Fascia in Motion

The Swan Dive

Figure 1.1, Top Left; Figure 3.4, Top Left

Come up to kneeling for just a moment, and face me. So externally rotate your arms, and reach your arms out and up on a diagonal, with your thumbs aiming behind you. Now when your thumbs are aiming behind you, like they will, could be a religious moment, but what we mean to be here is the external rotation of the arms will facilitate thoracic extension. In contrast, the internal rotation of the arms, think the butterfly swim stroke, is paired with thoracic flexion. So we have a little bit of external rotation, is paired with thoracic extension, and internal rotation is paired with, or facilitates thoracic flection.

Rest your arms now. So yes of course, swan dive is all about extension and more extension, but there's a little bit of just a smidge of flection as you go forward, so you can wind up for extension to go back. Come on to your front now. Here you are on your front, with the palms of your hands firmly planted, the soles of your toes tucked under, sliding your shoulders up to hide your ears, as you exhale, slide your shoulders down, aiming your bent elbows to your heels, reach long with your toes, look up underneath your eyebrows, and push up towards the edge of the diving board. And from here, you will sweep your arms forward, and then I'll call it out.

Here we go, thumbs down, thumbs up, thumbs down, thumbs up. (instructor exhales) (instructor exhales) (instructor exhales) (instructor exhales) (instructor exhales) Four more coming up. (instructor exhales) (instructor exhales) (instructor exhales) (instructor exhales) And rest. Push up, and your sitting bums back towards your heels, slide your hands forward, spread wide between your shoulder blades, lots of room to expand wide to the sides of your ribs, and deep to the back of your lungs,

Alternating Neck Pull with Roller & Ring

Figure 1.1, Top Right; Figure 4.9 Center and Middle Right

Take the ring in your hands, put the ring behind your head, not behind your neck. It's not a vaudeville act when you pull yourself off stage.

But the ring is behind your head, so you have a sandwich roller, ring, head. Inhaling, elbows wide to the side, as you exhale, aim your bent elbows towards the ceiling, nod your nose downward, see behind the cheekbones of your face, stick out your tongue, Sticking out your tongue will make your abdominal stronger. So it's a short range, neck pull, upper thoracic, and cervical flexion. You could aim your sitting bums, and your pubic bone away, through the inner shins, and come down, inhale, open your elbows wide to the side, as you exhale, both elbows, aim towards each other on the right side, rolling up, aiming your gaze down right, tongue out to the right, Come back. Inhaling elbows wide, exhaling, tongue, eyes, and elbows, towards the floor on the left.

(instructor exhaling) And come down. Now put the ring around your knees, one foot, other foot. And the ring will be as before, when you had your feet on the roller. The ring, the padded handles of the ring, on the outside of your knees. Make sure that your tailbone is near the edge of the roller, because this next exercise has a tendency to wind your way off the roller.

Inhale to prepare. As you exhale finally, it's opposed to your pelvic tilt and spine flexion, and articulated bridge with a spine flexion, lumbar flexion, aiming your sitting bums up, towards the back of your knees. Inhale, pressing the front of your hip joints up, to the ceiling, but not splaying the front of your ribs. Exhaling, as if someone could pull your sitting bums, and lengthen your spine down on the roller. Inhale to prepare.

As you exhale, reach long with your sitting bums, it's opposed to your pelvic tilt, and spine flexion. After all, this is Pilates. Keep your pelvis up high, and lift one heel up, and the opposite toes, plantar and dorsiflexion, standing your ground, between your shoulder blades, seven and eight, change, roll down your spine. Now, oh, that's right. It's rotation of your pelvis.

Peel your pelvis and spine up, while you are up, maintain your central axis, keep the rollers steady, and rotate so the light from your navel goes to the right and the light from your navel goes to the left, connecting lowest front ribs towards your pelvis. Roll down your spine, turning your palms upwards towards the ceiling, that will help to organize your shoulder blades wide away, from your spine. Now it's time to take a hold of the ring.

Semicircle with Rotation of the Pelvis

Figure 1.1, Bottom Left; Figure 6.8

Let's connect all these slings systems, with a festival of semicircles. It's my preference to use a blue spring.

So we're gonna start with a blue spring here, and the head rest will be up, so that the carriage won't run into the frame. Now slide down, bring your sitting bums off the edge, and come to lie on your back. For this first round of semicircles, I'm going to have the front of the heels in contact with the bar and the feet wide on the foot bar. Place the heels of your hands onto the shoulder rests, and it's just difficult to be pretty with this one. Lift your hips up, and work your shoulder blades away from the shoulder rests.

Now we'll have an anterior, let's see, anterior tilt of the pelvis, pouring your pelvis into the springs, and slide in, collecting your ribs to your pelvis. It's a posterior pelvic tilt and spine flection. Inhale to come up, exhale to push back. Push the shoulder rests away, pour your ribs into your pelvis and your pelvis into the springs. Exhale, spine flection and a posterior pelvic tilt.

Inhale to push back, exhale, push the shoulder rests away. Slide your ribs to your pelvis, your pelvis into the springs. Reverse. It's an anterior pelvic tilt, quoting Dov Cohen of Pollstar, "Spring painting, spring cleaning." Inhale to come up and forward. Exhale, push the shoulder rests away, pour your ribs into your pelvis, your pelvis into the springs.

Slide your pubic bone towards your chest bone, your chest bone towards your pubic bone, forward and up, and pour down. Now onto this, we're going to layer rotation. Push with your left hand, turn your pelvis to the right, easy for you to do now, because we've already practiced the previous exercises. Pour your pelvis into the springs, push back. Now it's a posterior pelvic tilt and spine fluxion to come forward.

Inhale to turn, exhale to return. Or exhale to turn, inhale to return. Rotate, and dive into the springs. Rotate, step-ball-change. Go the other way, this way, and this way.

Rotate to your left, pushing with your right hand, turning your pelvis around the head of your femurs, pouring your pelvis. Collect the ribs to the pelvis, via the intercostals and the obliques. Push with your right hand, rotate your pelvis and lumbar spine to the left. Push with your left hand, rotate your pelvis and lumbar spine to the right. Pushing with your left hand, rotate to the right, pushing with your right hand, rotate to the left, creating a long connection, a diagonal from your left heel to your right hand and your right heel to your left hand.

While you're up, let's add internal and external rotation. Internal rotation of the hip joints. Sit your pelvis, your sacrum, into the springs, external rotation to come forward, knees together, push away with your hands. Inhale to come forward, Exhale, pour your ribs into your pelvis, your pelvis into the springs. Reverse.

Push back, and implying a posterior pelvic tilt, and slide forward, implying an anterior pelvic tilt. Swivel out, external rotation of the hip joints, internal rotation of the hip joints, external rotation of the hip joints, and internal rotation of the hip joints. Now make your way back onto the carriage.

Plank with Roller

Figure 1.2, Top Right; Figure 4.9 Bottom Left and Middle

Exhale, internally rotate with the legs, and come forward. Internal rotation in the extension, and bend.

Exhale to go back, inhale to come forward, drawing all the front abdominal layers in and up towards your spine. Pressing into the little-finger side of your hand in order to support the thoracic kyphosis.

Long Stretch

Figure 1.2, Bottom Left

And bring your heels slightly up onto the shoulder rests. As you exhale, slide the carriage back. Stand your ground here and shift your whole central axis towards the right, and shift your entire central axis towards the left.

Push through your left hand and your right foot, shift to the right. Push with your right hand and your left foot, shift to the left. Again, shift, and shift. Last two coming up. And last one.

Come to the center, come back in, come off of this now.

Facing Chair, 1 Foot per Pedal, Hands on Top

Figure 1.2, Bottom Right; Figure 1.8, Bottom Right; Figure 8.5, Top Left; Table 12.3 #8

Come to a Pilates V position, with the balls of your feet and the soles of your toes in contact with the foot pedals, nestling the notch of the heel of your hand, right over the corners of the chair top. As if you were moving into a spine extension and an anterior pelvic tilt, shift your weight forward to your hands so the light from the chest bone goes between your hands. And as the abdominals come in and you shift your weight towards your hands, leading your sacrum up. One, two, three, four, two, two, three, four, keeping the back of your neck long.

Four, and the pedals don't quite touch, until the fourth one, when you land, just in time to change. Snuggle your shoulder blades down. Quick, slow, slow, slow. These different hand positions will challenge the, a number of vector connections between your ribs and your pelvis. We've had variation one, hands forward, variation two, hands close to you.

Variations three, variation three, hands on a diagonal. Do not accompany this with side bending, keep your spine long from sacrum to occiput. One, two, three, four, up, two, three, four. Three and, four and, change. And one, and two and sacrum leading up.

Four and change. Now it's side-bending and you're well-prepared for this thoracic side-bending. Slide your right shoulder down and drive your right sitting bone back. So your thorax is in side-bending, lateral flexion here. Change to the new side, lateral flexion side-bending to the left.

Without the pedal in place, do your best to have equal weight on both feet. Actually you know, I don't think that there's really equal weight on both feet, I suspect, that there has to be just a little bit more weight on the left foot, to counterbalance this diagonal. So I don't know if it's equal weight, but the fact of the matter is the pedal should stay level together. So we've had one, two, three, four, five, six. Here comes the seventh variation.

This is the only one in spine flexion. Drive your elbows towards your knees and the back of your neck long, snugging all your abdominals, up to your spine. So that, there you have, seven different variations of an abdominal and arm exercise. By changing the positions of your hands, you discover a variety of vectors of abdominal connection and shoulder girdle connection to trunk as well. Now we are going.

Standing Side Leg Kick

Figure 1.3, Top Right; Figure 4.6, Bottom Row; Table 14.1 #16

You'll have one hand down low on the wall, and the other hand up high on the wall. In order to get there, tilt your pelvis over the head of your femur, and balance your forces, so that your supporting leg can be perpendicular to the ground. And your other leg is parallel to the ground, that's correct. As you inhale look down and bring your foot forward, just like the high kneeling sidelight kick except, you happen to be standing. As you exhale, reach your toes back behind you.

Turn to see the ceiling above you. As you inhale, bring your sole of your foot forward. Looking down towards your supporting hand on the wall. As you exhale, reach across the room, lifting up your ribs, turning your chest bone to see the ceiling above you. One more of these, inhale to come forward.

Stand up high on the inner thigh of your supporting left leg. Exhaling, reaching back, lift up your ribs, lift up your waist, lift your back foot a little higher. Push yourself off the wall, and come to the new side. Here you are, to measure your distance, you come one arm length and a little bit more, all right? So that, when you tilt your pelvis over the head of your femur, your lower hand can be on the wall.

Your upper hand can be on the wall and both elbows can be straight. Radiating from the center of yourself, out through all four points, Inhale to bring the sole of your foot forward. Let's see, looking down at your foot on the ground. As you exhale, reach back, turn your lower lung, that's your right lung to see the ceiling. As you inhale, turn your head, neck and eyes to see your foot that's on the floor.

As you exhale, reach your toes across the room, turning your right lung up towards the ceiling. Pressing all four limbs away from center. And the fifth limb is the top of your head. One more here, exhale to reach back, and back, and back, and back, and back, push off the wall and come up from here.

High Kneeling Hip & Knee Extension

Figure 1.3, Bottom Left; Figure 6.7 Top Right and Bottom Row; Table 13.2 #8

Your left hand will be at the back shoulder rest and your right big toe all the way forward.

Just make sure you're still dressed, and then reach your right arm, straight up to the ceiling. Minimizing the flexion or the compression of your left wrist, inhale to glide out, exhale to come in. If it were a photo shoot at your house, you could reach your right arm up, otherwise, collect your right hand up underneath your left ribs. Rotate now to place your hands on the shoulder rests. Slide out and in, the light from your chest bone between the shoulder rests, between your thumbs.

Stand your ground on your left knee and open your left arm to the side, Looking down between the shoulder rests, steering your right knee forward over your third toe. Put both hands on the back shoulder rests. Activate all the abdominal layers to facilitate your twist, your rotation to the left, pressing from your right heel to your right sitting bone and open your left arm to the side. Focusing on your right thumb, aiming your chest bone light over that area. Change now to the new side, swing around, pivot around, put your right knee in the center of the carriage, your left big toe all the way forward, create a huge wingspan, very expansive between your right hand and your left fingers, inhale to slide out, exhale to return.

Make a big statement there with your left hand for your holiday greeting card, and then, use your left hand underneath your right ribs. Collect them there to remind your ribs to lift up. Put your left hand on the shoulder rest, slide out and in, and continue this action with your right arm out to the side. Two more here. I cut the other one short, sorry.

Now both hands will go on the shoulder rest to the back. Here's a diagonal of interest, from the sole of your left foot to the heels of your hands, broadened across your collarbones. Last stop on this train, open your right arm wide to the side. Draw your left knee upwards towards your hip joint steering your left knee forward over your third toes. Change now to the first side, again, we'll take something similar in hip extension.

The heel of your left hand is forward, and then you will have your right foot towards the back. Create a big wingspan and here we go send your heel down and rise to your toes. Lower your heel we'll just do two of these on the side heel down and rise and lower. Change so both hands each hand gets their own gets its own shoulder rest, exhale to push, inhale to rise. Open your left arm, heel down and rise and lower, collect your low front ribs as you widen across your collar bones both hands to the back shoulder rest heel down and up and down, steering your knee forward.

She said to herself over the third toes and then if you're able to do that, take your left hand off the shoulder rest I am extremely tenuous here cause my knee joint doesn't rotate to provide a very good platform can you hear it in her voice? Turn around to the other side left foot will go all the way back and right hand forward stream wide between your hands healed down heel up, and then hug underneath your ribs, heel down and rise just keep your left hand down Norice, that's right, turn and hold onto the shoulder rest now looking between the shoulder rests both with your chest bone and with your gaze. Open your right arm to the side left lung is turning in front of you to the right, right lung is turning behind you to the left, both hands on the back shoulder rest standing high on your right hip joint. Best you can there leaving your left hand where it is open your right arm wide to the side. A much better voice I must say on this side, change now.

The Spine Twist

Figure 1.4, Top Left; Figure 3.6, Second Row Left

And at this moment you could if you'd like bend your knees again, or have your legs outstretched, place the heels the palms of your hands downward inhale to prepare as you exhale slide out your palms, your fingertips, your fingernails. Reach out wall to wall to wall, bending your elbows even wider to the side hold on now, lower your shoulders so that your forearms are in line with the bottom of your chest bone, your xiphoid process. Now in a moment, you will turn to your right close your left eye, keeping your left eye closed move your right eye towards there, move your eyes to the corners of your eye sockets inhale to turn to the right keep looking to the right corners exhale sit a little taller, have your right, your eyes leaving to the right with your right eye open, inhale to turn. Keep turning to the right and sit a little taller, turning more to the right with your eyes being the advanced team of your spine. Open your eyes and come back to the center.

Changed the new elbow on top, closing your left eye both eyes glide to the right corners of your eye sockets. Inhale to turn, anchor your right sitting bone and sit a little taller. Both eyes glide to the left, keep a ground force through your right sitting bone, rotate to the left. Sit a little taller, standing tall on your central axis sitting tall both eyes glide to the left corner of your eye sockets. Sweep your gaze back to the center eyes open, lower your arms nod your nose downward.

Roll forward as if you could roll down inside your shirt, inhale here, exhale shoulder blades lead the way down your rib wall and make your way up to vertical. Slide out your palms, your fingertips, your fingernails reach out wall to wall to wall. Bending your elbows wider hold on and lower your shoulders and arms in line with your xiphoid process. Turning to your right now close your right eye and now both eyes will glide to the right toners of their eye sockets inhaling to rotate exhale sit a little taller. Inhaling your eyes glide to the right corners perching high on your left sitting bone.

Turn your left lung in front of you to the right once again, standing, pushing your left sitting bone into the ground. Rotate both eyes moving to the right open your eyes come back to center change the new arm on top. Turning to your left now you'll close your left eye inhaling both eyes glide to the left corner of your eye sockets, rotate, slide your shoulders down. As you sit a little taller on your right sitting bone inhaling, creating an imaginary force couple between your right lung and your left lung both eyes gliding to the left, the right lung in front the left lung behind open your eyes. Come to the center nod your nose downward and roll forward the cheek Bones of your face towards the sitting bones of your pelvis.

Inhale to fill up the back of your lungs into your rib basket exhaling, roll up your spine, come up from here. Slide out your palms, your fingertips, your fingernails, should we close both eyes now? Well, you could. Just keep your eyes open. Turn your left palm up.

We'll be turning to your right. As you inhale, turn to your right. Exhale. Sit a little taller. Inhale. Turn more to the right. Steer firmly through your sitting bones up through the top of your head.

Turning your left palm down and your right palm up. Turn a little bit more to the right side. Turn your head, neck, and eyes to the left. Seeing over your left shoulder, radiate from all points there. Turning your ribs more to the right because you can, and swing back to center.

Nod your nose downward. Roll forward. Inhaling here. Exhale to come up. Sliding out your palms, your fingertips, your fingernails.

Reach out wall to wall. Turning your right palm up, turning to your left, inhale to rotate. Eyes lead the way. Exhale to turn a little bit more. Change your palms now.

Left palm up. Create a ground force from your right sitting bone towards your left hand. Spiraling up your central axis, radiate outward from your sacrum through your heels and your chest bone out through the pads of your fingers. Come back to center. Nod your nose downward.

Roll down as if to roll down inside your shirt. Exhale to come up from here.

Quadruped Thoracic Rotation

Figure 1.4, Top Right; Figure 4.3, Top Row; Table 14.1 #7

Plant the sole of your left foot against the wall and your hands are in line with your shoulders. So this is a neutral pelvis, neutral spine. And your left heel is at the level of your sitting bone.

Guarding against hyperextended elbows, aim the inner aspects of your elbow slightly towards each other. Now we're going to turn towards the wall. Bend your left elbow and put your left fingers on your shoulder, and turn to the wall. Turn your pelvis, ribs, shoulders, neck, head and eyes. Turning your ribs more than your head, and then come back down, plant both hands.

Planting your left hand firmly as you inhale, turning your left lung towards the right. You'll appreciate that the position of your legs inhibits the ability of your pelvis and lumbar spine to turn. All the more work for your thoracic spine. Come down from here. We'll do this once again each side.

