luck. My good friend and colleague from Pilates Anytime Gia Calhoun is going to be with us today. Hi, Gia, how are you doing? Good! How are you?

Good, super grateful that you are stepping in for me today, thank you. Of course! Tell us, where are you? I'm in L.A. in my apartment, and it's a little overcast today, but it's a nice day so far. Yeah, it's gonna be even better after this. I know you, I love, I so wish I could be in this class today 'cause you teach so clearly and so straightforward, and I think we even call it the straight-up mat.

Is there anything you want us to know before we get started? No, we're just gonna move and have fun. It's a pretty traditional class, but just do what you can, and let's get started. Sounds really, really good to me. I hope you all enjoy this.

Thank you, Gia, from the bottom of my heart for saving me this morning. I'll see everybody else next week. Have a lot of fun. Enjoy, bye-bye. Thank you. Bye, Kristi. So we're gonna get started with some breathing, just to kinda center and ground ourselves.

It's fairly early for me. So we're gonna start on your back. Feet are gonna be hip distance apart, arms just relaxed by your side. You can close your eyes if you want. Just gonna start with a little breathing.

Just take a deep inhale and exhale. Inhale, fill up your lungs, and exhale. Two more times, inhale and exhale. Start to feel your pelvis heavy into the mat. One more time, inhale and exhale.

We're gonna add some pelvic tilt. So you're gonna inhale for nothing. And then as you exhale, you're gonna tilt your pelvis up, trying to imprint your spine into the mat. Inhale, release your pelvis, exhale, tilt. Inhale, release, so you're trying to keep your legs quiet.

The action's coming from your pelvis. You can think of pulling your navel into your spine. One more time, inhale, release, and exhale, tilt. Coming back to neutral, we're gonna bring your legs up to tabletop, feet are just relaxed. Legs can be together or apart, whichever you prefer.

You're gonna inhale as you lower your right foot down toward the mat, exhale to come back up, inhale, lower your left leg down. And then back up, so you're just gonna keep alternating. Inhale, right leg, exhale, lift. Try and keep that long spine, left leg and lift. Keeping the shoulders quiet. Keep moving the legs.

No tension in the upper body, and left. Just starting to build a little heat into your abdominals. One more each side, right, and then back up, and left, good, both legs are gonna move now. So you're gonna lower both feet down toward the mat. Exhale to lift it. So you don't have to touch the mat.

Just go as low as you can control it. Inhale, exhale, lift. If you feel your shoulders and head start to lift up, that means you've gone a little too far. And then back up, two more, lower and lift, last one. And then just hug your knees into your chest.

You can rock side to side. We're gonna do a little gentle stretch before we go into the regular Pilates repertoire. So keep your right leg into your chest. Stretch your left leg out on the mat. You're just gonna circle this leg around, kinda loosen up your hip.

Since it's earlier than I normally work out, I need to warm up my body a little bit more than normal. And then reverse. And then keep your left hand on your right knee. Your right hand can go out to the side. You can just have it down by your side, whatever feels good to you, and you're just gonna go into a twist.

And try to keep your right shoulder down on the mat, and then you can let your knee go where it goes. And then if you want a little bit extra, you can turn your head to the right. Think of lengthening your waist so that top hip is reaching out toward the other foot so you aren't collapsing into your side. And then slowly coming back up, you're gonna cross this foot over the opposite knee and then pull into a figure-four stretch. Just loosening up the hips before we get moving.

Other side, left into your chest. Right leg long on the mat. Circle this leg around, and then reverse the circle, and then keep the foot relaxed, trying not to have any tension anywhere in your body. And right hand stays on your knee, left arm down. You're gonna cross over into a twist. That left shoulder stays down.

You can turn your head to the left if you'd like. And then slowly come back up, crossing your foot over your knee, and then pulling that leg into your chest. You might feel one side is a little tighter than the other, and that's okay. This is my looser side, feels much better than the other. And just hug both knees into your chest again, and we're gonna place your feet down on the mat.

The arms are gonna come up to the ceiling. Shoulders are plugged in. You're gonna take a deep inhale here. As you exhale, you're just gonna do a little chest roll. Inhale to lower it back down.

