Tutorial #1724

Teaser Tutorial

10 min - Tutorial

103 likes

Description

Wendy LeBlanc-Arbuckle teaches this tutorial to help you understand the Teaser on a deeper level. She explores how to better connect your legs to your abs, and how a greater awareness of your body's relationship to gravity will allow your back to open and your sit bones to be heavy, releasing tension while performing the exercise. Wendy uses 5 lb weights to achieve the right sensations in the body and also dissects how Rolling Like a Ball functions as a transition to Teaser.

What You'll Need: Mat, Ankle Weights

About This Video

Suitable for all

(Pace N/A)

Aug 17, 2014

3Core Connections®

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Transcript

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Here we have the Teaser. And it is an intermediate exercise, but kind of sums up all of Pilates. So it is about the end all Pilates exercise. It's going to be using your power house, for sure. But with soft, long, limbs, which is the most challenging thing.

So go ahead and lie down onto your back. Go ahead and bring your knees into your chest. And there's all kinds of different levels of teaser, but today we're just going to do Teaser One. We're going to take your legs to a 45 degree angle with the floor. A little bit lower.

There you go. Draw your powerhouse in and up. And reach your arms long in the opposite direction. Wonderful. Go ahead and start letting your arms and head.

And roll up to reach for your feet. Beautiful. Good. And take a breath. And I want you to exhale.

Roll away from your legs. wonderful. Reaching back. Good. Take a breath as you start.

Exhale all the way up to your feet. So the legs are long and loose, not gripping. And your power house is scooped in and up. Relaxing the shoulders. Beautiful.

And take a quick breath as you start rolling back. And exhale all the way down. Good. And I want you to do two more. Thinking about the Roll Up.

Rolling on up. Up. And reaching. Good. Taking a breath to start as if you're pulling a heavy weight back with your powerhouse.

And exhale all the way down. Reaching the arms. And let's do one more. Inhale to initiate. Exhale scooping in and up all the way forward.

Good. Inhale to start and exhale rolling away from the long, loose, legs. And go ahead and bend your knees in. And hug your knees in. And that was the Teaser.

The Successful Beginner: Movement Breakdowns

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Comments

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Hydie

Fascinating Wendy! Thank you for the detailed explanation.

10 years ago

Melody B

1 person likes this.

Wow-wonderful breakdown! I can't wait to play with this, especially with my clients who struggle with teaser. Thanks Wendy.

10 years ago

Wendy L

1 person likes this.

Thank you, Hydie and Melody...as you can see, we are "playing" with gravity, rather than "fighting" gravity. By allowing your body to sense weight, through the "waterfall" of your shoulder blades to your sitting bones and tailbone into your feet....you "wake up" a natural energizing uplift from your inner ankle, inner thighs, internal belly along the front of your spine to your inner ear! We call this distinction "Down the Back" and "Up the Front"...and the internal support of "Shoulder blades to internal belly" are the natural Powerhouse of breath supporting your movement. TEASER BECOMES EASY!!! Try it for yourself! xwendy

10 years ago

Louise Renee S

Great! Thanks!

10 years ago

Jodi B

I absolutely love this and have watched it several times and done it as well. The hardest part is teaching it to others! Thank you....

10 years ago

Wendy L

1 person likes this.

Thank you, Jodi...what I would suggest that will make a HUGE difference in your embodiment of what I am talking about, so you are releasing into gravity's support....and can then translate it to clients....is to watch my Stretch-eze Matwork video on Pilates Anytime. You will get a "felt sense" of TEASER with the band's support of how you use your body's relational connections from foot to head...and that will help you speak it to clients, xwendy

10 years ago

Luci

This is brilliant! Really helpful tips Wendy! I love the way you are describing the lift and then gravity pulling down in the exercise..i will be sure you check out more of your excellent work!

10 years ago

Wendy L

Thank you so much, Lucy...as you can see, instead of me "telling Laurel what to do...pull your shoulder down, pull your belly in, etc"..I am speaking to her body's deep intelligence, in relationship with gravity's support. This is what I call our "movement brain" and is what my vision of 3Core Connections Perspective is all about. How do we build on the genius of Joseph Pilates' teachings with a more updated understanding of how our bodies work, and how gravity can be a force that supports us (effort with ease), rather than something to "fight", which creates tension. Please stay in touch and let me know what you notice, xwendy

10 years ago

Sook Wern C

This is such a great tutorial. Thank you! I'm still struggling a lot with doing a teaser on the reformer though even with these principles. Would you have any suggestions.. or better still, a reformer teaser tutorial coming up?

9 years ago

Wendy L

Thank you, Sook. Stay tuned, because I will be coming back to Pilates Anytime to film a tutorial for Teaser on the Reformer in the Spring! In the meantime, since we are playing with gravity as a partner that helps us to find grounding and internal lift, hold a 3# weight in each of your hands and feel your shoulder blades become heavy with the weight. Can you sense that, as you curl forward in your teaser on the mat, holding the weights, your low belly connects with your heavy shoulder blades? This is the support for your legs to extend in teaser. The weight on your hands is giving you not only support to curl up, but also a sense of holding the Reformer strap in the Teaser on the Reformer. See more about this in the next response box........