Stand your ground on the heel of your right hand. Inhaling. Turning your pelvis, ribs, shoulders, neck, head, and eyes. Yes indeed, this motion is asymmetrical. Focusing on thoracic rotation more to the right, drawing your lowest front ribs up to support your spine.

Now staying on this side, both elbows will be straight. Sweep your left hand along the floor, left fingers up the wall. And turning, luxuriating in a huge wingspan, but guarding against spine extension. It's more a neutral spine around your central axis. Come down, land your left hand.

Now buckle up because this is not as fun as the other side. Slide your right hand along, and turning your ribs, your shoulders. Don't crank your neck too much. Your hand won't go so far here because this focuses on thoracic rotation more than lumbopelvic. Okay, inhaling. Appreciating the difference.

Here, your pelvis can turn around the head of your femurs. Exhale to come down. And now since your left foot is against the wall and your left knee is straight, your pelvis can't turn, only your thoracic spine, your shoulder girdle, your head, neck, and eyes. Surely, the new side will feel different. Spin around, and let's see how.

Plant the sole of your new foot against the wall with your heel in line with your sitting bone, and resituate your palms. Fingers spread wide to provide a firm base. And drawing long from your tailbone out through the back of your long neck to the top of your head. Turning towards the wall, bending your elbow of the hand that's towards the wall, and put your fingers on your shoulder. Press down into the little finger side of the heel of your hand on the floor to rotate towards the ceiling.

Exhale to come down. As you inhale, turn towards the new side, thinking like, "oh, if only. "Well, if only will come with thoracic rotation with time." Once again each side, as you inhale, buckle up your abdominal seatbelt inhibiting the tendency to go towards spine extension. The light from the top of your head shines directly towards the wall in front of you. Inhale to rotate.

Your pelvis can turn a little bit around the head of the femurs, but not so much. Exhale to come down. Now sweep your right hand along the ground, taking the longest possible distance between your two hands, spiraling from your tailbone out through the top of your head. Now when you slide your left hand along the wall, have the feeling that your eyes could be the advanced team. Your eyes could lead your lungs in the direction of your hand, and come down one more each side.

Inhaling, turning your gaze, your eyes will look to the ceiling and that encourages your spine to rotate also. Exhale to come down. Let's see how successful that is on the new side. Inhaling. Gliding your gaze to the left corner of your eye sockets.

You're gaze says, "Come here, come here. "We're going over this way." Come down from here now.

Differentiated Spine Rotation Standing

Figure 1.4, Bottom Left; Figure 6.9 Top Right and Bottom Left; Table 10.5 #20

Now when you're standing on the carriage with the ring, in contact with the loop with the cord, it will be necessary to have a slightly longer cord. Otherwise, you'll compromise your shoulder girdle that you've worked so hard to address. I'm gonna take a moment now just to lengthen the cords.

Now that you've lengthened the cords and made sure that you're on a lighter spring, a yellow spring, it's time to discuss safety when you stand onto the carriage, okay? It's a moving surface, an unstable surface. So be quite thoughtful, quite conscientious and mindful, when you stand up on the carriage. You're going to plant one foot, plant the other foot, take the back loop and come to standing. Now refine your position so that your feet are say shoulder width apart, give yourself a comfortable distance apart here a wide base and have your feet, the center of your foot, right over the central axis of the carriage.

Bend both knees, and tracking your knees forward over your toes, turn and put the loop around the ring. And this ring goes on the bottom of your chest bone. This ring goes on bone. Now throughout this motion, your knees will track forward over your toes, while your ribs, shoulders, head, neck, and eyes rotate in the direction of the back riser, planting your left foot there's your ground force, activating your left lateral pelvic stabilizers. Sure. I'll get right on it.

Turn to your right, pelvis, ribs, shoulders, head, neck, and eyes, sliding your right shoulder blade back towards your left pelvis, tracking your knees forward over your toes. As you inhale slide your right shoulder down, plant your left foot, engage the lateral pelvic stabilizers, and rotate, turn to the right, and come back. You might ask yourself, why are we doing this? Well yes, because we can, and because we're interested in it. And the reason I'm interested in this exercise, is that I created this exercise, as a way of activating the spiral line.

The spiral myofascial meridian, that's described by Thomas Myers in his book, "Anatomy Trains". That's on your reference list. The spiral line is responsible for tracking the knees with respect to the hips and the ankles. And you can tell that I need a lot of practice in that. Now turning your head, neck and eyes opposite your pelvis, anchor your left foot, turning your pelvis and your head, neck and eyes, look opposite the direction in which the ring is turning.

The spiral myofascial meridian is responsible for balancing the rotational forces through the left and right sides. And it's also responsible for balancing or integrating many of the other myofascial meridians. The superficial front line, the superficial back line, the lateral lines and the deep front line. Now we could engage in a dissertation on this topic, but you'll be happy to know that's not now. Okay.

Take the second variation here. Turn on the diagonal, so that your center ankle, is right over the diagonal line, from the shoulder rest to the corner of the carriage. Bending both knees, lasso the ring with the back loop, and place the ring on bone on ribs on the bottom of your chest bone. Inhaling, tracking your knees directly forward. Turning your pelvis around the head of the femurs, as if the light from your pubic bone, and the light from your chest bone were going to aim back to the corner of the risers.

Create a ground force with your left foot, your left lateral pelvic stabilizers. And as your shoulder blades slide down your ribs, have the idea that your collar bones widen, and your chest bone, your manubrium lifts just slightly to catch the light. It would be as if you were climbing up your very own spiral staircase, around your central axis. Inhale to rotate, exhale to return. Second variation, your head, neck and eyes look directly forward, forward defined by the aiming of your toes.

Here you are differentiating your cervical rotation, inhale to rotate, exhaling tracking your knees directly forward over your second toes. And I've been so fascinated about delivering a lecture, that I have not been going into as much knee bend and ankle dorsiflexion as would be beneficial. Keeping your heels anchored, steer your knees forward over your toe. So it's dorsiflexion of your ankles. Inhale to turn, exhale to return.

Shoulders descending, head, neck and eyes rotating, turning your pelvis, ribs, shoulders around the head of your femurs. When it's time for the dismount, caution, moving walkways nearing its end, bring this loop down, and you're going to need a different loop now for the different diagonal. Turn to face the new corner. This time yes, it's the forward loop. However, it's about behind you.

The other loop would be too extreme, even for me. Okay. Bending your knees loop around the ring, and place this ring at the bottom of your chest bone. Now there'll be quite a tug for you to lean back. Don't do that.

Use the previous exercises to remind yourself, that you connect your lower ribs to your pelvis. Turning pelvis, ribs, shoulders, neck, head and eyes. You're focusing beyond the forward riser. Inhale to turn, exhale to return. Everything turns in the same direction.

Not exactly at the same time, because there's a sequential, a wave of sequencing, a wave of activation, that connects the soles of your feet, with your shoulder girdle. Keeping your eyes straight ahead, rotating and straight ahead being defined by the direction of your toes, the right shoulder blade slides towards the left pelvis, connecting the latissimus dorsi with the gluteus maximus, through the thoracolumbar fascia. Inhale, thoracodorsal fascia. Now turn your head, neck and eyes opposite. Rotate and rotate.

Plant the soles of your big toes firmly. That will help to give an angle for your adductors, which are a necessary contribution to the tracking of your knees over your toes. So there we have three expressions of the spiral line, the spiral myofascial meridian in standing at three different angles with respect to the resistance. Channeling, the moving sidewalk at O'Hare careful moving walkways, nearing its end. Please watch your step, thank you.

Turn around to the new side and to get yourself arranged on the central axis of the carriage. Take the loop from the back, last so the ring and put the ring at the bottom of your chest bone. Steering your knees forward over your toes. Your pelvis rotates, when you turn your pelvis to the right, don't let your left knee follow your pelvis. We're not skiing today.

Frankly, I don't skiing any day, but keep your knees directly forward, okay? Inhale to rotate, climbing up your spiral staircase, exhale to return. This time plant your right foot, your right gluteus medius, maximus, minimus, all of your lateral, pelvic stabilizers and your obliques, the anterior and posterior oblique sling system will be very active to keep the ring and pelvis connected. Head, neck and eyes look straight ahead at the ocean. I show my pleasure.

You can probably see better from this shot here the importance of scapular depression, so that you don't hike your shoulder up. Turning your head, neck and eyes opposite the direction in which the ring goes. It's a real mile fashional meridian festival of gliding connections between the soles of the feet, the shoulder girdle and the cervical spine. Change carefully to the next position, which is on the diagonal. So important to be mindful of transitions when you're standing on an unstable surface, turning everything in the same direction, inhale, exhale to return.

It's my preference to use inhale against the resistance here. Inhaling, exhale to return, aiming your gaze, where your toes are pointing. When you do inhale to rotate, be careful that you don't hyper extend at the thoracolumbar junction and go backwards. Bounce the volume of your thorax, the volume of your ribs over the volume of your pelvis and the third variation in this second standing position. Be thoughtful also about steering your sitting bones directly down to your heels.

This is not the time (laughs), could be fun, but it wouldn't be accurate to aim your pelvis away from your base. Caution, now it's time to change diagonals and change cords. We'll put this one down, pick up the new cord and make your way around to the new diagonal. Now your toes, your pubic bone and your chest bone are aiming in the same direction. Placing the ring at the bottom.

In this case that there would be a tendency for your right knee to drift to the right, laterally to the right? Don't do that. Easy for me to say, just stay in your knee over your big toe. Inhale to turn and return going up your own spiral staircase up your central axis. Eyes and nose aim where your toes are pointing.

This right shoulder blade comes down so that the serratus anterior gets its money's worth here. And finally, head, neck and eyes look opposite. It's likely that it will be the more difficult to keep your central axis alignment. When you're differentiating the rotation of your cervical spine.

The Leg Pull

Figure 1.5, Top Left; Figure 3.7, Top Right; Table 14.1 #13

The next version of this will involve lifting one leg up.

Here we go. Inhale forward and up, plant your right hand, your left foot and reach your right leg up and land. Plant your right foot and your left hand up and down. Take turns, creating a diagonal to stand on and a diagonal to move from. Inhale to lift.

We have one more each side. Inhale to lift the spine between your shoulder blades and the sternum. Come down from here. Land your sitting bones.

Standing Spine Extension

Figure 1.5, Top Right; Figure 4.5, Bottom Right

So you'll plant the palms of your hands wide apart on your window sill and your spine will be parallel.

Let's see Daniel, sorry this way, your spine will be parallel to the ground. So here you are. Hands wide, spine in neutral parallel to the ground. Editing out the forward head instead broad between your shoulder blades with the back of your neck long. Now it's the sole of your left foot that's sliding back.

Climb up high on your right femur head as you reach back. Bending your left knee, press your left hand into the wall and reach around as something that belongs to you. You put it there after all. Inhale to lift your thigh, exhaling, zip up your abdominals, lift your chest bone lift your gaze, and if all's going reasonably well, plant the sole of your big toe and hover up on your inner thigh. Lower your heel, let go of that slingshot leg, reach back behind you and come down to the ground.

Stand on all four points of focus, all four points of attention, restoring your shoulder girdle, exhaling. Organizing your shoulder girdle buckle up your abdominal seatbelt, reach back. Emanating through all five raised from the center bending your right knee. The sole of your right foot drives to the ceiling reach around creating a diagonal base of support from your left foot to your right hand, lift his thigh, lift your abdominals, lift your chest bone, lift your gaze, plant the sole of your left big toe, get on up there, climbing up high on your inner thigh. Balancing your forces come on down from here, inhale to reach back across the room, exhale to come down, one more each side.

Broad with your sitting bones, exhaling, press into the ball of the sole of your right foot, reach back. As your left knee bends your abdominals hover up, as you reach back to take a hold of your left ankle shin foot, lift your thigh, lift your abdominals, lower middle and upper ribs, climb on up the wall with your gaze lifting the light from your chest bone more than your chin. Come down from that now, reach across the room, plant the palm of your hand, plant the sole of your foot, inhale to prepare. And as you exhale reach back, bend your knee take a hold of it, your ankle, your shin, your foot, balance your forces in spine extension and then balancing. Creating a diagonal support from the sole of your left foot to the palm of your right hand.

Hover on the way down now, reach across the room and come on in. Remember we have the lighter springs here

Prone Spine Rotation & Extension

Figure 1.5, Bottom Right; Figure 8.1, Bottom Row; Table 10.5 #14

for the upper body work. Come prone on to the chair with the heels of your hands wide apart. It's my preference to have the hands to the outer edges of the petals so that the notch between your thenar eminence and your hypothenar eminence can snuggle right over the padded corner of the chair. And that makes this a kinda weight-bearing position for your wrists.

Now pressing the soles of your toes or your toes and your metatarsal heads into the wall, hover above the ground with your spine parallel to the ground. Position yourself so that the pedals are not in contact with the ground. If your arms are much longer than mine, it may be useful to put a mat on top of the chair so that you will not bottom out with your hands on the ground. Now this is going to be a proximal initiation of drawing your pubic bone towards your chest bone and your xiphoid process towards the pubic bone. And you rise in spine flexion, and then undulate into spine extension.

Exhale, bringing your lower lungs up to the ceiling, and then unfurl from pubic bone out through your throat. Exhale here, inhaling down. A gentle wave like undulation of spine flexion and spine extension. This undulation is primarily through your thoracic spine, this is not a whiplash of your cervical spine. Now we reverse, spine extension going up.

That's not reverse at all (laughs). Now that I've talked about whiplash, I'm all confused. This was flexion to lift the pedals up and extension to come down, now it's extension to bring the pedals up, flexion to bring the pedals down. Undulate into spine extension, spine flexion. Just this position of the touching or the pressure of your toes into the wall will help to activate the entire sling system of your back connecting your feet with your spine and your shoulder girdle.

Next event is rotation. So hovering your abdominals after your spine, press down with your left hand and the right pedal will come up turning as if your left ear could listen to the ground. Inhale right ear listens to the ground, exhale to return. Inhaling collecting your lower left ribs towards your right ASIS. Inhaling collecting your lower left ribs towards your right ASIS.

The anterior and posterior oblique sling systems are at work here, with this rotation around your central axis. Anchor the left side of the pelvis when you turn to the left. Anchor the right side of your pelvis when you turn to the right. Anchor then rotate and return. Anchor and rotate.

Now we'll combine rotation and extension, thoracic extension and lumbar too, rotation and flexion. Rotation and extension being quite conservative with your cervical extension. For example, don't look forward that would be shortening the back of your neck. Once more in this direction rotation, when you rotate to the left, press your left foot more into the wall, rotate, extend. When you rotate to the right press your right foot into the wall.

So stabilize with the lateral line, the lateral myofascial meridian, it's time to return. Anchoring to go the other way, anchor the right side of your pelvis, pushing your right foot into the wall rotate so your left ear listens to the ground. Spine extension wide across your collar bones, press with your left foot into the wall when your right hand comes down. A real myofascial meridian festival engaging all of the frontline with your abdominals and the back line and the sides. Twice more, inhale to extend, exhale to return, inhale to extend, exhale to return.

The Leg Pull Front

Figure 1.6, Top Left; Figure 3.7, Top Left

And here you are on all fours, ready for leg pull down. Spread your palm, spread your fingers, create a firm base with your hands aim the inner aspects of your elbows towards each other. We could give a lot of cues here just to give the area around your shoulder blades time to rest, but I suppose it's time to move on. Tucking your left toes under, drive your left heel back, create a solid foot to stand on there and then stand on your right foot as well. Here you have four points of contact.

Inhale to puff up between your shoulder blades, address your left foot now, as you exhale reach back with your left metatarsals, your left toes, collect your lowest front ribs hover and alternate sides, here we go. Exhale, reach long and hover, inhale, live long and prosper. Broaden across your collar bones, lengthen the back of your neck by keeping your gaze between your thumbs. Stand firmly through the metatarsal heads of your right foot. Stand firmly through the metatarsal of your left foot.

We have one more each side, exhaling long from your toes to the top of your head, exhale to reach out. Bend your knees now, land down and come to sitting.

Quadruped Thoracic Rotation Version 1

Figure 1.6, Top Right; Figure 4.3, Bottom Row; Table 14.1 #9

Now we're going to be on all fours with the sole of your left foot into the wall, look into your rear view mirror. Just kidding, we don't have one here, but look back so you can get your left heel in line with your left sitting bone. Yes, so somewhere there's a ballet rehearsal, but it's not here because we're not in arabesque.

All right, so your leg is purpose parallel to the ground, that's right. Now the palms of your hands are spread wide to give you a firm base of support, decreasing the amount of elbow hyperextension by aiming the inner aspects of your elbows towards each other. Now, planting your left hand and your right knee so you create a diagonal base of support, you will turn towards your right, bringing your right fingers towards your shoulder and turning your ribs, shoulders, head, neck, and eyes. Hmm, vaguely familiar, been there recently. Plant your right palm, now shift everything to the right.

Your whole central axis stands your ground on the lateral line of the right side, keeping your pelvis level and steady, turn towards the left, drawing your lowest front ribs in, plant your left hand down. We'll do that again each side. Without a shift, because it's not necessary here, you create a diagonal base of support drawing your left ribs towards your right inner thigh and the pelvis doesn't rotate here, it's thoracic rotation and a modicum of cervical rotation. Stand your ground on your new hand, now it's a lateral translation of your entire central axis. And keeping your pelvis steady by aiming the left ASIS towards your inner right knee, drawing the lowest front ribs into your spine and come down from there, change to the new side.

Standing on your new knee, look back just to assure yourself that your heel is really in the same lane as your sitting bone and you're broad between your shoulder blades. Now there's a new diagonal to stand on, hand and knee, ribs to opposite pelvis, turning towards your left inhale to rotate. As you press the little finger side of your hand, draw your ribs in and up to your spine, exhale to come down. Inhale to shift to the new side. Plant the sole of your foot into the wall and rotate.

Exhale to come down. We do one more of these, without a shift, stand your ground on this diagonal, turning, rotate, still drawing, pubic bone up underneath your chest bone and come down. Now shift to the left, way over to the left side, the light from your chest bone goes towards your hand and then the light from your chest bone turns. Continue to draw your shoulder blade down your rib wall. Come down from here and..