Exhale, lift your chest up. So as I'm lifting my chest, I'm trying to keep my pelvis still, so I'm not letting it tuck under. As I curl up, and inhale back down, and curling up, and rolling, two more. Back down, last one. We're gonna keep the arms up.

Legs are gonna come up to tabletop. This time squeeze them together if you can. Inhale here, exhale as you curl your arms up. Legs stay in tabletop, and then lower back down. So again, I'm trying to keep my pelvis still and then lower, and I'm trying to curl my upper body up to my legs instead of pulling my legs toward me.

And I'm curling up, and lower back, two more. Last one, then we're gonna add some legs. So as you curl up, like stretch out to a diagonal and then back down to tabletop. Curling up, stretch the legs, and lower, good, one more. Inhale and exhale.

Inhale, already starting to feel my abdominals connect, which is what I want. Last two, I lost count. Then the next one we're gonna hold up. Turn your legs out to a Pilates V, so your heels are together, toes apart, curl up a little higher, and then we're gonna pump your arms for the hundred. So you're gonna inhale two, three, four, five, and exhale.

Inhale and exhale, inhale. Try to lower your legs if you can exhale. Inhale, keeping those arms nice and strong, exhale. Inhale and exhale. We're halfway there. Inhale and exhale.

Inhale, exhale, keep lifting your chest up. Inhale and exhale. Inhale, squeeze those legs together, exhale. Last set, inhale and exhale. Hold, curl up a little higher.

Reach your legs a little longer, and then pull your knees in. Turn your head side to side, loosen up your neck, and then we're gonna stretch the legs out long. So if you need to keep your legs bent so you can grab onto 'em, that's always an option. I'm gonna have my legs straight, feet flexed. Really think of pushing your heels into the mat, squeezing your inner thighs together.

Arms up to the ceiling. Take a deep inhale. As you exhale, you're gonna roll all the way up. Reach towards your feet, find that nice C shape, and then roll back one bone at a time. So think of pushing those heels into the mat, really using the backs of the legs. Arms can go back if you'd like.

Exhale as you come up, rolling up through the spine, reaching forward toward your feet, and then roll back, trying to articulate your spine down, arms reach back. Inhale, exhale, roll up, pulling those toes back, and then rolling back. Two more times, rolling up, pulling the navel into the spine. Try not to let the head drop as you reach, and then roll back. Last one, rolling up.

Then rolling back. Good, arms down by your sides, knees come into your chest, and then we're gonna stretch the legs up for like a rollover. So if you don't wanna do the actual rollover, you can just do the legs if you wanna keep your back down. Either way, we're gonna start with your legs out at a 45-degree angle, shoulders are down. You're gonna bring your legs up and over.

Lift your spine up, flex your feet as you open, and then roll down one bone at a time. Keep arms pressing down into the mat. Shoulders are open, lower legs to 45, point the toes as you bring up the legs together. So coming up and over, open and flex. Try to keep your legs parallel to the floor if you can.

Roll down, so you're not letting them drop. And then legs together, point the toes. One more in this direction, rolling up and over, trying to keep your chin off your chest, open and flex, roll down. It should feel good on your spine. Now we're gonna bring the legs back to a V, flex your feet, we're gonna reverse.

So up and over, legs together, point, and then roll down. Legs at 45, open and flex, roll up and over. Legs together, point, and roll down, trying to stay even on your spine as you roll down so you're not rolling to one side. One more, open, flex, up and over, legs together, point, and then roll down. Try not to let your wrists pop up.

You wanna keep pushing your wrist into the mat just as much as your hands. Good, hug your knees into your chest. We're gonna keep your right leg in again. Left leg is gonna stretch out, and then you're gonna bring your right leg up. If your hamstring is tight and you need to bend this up, other leg, you can.

Flex that right foot and just pull that leg towards you so you stretch your hamstring a second. This is your little breather. If you haven't taken my class before, I try to keep moving throughout the class so we don't stop. So this is one of the few breathers we're gonna get. Good, bring your leg to 90 if you haven't already.

Arms down by your sides, we're gonna flex that bottom foot, push that heel into the mat, point the top foot lightly, and then slightly turn it out. We're gonna do a leg circle. So we're gonna cross that leg over, around, and up. Cross over, around, up. Trying to keep the hips even, go as big as you can control it, around, up, one more, around, reverse.