Quadruped Thoracic Rotation Version 2

Figure 1.6, Top Right; Figure 4.3, Bottom Row; Table 14.1 #9

And plant the sole of your off foot against the wall. Yes, we're here again with a new variation. This time, instead of keeping the supporting elbow straight, this time it will be bending your supporting elbow, nestling your shoulder blade down to your rib wall. So with the sole of your left foot firmly planted and your shoulder girdle so well organized, in a moment you will, starting now, turn to your left, exhale to rotate. It's as if your ear could listen to the floor and you could see the ceiling above your shoulder.

As you press the heel of your hand into the ground, come on up and stand on two hands. Now shift, in this case shift to the right, shift to the right and turn to the right. Your left hand comes underneath your right ribs and holds on there. Do a one arm pushup and stand on two hands. Come to your central axis and without a shift, rotate around this central axis, rotate as if your palm could hug against your ribs.

Stand the sole of your foot, the palm of your hand and come right on up from here, a one-arm pushup. Plant this new hand in line with your shoulder, shift towards the new side, loading the lateral pelvic stabilizers, and facilitating a lot more strength of your shoulder girdle organization and your single arm pushup. Now land both hands and change to the new side. Look back in the rear view mirror, just making sure that your heel is in line with your sitting bones in all planes. Now this time with the right foot on the wall, we're going to turn to the right.

The reason being is that this will be the more successful side because you have the oppositional support. As you exhale, turn to the right. The life from your chest bone turns to the right, your left lung turns to the right. And do a one arm pushup from low in the side of your ribs. Plant your new hand, now shift to the left and turn to the left.

Push your right foot into the wall. Shift to the left and turn to the left, push your right foot into the wall. Press up into a one-arm pushup. The new side awaits. Without a shift, exhaling, turning around your central axis.

Your lungs spiral around the heart, ringing out there. And a one-arm pushup from low in the side of your ribs, where your hand is on your ribs. Here we are in the new side. This is a little rhyme. Shift to the left and turn to the left.

Push your right foot into the wall. The sole of your right big toe stands its ground, turning there to hear the floor and push up, and come down from here. Holding on underneath your ribs, inhale to prepare

The Side Bend

Figure 1.7, Top Left; Figure 3.7, Bottom Left

as you exhale, scapula depression and sweep up, standing on your knees, reach up off your head. And then land down. We'll have three more of these.

Inhaling, pressing firmly through the heel of your hand, your gaze, your eyes follows your thumb. Exhale to land. Twice more. Inhaling. Scanning the heavens for signs of intelligent life.

And land. Inhaling, here we go. (inhaling deeply) And come down. Swing around now, the new side awaits. Here you are on the new side, which we've already established will be different.

That much we know. Sliding your shoulder blade down, inhale to lift. Plugging in your head of your humerus into the socket. And come down. Three more of these.

Push, swing your pelvis out, Anna. (inhaling) And down. Twice more. (inhaling deeply) Inhaling to the back of your nostrils, filling the back of your lungs, into the basket of your ribs. Inhaling (inhaling deeply) and exhale.

Swing around, the new side awaits. It's always the new side. This time we'll add side bending with rotation. Inhale to lift. And from the ceiling, you will exhale, rotate, bringing your front long behind you to the back.

Continue this action. Inhaling. Seeing the ceiling above you. Your gaze, your nose follows your thumb and see the floor behind you. Two more of these.

Inhaling, standing firmly, fully into your floor hand, gliding your shoulder blade a long way from your ear lobe and your neck. Inhale to rotate. A huge wingspan, rotating around your central axis, wringing out your ribs and wringing out your waist. Land your pelvis and swing to the other side. Create a hand, an arm, a shoulder, a side to stand on.

Inhale, swing your pelvis out and up. Now turning around your access, rotate, bringing the front lung behind you. The back long towards the front. Continue this motion. Your eyes are the advanced team.

They can either follow your thumb or your eyes can lead the way. Another time, I may have the good fortune of doing a class on the eyes and rotation, in which case we can explore much more fully, the closing of one eye to rotate. And then the closing of the other. Last time (chuckling) that was a shameless plead to invite me back. Land your pelvis, swing to the other side.

Please, come back if you let me close my eyes. OK, now you have your elbow bent and your legs will be out straight. Press up to an elbow, a forearm plank. And while you're here, rotate. And rotate.

And rotate. We have two more of these, pressing your elbow into the ground. And rotate. And rotate. Land your pelvis.

Other side. How fortunate that there's another side because the first side would get tired. Now elbow aims into the ground, reminding yourself that this shoulder blade can glide down on your rib wall. Swing your pelvis up, and here we are. Rotate, lifting off the ground further and see the ceiling.

Push into your elbow. Rotate. And up. Twice more. Push, turn around your central axis.

And once more. Push, turn, rotate. See the wall behind you. Land your pelvis, swing around. Now when you start with your knees bent and your elbow straight, as your pelvis swings in an arc to come up, your legs will straighten out as well.

Place your hand on the top of your shoulder. Remind your shoulder to come down. As you press into your hand, slide your legs out and lift up. While you're here, exhale to rotate, turning your lungs, ringing your lungs around your heart. Inhale to turn towards the ceiling, exhale, push into the ground, lifting up as you side-bend and rotate, and up.

Twice more. Embrace space with your palm and your arm. And up. Embrace space hovering your ribs up, reaching up to the ceiling, bending your knees, and come down from here. Swing around to the new side.

You will start with your knees bent, your elbow out straight with your hand on the top of your shoulder. It's a reminder that the entire project will be initiated by scapular depression. Here it is. Exhale to slide down, reach out with your legs, create a side plank, and begin the rotation. Exhaling, seeing behind you.

Inhaling, seeing above you. Exhale. Inhaling. Exhaling. And push up.

I'm so fascinated with the move. Do we have one more? Or we're done with that? That's it. That's it.

We're so done with this. Come down with here. Good.

Elastic Recoil Arm Jumps at the Wall

Figure 1.7, Top Right; Figure 4.7 & 4.8

It will serve you well, this'll probably be the only time in your life that you'll celebrate standing in the corner. So face the corner.

Move your feet back away from the corner until your feet are shoulder width apart. Give yourself a sturdy base and measure your distance from the wall by having your elbows straight. Now, sliding your shoulder blades down your back. Realize that if your hands are at shoulder height, they will make your shoulders, that will make your shoulders slide up. In order to focus more on the serratus anterior and the lower trapezius, bring your shoulders down and bring your hands down more at the level of your lowest ribs, the level of your xiphoid process.

As you inhale, anchor the souls of your heels, bending your elbows, keeping a strong connection from pubic bone to chest bone. As you exhale, slide your shoulders down and push out. Now we'll take this in a pulsing, a rhythmic, pulsing action. Planting the soles of your toes. Planting the heels of your hands, especially into the wall, and keeping a strong connection from ribs to pelvis.

Lengthen the back of your neck, putting the focus on scapular depression. Now from this rhythmic pulsing you push off the wall, rocking back on your heels and then timber fall into the wall, push and land. And push and land. And push and land. And push.

Both hands to the left wall, both hands to the right wall. Aiming your navel straight ahead, best you can, into the corner. Twice more, push and land. Push off. And land.

Now cross your forearms, right forearm on top, left below. Crossing the forearms, you can tell that my heels left the ground. It would be preferable to walk forward so that you can keep your heels anchored when your forearms cross. Exhale to land, inhale to push off. Exhale to land, inhale to push.

Take turns, crossing each forearm on top. And land. Now we'll go a little bit higher with both hands and a little bit lower with both hands. Up end and down. It takes more trunk control to avoid bowing your spine when your hands are high, a little bit less when they're low.

High up and low. Both hands up left. Both hands down right. Both hands up right. Both hands down left up.

Up left, down right. Up right, down left. Crossing your forearms up and crossing your forearms down. Up end, and down end. Right forearm on top, left forearm on top.

Right end and left. Reverse it now. Left forearm on top, right arm on top. Left hand, right. Twice more.

Up end, down end. Hours of entertainment. Okay. Now, no surprise to you, you could change up your base of support. So standing only on your right leg, tucking your left foot in beside your right ankle, you start this whole project again, keeping your navel directly forward.

Change, standing only on your left. All the previous variations are possible. Standing on your right foot, cross your forearms. Cross your forearms keeping your navel straight ahead, and then standing on your left foot, cross end, cross end, twice more. And now turn around so that the back of your spine is towards the corner.

Check to see that you're symmetrically placed with respect to the corner and turning to your right, turn your pelvis, ribs, shoulders, neck, head and eyes so that your palms can land on the wall, push off and turn and your palms land on the wall. Now this requires rotation of your femur with respect to your pelvis, so this would be relative external rotation of the left hip as the pelvis turns to the right, and rotation of the pelvis, ribs, shoulders, neck, head, and eyes turning to the right, push off. Now, when you aim your pelvis to the left, this would be relative internal rotation of the left hip joint. Turning your pelvis ribs, shoulders, neck, head, and eyes to the left. Here we go.

Turn to the right hand. (tongue clicking) (fingers clicking) Turn to the left hand. (tongue clicking) (fingers clicking) And rotate. (tongue clicking) (fingers clicking) And rotate. Now, your eyes are the advanced team of your spine.

Move your eyes to the right when you're going to the right. See the right corner of your eye sockets and you'll turn, move your eyes to the left. So lead yourself around with the right and lead yourself around with the left. Stand only on your right leg. Turn and push, turn, push, turn, push Turn. Now standing on the left. (laughing) Good luck to me. Turn, push.

I'm not sure that I can do that for obvious reasons. I'm so limited in the ability to internally rotate and I'm so deranged on this side that I apologize that I cannot honestly get around with the bone rhythm sur-rotation. Turning to the right which is relative external rotation, that I can manage. But in order to turn to the left, I have to cheat a lot and go into extension and side bending. So if you're having trouble, there's a really good reason for it.

Okay, you can continue standing on one leg, or stand on two and vary the height of this. Rotate high. (tongue clicking) Rotate low. Rotate high end. Rotate low.

Reverse. Rotate high-end. Rotate low end. Rotate high end and low. Now you've seen so many variations that it gives you some ideas of how you can vary the stance: two legs, one leg, forearms crossing, arms going high, arms going low.

As I said, hours of entertainment. Thank you so much for being with me on Pilates Anytime.

Elastic Recoil Training of the Arms

Figure 1.7, Bottom Left; Figure 6.13 Bottom Row

Arm jumps with trunk rotation. Here you are seated. We'll keep the same spring. And have a seat so that your sitting bone will aim in the direction of the carriage.

You know, it's not going to stay planted there but at least it's aiming in the direction of. So both hands will be on the foot bar, turning your chest bone, which you're well prepared to do because we focus so much on thoracic rotation. Take off turn, turn, land, land with both hands to the left. Turn, turn, land, turn, turn, land. Rotate, pelvis, ribs, shoulders, head, neck, and eyes.

You've heard that before in this class. Last two. The new side awaits and we established fairly early on that there always have been differences between sides. There always will be differences between sides and Pilates instructors will always have work. Rotate as if your chest bone could shine a light above the foot bar.

Slide your shoulders down, rotate and land. Turn, turn, land. Turn, turn, both hands land simultaneously on the heels of your hands without letting your shoulders slide up or without letting your collarbones shorten. (tongue clicking) Last two, coming up. Time, now, to finish off with some foot jumps.

Single Arm Push Up

Figure 1.7, Bottom Right; Figure 8.4, Bottom Row

A single arm pushup on the disc. For this you'll need the lighter spring. I'll just change the springs up. Position yourself on a diagonal with respect to the chair pedal. Here's why I like to do that.

This is a notch between your thumb and the little finger mound on your hand, the thenar and hypothenar eminence. That nestles right over the padded corner of the chair pedal aiming your fingers in on a diagonal. And then your other hand will be on the disc, aiming inwards. The light from your chest bone will shine right between your hands. Now when the chair pedal lifts, this is the right hand on the chair pedal, aiming your right ASIS towards your thumb, your left thumb.

Now, standing firmly through your right foot, lift your left leg, hover your left leg up. Continue this hovering motion, steering your right ASIS towards your left thumb. Plant the sole of your left toes, the ball of your left foot, and continue on this campaign of keeping your pelvis and your shoulder girdle level with respect to the ground. When it's time for the new side, you'll just need to position your chair so you have room on the new diagonal. Position yourself so that the heel of your hand is right over the padded corner of the chair pedal.

Your other hand, either on the floor or on the rotator disk, is aiming inwards, so your fingers are aiming on a diagonal towards the point between the pedal and the disk. Tuck your toes under, collect your lower front ribs, and shifting your weight as is necessary, as much as necessary, as little as possible, to keep the weight steady on the disk. Hover one leg on one hand, creating a diagonal conversation between your foot on the ground and your hand on the disk, shifting towards the lateral line, towards the right hand and the right foot, still aiming your left ASIS towards your inner right thumb. So there you have it.

Roll Up on the Roller with Ring

Figure 1.8, Top Right; Figure 4.9 Center and Middle Right

Inside of the handles, inhaling, take the shoulder blades high towards your ears.

As you exhale, pull outwards with your thumbs, down with your shoulders, in with your abdominals. Tongue and eyes look down, tongue out. Reach your feet away from you to get a good counterbalance. Reach your fingers out and roll up some time today on the roller. Inhaling, elbows wide, no, that's what sets up, pull your shoulder blades wide to the side.

As you exhale, nod your nose downward, aim your sitting bones in the direction of the back of your knees and roll down. Inhaling, this time, we'll take an exhalation with rotation to the right. Turn to see the ground on the right side, rolling up. As I said some time today, at least I kept my feet on the ground, that's not always the case. Rotate more to the right, and as you exhale, turn to the right, but shift to the left.

Turn to the right, but shift to the left, and go down gradually, or else it will feel as if the elevator cable suddenly got snipped. Inhaling, pulling your thumbs wide. As you exhale, turn your gaze and your tongue down left. See the floor on the left side, pull outwards with your thumbs, in with your abdominals, and roll up, maintaining rotation to the left. Inhale, turn more to the left, rotating to the left, shift a little bit to the right.

Rotate to the left, but shift to the right, activating your left obliques. And with any good fortune, you will land right on your mic box, but that's better than landing on the ground.

Single Leg Kick

Figure 3.4 Upper Right

Aiming your gaze towards your crossed thumbs, bend your knee, draw your heel to your sitting bone once, twice, flex your foot and drive the sole of your foot towards the ceiling, pressing your elbows into the mat and drawing your lowest front ribs in. Change to the new side. Draw your heel towards your sitting bone once, twice, drive your shoulders down.

Draw all the abdominal layers in as if you could tighten the abdominal seatbelt across the head of the drum. Change, inhale once, twice, flex your foot and lift. Inhale once, twice, and flex. The reason for, flex your foot, the reason for keeping my foot pointed here is to activate the hamstrings for knee flection. And then when you press the sole of your foot towards the ceiling, that will intensify your abdominal action.

Once more, for this reason, point, point and flex.

The Shoulder Bridge

Figure 3.4, Third Row

Here we are ready for shoulder bridge with the bicycle. So position your heels in line with your sitting bones and your fingers reaching towards your heels. This will be a neutral bridge, exhale to lift, sending your knees away from your hip joints. Now place your hands underneath your pelvis, so adjust your shoulder blades down your rib wall to make room for your heels of your hands to support your sacrum.

A reminder that the lowest front ribs exhale slightly away from the ceiling. And you lift your chin just a little bit to assure that you don't have a flattened cervical spine. Now stand with the sole of your left foot firmly planted. Push off the ground with your right foot. Extend your right foot in the direction of the ceiling.

And here it is, foot-like tongue, reach your heel a long way from your right lung. Reach across the room and put your foot down. Stand your ground on your right foot, push off with your left foot, unfurl your left foot towards the ceiling. Aiming your left sitting bone towards your right ankle, reach across the room, the longest distance from the bottom of your left lung to your left big toe. Exhale, push up, shoom.

Inhale, flex your foot, reaching across the room, lifting your pelvis as your leg reaches. Once more, stand with your right foot firmly planted, push off the floor, unfurl your left leg, your pelvis lifts as if it could send your left foot a long way into space. Reach out now, stand both feet firmly, easy, let go with your hands and come to lie on your back.

The Double Kick

Figure 3.4, Second Row Left

The double leg kick now, turn your head, neck and eyes to the left so your right ear is towards the ground and hold on to your hands. The fingers of your right hand wrap around your left hand.

Bending your knees, pointing your feet, heels to your hips, once, twice, reach long, slide your hands towards your heels, lift your chest bone, look up underneath your eyebrows and that will bring you D rotate, Ronda look straight ahead. That's right. As you turn your head to the right, bring your left ear towards the ground, bending your elbows, bending both knees once, (clicking), twice, straightening both legs D rotate now, have your eyes be the advanced team in the spine. Eyes look up underneath your eyebrows and turn to the news side. Heels to your hips once, (clicking), twice, inhale lift.

(inhaling loudly) And once, (clicking), twice, inhale lift, collarbones wide, twice more. Once, (clicking), twice and elongate. (inhaling loudly) And once, (clicking), twice and elongate. Hover there, place your hands on the mat, tuck your toes under and start to oscillate here.

The Rocking

Figure 3.4, Bottom Right

Bending your right knee, take a hold of your right ankle or shin or your foot.

Tuck your left toes under, plant your left foot down. As you inhale, point your right toes towards the ceiling and hover your right thigh. As you exhale, kick your foot back into your hand and use that force to support thoracic extension, lifting your chest bone up a little bit. Exhale to land. As you inhale, aim hovering your right leg off the ground, toes up to the ceiling.

As you exhale, kick back, lifting your chest bone, lifting your gaze, lifting your chest bone more than your chin. Come down from here. Change now the new side. Plant your right toes under, your right foot on the ground, right hand on the ground and reach back and take a hold of something that belongs to you. Inhale to lift your thigh, your foot, exhale, kick back, lifting your chest bone, your gaze.

Inhale to a little higher, exhale to come up and land down. Once again, inhaling hip extension, exhale kick back, lifting your chest bone, lifting your gaze, kick back further and come on down from here. Keep a hold of your left foot and take a hold of your right ankle, shin, foot as well. As you inhale, toes up and then kick your feet back into your hands and lift your chest bone up. Make a movement conversation, a little bit of rocking, a little bit of oscillation.

Toes up, chest bone, toes up chest bone. (blowing) Lifting your chest bone more than your chin. (blowing) Four more. (blowing) Easy now, let go of your feet, plant your palms and aim your sitting bones back over your heels, spreading wide between your shoulder blades, dropping your heavy sitting bones in the direction of your heels. Inhaling fully to give lots of space between your low ribs and your pelvis.

Roll Up

Figure 3.9

As you exhale, nod your nose downward, press your tongue out to strengthen your abdominal action and roll, I forgot to stick my tongue out I was too busy talking sorry, roll up, the cheek bones of your face towards the sitting bones of your pelvis. Reach out and up. Turn your palms towards each other, exhale and roll down, gaze towards your abdominals. Change now so your left heel is in line with your left sitting bone, inhale, take your palms high above the top of your head. As you exhale, start now to bring your gaze down behind the cheekbones of your face.

As you roll up, stick your tongue out to intensify flexion. Inhale, put your tongue in, palms away from the top of your head and make your way to vertical, pressing the heels of your hands against each other, drawing the little fingers strongly and that will strengthen the ability to bring your shoulder blades down. Now put your right heel in line with your left sitting bone, nestle your left Achilles tendon, a roll up with this asymmetrical leg action, inhale to shrug your shoulders up, exhaling palms towards each other, roll up eyes and tongue. Inhaling, the cheek bones of your face towards the sitting bones of your pelvis. Reach out, roll down, even though both heels are on the left lane, intend to keep your spine in the middle lane right down the middle of the highway.

Now your left heel in line with your right sitting bone, inhaling, shoulders shrug wide apart and up. Exhale, settle the back of your lungs, the back of your ribs, nod your nose downward, inhale, exhale to come up, exhale to come down.

Supine Axial Rotation

Figure 4.1 Upper Right

Aim your right heel in line with your right sitting bone, and your left Achilles between your first two toes. Take your arms, so your palms are standing on the mat. Standing on the mat next to your head.

Now, press down with your right hand, and turn your pelvis and your feet to the left. Press down with your left hand, and turn your pelvis and your feet to the right, in oppositional rotation. Change to the midline, right heel in line with your tail bone. Change your right heel in line with your left sitting bone, pressing your palm, right palm, when your toes turn left, pressing your left palm when your toes turn right. Other side, left heel in line with your left sitting bone push with your left hand and rotate, push with your right hand and rotate.

Come to the center, push and turn, collecting your lowest front ribs to your pelvis. Standing your elbows up to the ceiling, and change to the other side. Left heel in line with the right sitting bone. You are well prepared now for versions of the roll up, right heel in line with your right sitting bone, inhale, take your palms high above your head,

Bridging with Rotation

Figure 4.1 Left

interlace your toes, or place the soles of your feet against each other. The interlacing of your toes we've done on, a couple of other class opportunities.

This time, we'll just assume that you're either entertained by it, or are so over it. All you want to do is just press the soles of your feet against each other and be done with it. Press the palms of the hands into the ground. As you inhale, slide your left foot on top. Turn your pelvis to one side and your head, neck and eyes to the other.

So it's a bridge with rotation, and come down, change the right heel on top. Press your elbow away. It's a bridge with rotation. One more each side, inhale to rotate, exhale to return, inhale to rotate, exhale to return.

Prone Longitudinal Rotation

Figure 4.1 Bottom Row

With your forehead on your hands, nestle your Achilles tendon of the left foot, with your right big toe and second toe, with your left toe, left big toe in line with your left sitting bone, rotate the pelvis and the lumbar spine in each direction.

Change your foot to the middle in line with your tailbone, and rotate, in each direction. Cross over the midline, left big toe in line with your right sitting bone. Make your way to the new side, right foot in line with right sitting bone, press with your left elbow, and aim both heels to the right. Press with your right elbow, and aim both heels to your left. Come to the center, left elbow makes the ground force and your heels turn, with the turning of your heels of course, comes the rotation of your pelvis, and your lumbar spine.

Making a ground force with your left elbow, and your right elbow. Then, turn your pelvis to the right, and towards the left, send your left knee away, send your right knee away. Knees or thighs stay in parallel, as your pelvis turns, around the head of your femur. When you press the heels of your hands against each other, that will activate your intercostals, and your upper obliques, land on the mat.

Bridging with Rotation

Figure 4.2 Top Row

Inhale to lift, while you're up, translate your pelvis to the right, and then translate your pelvis to the left.

So the right greater trochanter goes to the right, and the left greater trochanter goes to the left, or you could make up words like righter, lefter (laughs), shift to the right, press your right hand to the left, lift up your left foot, and put it down. Shift more to the right, stand on your left foot, and lift your right foot up, and put it down. Translate to the left. Stand left, lift your right leg up, and put it down. Shift more to the left, stand left, push your left hand to the right, and lift your left leg up.

Again, shift to the right, stand on the right, lift your left foot up, and come down. Shift more to the right, but stand on the left, press your right hand to the left, lift your right leg up. Inhale shift the left greater trochanter to the left. Stand your ground on the left side, lift up your right leg, shift more to the left, press your left hand to the right, and bring your leg up. So that's the neutral bridge, and come down from here.

Bridging with Lateral Translation

Figure 4.2 Bottom Row

Inhale wide to the lower lobes, filling up the back and the sides of your ribs, it's a neutral bridge. As you exhale, stand your ground, and lift the front of your pelvis up towards the ceiling, as if the eyes at your hip joints could see the ceiling above you, and then moving your pelvis over the head of your femurs, land the back of your pelvis, landing on your sacrum in neutral. Inhale upon arrival. As you exhale, plant your feet, buckle up from pubic bone up underneath your chest bone and stand up high between your shoulder blades, keeping the back of your neck long, and then land at the back of your pelvis. It's a neutral pelvis, neutral spine upon arrival.

This next time in the neutral bridge, we'll stay up. As you exhale, send your knees towards the walls, the back of your neck long, broad between your shoulders. While you're here, lift only one heel off the wall and put it down. And the other heel off the wall. Alternate lifting your heels.

You could have your hands at the front of your pelvis to feel that the bones of your pelvis are level and steady. One more each side, steering the front of your ankle high over your second or third toes. Land your pelvis. Here we go. Now bring your feet up just slightly higher, just a little bit higher. That will make it easier for the next one of dorsiflexion.

As you inhale, plant your feet, stand your ground on the wall, lift your feet up. Now, lifting one heel and the opposite forefoot or toes, alternate lifting one heel and the opposite toes. And if you would prefer to have your feet higher up the wall, even on the window sill, feel free until you get just the right amount of range. Standing high onto stilettos and low into Earth Shoes, referencing the '70s and the current decade of footwear. Now land both feet and land your pelvis.

Inhale to prepare, rotation comes next. As you exhale, lift your pelvis.

Bridge with Rotation & Pelvic Lateral Translation

Figure 4.2, Bottom Row; Table 14.1 #5

While you are up, rotate, turn your pelvis to the right, the light from your navel shines to the right, and then the light from your navel shines to the left. It's as if your pelvis could take a walk, steering your sitting bones towards your heels, turning your pelvis to one side. So when you turn to the left, the right ASIS goes to the ceiling.

The left goes towards the floor. When you turn to the right, the left ASIS goes towards the right, and the back one towards the floor. Land your pelvis. Come on down. Now we'll connect the rotation with the foot work. Inhale to prepare.

As you exhale, plant your shoulders and lift your pelvis straight up. Turning to the right, lift your left heel and your right forefoot, and rotating to the left. Alternate here. Meanwhile, as you rotate, both sides of the waist are intending to stay equally long. And the light from your knee cap shines directly at the ceiling.

Somewhere in the world, it's ski season, but not here, not now. We're aiming both knees straight ahead. Come to the center and land your pelvis. The next variation, next to last one, is a lateral translation of your pelvis. As you inhale, lift your hips up.

As you exhale, shift to your right, steady there. Lift your left foot off the wall, and put it on the wall. Shift more to the right. Stand your ground on your left foot, and lift your right foot off the wall, and put it on the wall. Now translate laterally to the left, like a typewriter carriage.

Lift your right foot up and put it down. Shift more to the left, and lift your left foot up. Now, if all is going reasonably well, interlace your fingers, plant the palms of your hands towards each other. Take a breath, why don't you. Inhale to shift to the right.

As you exhale, plant your right heel, your right foot, and lift your left foot. Now shift more to the right. Intensify the pressure of the heels of your hands towards each other. As you shift to the left, press your left hand to the right, lift your right foot off, and put it on. As you shift to the left, press your left hand towards the right.

Putting your foot onto the wall, come back to the center, palms towards the ceiling, broad between your shoulders, land the back of your pelvis.

Single Leg Bridge with Pelvic Rotation

Figure 4.2, Top Row; Table 14.1 #6

Now it's a single leg bridge, rotating your femur. Place your hands down on your pelvis or on the ground. This time, you'll rotate your pelvis around the head of your femur. Leave your right foot on the wall, and lift your left foot towards the ceiling, keeping your left knee bent.

As you inhale, lift in a neutral pelvis, neutral spine. Now turn your pelvis to the left, and externally rotating your left leg. As you inhale, turn your pelvis to the right as if your foot could go screwing into the ceiling like a light bulb. Unscrew your foot from the ceiling as you rotate towards your left. And as you rotate towards the right, the right thigh bone femur internally rotates.

Meanwhile, aim your left sitting bone towards your inner right ankle, long on the left side of your waist. Come back to the center, land your pelvis and change to the new side. As you inhale, one foot is suspended from the ceiling in parallel. As you exhale, plant your foot into the wall, lift straight up. Now turning towards your right, the light from your navel shines to the right.

And as you inhale, bring the right side of your pelvis towards the ceiling, internally rotating your right leg. Exhale to come down towards the right. Inhale, come up towards the ceiling and towards the left side. One more exhale to turn to the right. Inhaling, aiming your right sitting bone towards your inner left ankle.

Come to center, land your pelvis, and come on down from there. Roll to either side, come up from here.

Prone Upper Thoracic Lateral Translation

Figure 4.4, Top Left Pair

Here you are on your front, crossing the soles of your feet, the soles of your metatarsals, and the soles of your toes into the wall. If a wall is not available, no problem. You can intend one, but this will be a richer experience for the superficial back line and the spine extensors, if you can have a close chain opportunity for your feet.

Enough already, on with the move. So here you are on your front and your right palm is on top of the back of your left hand so that the knuckles, the large knuckles of your right hand are above your left wrist and your right wrist is above the knuckles of your left hand. Now place the center of your forehead in contact with the center of the back of your hand. Listening with your right ear to the right, slide the center of your forehead, the direction of your third eye, along your right forearm as if your right ear could listen beyond your right elbow. Slide back to center.

As you inhale, slide the center of your forehead along your middle finger in the direction of your left elbow. Left ear listens to your left elbow, hark, and come center. So this is a lateral translation of the upper thoracic spine. It's so difficult to activate that area, so we are taking a page from the Feldenkrais playbook. Thank you very much for the genius of Moshe Feldenkrais.

Now, when you bring your left ear to listen towards and beyond your left elbow, press the sole of your right toes, your right metatarsals into the wall so you can create a long diagonal from right toes to left ear. Start now, don't wait. Push the sole of your left toes, your left metatarsals into the wall so that your right ear can get some impetus from the ground force of your left foot. Side glide to the right, elongating the right side. Come back to center.

Do this once again, planting the sole of your right foot, your right metatarsals elongating and side a lateral translation, not to be confused with side bending or rotation. Instead, it's a side glide so your left ear can listen beyond your left elbow. And come back to center and then your right ear listens beyond your right elbow, creating a diagonal across your back body, the back functional line or the posterior oblique sling system. Now put the new hand on top and, as fascinating as that is, surely there must be some additional variations. Oh there are.

This time, instead of the middle of your forehead being in contact with the back of your hand, this time it will be the tip of your nose. Not to be confused with the side of your nose, That would be the tip of your nose. Place the tip of your nose in contact with the back of your left hand. Now, as you slide your nose, the tip of your nose, along the back of your left hand press with the sole of your left toes and bring your right ear towards and beyond your right elbow. Exhale to come to center.

Start now to press the sole of your right toes, as you inhale a lateral translation, left ear listens beyond your left elbow. One more of these, creating a strong diagonal from your left foot towards your right ear, beyond your right elbow. Meanwhile, back at the shoulder blades, they are nestled down on your rib wall. Come all the way over to that side and come to center. Place the soles of your toes, the soles of your metatarsals against the wall, back on up, and now we're going to build on the previous lateral translation using your gaze, the movement of your eyes, to facilitate spine extension, lateral flexion and rotation.

Come on to your front and plant the palm of your right hand

Prone Thoracic Extension, Forehead on Hands

Figure 4.4, Top #3, #4, and #5

on top of the back of your left hand. As before, aligning your large knuckles and your wrist. Your forehead, the center of your forehead is on your hands. And just before you give up on us and say, oh no, not that again, just wait, we've got some good tricks to connect your eyes with your spine. So here you are.

As you inhale, look up underneath your eyebrows. As you exhale, press your feet into the wall. Keep looking up underneath your eyebrows. Keep your forehead in contact with your hand. And here are your spine extensors at work.

Now look behind the cheekbones of your face and plummet to earth because when you look down behind the cheekbones of your face, that takes all the wind out of the sails of your spine extensors. Let's do that again. Looking up underneath your eyebrows, as you inhale, lift and hover. Now look to your right ear, the top of your right ear, side bend, pressing the sole of your left toes into the floor. Look up underneath your eyebrows and look towards your left ear.

Side bending to the left, pressing your right foot. Again, look up underneath your elbows, press your left toes, side bend to the right looking at your right ear. Look up and side bend to the left. Come back to the center and land on down. Put the new hand on top because every small change makes a difference.

Here you are with your forehead at the center of the back of your left hand. This time we're going to go into rotation rather than side bending. Look up underneath your eyebrows, plant your feet, inhale to lift. Now look towards your right elbow and towards the ceiling. Rotate to the right.

It's extension and rotation. Look up under the center of your eyebrows, move your eyes towards your left elbow, rotating, and then come back to center. Move your eyes and rotate your entire spine, thoracic spine and cervical spine, look to your right elbow, pressing the sole of your left foot and pressing the sole of your right foot, look up towards your left elbow. Rotate, come back to the center and land on down. Come up from here now.

And it's time for sombrero thoracico, with rotation and lateral flexion. And that means, here we go, press the pads of your thumbs and fingers

Prone Thoracic Extension, Hands at Top of Head

Figure 4.4, Bottom Row #3, #4, and #5

against each other and now your thumbs will be two inches from the top of your head. Create a closed chain opportunity for your spine extensors and the extensors of your hips by pressing the souls of your toes and your metatarsal heads into the wall. Now leaving your elbows where they are, as you inhale lift your hands up, making a hat for your head. As you exhale, lift your elbows up.

Now look up, underneath your eyebrows. And here you are in spine extension. Now look towards your right ear and side bend, and then look towards your right elbow, towards the ceiling. Rotate, come a little higher. Move your eyes up underneath your eyebrows and move your gaze towards the top of your left ear, side bending, pressing the sole of your toes into the wall, rotate and rotate and rotate.

I didn't tell you where, my mistake, aiming your gaze towards your left elbow. Look up underneath your eyebrows, side bend to the right, looking towards your right ear first, then move your eyes to the right corner of your eye sockets, as if your eyes could see the ceiling. Extension, side bending and rotation, and look up underneath your eyebrows. Look towards your left ear. Side bending.

And while you're there, rotation, pressing the souls of your toes into the wall. Come back to the center and come on down from this.

Figure 4.4, Bottom Row, Table 10.1 #12, #13, #14

And this time you'll press the pads of your fingers and thumbs together as if you were going to make a hat for the top of your head. This has been a affectionately named sombrero thoracico by my students in Madrid and in Barcelona. So here you are on your front with your elbows wide to the side.

Dorsey flex your ankles, tuck your toes under and position your thumbs about two inches or so from the top of your head. Now this position of your arms, of your humerus bones targets the thoracic extensors, the scapular depressors and the thoracic extensors, in the area of the lower trapezius. As you inhale, hover your hands up off the mat, keeping your elbows in contact with the mat. As you exhale, hover your elbows off the mat. Now look up with your eyes.

Don't move your nose, but move your eyes up underneath your eyebrows. Point both feet, plantar flex, and hover your chest bone. Lift your hands higher. Lift your elbows higher. Lift your chest bone higher.

Lift your hands higher. Lift your elbows. Lift your chest bone. Keep aiming your eyes up underneath your eyebrows. Look down behind the cheekbones of your face and you will come plummeting to earth.

Tuck your toes under. We'll start the whole project again. Nose down on the mat. As you inhale, hover your hands. As you exhale, hover your elbows.

As you inhale look up underneath your eyebrows, plantar flex your feet. And here you are hovering. Hands up, elbows up, chest bone lifts, hands higher, elbows wider, chest bone lifts, hands up, elbows, chest bone lifts. Look down behind the cheekbones of your face. Boom, come plummeting to earth.

Quadruped Hand to Foot

Figure 4.5 Lower Left

As you exhale, drive one foot back. As your abdominals lift you reach that leg long. While you're up lift long and hover. Touch the tip of your tongue to the roof of your mouth behind your upper teeth. Move your gaze up to see up underneath your eyebrows and draw your lowest ribs in.

Inhale to prepare. As you exhale drive one heel back. Inhaling, tongue up, gaze up, eyes up. Create a diagonal to stand on by pressing your right hand and your left knee. Create a diagonal to move from by drawing your left shoulder blade to the opposite pelvis.

Bend your knee, reach around and take a hold of something that belongs to you. Press the palm of your hand into the ground. Then your lowest ribs come in. Lift your chest bone, lift your gaze. The light from your chest bone shines forward.

And, because you did the high kneeling side leg circles, you'll be able to lift your thigh a little higher. Come down from here, inhale to prepare. As you exhale, create a diagonal to stand on with your left hand, your right knee. Create a diagonal to move from with your left pelvis and your right shoulder. Reach around and take a hold of your ankle, shin or foot.

Inhale to lift, exhale to lift a little higher. Inhale to lift, aiming your left ASIS toward your inner left right knee. Come down from here now. Latterly translate, shift over your right hand. The light from your chest bone over your right hand.

The light from the center of your pubic bone over your right knee, and shift over to the left side. Shift to the right. Hover your left knee off. Shift to the left. Hover your right knee off, Shift to the right.

Hover your left arm hand off. Shift to the left. Hover your right hand off. Shift to the right. Drive back with your left leg.