Open, around and up, around, up. Keeping the shoulders open, and around, up, one more. Good, give that leg one more little stretch. It should feel a little looser. Reach that leg long, lower it all the way down.

So keeping the right leg down, left knee into your chest. Stretch that leg up where you can. Again, you can bend that other leg if you need to. Flex this top foot, reach out through that heel, and just breathe into that stretch. If your leg shakes a little bit, that's okay.

My leg is shaking on this side. I don't know why. Just breathe. Good, bring your leg back up to 90. If you need to bend it, it's okay, too. Flex that bottom foot. Push that heel into the mat.

Point that top foot loosely, and turn it out. We're gonna cross the leg over, around, and up. Cross over and up, around. Hips are stable again, around and up. One more, think of using your abs.

Reverse, around and up, around, up. Three, two, last one, good, keeping that leg straight. Pull one more time for a little stretch, and then lower that leg down, keeping it long. Flex your feet. Bring your legs together. Arms back up, take a deep inhale.

And as you exhale, you're gonna roll up. We're gonna do rolling like a ball. So you're gonna to lift yourself up, bring yourself to the front of your mat. Hands can be on your ankles. You can cross your arms. You can hold on under your thighs, whichever feels best to you.

I'm gonna have my hands on my ankles, knees apart, heels together. My head is trying to reach between my knees, keeping that round C shape. You're gonna roll back to your shoulders, and then back. And then again, roll back, find your balance at the top. Good, first one's always a bit of a test.

Second one usually feels better. Rolling back and up, trying to balance more on your sacrum, less on your tailbone just to challenge yourself a little bit more than you would if you just were to stay on your tailbone. I find that's a little harder that way, two more. Last one, good, bring your feet down. Bring yourself back to the center of your mat.

Legs are straight, flex your feet, arms out. You're gonna roll down one bone at a time again. And then we're going to a series of five. So one knee into your chest, the other leg is gonna come out at a angle, 45-degree angle. You're gonna have opposite hand on your knee, same hand as foot on your ankle.

Curl your head up as high as you can. Elbows are wide. Take a deep inhale here. Inhale to switch, exhale to switch, exhale to switch. So we're gonna inhale, inhale, exhale, exhale. Now keep lifting the chest up and exhale, exhale.

Two more sets, inhale, inhale, exhale, exhale. Last set, inhale and exhale. Hug your knees in. Curl up a little higher for double-leg stretch. Inhale as you reach the arms and legs away from each other. Exhale, circle your arms, hug your knees in.

Inhale, reaching it long, exhale, circle around and hug. Inhale, reach out, try to get longer each time. Stretch, curl up a little higher as you come in. Two more, reach, circle around and hug, last one, and hug it in. Legs up to the ceiling, grab onto one leg, either at your ankle or behind your thigh.

Other leg lowers down to 45. You're gonna pull this leg in twice and switch. Pull, pull, switch. Pull, pull, switch. Good, do whatever breathing feels best to you. Pull, pull, switch, and pull, pull, switch.

You can use your hands to help curl you up a little higher if you need. Pull, pull, pull, pull. Keep pulling the navel into the spine. Last set, good, both legs up, heels together, toes apart, hands behind your head. Curl up a little higher.

You're gonna inhale as you lower the legs down, exhale to lift. Inhale, lower, exhale, lift, and reach long and lift up. Try not to let your chest drop as you lower the legs. Keep curling up. Lift, one more. Good, into criss-cross, bending one leg, twisting toward that leg, the other leg reaches out and switch.

Twist and switch, trying to stay stable on your spine so you're not rocking side to side. We're just rotating from the rib cage, and switch, switch, two more sets. Last set, hug your knees in. Take a breath, rock side to side. You should be feeling your abdominals by now.

So we're gonna rock up to a seated position. Legs are gonna be out about as wide as your mat. You can go a little bit wider if you're flexible. Arms out shoulder height, shoulder distance apart. Take a deep inhale as you lift your spine a little taller.

As you exhale, you're gonna round forward. Reach into your spine stretch. Keep pulling the toes back. So reaching past your toes, and then roll up as you inhale. Exhale, reach, pulling the navel into the spine. So you're having that two-way stretch.

Something's pulling your spine that way, and your arms are reaching the other way, rolling up and reaching forward. Shoulders staying away from the ears, and then roll up. Two more, rolling forward, and lifting up, and last one. And rolling up, good. We're gonna come forward again on your mat.

So you're gonna lift your bottom up, come forward, grab onto your ankles again. You can also grab on behind your thighs. So we're gonna lift your feet up, holding onto your ankles, finding that C shape in your spine. We're gonna stretch one leg up and then lower back down. Other leg lifts up and lower.

One leg, and then the other. One more each side, lift and lower. Good, now we're gonna lift both legs, both legs up. Again, you can do it with both hands behind the thighs. Your legs don't have to straighten.

I happen to have very loose hamstrings, so you don't have to follow exactly what I'm doing. Two more, hold this one out, holding onto your ankles, trying to keep your arms straight or behind your thighs with legs bent. You're gonna go into your open leg rockers, so you're gonna round your low back, roll back to your shoulders, and then roll up. Whew, find your balance. Again, just like rolling like a ball.

First one's always a trial. Rolling back, rolling up. The second one feels better. Rolling back and up, inhale back, exhale to lift you up, there we go. Rolling back and up, one more. And up, bring your legs together. Let go of your legs.

Reach toward your toes, and then you're gonna roll down, keeping your legs where they are. Legs up to the ceiling, arms down by your side. If you have any back issues, you can always bring your hands in a little triangle and put that behind your pelvis. Otherwise, just keep your arms down by your side. We're gonna do corkscrew.

So you're gonna pull into your abdominals, bring your legs over to the right, down, left, and then back up to the ceiling, other way. Left, down, right, back up. So you're pulling into your abdominals before you start so you're already connected, and then the other way. And lift, right, around, and left, squeezing the legs together. One more each side, shoulders are quiet, last one.

Just got a little adjustment in my back. Hug your knees into your chest. We're gonna rock up to a sitting position, and we'll go into saw. I'm gonna scoot back so I don't hit my shelves. So again, feet are as wide as your mat.

A little bit wider is okay. Feed are flexed, pushing your heels into the mat, arms out to a T. We're trying to keep those shoulders down. We are reaching those arms long to the opposite sides of the room. You're gonna to twist to one side.

You're gonna turn that back hand up, reach your other hand toward the baby toe, and saw off that toe for three, two, one. Coming back up and twist, other side, twist, reach for that baby toe. The other hand is reaching back, two, three, and up. Twist and reach, pulling the abdominals back, too. So it's not just about the arms, and up, and twist and reach, so the abs are engaged, pelvis is stable, good.

Two more sets, reach forward, two, three, and up. Twist and reach, two, three, and up. One more each side, two, three, and up. Last one, twist, two, three, and up. Good, so we are going do some prone back extensions, so lie on your stomach.

You're gonna have your legs together if it feels okay for your spine. If not, you can have your legs hip distance apart. I'm gonna keep my legs distance apart today 'cause my back's a little tight. You're gonna have your palms down one on top of the other and then your forehead on top of your hands. Shoulders are down.

We're gonna take a deep inhale as you lift your head, hands, and chest off the mat, keeping the length of your spine. Exhale as you lower down. Inhale, lift, think of lifting your upper back, not so much in your lower back, and lower. Inhale, lift, pushing the tops of the feet into the mat, lengthening the legs, pulling the abdominals up so you have support. And lower, two more, lift and lower.

One more, and lower. So you're gonna bring your hands by your shoulders. You can bring 'em a little wider than your mat if you need to or a little bit more forward, whatever feels good to your back. Elbows are pointing back. Shoulders are away from the ears. Take a deep inhale as you lift your chest up, but your arms don't need to be straight.

Just go where you can, and then lower down. And then reaching out through the top of the head, opening the chest, and lower. Two more like this, exhale, lower. One more, inhale, and lower. Next one we're gonna add a little dive to it if you'd like.

So you're gonna lift up again. As you dive, you're just gonna bring your hands by your shoulders and just lift them up. So you're gonna let the legs come up, and then back up to your Cobra. So you're gonna lift up, and up, legs, and up. Dive, up, good, trying to keep the legs even.