Drive forward with your left arm. Hover there, illuminating your right hand and your left knee. Reach around. So here you are standing on your right side. Come down now and prepare to laterally translate to the new side.

Reach long. Hover, so standing on your left side with the light from your navel aiming towards your inner left knee. Reach around and stay level as you lift a little bit higher.

Supine One Leg Circle with Neutral Spine

Figure 4.5, Top

Now we have the Pilates mat exercise, the single leg circle with the sole of one foot against the wall. Come to lie on your back and you plant the sole of your left foot firmly into the wall unfurl your right leg.

So that keeping your right knee bent your toes could be suspended from the ceiling as if by fishing line or clean dental floss. Now, press the palms of your hands against each other with the little finger side of the heel of your hands providing a bit more pressure to focus the lateral line of your arm connection with your ribs. That was a mouthful. Okay. Aiming you're right sitting bone towards your left heel, as you inhale, your right foot goes to the left, keeping your pelvis level for now.

And you can feel that your left hand pushes to the right. As you exhale circle down, start now don't wait, push your right hand to the left, and that can help keep you steady. So as your right leg goes left there's the oppositional pressure of your left hand to the right. Exhale. Start now to drive your right hand to the left.

We're going to do once more in this direction then reverse, inhaling right sitting bone to left heel, exhaling. Now reverse the direction. When your right foot goes to the left, your right hand presses. When your right leg goes to the right, your right hand moves to the left. Yeah, don't say that again.

Okay. So we have an oppositional pressure and an oppositional pressure in order, you might ask yourself "Why are we doing this?" In order to make a connection through the front functional lines and the anterior oblique sling system connecting the shoulder girdle with the pelvis for stability. Now let's do the new side and work in a few more cues. Plant the sole of your new foot and keep your knee bent, so that it'll be a little bit kinder for your hip joint. Now when your left foot goes to the right, so we'll cross the midline first, your right palm presses left.

Inhale to cross over. Meanwhile, keep the back of the pelvis steady. Exhale to circle down, plant the sole of your right big toe on the wall to keep you steady also. So there are many points of stability. Exhale to circle around, and we have one more in this direction.

One point of stability is the sole of your foot pressing firmly into the wall. Reverse the direction. Another point of stability are ground forces. Now the ground force will be the back of your pelvis pressing down. Yet another one would be the back of your shoulder blades pressing down.

And one more in this direction. Another one, the heels of your hands. So you can create all of these ground forces for stability. Easy now, come up from here.

Quadruped Spine Extension

Figure 4.5, Bottom Left; Table 14.1 #12

Come all the way up to hands and knees.

And in this case, you're going to have your palms against the wall, palms wide, fingers spread, steering your sitting bones wide across the room, ears between your upper arms. So do guard against a forward head. Gravity would take us there, but don't give in. Instead, open the eye at the base of your skull, the eye at the back of your neck so you can see the ceiling above you. Inhale to prepare.

We'll start with the left leg. As you exhale, drive the sole of your left toes back, with your left heel back, hover up your entire abdominal wall, lift long and hover. The higher your legs go the more leg goes, the more your abdominals lift. Now bend your left knee. Press the sole of your left foot towards the ceiling.

Press into the wall with your left hand, reach around with your right hand, and take a hold of your ankle, shin, your foot, lift your thigh, lift your abdominals, lift your chest bone and lift your gaze. Lift your thigh, lift your abdominals, lift your chest bone, lift your gaze. Easy. Let go of that slingshot leg. Plant the sole of your palm of your hand and come down from here.

I didn't mention earlier and I should, that your hands are just slightly wider than your shoulders creating a diagonal base of support there from your lower trapezius. Inhale, broad to the lower lobes of the back of your lungs. As you exhale, tuck your toes under, drive back, lengthening the front of your thigh and take off from the floor, reach back, bending your right knee. The sole of your right foot stands into the ceiling. Steady yourself on your right hand, reach around, take a hold of something that belongs to you.

Inhale. Thigh up, lower abdominals, lower front ribs, lift your chest bone, lift your gaze. Inhale to come a little bit higher. As you exhale, careful letting go of that, stand your ground on the wall and come down. We'll do one more each side.

Inhale to prepare, recreating a neutral pelvis, neutral spine. As you exhale, shoulder blades start their descent. Abdominals start their ascent. And somewhere in the middle, your leg takes off from that support from your pelvis and your shoulder girdle, bending your knee. Your footprint stands on the ceiling.

Your hand print stands on the wall. You have many points of support here. The ground forces to encourage abdominal support for the beginnings of spine extension. Lifting your gaze, lifting your chest bone, lifting your chest bone more than your chin. Easy now, let go of that.

Stand your new ground, inhale to prepare. As you exhale glide your shoulders down and wide. The sole of your right footprint opens behind you. Your abdominals hover as you reach long across the room, bending your right knee, the sole of your footprint towards the ceiling. And there's your foot, right where you put it earlier.

Lift your thigh, lift your abdominals, lift your chest bone, and do lift your gaze up. And up balancing all of your forces and come down from here.

High Kneeling Side Leg Circles

Figure 4.6 Upper Left

And then reach your arm away from you, and your pelvis will do a very contained cartwheel over the head of your femur. Circle your leg forward, up and around. Forward, up and around.

Once again, forward, up and around. Reverse. Back up and around, back up and around, back up. Sweep your arm over the top of your head as if your hand could be on the top of your head or as if it could cover your floor ear. Circle your knee, turning towards the floor and turning towards the ceiling, towards the floor, towards the ceiling.

Reverse towards the ceiling, towards the floor, towards the ceiling and the floor. Push off and come to the new side. As you inhale, your ear listens towards the side of your knee. Exhale to slide your palm down your outer thigh, reach your arm out and cartwheel over the femur head. Circle forward and around.

Forward and around. Ear listens towards the floor, towards your hand, back. You're using the weight of your legs circling to lengthen the connections between your ribs and your pelvis. Take your arm over the top of your head, forward up and around to the back. Turn your chest bone towards your hand, and turn your chest bone towards the ceiling, forward and around.

Reverse back and up and down, and back and up and down, back and up. Push off the floor. Push off the mat.

Side Lying Spine Articulation

Figure 4.9 Top Left

Now support your head on your arm. And rest here.

Have the idea that your right lung, your right ribs could sink, relaxing down to the ground. So you are in the direction of the ground, so that you are in thoracic side bending, inhaling, and roll the roller slightly towards you, bringing your left lung to the ceiling, exhaling your right lung in the direction of the ground. So it's thoracic side bending, turning your arm, palm up, turning your arm, palm down, inhale, exhale. Change your focus now to your pelvis, to your lumbar spine and rock your pelvis. Tail bone aiming down to the floor and tail bone towards the ceiling.

So this time, the focus is more on the motion of the pelvis rocking over the greater trochanter. So you have had inside bending, you've had thoracic side bending and lumbar and pelvis side bending, tail wagging. Place your hand behind your head, behind your neck. And as you inhale, drive your top knee forward, turning, rotating your chest bone, your ribs so your chest bone is towards the ceiling. Exhale as you turn your chest bone to the ground, aim your top side of your pelvis, your left pelvis back.

As your chest bone turns to the ceiling, your knee aims forward, exhale. Inhale into rotation and extension. Exhale, rotation and flexion. Make your way up from this, lying on your side and relocate the roller. This time, the roller is on the ground in front of you, parallel to the side of the mat.

Move yourself forward on the side of the mat so that the roller will be on the ground and won't run into the mat. Have your knee bent about 90 degrees. Knee at the same level as your hip joint, and then straighten your elbow of your top arm so that you rest your forearm on the roller. As you inhale, turning your chest bone and your navel to shine towards the floor. Well, I think that would have been an exhale.

Anyway, as long as you're breathing, let's try this. Exhale to go forward. Inhale to roll towards the back, keeping your elbow straight, exhale forward. When you have your elbow straight, there's more rotation of your trunk, which is what we came for. Exhale forward.

Inhale to go back. Now, leaving your leg on the roller, have your hand behind your head. And again, as the roller goes forward, turn your chest bone to the ceiling. As the roller goes back, turn your chest bone towards the ground. Inhaling, exhale.

Inhaling, pressing the roller or away and forward with your knee. Drawing it back with your pelvis. Change now so that your forearm is on the roller and the sole of your top foot is on the mat behind you. Pressing your top knee towards the ceiling and behind you. It's as if your pelvis could rotate backwards towards the left as your chest bone, arm, and hand go forward.

And then you come to the ceiling. Top thigh, knee goes back behind, thumb down and thumb up, once again, exhale. Inhale to come back. Make your way up from here. And the whole business occurs on the new side.

So move the roller on the other side of the mat. Come to lie on your new side. And the roller will be underneath your armpit. Rest your head on your arm. Sink your left lung, your left ribs towards the ground.

Thoracic side bending is gravity-assisted, and then inhale as if to fill up your right lung and thoracic side bending will draw the roller towards you. Exhale to the ground, palm down. Inhale, palm up. Again, exhale, palm down, inhaling, palm up. Now, put your focus on the, your pelvis, your lumbar spine, and especially on the ground force, the contact that your greater trochanter has with the ground.

Sure. I'll get right on it. Now, wag your tailbone, such that tailbone aims towards the floor, tailbone aims towards the ceiling. The focus of lumbar side bending. Keeping the roller underneath your armpit, put your hand behind your head as your top knee slides forward, turning your ribs, shoulders, head, neck, and eyes to the ceiling, and then slide your top knee back. Inhale in the direction of rotation and extension.

Exhale. Inhale, rotation and extension. Change now so that the roller is in front of you, and you are lying on your side. Your top knee, shin, and foot are in contact with the roller, and your forearm on the roller as well. Have your forearm in line with the bottom of your chest bone.

As you exhale, roll forward, thumb down, inhaling, roll back, thumb up, exhaling forward and back, and forward and back. Hand behind your head. The roller rolls forward. Your elbow aims back. It's as if you could unscrew your ribs from your pelvis, and as if you could unscrew your pelvis from your ribs, rotating them in opposite directions.

Stand your top foot in contact with the ground, knee towards the ceiling. As your knee aims back behind you, have the intention of chest bone and ribs rolling the roller forward, thumb down, and then knee towards the ceiling. Exhale away, inhaling towards, exhale away, and towards.

Prone Swan with Roller

Figure 4.9 Bottom Right

I'm going to back up a little bit, therefore the roller can stay on the mat the whole time. Have your arms wide apart towards the end of the roller so that the roller is on your forearms, just distal to, just further away than your elbows.

Inhale, roll the roller away from you. Shrugging your shoulders up to hide your neck. Hide your ears, palms out, thumbs down. This is internal rotation, scapular elevation, which is accompanying fluxion of the spine. Exhaling, externally rotate your arm, thumbs up, palms towards each other.

External rotation, pointing your feet, plantar flexion. And here you are collecting your lowest front ribs. Inhale, feet flexed, palms out, thumbs down, shoulders up. Exhale, shoulders descend. Press downwards with your forearms, inwards with your abdominals and upwards with your spine.

Inhale to roll the roller away from you. Exhaling as you roll the roller towards you. Bend one knee. Press down with your right forearm and look over your shoulder. There's your foot waving at you.

Inhale to roll the roller away from you. Thumbs down, internally rotating at the hip joints, exhaling, pressing down with your left forearm. Turn your shoulder girdle to the right. Come down from here. Once more, inhale, roll the roller away from you.

Internal rotation, external rotation, both knees bent as if, as if you could cradle the back of your head in the soles of your feet. Some can, but I can imagine. Roll down from here.

Supine on Roller

Figure 4.9 Center and Middle Right

Scoot down so your tailbone is on the edge. And using your arms to help, make your way down to lie on your back.

Here you are lying on the roller in a fairly neutral pelvis, neutral spine, meaning that there will be a one to two finger space opposite your navel between, wait for it, between the posterior spinous process of your third lumbar vertebrae and the roller. Okay. All right. There can be a tendency when lying on the roller without even noticing it, to plant the soles of your feet, drive a posterior pelvic tilt and press the posterior spinous process of the lumbar spine into the roller. Don't do that. Keep a little bit of space opposite your navel.

The ground forces will, the contact with the roller will be the thoracic spine, the spine between the shoulder blades. That's the main ground force and the sacrum, the convex aspect of the sacrum. Best not to use the back of your head pressure into the roller as a stabilizing force that won't do any favors for your whole self. Now, roll the whole central axis of yourself slightly to the right, and slightly to the left, from side to side. Press the tongue to the inside of your right cheek.

Roll to the right. Press your tongue to the inside of the left cheek. Roll to the left. Bending your elbows. If your elbows touch the mat easily, you can do this.

Cross your, or actually take your palms together, your fingers interlaced. Pressing the roller to the right, your inner right tongue to the inner right cheek. Press the roller to the left, your inner left cheek. Now, if, like the majority of people, if you find that one side is reasonably steady, and the other side a little bit lost in space, here's a trick. Let's just say that you need to practice rolling to the left.

So push with your right foot and roll to the left, and press your tongue to the inside of your right cheek. That will serve as a counterbalance and make you more able. to roll to the left side, without rolling off. Opposite to that, if you need to practice rolling to the right and balancing on the right, press your tongue to the inside of your left cheek, and that will not only is it attractive, but that will let you roll more to the right side. So a little a tip about your tongue, okay.

Bring your arms down to rest and lift one heel, lift the other heel, lift one forefoot, and then the other foot, lift both heels and both forefeet, all forefeet, heels up and toes up, alternating one heel and the opposite toes. Whichever option, wow, whichever option you prefer for your arms is just fine. And you of course know where we're going with this. Inhale to shift to your right, stand your ground on your right side as you exhale, have the idea that you could tighten your abdominal seatbelt like tightening the skin on the head of a drum, stand your ground on your right side and return your left foot to the ground. Inhale, shift to the left, exhale, stand on your left side and bring your right thigh to your torso.

Inhale shift, exhale anchor and lift, inhale shift, exhale, press the sole of your left big toe down and lift. Now it's something similar, minimizing the shift, minimizing the lateral translation of your central axis. Stand your ground by internally rotating a little bit from the knee down, internal rotation of the tibia, so your toes are towards the midline and your heel away. Minimize the shift. Oh, I can tell I'm cheating already (chuckles).

Minimize the shift, exhale to lift, inhale to lower. Minimize the shift, pressing the sole with the hands. What are those called? The palms of your hands towards each other not letting the roller roll towards the supporting side, stand your ground in the center. Much more demanding, more subtle, and you know, no one was born doing this, but no one will pass away doing it either because you're very close to the ground, it's not a high risk exercise.

Okay, reach for the ring, holding on the ring with your thumbs on the inside and your fingers on the outside. Fingers outstretched, inhale, take the ring high above your head. As you take the ring high above your head, let the back of your low ribs rest on the roller. Not pressing your lumbar spine into it, no, the back of your sacrum and the back of your ribs, don't flare your front ribs, collect them to your pelvis. Inhaling, shrug your shoulders up, exhale, pull outwards with your thumbs downwards with your shoulder blades and draw the ring down towards your thighs.

Again, inhale, the ring goes in front of you, in front of your face, exhaling sliding your chest bone towards your pubic bone as you take the ring above your head. Shrug your shoulders up, training your lowest back ribs to stay in contact with the roller and come down. Put the ring down, place your hands, your elbows, your arms on the roller. Now, standing your ground, exhale to lift, inhale to crossover, turning your head, neck and eyes away from the leg that's crossing over. Exhale to lift, inhale to cross over turning your head, neck and eyes.

Elbows bent, plant the sole of your big toe, tighten the seatbelt of your abdominals low and tight across the bones of your pelvis. Doing your best to keep the sacrum steady on the roller not letting the lumbar spine rock towards the roller and away. As you inhale, oh, I forgot that, pardon me. I got all fascinated with the lumbar spine again. The palms of your hands are pressed against each other fingers interlaced.

Plant the sole of your right foot firmly, press your right hand towards the left. Lift up your left foot, cross over, uncross and come down. Exhale to lift, inhale to cross over, uncross and down reaching your fingers separately towards the ceiling. As you exhale, take one arm high, the other arm low, settling the back of your low ribs in contact with the roller. Lengthening away from the center, one arm high, the other arm low.

Exhaling, right shoulder blade slides down and wide, inhale to come up timing the turning of your head, neck and eyes with your arms above your head, putting it together as you exhale, plant the sole of your right big toe, the sole of your right foot. When your right arm goes high, your left leg is lifting. As you exhale, crossing over the midline, turning your head, neck and eyes uncross and come down (chuckles). Maybe not as fast as I came to earth, lifting one arm in the opposite leg, crossing over the midline, timing the turning of your head, neck and eyes. Of course you can keep this hand on the ground for support as you like and then challenge yourself to hover it just above the ground, crossing over, interesting, uncross and come down.

You know, sometimes you surprise yourself. I was thinking, "oh, I'm gonna have such a hard time "balancing on the left leg." I was almost off the roller on the right side and come down, okay.

Neck Pull with Bridging

Figure 4.9 Center and Middle Right

Exhaling, nod your nose downward, roll your head, neck and shoulders up. While you are up, it's an undulating bridge. Your pelvis lifts up, just as you rehearsed, lifting your pelvis up, roll your shoulders, neck and head down.

Inhale to prepare as you exhale, head, neck and thoracic roll up and your lumbar spine comes down, and undulating see-saw. The pelvis starts to come up and the rest of your spine comes down. Cervical, thoracic flexion, rolling up and rolling down. Relocate so that your tail bone is near the edge.

Standing with Roller & Ring

Figure 4.10 Right

Now, put the ring between your ankles, just above your ankle bones, between your lower shins, and take the roller in your hands with your arms wide and your palms outside on the roller.

As you inhale, take the roller high above your head. As you exhale, draw your inner thighs towards each other, a force of abduction, and rise to your toes. Lower your heels, turning pelvis, ribs, shoulders, neck, head and eyes, rotating to one side. And turning pelvis, ribs, shoulders, neck, head and eyes. Whoops, keep the roller high above your head.

High above your head. Now, drawing inwards with your inner thighs and with your shins, hover your heels just barely off the ground. And as if your pelvis could turn to the left, pelvis turns opposite the ribs, shoulders, and I'm going to just look directly at you. Come back to the center. When the ribs and shoulder girdle turns one direction, it's as if your pelvis could turn in the other.

Shoulders descending, not holding the roller up with your shoulders, but holding the roller up with the outside of your ribs.