Two more, last one, and then we're gonna push back into a child's pose, feet together, knees apart, just kinda shut down your back, settle in. And then we're gonna roll up one bone at a time. Sit down on your mat again in the middle of your mat. Legs are gonna be hip distance apart, feet flexed again, legs straight, or you can keep them bent if you need. Hands are gonna be behind your head, one hand on top of the other.

Use that to help lift your spine up. You're lifting your neck. We're gonna keep the back flat as you hinge back to where you can go. Once you can't go any further, round your low back, roll down one bone at a time. Elbows are staying as wide as you can.

So you have options to roll up. You can either keep your hands behind your head, or if you need to bring your arms forward to roll you up, that's an option as well. You're gonna roll up, trying to keep the elbows wide or reaching the arms forward. Once you get up, you're gonna bring your head toward a knees, roll up to a straight spine. Long spine as you hinge back again.

Keep pushing the heels into the mat, pulling the toes back, round your spine, roll down once you can't hinge any further. And then roll up, head down to the knees, and then roll up, long spine, hinge back, round, roll it down, roll right back up. Ooh, this one was hard, and then head to the knees. Roll up, one more, hinge back, trying to keep the connection from the ribs to the low abdominals, round, and then roll up with the top of the head toward the knees, and then sitting up tall. Keeping your hands here, we're gonna have to bring the feet together, still flexing the feet, keeping the toes pulling back.

Sitting up as tall as you can, shoulders are down, you're gonna twist to the right for three, two, one, back to center. Twist to the two left, three, two, one, and center. So you're constantly thinking of growing taller each time, and center. If you need to bend your knees, to keep your spine flat, or long, I should say, go ahead. And twist, two, three.

Each time you're trying to twist a little bit more. Twist, two, three, and center, two more times. Twist, two, three, and center. Last one, twist, two, three, and center. Whew! Shake out your arms.

We're gonna lie on our sides for sidekick. I'm getting a little sweaty. Hope you are, too. So you're gonna lie toward the back of your mat. You want your elbow, shoulder, and hip in line, and then legs are gonna come a little bit in front of you. If you wanna lie all the way down, that's also an option.

So we're gonna keep the bottom foot flexed, pushing that foot into the mat. Top leg is gonna lift up hip height. You're gonna slightly turn it out. Let's keep the foot flexed as well. So we're gonna kick forward twice and then back twice, and forward twice and back, back, front, front, back.

So I'm trying to keep a little mouse house underneath my waist, there's a little space here, so my waist can stay long. This top hip is also reaching toward the feet. And front, front, and back. That way I can keep the length here as well. Back, back, two more, and back, back.

Good, bring your legs together. We're gonna turn that top leg parallel. You're gonna imagine that you have a heavy weight on top of it, so you're gonna lift that leg up just a little higher than your hip, and lower. So you're finding that resistance lifting up. You're lifting something really heavy up and then controlling it back down.

So you don't wanna let it fall. And lifting up and lowering down, again, keeping that rib-to-low-ab connection. You're not letting that back arch, two more. Lift up and lower, last one. Lift, lower halfway down this time, and we're gonna do a little circle.

Front, up, and back, front, up, and back. Again, and trying to get at least to hip height. A little bit higher is great as well, keeping that leg parallel so it works the side of my hip, not so much my quad, and back, front, and back, one more, and then we reverse, back, up, and around, good. I haven't done these in a while, so I'm definitely feeling it my hip, hope you are, too. One more, and three, two, last one, good, and we're gonna lift that leg up.

You're gonna bend your knee, put that top foot down on the mat right in front of your leg. Bottom leg is gonna come back so it's in line with your body. So flexing that bottom foot, we're gonna give that top hip a break and work the bottom inner thigh. We're gonna lift that leg, the lower leg, up as high as you can, and then lower the leg down. Lift up, and lower.

So you're thinking of using that upper inner thigh. Lift and lower, lift, keeping the spine long. Try not to forget about the rest of your body while you're working the leg, and lower. Two more, and lower, last one. Good, now we're gonna make a circle, forward, up, and back.

Try to get it as big as you can, so going all the way up. You can push down on that top foot to kinda help and think of that top knee pushing back so you get a little bit of a stretch on that hip as well. Front, up, and back, remembering to reach out through that bottom heel, reverse. Back, up, and around, and back, around, three and two, last one, and then lower that leg down. Top leg is gonna come back on top.

We're gonna keep the legs glued together, really find one leg between the two. You're gonna lift both legs up and then lower down. Again, you can keep the legs in front if you need to. I prefer mine to be in line with my body. It's a little bit more doable for me.

So I'm using my hip, also using my waist to lift the legs, trying to keep it to feel like one leg. So I'm not just lifting both legs at the same time. I'm really keeping them unified. And lift up and lower, two more. Hold the legs up and do a scissor.

So you're gonna to bring one leg forward, the other leg back, and then switch and switch and switch, good. Keeping that top shoulder back, try not to use that top hand too much, and switch and switch, good. Keep breathing, four, three, two, one. Both legs together. Lift 'em a little higher. Lower 'em down with control, and then we're gonna switch to the other side.

So again, you're lying toward the back of the mat, hand behind your head or all the way down. Legs are in front of you at an angle, so you're like in an obtuse angle, and then the top hand is just in front of your ribs. If you wanna challenge yourself and bring it behind your head, you can always do that as well. So bottom foot is pushing down into the mat. Feet are flexed, top leg is lifting up hip height.

You gonna turn that leg out slightly, work your glute as you kick forward two times, and then kick back twice, and front, front, and back, back. So my abs are still working to keep my stability. So I'm not rocking forward with my body, back, back, front, front, back. So everything's quiet, just the leg is moving, and front, front, back, back, front, front. Good, two more, and back, last one.

Good, bring that top leg down to meet the other leg. We're gonna turn that top leg parallel, keep reaching out through the heel. Imagine that you have that heavy weight on your leg. You're gonna lift the leg up with control, and then lower it down with control. So you only need to go a little bit higher than your hip.

You don't need to go all the way up to 90 'cause then your leg will have to turn out, and I want it to stay parallel, and lower, so it really works to side of the hip, lift and lower. So you're still lengthening out through that heel, reaching that top hip toward the foot. So the whole body is getting longer while you're doing this and keeping the waist long. You have that little mouse house underneath you, working the entire body, not just your leg. Two more, and lift and lower.

This time, just lower halfway down and circle the leg front, up, and back. And if you notice this leg probably feels a little tired sooner than the other leg did just 'cause it was already working on your first side to stabilize you. Now, it's just working a little harder. Two more in this direction, last one, reverse, back and around, back. Good, three, four, four more times.

Whew, this leg is tired, three and two, last one, you can do it, good. Lift that leg up. Bend your knee. Place that foot down in front. You can hold onto that ankle. Bring the bottom leg in line with your body, keep flexing the foot. We're gonna lift the bottom leg up and lower and lift up.

Ooh, I still feel it, really feel that top hip, and lift. So I'm pushing that top knee toward the other foot. So that way I get a little bit of a stretch on that top hip. And lift and lower, lift, good, three and two, last one. We're gonna make a circle, forward, up, and back, and forward and back, and around, three, two, last one, and reverse, back and around, three, two, last one.

Good, bring that leg down. Top hand comes down. Top leg goes on top of the other leg. So I like my legs in line with my body. You can keep your legs at that angle if you'd like. Legs are glued together.

You're gonna lift both legs up and lower. So I'm trying not to push it into that hand to lift my legs. I'm using my waist and my hips, and lift. This hand is just here for balance, and up. Keep pulling into your abdominals. We have two more.

This time, I'm gonna hold the legs up, one leg forward, the other leg back, and scissor switch, switch, good. Breathe how you'd like. Just remember to breathe. We have four more sets, three, and two, last set. Both legs together, lift both legs up a little higher and then lower down, good! We're gonna lie on your back. We're gonna stretch your hips before we go on to some bridging.

So one foot's gonna cross over your other leg. Pull that leg in for that figure-four stretch like we did in the beginning. We're gonna for stretch out your hips. Breathe into that stretch. We're only gonna stay here for a second, other side.

Trying to turn that knee out. I like to push my elbow into it to kinda help me get a better stretch, and then I use my hands to pull my other knee in. And then hug your knees into your chest one more time. Feet are gonna come down on the mat. Bring your feet really close to your sit bones, and then have your feet hip distance apart.