Standing with Roller & Ring

Figure 4.10 Right

So you put the roller between your shins, above your ankles, thumbs on the inside of the ring. As you inhale, take the ring high above your head. Exhale, pull outwards with your thumbs, downwards with your shoulders, inwards with your abdominals, and upwards with your spine. Inhale to bend your knees, turning everything to one side and sweep the ring on the diagonal.

Turn everything towards the other side. Stay on this side, bending your knees. Inhale, sweep the ring high, exhaling, drawing the tops of your inner thighs towards each other. Come down from here now.

Standing with Roller & Ring

Figure 4.10 Right

As if you could have a light touch on the accelerator, aim your ring foot sitting bone towards the opposite ankle bone.

If all's going reasonably well, let go of the roller and hm, don't be greedy, Elizabeth, but you could try to lift your heel off the ground. Change now to the new side, steady the ring, and plant your metatarsals onto the ring. Here you are on your new side, leveling your pelvis, a light touch on the accelerator. Plant the sole of your big toe. Extend your fingers just a little bit and that can help with your balance.

Hover your heel up and down.

Squats Standing on a Roller

Figure 4.10 Left

Holding onto the wall, one foot on the roller, other foot on the roller, roll the roller just a little bit, forward and back, forward and back. One hand off, other hand off, and hands close to the wall. Roll a little bit forward and back. Now, take your feet a little bit wider, wider than shoulder width.

Aim your fourth toe straight ahead. As you aim your sitting bones back behind you, work your hands down the wall, steer your fourth toe straight ahead, and your knees forward over your fourth toes. Bring yourself up, add rotation now, steering your knees forward, turn your ribs, shoulders, head, neck and eyes, make your way up from there, drawing your right sitting bone back, turning away from there, easy on the dismount.

Lateral Translation of Thorax & Pelvis

Figure 6.1 Top Row; Table 13.1A #2A & #2B; Table 14.3 #1 & #2

Now, please come to lie on your back with your pelvis on the platform. Your ribs, head and shoulders in contact with the carriage.

Right, it will be just fine to have the back of your waist, L3, on nothing. So right opposite your naval spine, there's a space there and you're in a neutral pelvis, neutral spine. Now, crossing your arms across your torso so that the weight of your ribs is rest heavy on the carriage, I'm going to put my hands over the front of the ASIS in order to help us stabilize the pelvis. It's not necessary to do this with a partner. If you have an instructor available, they could help you with this.

Otherwise, you'll be very safe on your own. Anchoring the back of your pelvis, slide your ribs towards the left side. That's right, inhale to the back of your left lung, exhale to come to center. As you inhale to the back of your right lung, slide the carriage to the right side. And come back to center, continue this action.

As you slide to your left, I'm keeping your right ASIS steady and come back to the center, and then slide to your right. The idea is to create a parallelogram, continue. A parallelogram like relationship between the ribs and the pelvis, lengthening the connective tissue of the quadratus lumborum and other structures that connect the ribs and the pelvis. Now it's the client's, it's every client's tendency to move into side bending. So do your best to filter out the side bend and keeping your collarbones level and steady as they go across.

Now keeping the back of your right, of your left pelvis steady cross your whole right thigh over your left thigh crossing over there and again continue this action of the side to side shift. As you do this, create a neutral pelvis neutral spine and keep the back of your ribs, the back of your lungs heavy down onto the carriage so that you are coordinating this motion through the sling system rather than poking your ribs towards the ceiling. Uncross the current thigh and cross the new thigh on top. When your left thigh is over it will be easier to move to the right and come back to center, inhale a lateral translation to the left. Meanwhile, the chest bone is heavy down onto the carriage.

Last two coming up, I'm pressing more strongly with my right hand when you go to your right, I'm pressing more strong with my left hand when you go to your left, doing your best to edit out the side bending. Uncross the current thigh and now place the soles of your feet onto me. So here I am functioning as a wall. Stand firmly here, press strongly with your right foot and slide your ribs to the left and come back to center. Press strongly with your left foot and slide your ribs to the right, press and go the opposite way right, inhaling.

Now for us going reasonably well I'm just going to reach across here and put a little bit of tractioning sliding to your left, that's right, sliding to your right, long on the right side of your spine as you go to the left, get on over there Norries, that's right. Push with your foot, push with your that's right create a ground force, that's fine that's your easy side we knew that. Press with your right foot and move to the left, press with your left foot and move to the right and press with your right foot and move to the left. Now put the soles of your feet down and if you have a helper that would be me. Give me your hands, roll up from here and it's time to spin around.

Turn around now so that your pelvis is on the carriage and your feet are on the carriage also, that's right. And we're going to just adjust this platform so you have some cushion for your head. Come to lie, going down here first coming to lie on your back that's right. So here we are, let me turn these around just a moment so they support your head and we need to move this down underneath your ribs, okay. We're back with you now at a better angle, you can see that Norris has his pelvis and his feet supported by the carriage and the ribs, shoulder, girdle and head supported as well.

You can see also that I've put a couple of towels underneath Norris's head. Better to have a little pillow wing of the head that encourages the chest bone to glide more easily towards the pelvis and helps to put the person in better contact with their abdominal sling system rather than the spine sling, the back of the body sling system that has a name it's posterior oblique sling system. Now it's my job as the helper, the instructor to put my hands around the hip crease here and put a little bit of traction so that now, Norris shift to your left lengthening the left side of your waist, exhale to come to center. As you inhale shift to the right side, exhale, come to center, inhale to the back of your left lung, and you'll shift to the left, inhale to the back of the right lung and you'll shift to the right. Now for the next variation keep your left leg exactly as it is and cross your right thigh over.

When your right thigh is crossed over I'll put a little bit of traction aiming my sitting bones back, lengthen the left side of your waist and come to center, inhaling length on the right side of your waist. Even though this has no springs attached and it's not a strength exercise, it's quite beneficial in terms of addressing the ease of mobility of the thoracic spine and of the pelvis. And as I mentioned lateral translation is a gateway to side bending which helps with a rotation and extension. Now uncross the current thigh and plant the soles of your feet onto me. So here you are standing firmly to here, but not too firmly I'll also go backwards, all right.

Now this is the, when you were lying on your ribs on the carriage you are pushing with the opposite foot to move. Now you push with the same side foot, push with your left foot and you'll move your pelvis to the left push with your right. That's your left foot sorry, push with your this left foot on my right and slide to that side, that's right. Come back to center inhaling, aiming your tailbone towards the left and come center, inhaling, aiming your tailbone to the right. And I can help make the movement a bit more accurate if I provide some tractioning this way so you'd lengthen the side of a waist to which you were going and lengthen here, correct.

Pressing with your right heel you slide up this way and you slide over that way. Now take your feet off me, put your feet on the carriage, roll up here and here we go.

Supine Femur Circles Alternating Hip Rotation

Figure 6.2 Top Left; Table 10.5 #4; Table 13.2 #1A; Table 14.3 #4

And now you'll set to three red springs. Three red springs on the heavy setting and I use the, I leave the yellow spring on as well. These loops are now going to go on the back of your knees.

Roll from your side onto your back and place these loops around the back of your knees. You'll now put your freed up hip joints into motion with internal rotation at your hip joints and Dorsey flection at your ankles, exhale, lower your heels into the springs heels close to the carriage, both knees open wide to the side toes touch briefly and then keeping your knees bent your feet separate. As you exhale, aim the heavy corners of your pubic bone down in the direction of the carriage. As you inhale, let the back of your lungs settle into your rib basket on the carriage. Twice more here driving your heels down in the direction of the ground heels close to your sitting bones, inhaling shoulder plates resting on the carriage.

It's internal rotation, sitting bones wide, toning your abdominals from pubic bone to chest bone. Inhale. Did I say inhale or exhale? One of the two, but it would be wise to exhale here, okay. Exhale now and inhale to open. Reverse the direction, as you exhale, all the abdominal layers tone in a neutral pelvis, neutral spine, inhaling, anchoring your sacrum down into the carriage.

Exhale, collecting from pubic bone to chest bone, inhaling, twice more here. As you exhale, in this case, the sitting bones would draw towards each other. And as you inhale, the sitting bones would widen.

Supine Single Leg Abduction & Adduction

Figure 6.2 Top Right; Table 10.5 #5; Table 13.2 #1B

Now, bring your shins parallel to the ceiling and your palms together, your fingers interlaced. Now your shins are parallel to the ceiling and you're in more of a tabletop position.

Flex the foot that opens, as you inhale, aim your navel towards the steady side leg, pressing your back hand into your front hand or the right hand into the left hand. Exhale to close, inhale to open. Exhale to close. When this leg opens, flex your foot, that will strengthen your abdominals and aim your navel towards the vertical femur. That will help to keep your pelvis level and steady here using your leg as a weight to challenge the ability of your pelvis to stay steady.

When you turn your head, neck and eyes away from the opening leg, that helps to counterbalance the weight of the leg and helps to keep your torso more stable. But wait, there's more, oh, heavens. Now press your, when this leg opens, press this side hand that way, and that will awaken the anterior oblique sling system or something. And then this palm presses this way for the anterior oblique sling system. And finally, if you just don't have enough to do yet, you can press your tongue into the cheek of the steady side leg.

So let's say that this leg is staying steady, press your tongue to that side and turn your head to that side. And of course you can't talk, but you can still breathe. And you can notice the connection of the use of your tongue to the use of your abdominals.

Standing Lunge Hip Rotation

Figure 6.2 Bottom Left

So when you get started, you'll have the box placed asymmetrically, long box on the side of the carriage where you're standing. Standing with your foot close to the foot bar, place your other leg on top of the box.

Yes, it looks as if you're mounting the fire hydrant. Now, bending both elbows as you exhale, lower your pelvis in the direction of the ground, and then use your hand to slide the carriage back and come forth. Lower and slide, and come back. Gently now, because this is an unusual move that gives some length to the tissues from the pubic bone to the side of the femur. Now, as you lower and use your hand to slide back, turn your pelvis, ribs, shoulders, neck, head and eyes as if you could look over your shoulder.

Again, lower slide, rotate, turning your pelvis away from your femur, exhale, lower slide, and rotate, which is relative internal rotation of the right femur, lower, internally rotate. Now to come out of this, use your arms to help drag your heavy leg off the box. Let your leg plummet to earth and go, "Wow, that's different." Walk around to the other side, reset the box. Now, there always have been differences between sides. There always will be differences between sides and Pilates instructors will always have work.

All right, on the second side, lower your pelvis as if you could lower your hip joint below sea level, below the level of the box, use your arm to slide the box back, elongating this distance at the top of the femur, lower and come forth. Exhale, slide. Inhale to come forth, twice more here, coaxing gently, but not pushing too far beyond your limits. Slide back, now turning pelvis ribs, shoulders, head, neck, and eyes. And come back.

On this side we'll add a, the idea that you're bringing your heel in the direction of the same side shoulder blade. Lower, turning pelvis, ribs, shoulders, head, neck, and eyes. Once more here, lower, slide. Meanwhile, back at the shoulders, they're sliding down your back also. Using your arms to help, drag your leg along the box.

Standing Lunge Hip Rotation

Figure 6.2, Bottom Left; Table 14.3 #7

You'll need the long box on the carriage and the foot bar on its medium height position. Norris has a blue spring and I have a yellow. Facing the foot bar, you'll place your thigh on the box with your ankle in dorsiflexion slightly off the back corner of the box, and then bending both elbows, put your forearm on the foot bar and your hand on the foot bar as well. Your supporting foot is forward even with the frame. As you inhale, bend your knee and then place your foot bar hand on the box and push the box back as you bring your pelvis towards the foot bar, lower your pelvis further.

Bring the box forward and start again. Inhale to bend. As you exhale, slide the box back using your hand so your inner thigh is getting lengthened along the box. Lower your pelvis, and come forward. Third time, we'll add on inhale to bend, exhale to push back, turn towards your supporting leg, turning pelvis, ribs, shoulders, neck, head and eyes, and that's internal rotation of the leg that's on the box, bending your knee as if you could bring your heel towards the opposite shoulder.

Now you change to external rotation, turning pelvis, ribs, shoulders, neck, head and eyes, and looking over your shoulder to see that that foot is still there. Inhale to bend. Exhale to push back, turning pelvis, ribs, shoulders, neck, head and eyes into internal rotation, drawing your heel towards your opposite shoulder, and turn pelvis, ribs, shoulders, neck, head and eyes. Last time on this side. Inhale to lower.

Exhale to push back. Rotate, turning your pelvis so the light from your naval and the light from the chest bone, aha, and the light from your eyes sees over your shoulder. Turn towards the box. Using your arms to push yourself up, drag your inner thigh off the box. It will come plummeting to earth, and you go, "Oh!" As strange as that move looks, it sure does feel different and better when it's over.

Change to the new side now. Here you go. Move the box asymmetrically. Plant your supporting foot near the frame. Your new thigh comes onto the box. About 90 degrees of knee flexion with your ankle off the edge.

Your outside forearm is on the bar, the inside hand on the box. As you inhale, lower your pelvis. As you exhale, have the idea that your pelvis comes towards the foot bar as you push the box back. Lower your pelvis further and come in. Again, inhale to bend, exhale to slide back.

Pelvis comes forward, and your leg goes with the box. And come forward. Third time, we add rotation. Inhale to lower. Exhale to push back, turning towards your supporting-side leg, into internal rotation, drawing your heel towards your shoulder blade.

Turn back around and turn towards your leg. Inhale to lower, exhale to push back. Internally rotate, turning the light from your navel, the light from your chest bone, to see over your shoulder and look at your own foot waving at you. Inhale to come back. Once again, lower, push.

Rotate, pushing the box with your arm. You can turn your forearm away from the bar, palm-up. And come back in, using your arms to help push yourself up. Sliding your inner thigh off the box, it comes plumetting to earth.

Standing Medial Hip Glide

Figure 6.2, Bottom Right

Now we'll bring the headrest down and focus on a medial hip glide.

You'll be standing with your supporting foot aiming at the shoulder rest. And Norris, you'll bring your heel close onto the foot bar. I'll bring my foot further away. Norris goes onto the box, and I'll take a dive down to the carriage. As you inhale, push out.

Exhale to bend in. Make sure that your sole of your big toe and your heel are in contact with the foot bar. You're in parallel. Inhale to push out. Now aim your right sitting bone towards the left so your pelvis comes onto your femur head and your femur head into your acetabulum. Sure, I'll get right on it.

Inhale to bend. Exhale to push out. Now you change to external rotation. Heel is below the bar. Your midfoot is on the bar.

Inhale to glide out. Wag your tailbone towards the supporting side. Inhale to push out. Aim your sitting bones up and back to where the ceiling meets the wall behind you. Now you change to internal rotation.

Pigeon toe your thigh so your toes are below and your heel above. Inhale to drive out. Exhale. Now encouraging congruence of your femur head in the acetabulum, and no surprise to you, getting some resilience in the tissue of posterior hip capsule. (chuckles) Now, using your arms to help, easy coming up. Take your foot off the bar, go, "Oh! "That's different!" Now the new side. Change your box, Norris, as you need.

Your supporting foot is in line with the shoulder rest, and your heel will be, you'll be on the back edge of the foot bar. There you go. I'm on the forward edge. And then your forearms are on the box and mine are on the carriage. Planting your first ray, that's the big toe and your heel, in contact with the foot bar, inhale. Your left knee extends.

Exhale, snugging your pelvis over the head of your femur. Inhale to glide out. As you return, wagging your tailbone towards the risers, and as you return, aiming your sitting bones up and back to where the ceiling meets the wall behind you. Change now to external rotation. Your heel is below and your toes above the bar.

You nestle your midfoot right over the curve of the foot bar. Remember in external rotation to steer your knee wide, as if you could aim your knee over your fourth toe. One more of these in internal rotation. That's external rotation, my mistake. Now turning in, toes below and heel above.

As you slide the carriage in, think sitting bones widen. Inhale to slide out. As the carriage comes in, sitting bones widen and sitting bones up. One more, inhaling. Exhaling, tail wagging towards the risers.

Use your arms to help. Easy now. Bring yourself on up.

Bridging with Rotation

Figure 6.3 Top Left; Table 10.5 #6; Table 13.2 #4A & #4B; Table 14.3 #5

Now it's time to focus on the rotation of the pelvis and the lumbar spine, turning the pelvis around the head of the femurs. Change the springs for this. You'll need to have two red springs.

So make sure that you take the other additional springs off. And you can have the bar high. Or you can have the bar low. My preference is to have the bar high. Because that will make more demands on the rotation of the pelvis and the lumbar spine.

When you're new to this and are more restricted in terms of hip flexion or knee flexion, then by all means start with the foot bar lower. Come to lie from your side onto your back. Have the front of your heels in contact with the foot bar. And have your heels in line with your sitting bones. Our hips joints are in parallel.

Now, cross your right leg behind your left. So, this right foot is going to go behind the left foot. And rest on the fifth metatarsal on the side of your foot. Not to push back because that fifth metatarsal isn't made for weightbearing, but just to rest there. As you inhale open your right knee.

Stand firmly through your left foot. And as you exhale this open right knee provides the invitation for your pelvis and your lumbar spine to rotate. Inhale and rotate more to the right, exhale to close, and land. Again, inhale to open your right leg. As you exhale anchor your left leg.

And turn your pelvis, your lumbar spine to the right. And bring the back of your left shoulder blade, the back of your upper left lung onto the carriage. Close, and land. Now, we start with the second variation, which starts the same as the first. Inhale to open, exhale.

Anchor and turn to the right. While you are up translate your pelvis rhythmically to the right and to the left, and to the right and left. To the right and left. Create a ground force through the back of your left shoulder so that your pelvis and lumbar spine continues its rotation to the right and also a translation to the right, giving more of an opportunity for a medial hip glide on the left side. Inhale to close, exhale to land.

We'll take those two variations on the next side. Anchoring the front of your right heel in line with your right sitting bone. Inhale, the left knee opens. As you exhale your right shoulder stands its ground. And you turn, rotating your pelvis and lumbar spine towards the left, creating an axis of your right femur around which your pelvis turns.

Close your left leg towards your right. And land in neutral sacrum. Inhale to open, as you exhale reach your right knee away from your right ear. And turn your pelvis and your lumbar spine. Meanwhile, back at the lower ribs, rather than letting them flare forward into hyperextension at the thoracolumbar junction, don't do that.

Settle down here with your front ribs towards your spine. And close, again, inhale to open. This left leg provides the invitation. Exhale, turn towards the left, settling your low front ribs. Now, while you're up translate your pelvis in a rhythmic fashion.

Left, right. (clicking) Left, right. (clicking) Pulsing, gently pulsing. Coaxing a little bit more length into a myriad of tissues. While your pelvis is rotating to the left what's implied here is that the light from your chest bone is aiming slightly to the right, creating a diagonal of the anterior oblique sling system. Can you tell I like that move? Close this left thigh, and land.

Third variation on the first side. Make sure that this left heel is in line with its same side sitting bone, not in the center, not in the right lane. Inhale to open, starts the same as the first. Exhale, turn, lift to the right. While you are up adjust this foot so that you're standing on the sole of your toes and your metatarsals.

Doesn't have to be the first way, the big toe, it can be the middle toes. Slide back and forth. As you slide back rotate to the right. As you slide forward rotate more to the right. So, what's to keep you from just rolling into the ocean?

Well, the back of your left shoulder blade, the lobe of your upper left lung, they are staying here in the room on the carriage. And the rest of you is spiraling towards the ocean. As you slide back, remember that the lower front ribs collect to your pelvis. We're not going here, that would be too much compression at the thoracolumbar junction. Close your right leg, de-rotate, and land.

Anchor the front of your right heel in line with the same side sitting bone. Inhale to open, exhale, turn to the left. The left femur is providing the invitation. Adjust while you're up onto the ball of your left foot. Push and close, spiraling to the left and spiraling more to the left.

Inhale to slide back. I know it's Pilates 101, isn't it? Don't turn your head during a bridge, unless you're in Pilates Anytime. (laughs) That's the exception to the rule. When you slide back you rotate more to the left. When you slide forward you rotate more to the left, encouraging a gravity-assisted rotation.

Inhale to close, exhale to land.

Quadruped Thoracic Rotation w/Lateral Translation

Figure 6.3 Top Right, Bottom Left and Bottom Middle; Table 10.5 #7

Now we'll focus on a thoracic rotation. For that you'll need no springs at all. So take off the yellow, and take off the three red. Now, depending on your height of the Reformer, you can either use a box for kneeling, or you can kneel on a mat on the ground.

I'll use a box. If you have a Reformer without legs, then of course you won't need a box. You can just use a mat next to the Reformer. Lining up the box in line with the carriage, and having the carriage all the way home. Have your knees, say shoulder width apart, give yourself a wide and sturdy base.

The foot bar hand reaches across and pulls the carriage steady. And the other hand is going to go on this shoulder rest. Launch your head, well don't launch your head, but put your head in the far corner of the carriage, so that your shoulders can be down. Now pulling towards you, with the lower hand and pushing away with the upper hand. Push with the, knee that's closest to the Springs and then push with the knee closest to the risers, inhale to glide, exhale to return, inhale to glide, moving your eyes opposite the direction, in which the carriage is moving.

Inhale to glide. Change the top hand, to the new shoulder rest. Inhale to glide, exhale to return. This would be turning your lungs or spiraling your lungs around your heart. Turning towards the risers and turning more towards the risers.

Eyes go opposite the direction. Now come onto your forearms. Bend both elbows and, as you inhale slide so far to the side, that even though your chest bone is between your hands, you have a long distance, from your elbow, to your opposite knee, exhale to pull back, inhale to hover. Let's see maybe it should be exhale that's better and inhale because we'd like abdominal control, as you go along way from your supporting side. Now, having been at this perpendicular angle with the perpendicular arrangement with respect to the resistance, change your angle now, that's so important to do, change your angle so that, your hands are in the direction of the shoulder rest.

And the light of your chest bone is still between your arms. So now this will be a different angle, rocking over the head of your femur. Meanwhile, back at the shoulders collarbones are wide scapular down, twice more here and hover your knee off the carriage, inhale to slide, exhale to hover. One new angle, deserves exploring another. This time you aim your head towards the foot bar and your hands towards this corner of the carriage.

This will be sliding backwards a little bit unusual, but beneficial. So important to explore all different angles of movement of your hip joints of your knees. And of course this access is the pelvic floor and the deep abdominals. When you change up your angle, now relocate the box. This time, the box will be further down the carriage so that when you're kneeling, you're the light from your chest bone is between these shoulder rests, and just in case you'd like, it's Pilates for golf.

Okay, keeping your elbow straight, inhaling aiming your nose directly down in the direction of the carriage. Exhale to return. Now this time, turn your head, neck and eyes as if your ear could listen to the carriage and your gaze will be at the top of the risers. As you inhale, send your sitting bones up and back, broadened between your sitting bones, keeping both elbows straight in order to encourage thoracic rotation, and your ear listens to the carriage. And this time reach across, this time as before reach across and hold onto the shoulder rest closest to you.

Place your head far into the corner of the carriage and your opposite, your only hand that's left will be, on top of the new shoulder rests. When you pull, with the lower hand and push with the upper hand, keeping your elbow straight, it will encourage rotation of the thoracic spine with respect to the pelvis. Now, I usually I do this little paddling motion with the feet. This foot points, that foot flexes, that foot points, this foot flexes. This shoulder blade, is sliding towards the opposite pelvis, your eyes are moving opposite the direction in which the carriage is sliding.

Change now so the upper hand, goes onto this shoulder as point flex, and here, there's a ground force through this knee, and a ground force through that knee. Don't let this shoulder rest this shoulder blade high cap. Come onto your forearms, creating a neutral pelvis, neutral spine inhale slide far and the exhale draw this elbow towards this knee. Stand on this knee and turn your pelvis around the head of the femur. Exhaling, inhale to come back and hover.

You know, you could either exhale here or exhale here. I suggest, exhaling as you go far as a safety belt and then inhale to return so that, you create a neutral pelvis, neutral spine rather than a posterior pelvic tilt. Change your angle now, inhale to slide, exhaling, drawing your elbows towards your knees. See the elbows function, the ground force through your elbows will function, as a handle for scapular depression for shoulders coming down, flip around, or swivel around. I should say that it wasn't quite a flip, slide there's a medial hip glide and a little bit of a side bend of the lumbar spine.

Of course, when you're sustaining weight, on your forearms for such a long time, you have to focus on the integrity of your shoulder girdle, collarbones wide here. All right, having explored some different angles from your hip joint, move this box further down on the carriage and here you are. These fingers point where you're going. These fingers aim to the ocean, nice. Aiming your chest bone right between your hands, keeping your central axis.

Bend, that's it, don't bend anything. Your knees are bent, your elbows are straight, dives right down, bringing the left lung around to the right. And come up. Inhale to slide. Oops.

Exhale to return. You can alternate head, neck and eyes aiming straight down and turning around your central axis. Here you are with the carriage all the way home,

Standing Thoracic Rotation

Figure 6.3, Bottom Right; Table 13.2 #6A, 6B, 6C

bending both knees. So your feet are shoulder width apart, bending both knees, the foot bar hand points to the risers. And the other hand point straight ahead, keeping your knees bent, inhaling the carriage glides towards the risers.

As you take a nose dive, pull towards you with your right hand and push away with your left. Now you do something similar. Turning your head, neck and eyes to look towards the bottom of the risers. Your ear listens to the carriage, swivel your feet so that your toes aim towards the corner of the carriage beyond the risers. Inhaling, you'll take a nose dive, pulling with your right hand, pushing with your left and then an ear dive.

Sitting bones up and wide behind you. Now pivot, swivel, so that your toes aim to the corner of the carriage beyond the foot bar, inhale to bend, exhale to come up. Keeping both knees bend and it's an ear dive, looking through the risers. Staying on this side, bring your ankles, your inner thighs close together and both knees extended hover your chest bone light directly between the shoulder rests. So, don't illuminates your feet, but the middle of the carriage sitting bones up and wide inhale to bend, that's nothing's bending actually.

You're moving your pelvis over the head of your femurs and come to vertical. Keep the sole of your right big toe firmly planted, so this is axial rotation, but not translation or lateral rotation. Pivot so your toes aim towards the corner of the carriage, adjusting your hands so you can pull readily with your right and push with your left. And now your ear listens and don't look at the ceiling, but just look through the risers low because no one's here to unscrew their cervical spine. Turn your toes to the far corner by the foot bar, inhale to bend.

I keep saying inhale to bend. That was last exercise. Sorry. Don't bend at all. And your sitting bones up and wide moving your pelvis over the head of your femurs. So we've had thoracic rotation, six different variations of it.

Surely it will be different on the new side. Let's try. Bring the carriage all the way home. Stand your feet a comfortable distance, say shoulder width. Your left hand, that's the hand near the foot bar points to the risers. Your other fingers aim straight ahead.

Hover your chest bone between the shoulder rest. Bending both knees all the time, move your pelvis over the head of your femurs, pull with your left hand, push with your right. Ops. Let's say it's a nose dive towards the carriage and come up. Now you turn your ribs, shoulders, head, neck and eyes so that your ear listens to the carriage and you can see through the risers.

Second angle, turn your toes towards the corner of the frame. Nose aims straight down as you pull with your left hand, push with your right. And this time, turning your cervical spine with the thoracic spine. Your ear listens to the carriage. Swivel your feet aim to the corner of the frame, keeping your knees bent on this first round of three variations.

And your ear listens as your cervical spine turns. Now the second round of variations, you have your inner thighs closed together at the midline, chest bone is hovered between the shoulder rests. Stand your ground on your big toe. Inhale to take a nose dive, pull with your left, push with your right. And then your ear listens, your gaze is down towards the frame between the risers.

Swivel on your feet, toes towards the far corner of the frame, inhale, exhale to come up. A posterior deltoid stretching I think. Come back up and the new angle awaits, inhale, nose straight down, sitting bones spread up and wide behind you as your ear turns.

Seated Thoracic Lateral Flexion & Rotation

Figure 6.4 Top Row

Turning to look over your left shoulder. Aha. The fog's coming in.

As you inhale, lift your left sitting bone, turn your pelvis, ribs, shoulders, neck, head and eyes scanning the horizons to see over your right shoulder. Continue looking over your right shoulder, reach back and down with your left sitting bone. Eyes sweep across the ground. Now you make a full circle with your eyes. Inhale, scanning the heavens for signs of intelligent life.

Exhale, looking down at the ground. Reverse the direction. Gaze goes across the ground, out the window, across the ceiling. So you are connecting the motion of your pelvis via your spine, to your head, your neck, neck your head and your eyes. Place your left hand at the top of your right shoulder.

Remind this shoulder to come down and press the heel of your left hand, brightens your right hand, isn't it? And push away. Now stay within your panes of glass. Those are panes of glass from the 80's or before that, you're left sitting bone down and reach up and over to the ceiling, a big rainbow. Your left fingers are reaching towards your right hand, side bending of the thoracic spine, push away with your right hand.

Lift all your abdominal layers ringing out your spine and rotate both hands, elbows straighter on the standing platform. Shift to the right. And as you come into spine extension, turn rib shoulders, head, neck and eyes. Look over your right shoulder and wiggle your left toes. You might see them there.

Shift more to the right and slide back. Inhaling, fanning open the sides of your ribs, exhaling slide. Lateral translation, extension and rotation. Believe me if there's room to do one more of these, if there's a move for it, we've got some names. Inhale to slide up, exhale as you slide in bring your left hand next to your right hand.

Three more of these. Inhale fanning open your left ribs, your left lung. Exhaling, shift to the right and turn to the right. Looking over your right shoulder wagging or wiggling your left toes. Inhaling, making room for your ribs, your lungs making room for the left deltoids there.

And once more inhaling. Exhale to return. Slide back, stay low, stay really low and turn towards your left, so your left fingers drape towards your right hand. Reach out with your left arm, left fingers reaching away from your left foot and sweep the ceiling as you come to vertical. Keep the volume of your ribs on top of your pelvis.

Push with your left foot and you'll slide to the right. Holding on to the shoulder rest, wind-surf. I used to know something about wind-surfing but not so much anymore. Shift to the right, palm up fingers, spread, Right elbow pokes up, and then turn towards the shoulder rests. Inhale to sit a little taller.

As you exhale, rotate towards your left, hold on to something that's within reach wrapping your left arm behind. You can keep your right hand where it is or hold on to the back shoulder rests. Inhale to sit a little taller. As you exhale turn your head neck and eyes to the right, seeing over your right shoulder. Lots of rotation there that will serve you very well for snake and twist.

Now easy on the unwind, look towards the risers. Let go carefully, and then swing around to the new side. Face the risers and turn around. Here you are on the new side. With your left hand at the back of the standing platform, your right sitting bone is aiming down in the direction of the ground.

It just has to aim there. With your right hand at your hip joint, turn to look over your right shoulder and scanning the heavens for signs of intelligent life, inhale, I knew I saw it here somewhere. Turning over your left shoulder, wagging waving your right toes. You might see them or somebody else's. Curl back and look down to the ground.

Once again, inhaling. The pelvis starts the motion, and it angulates through your spine. And the light comes through your eyes, and you see your toes. There they are, I couldn't find them yesterday, I found them today. Now reverse the direction, gaze sweeps across the ground.

And then gaze sweeps across the ceiling aiming your right sitting bone down. That's what pulls your pelvis down. Again, pelvis, ribs, shoulders, neck, head and eyes rotating through itflexion And then rotating in the direction of extension. Put your right hand on your left shoulder, slide your left shoulder down and glide out left ear listening towards the floor. Right fingers reach for your right heel, right fingers sweep across the ceiling, and right fingers sweep beyond the foot bar push away, make room for your spiral.

Rotate and face the ground, hands wide apart. Shift to the left, and come up into lateral translation extension and rotation. Wiggling your toes, there they are. slide to the left and push back. Inhale fanning open, low in the sides and the back of your ribs, shoulders descend.

Shift to the left and turn to the left, looking over your shoulder. We did three on the other side and we'll do three on this side just because we can. And every single repetition is not actually a repetition but a new opportunity. Slide your right hand to your left, to feel the changes that you can make, the changes you can discern, shoulders descend, in the myofascial web, because as you know, different vectors, every single different vector makes a difference in how you can facilitate glide and hydration and more pleasure, in the proprioceptively rich myofascial network. Well, since we're speaking about pleasure, we could go on here but it's probably time to stay low and stay really low.

Turn to your right with your right fingers draped towards your left hand. Now stay low and elongate your right arm, reach out towards beyond the foot bar, Come up to the ceiling. Push with your right foot and your slide to the left. Right hand holds on to the back shoulder rest. Make a long diagonal lateral translation to the left.

Right hand pulls left hand reaches, flex your right wrist, flex left, that's your left wrist, your left elbow. Noris it's hard enough with you facing the gorgeous view but when I'm behind you, saying that left is right, that's enough to make anybody crazy. (laughs) I apologize, seriously. I apologize, you're thinking, well, last I checked that was my left hand. And you're correct, it is your left hand.

Right ear listens towards your right heel. Turn so that both hands hold on to their respective shoulder rests. Inhale to sit a little taller. As you exhale, wrap your right arm around behind you and bring your left hand to the new shoulder rest. Hold on to something that's within range.

Inhale to sit a little taller, turning pelvis through shoulders, neck and eyes. And turn your head and eyes to the left, looking over your left shoulder, lifting your chest bone the catch some of the rays from that sun. Easy now, letting go of this, looking at the risers and flip around where we started.

Prone on Long Box Thoracic Extension

Figure 6.6 Top Left; Table 10.5 #15; Table 12.3 #2

Placing your hip joints right at the curved padded edge of the box. Nestle on down there and place the balls of your feet, the soles of your toes, in contact with the foot bar.

If you prefer, you can place the front of your heels there, it's slightly more demanding to place the ball of your foot and the sole of your toes. Place one hand on top of the other, and then the center of your forehead goes on the back of your hand. As you push out into dorsi flexion, slide your forehead along your forearm as if your right ear could listen towards your right elbow, and then as the carriage returns, you bring your forehead back to center, alternate sides, inhale, laterally translate to the left, exhale to rise, inhale to lower, exhale to return. Translating to the right, it's as if your right ear could listen past your right elbow. Inhaling to fill up your left lung, it's as if your left ear could listen past your left elbow.

Now as you do this lateral translation of your head, your neck and your upper thoracic spine, you are preparing the way for an honest extension, extension of the thoracic spine which is coming now, not a hyperextension of the cervical spine. That's far too rampant, but an honest thoracic extension. As you push out, glide your eyes to look up underneath your eyebrows, elbows lift, keeping your forehead in contact with your hands, rise to your toes, lower your heels and bend. Slide out, inhale, eyes up, chest bone up. Exhale, and come down.

Sending your elbows and hovering your chest bone, collarbones wide. Let's combine the two now. Lateral translation and extension. Lower and return. Inhale to slide, hover, lower and return.

Laterally translation, extension, lower and down. Inhale, exhale to return. You might wonder, why can't she talk? (laughs) Because every time I move into thoracic extension, my diaphragm and the lower ribs push into the box, which means that the diaphragm can't get as full excursion. I know I'm just making excuses for myself.

Okay, onward now to extension and rotation. Slide out, extension, rotate, center and down. Extension and rotate. Use your eyes as the advance team, eyes up, eyes to the right, lower and down. Eyes underneath your eyebrows, eyes to the right.

Lower and down. The last combination will be extension and lateral flexion or extension and side bending, in which your eyes lead the way also as if you could see the top of your ear. As you exhale, translation. Now, extension, side bending, center and down. Translate, extension, side bending, return.

Translation, extension, side bending, return. Translation, extension, side bending and return.

Preparation for Side Lying Hip & Knee

Figure 6.7 Top Left

Here you are on your side and we're going to make a dome of the foot, plant the sole of your foot and draw your heel forward. This will immediately connect the sole of your foot to your deep abdominals via the myofascial continuity that as you know, from your studies of Tom Myers work and Robert Schleips research, et cetera, the entire myofascial web connects all aspects of yourself and is the great communicator, the great highway of proprioception. Sometime this afternoon or sometime today, your foot will reach for all the way forward on the foot plate, and then you could propel yourself back.

It would be preferable here to keep, don't let your toes curl. Keep your toenails visible to the ceiling and make your way all the way back to the middle of the foot plate. We'll spare you the difficulty of going all the way back into hip extension. Upon arrival, or soon, bend your knee, slide on in and the new side awaits. You may have experienced a similar exercise, the Janda short foot exercise in supine.