Arms are just down by your sides. Shoulders are open. We're gonna do a bridge. So you're gonna take a deep inhale here. As you exhale, you're just gonna roll up to a bridge one bone at a time, reaching your knees past your feet. Inhale at the top, exhale as you roll down.

Once your pelvis hits the mat, you're gonna roll up, or your tailbone, I should say. So you're going up to a straight line. Try not to arch. You wanna keep the ribs in and roll down one bone at a time, all the way down to your tailbone. And then roll up, trying to articulate. It should feel good. And then roll back.

One more time. Just a plain bridge, and then roll down. Try to have your weight even on your feet so you're not rolling to the outside or to the inside. You're gonna roll to your bridge and hold. We're gonna lift one leg up.

If you wanna add a little more support with your hands on your waist, you can. Otherwise, you can keep your hands down by your sides. One leg up to the ceiling. We're gonna lower that leg down to meet your other leg and then lift it back up to the ceiling. So you lower and lift.

Try to keep your chin off your chest, lower. Try to keep looking straight up to the ceiling. Don't turn your head, lower and lift, two more, lower and lift, good, keep that leg up. We're gonna circle it around like we did in the beginning. Circle, around, and up.

The goal is to keep the hips even so you're not letting them rock side to side. One more in this direction, reverse your circle, around and up. Hips are still lifted. Try not to let them drop as your legs get tired. Last one, keep that leg long, lower it down.

Bend that back in, other leg comes up, keeping it as straight as you can. Lower it to meet the other leg, and then lift it back up. Lower and lift. Try to keep your arms long, lower. So you're not letting those wrists pop up again. You're pushing them into the mat, one more.

Circle that leg around, cross, around, and up. Trying not to rock side to side, two more, and up and reverse, chin is off your chest. Chest is open. We have two more, and up, last one. Now reach that leg long to lower it down to the floor. Bend it back in.

Once both feet are on the mat, you're gonna roll down one bone at a time, and then hug your legs in for our teaser. So we're gonna reach the legs out to a diagonal. If you wanna keep your legs bent, that's always an option. I'm gonna keep my legs straight. Arms are gonna reach out in line with your legs.

So keeping your legs still, just gonna roll up to your teaser. You're gonna reach towards your feet. Legs stay where they are again as you roll down one bone at a time. Roll up to your feet, ooh, and then roll back. One more like this, rolling up.

This time, we're gonna stay. So I'm gonna reach my arms up just 'cause it lengthens my spine a little bit. You're gonna lower your legs down and lift up. Lower the legs down and lift, one more. Now we're gonna lower everything down at the same time.

Upper body and legs lower together. Everything comes back up together. And lift your chest, everything down together. And then back up, one more, and lower down. And then roll up, reach a little longer, and then keep your legs where they are, roll down.

Hug your legs in. Rock side to side. Take another little breather for a second. You can just open your legs and circle your knees away from each other, and then reverse. I needed a little breather. And then rock up to a sitting position, and we're gonna go into swimming.

So you're gonna lie on your stomach again. So again, you wanna have your abdominals lifted just like we did in the swan. So you're not collapsing into your low back at all. Arms are gonna be out in front of you a little wider than your shoulders. Legs are about hip distance.

It can be a little wider as well. You're gonna lift your right arm, left leg, and your chest up, and then lower everything down. Left arm, right leg, and chest, and lower. The reverse side, lift and lower, second side, up. One more each side, lift up, lower, last one.

Now we're gonna lift your arms and legs together, both arms, both legs, and chest, and lower down. And lifting up, lower, two more. Hold this next one up, and go into your swim as quick as you can. Inhale and exhale. Inhale and exhale.

Keep the back of the neck long, inhale, and exhale, inhale and exhale. Last set, inhale and exhale, reach long, lower down, and then push back into child's pose. So feet together, knees apart, push back onto your heels. Shake out your neck. You can rock side to side a little bit. Just settle into that stretch, release your lower back.

Then we're gonna roll up. Good, so we're gonna do plank pull front. So if you wanna do this on your elbows, you can, if you have any wrist issues. I'm gonna come onto my hands 'cause I prefer planks that way. And you can also stay on your knees and just do the leg lifts if you don't wanna do a full plank.

So when you're ready, find your plank. You're in a straight line from your head all the way down to your heels or wherever you are. Shoulders are down. We're gonna lift one leg up. We're gonna rock front, back, lower the leg down. Lift up, front, back, and lower.

Lift, front, back, try not to drop your head. So you wanna keep everything in line. Front, back, and lower, lift. So I'm trying not to shift my weight too much as I lift the leg. One more each side, last one.

Good, lower down, and then we're gonna face the side. So you're gonna have your top leg in front. Bottom leg is just right back, tucked right behind it. This other hand, my left hand is out, not right under my shoulder, it's out a little bit. And then this top hand is gonna be out.

We're gonna lift up into a side plank. Find that position. Shoulders are down. You're facing directly side. You could fit, if you were a piece of bread, you'd fit in a toaster, good. Now from here, you're gonna twist.

So you're gonna bring this top hand through the arm and then bring it back up, and then you're gonna lower everything down. So we're gonna speed that up a little bit. So you're gonna lift up to your side plank. You're gonna twist, reach through the arm, and then back up, and lower it down. Two more, lift and reach, and lift, lower down, trying to stay directly side.

I'm not twisting until I purposely do it. And lift and lower, good. Switch to the other side, yeah. Top leg is in front. The side arm is out a little bit so it's not directly under your shoulder. Make sure you're not locking it.

Other arm is out to the side. When you're ready, you're gonna lift up. Find that side plank. First one, kinda define where your feet need to go and also just for stability. Shoulders are down, finding that long position.

Breathe here, now when you're ready, you're gonna twist, bring this hand through your arm. And then come back up, and then lower everything down. With more tempo, lift up and twist through and lift and lower, two more. Tempo and twist and reach and lower. Last one, lift, twist, up, ooh, and lower, lost my balance on that last one.

That's my bad side. So we're gonna keep your legs here and go into little mermaid stretch. So with the top leg, you're gonna grab that ankle. Reach the other arm up, lift up and over toward your legs, trying to stay directly to the side. I'm not twisting down toward the floor or up to the ceiling, it's a true side bend.

And then back up, now you're gonna reach over as long as you can, keeping the waist long to the other side, and use your waist to lift you back up. Grab your ankle, lift up to go over, so you're always lengthening, and then back, reach over. One more, reach up and over. This time, turn to face the floor. Deepen that stretch. And then back to your side bend, and the legs go the other way.

Grabbing onto that top ankle, reaching that arm up, lift up and over toward your legs. Again, trying not to turn this one, keeping it directly to the side, and then back up, Just let your breathing slow down. Reaching long in the waist, over to the other side. And then back up, reach up and then over and then back up and away. Still keeping that connection to your ribs so you're not arching your back, up and over again.

And this time, turn toward the floor. Keep reaching that arm long though, so you're not letting it just hang. Letting your breathing slow down. And then back to your side bend and then back up. We're gonna finish with one last exercise before we can go into a little cool-down, so we should do some pushups.

So find your plank again. You can be on your knees, on your feet, whatever you prefer. I'm gonna have my legs together on my feet. Finding that nice long plank, elbows are pointing back, and I'm gonna push down and then up. Pushing down and up, three, we're gonna do 10, four.

As you get tired, try not to let anything change. Keep squeezing the legs together. I really think about using my legs to help me 'cause my upper body is not the strongest. Two more, last one, and then knees down, feet together, knees apart into a child's pose one last time. And then roll up.

So we're just gonna sit on your mat. You can have your legs criss-cross applesauce or in any position that you'd like. You can even sit on a chair. Just rest your hands on your legs. You can close your eyes if you'd like.

Just take a deep inhale and exhale. Keep feeling the elongation in your spine, inhale and exhale. Keep breathing, full breaths. Whether it's the beginning of your day or the end of your day, just had a nice chance to move. I got my heart rate up a little bit. I hope you did, too.

Now we're bringing it back to normal so we can get on with the rest of our day. One more deep breath, and exhale slowly. Open your eyes if they're closed. And thank you so much for being here with me. I hope you have a wonderful day, and I hope to be back soon to teach another class for you.

Thank you, everyone.