I'm always impressed how much more difficult it is to do it with just one leg at a time in side lying. On the new side, flip around, both sitting bones are off the edge, slide on in positioning your head cushion, push back and back your pelvis up so there's support for your underneath leg and your heel is at the back of the jump board. Now, new information, lift up your ribs and lift up your waist off the carriage and use your ceiling hand to hold underneath your floor ribs and begin your endless progression by creating a Janda short foot, that's J A N D A for Vladimir Janda who's the late Czechoslovakian physiotherapist who coined the term the short foot as implant the souls of your toes and glide your rear foot, your heel forward. I call this the janda short foot on parade. As you arrive at the front of the footplate, then reverse the direction, lift up your ribs and lift up your waist, vaulting off the soles of your toes, and gliding your heel backwards until you arrive with your heel at the level of your sitting bone.

Bend your knee, slide on in, come up from here.

Differentiated Spine Rotation in Kneeling

Figure 6.9 Top Left; Table 10.5 #19

Let's put this to work in a kneeling exercise now that uses one yellow spring. So put one yellow spring on and take the red spring off if that's what you've been using. Reach for your magic circle your pilates ring, and you'll come to kneel in the center of the carriage. Now your knees will be lined up on the central axis of the carriage so you would draw a line from the center of the headrest down to the middle spring and that shows you where your knees will be.

Your shins will be partly off the carriage and your feet off the carriage as well. Use the cord from the back and put the loop around your, let's get the loop aligned up properly, Shall we? Okay, put the loop around the handle and put the handle of the ring on your lower ribs. Make sure that the handle of the ring is on. Make sure that the handle of the ring is on bone and not on belly.

Now, your knees will stay steady and your pelvis, rib, shoulders, neck, head and eyes turn to see beyond the riser at the back or where the cord comes from the back. Creating a ground force through your left knee, inhaling, turn your pelvis, rib, shoulders, neck, head and eyes, exhale to return. Inhale to rotate. Exhale to return. Now bring some attention to your shoulder blades.

Slide your shoulder blades down, your left shoulder blade in the back is relating to your right pelvis and your right shoulder blade in the back is relating to your left pelvis pushing go and returning, turning your head, neck and eyes in the direction that you're going. Next variation keep your head, neck and eyes steady straight ahead collarbones are wide. Your pelvis will turn around the head of your femurs turning your head, neck and eyes opposite the direction in which your ribs are turning, as if you could turn at the from the back of your brain not turning from the front of your throat turning from the back of your brain. So far we've practiced this sequence in this relationship to the resistance. Change the angle of your kneeling on the carriage so that you are now on a diagonal with respect to the carriage.

Your knees will be right up against the line from the shoulder rest to the corner of the carriage. We'll keep the same cord from the back. Rotate turning pelvis, hips, shoulders, neck, head and eyes. lengthening the back of your neck slide your shoulders down and turn on this diagonal to see over your new shoulder. Eyes track along the horizon, right shoulder blades sliding on a diagonal towards your left pelvis, left shoulder blades sliding on a diagonal towards your right pelvis.

Now your head, neck and eyes look straight down the axis that's defined between your knees by your pubic bone, and the third variation is a tune, that'll turn your head, neck and eyes opposite the direction in which the carriage is going, rotate and rotate and rotate. It's true that many of you will find this yellow spring rather light for this exercise. If so, of course you're welcome to use a blue swinger to make it heavier. I find that this variation, this sequence on your knees is a very good preparation for what we'll do standing in terms of feeling the connections. So that's why I chose not to do a heavier spring this time.

Okay, now change to the new side for this you'll use the loop from the back and put your knees, shoulder with the part in line with the central axis of the carriage. Put the loop around the ring and the ring goes at the bottom of your chest bone on your ribs. Turning pelvis, ribs, shoulders, neck, head and eyes, seeing beyond the riser. As you exhale, anchor your back knee, slide your shoulder blades down. This foot is I'm flexing the left foot in order to give more abdominal strength on the left side.

Inhale to turn, exhale to return. If you use or when you use an inhalation that will facilitate a small amount of spine extension. Keep your head neck and eyes straight ahead now the exhalation is going to tend to bring your shoulders forward so you can decide which feels better to you. The inhalation on the rotation or the exhale, both are possible, turning your head, neck and eyes opposite the direction in which the ring is turning. Making a diagonal connection from your right ribs to your left pelvis in the front and your right shoulder blade to your left pelvis in the back.

Change to the new diagonal now turning slightly upstream, turning slightly towards the risers. Turning head, neck and eyes in the same direction that your pelvis is turning, shoulders descend and you're well prepared for thoracic rotation from what we did before, head, neck and eye, stay straight ahead. A reminder to lengthen the back of your neck as if you could turn from the back of your brain, and lastly, head, neck, and eyes look opposite the direction in which the carriage is moving. Sequencing thoughtfully from shoulder blades to pelvis, to head, neck, and eyes. Now we're ready to stand on the reformer and rotate.

Differentiated Spine Rotation in Standing

Figure 6.9 Bottom Right; Table 10.5 #21

So for this, I think we've got a blue spring. We'll bring the foot bar all the way down, as we don't need it up. One blue spring. And we have lengthened our cords as much as the ropes will allow so that the loops are a little bit longer than if they were around the shoulder rests. And for us, this will work fine for this exercise.

You might prefer to have the chords a little bit longer. Stand on the carriage, and you'll be standing with only holding the loop that's from behind you. Feet are shoulder width apart. Give yourself a wide base for security, and bending both knees, both hands will go through the loop from the cord on the back. Now, best you can, illuminate your hands with the light from your chest bone, so you keep your hands directly in front of the chest bone.

(giggles) Is she? Well, let's see. Aim your knees directly forward and turn your pelvis, ribs, shoulders, neck, head, and eyes so your eyes are looking away over your left shoulder to the ocean there. As you inhale, as if you could screw a light bulb into the ceiling from the back of your brain, turn to see the ocean over your right shoulder. Exhale to return. Next variation, turn your head, neck, and eyes directly where your toes are pointing.

As you extend your knees and draw your knee caps towards your hip joints, you illuminate your hands with your chest bone. And the third variation, Turn your head opposite where your hands are. As your ribs turn to the right, your head, neck, and eyes turn to the left, lengthening from the back of your brain. Now we do all three of those variations, aiming on a diagonal axis towards the risers. It's as if there was an axis of the carriage, a diagonal from this corner over to the opposite corner, and then your feet would stand right over that line.

Bending both knees, hold onto the loop. Knees are aiming forward over your third toes. Pelvis, ribs, shoulders are looking over your left shoulder. As you inhale, rise, turning to look over your right shoulder. Endless fascination to see the ocean today.

Now the second variation. Your gaze aims where your toes are pointing. Inhaling, elongating the back of you, exhaling to return. Eyes look opposite where your hands are, inhaling, chest bone turns with your hands. I think it's actually the other way around.

Hands turn with your chest bone. Now, get rid of this loop, and take the new loop from the front of you and change to stand on the opposite diagonal. If there were a line from this corner of the carriage to this corner of the carriage, the axis of my foot, the axis of the ankle, should stand directly over that line. Bending your knees, turning your chest bone to illuminate your hands, and looking over your shoulder, tuck your left sitting bone in. I could feel myself doing a little bit of an attitude, which is attractive, but not correct.

Inhale to turn. Pelvis, ribs, shoulders, neck, head, and eyes. A direct line from sitting bones to heels and heels to sitting bones. Eyes aim where your toes are pointing. Inhaling, going up! Exhaling, coming down.

Eyes look over the opposite shoulder from your hands. Inhaling to look over the opposite shoulder, exhaling to return. So that was three, six, nine rotations. Here comes the new side. Keep the current loop and chain so that you're standing on the central axis of the carriage.

Both knees bend, fingers interlace or hands take a hold of the loop. Turning to your right to look over your right shoulder, plant the souls of your big toes, your heels. Inhaling, drawing up as you rotate over your left shoulder. Exhale as you rotate over your right shoulder. Eyes aim straight ahead.

There's the ocean in this view! Inhale to turn. Head doesn't turn, but your ribs, shoulders do, and come back. Turn your head opposite. Ribs turn, hands go with. Head, neck, and eyes look opposite and return.

Now, keep the loop and change to the diagonal towards the risers, so your feet are above this diagonal axis. Both knees bending, both elbows bending, line up your chest bone and your hands. Inhaling. Going up! Pressing your hands away from your torso as you rotate. Eyes look where your toes are pointing. Lengthening the back of your neck, turning, and turning.

Eyes look opposite, head turns opposite. Drawing up. Rotating, pushing your hands away, and come down. Now we've done two categories, holding onto the back cord. Now you need the front cord to come to the final one.

Stand on the new diagonal. This is the diagonal towards the foot bar. Both knees are bending, aiming a directly your sitting bones towards your heels. Turn to your right looking way over your right shoulder. Inhale to going up, rotate, and come back.

Eyes, aim on the diagonal where your toes are pointing. Going up. Hands going and your eyes don't, that's right. And the last one, turning toward your left shoulder, inhale to go turning over your right shoulder, and return.

Standing Side Splits with Thoracic Flexion

Figure 6.10 Bottom Right

Place your hands at your hip joints, so that you can have the intention of having a level area, level space, a level across there.

In this case, aim your left sitting bone in the direction of your inner right ankle. That's just to avoid a hip hike. Left sitting bone towards your inner right ankle. With your right big toe, slightly off the edge, so that you have a safe contact there with the carriage. You might also use a piece of non-skid material to help keep your foot from sliding away.

As you exhale, push down, making a footprint on the carriage, and slide the carriage out, adjusting your standing foot, to get just the right, the secure angle. Now, we'll be here, bending your left knee and sending your left leg away. Leveling your pelvis, aim your hip joint down and out. So the ball of your femur, will drop a little bit, and as the carriage slides out, your femur head will glide medially. Mhhh, When did I do that before and feel that before.

This time, slide the carriage out and stay. Now plant the sole of your right foot firmly on your platform, and slide the carriage a little bit further. Slide your left hand down on the outside of your left leg, and reach up and over, for which you are well-prepared. And your left hand, will take a hold of your right wrist, encouraging side bending, left ear listens to the ground, inhale to bend, exhale to pull with your left hand, pulling your right fingers beyond the risers. You could hold on to your right elbow, or above your right elbow, side bending fanning open the right ribs.

Hold on to both elbows, poking your elbows a long way, from ears, a long way from your hips. Now slide the carriage out, stay there, turn your left lung upwards towards the ceiling. Turn your right lung downwards towards the ground. Turn towards the ceiling, as you slide the carriage out, turn towards the ground, as you slide the carriage in. Inhale, rotate and extend.

Exhale, rotate in the direction of flexion, stay in in flexion, push the carriage out. And as the carriage comes in, move into extension, turn, see the ground below you turn. See the ceiling above you. Look straight ahead, interlace your fingers, press the palms of your hands along way from the top of your head, keeping your knees extended. Reach your hands beyond the risers, and shift your pelvis towards the right.

So your right greater trochanter moves to the right, as your hands are being pulled to the left, side bending elongating the distance, the lateral line on your entire right side. Easy now, come out before you get slingshot across the studio, come down from here, marvel at the difference between sides, and change to the new side. That will require relocating the boxes. Stand your ground, on your left foot now, and have your right foot forward, over the edge of the carriage. Right big toe is hooked over the spring edge of the carriage, so that you have a good purchase there.

Hands at your pelvis, plant the sole of your right foot down, creating a footprint there, aiming your right sitting bone towards your inner left ankle. Push out, and stand your ground on your left leg, as you bend and straighten your right one, getting accustomed to this. This is great. Elongating the right side of your waist, the right side of your spine, one more here. Now, push out and keeping your right knee extended, slide the carriage further to the right.

Stand your ground here. Slide your right hand down the outside of your right leg, and reach up to the ceiling with your left hand. Reach beyond the risers, as your right hand holds onto your left wrist. Pull with your right hand, bend your right knee, exhale, send it away. Inhale to bend, exhale, to reach, twice more bend.

And elongating sending your right left little finger along way from your left little toe. Right hand holds on at your elbow or above bend, and push out. Inhale to elongate, exhale to reach a little further, twice more bend, and right ear is listening to the ground. The light from your chest bone is straight ahead. Hold onto your elbows, press your elbows beyond the risers.

One more of these, and then we'll start the rotation. As you bend your knee, turn towards the ground. And as you extend your knee, turn towards the ceiling. Inhale to then illuminate the ground, exhale, illuminate the ceiling. Reverse illuminate the ceiling as you bend.

Illuminate the ground as you push out, and rotate, and rotate. Stay over here. Look straight ahead at the ocean, interlace your fingers, press your palms away from the top of your head, press your hands beyond the risers as with straight legs, you glide to the left. So your left greater trochanter moves to the left, bring your right ear closer and closer and closer to the ground, and when you just can't go any further before it's too late, come to upright and bring yourself back in. Come down from here now.

Standing Side Splits

Figure 6.10 Top Row and Lower Left; Table 13.2 #9A, 9B, 9C, 9D, 9E

Standing variations of side splits. For this one we'll use a blue spring, off with the yellow and we'll tuck the kickstand of the foot bar in. I've never heard it called a kickstand either I just can't think of another name for it at the moment. All right. So stand on the platform and then stand on the carriage.

It's useful that the head rest is up. And you'll be able to get a grip with your big toes, just over the inside edge of the carriage and the inside edge of the platform. We'll do five different orientations and two variations per orientation. Okay, you've been warned. Bending both knees, arms across your torso, keeping your knees bent as you inhale it's as if your right ear could listen in the direction of your left knee, exhale to swing your torso to vertical, and now rotate around the central axis, which you were well prepared to do.

Both knees extended now in this same orientation. It's a standing version of the Pilates saw. It's as if your little finger, you know the story from Romana, it's as if your little finger could saw off your little toe. That always struck me as being so violent, but it is a reasonable image 'cause that's where we're headed and come up from here. Now the second orientation, your platform foot will be forward and your carriage foot will be back.

Hook your big toes over the edge. Bend both knees, take a dive right down the middle here, inhale to listen, sitting bones wide, exhale, sitting bones narrow. Inhale, your spine goes right down between the inner thighs. Both knees extended. And as you slide out, you turn reaching your little finger towards your little toe, draw back with your right sitting bone and come to vertical.

And then the other way. I'm having a hard time getting a good ground force with my right heel, but maybe I just found it. And come to upright. Now, upright get upright. Okay so now the carriage foot comes forward and the platform foot goes back.

Your big toes are over the edge and both knees are bent. Inhaling. Your ear is listening towards your left knee. Both sitting bones are wide, drawing the left sitting bone back. Exhale to come all the way to vertical.

Inhale, shoulders descend. The usual story, the collarbones widen and the chest bone lifts. Extending both knees now. Both arms wide, turn, so it's, hmm, what is it here? There could be a little bit of lateral flexion because the more the carriage moves, the more your toe moves away from you.

So that's understandable if you have some lateral flexion on that motion, lateral flection of the spine. And the other side. In this case, the foot to which you're turning is stable, it's stationary, so there's less lateral flection there. So we've had three orientations with the toes aiming straight ahead. Now we'll take a pivot towards the back foot.

Now you're facing the diagonal such that your center of your pubic bone is aiming to the corner of the frame here. And bending both knees, it's ocean view time for us, inhale, keeping an even amount of abduction, exhaling to swing your chest bone light upright, moving your pelvis over the head of your femurs, steering your knees wide over your third toes, pelvis comes up, arms reach out, drawing from the center of your chest bone out through your middle fingers, inhale to rotate, where's that foot? It keeps going further away, and swing all the way up. Inhale to rotate and reach. Exhale to come up.

So we've faced one diagonal now we'll face the other diagonal staying on this side. Your feet are finding a good ground force, a good connection there. Both knees bend, inhale to listen, right down the middle, both knees equally bent, exhale to come up right, inhale to rotate, widening your sitting bones, driving your left sitting bone back and come up and sweep from the center of your chest bone out through your fingertips, your fingernails reach, and come up right, and reach and come up. Now it's time to change to the new side. Both knees bent, get a grip with your big toes over the edge, that's right, here we go.

We'll be turning towards the left first, Norris towards your left knee. Inhale to bend, going forward, exhale to come up right. All the way to vertical and then the other side over and up, and both knees extend, both arms wide from the center of your chest bone we'll turn towards the carriage now. Rotate towards the moving foot, and come back in, and rotate towards the stationary foot, towards your left, and come in. Bring your left foot forward and your right foot back.

Get a grip with your big toes, both knees bent. I was really inconsistent we will turn to the right now, I made a mistake previously. Turning towards your right inner thigh, drawing your left sitting bone back, and come to vertical, left sitting bone continues to draw back as you turn towards your left inner thigh. And come upright. Both knees extended, both arms wide, diving towards your right foot, which happens to be towards the back left sitting bone draws back, and come all the way vertical, and left sitting bone still draws back.

So the sitting bone that goes with the forward foot, that's the one that draws back. Now careful on this transition, such each one foot comes forward, and the forward foot comes back. Both knees bend, inhale going towards the carriage, towards the risers. Exhale to come to vertical, sitting bones towards your heels and sitting bones up and wide behind you. Right sitting bone draws back, and come to vertical, both arms wide, inhaling.

Diving over such that your left hand reaches towards the outer aspect of your right foot, and come up right. Moving your pelvis over the head of your femurs your right sitting bone draws back and come up. Now we have done three orientations this way, yes. Make a pivot to your left, so that your toes are aiming towards the ocean, Bending both knees, going towards the carriage leg first, inhale to bend, over your femur heads and come upright. The light from the top of your head goes up towards the ceiling.

And now it eliminates the wall in front of you, up towards the ceiling again, both knees extending, shooting out from your collar bones, through your middle fingers, inhale to reach, exhale to come upright, all the way vertical, inhale to rotate around the central axis, and come up. Now we're going to stay facing this side bring your left foot forward your right foot back. And we're facing this new diagonal which is there you go. Both knees bend, inhaling, (throat clearing) steering your knees wide over your third toes. Exhale to come up.

Inhale knees wide, sitting bones wide, exhale to come up, both knees extended, chest bone lifts and the light from your chest bone makes a big arc, to shine up and back. Exhale to come to vertical. Reaching out from the center of your chest bone out through your fingers. Inhale to dive over, and coming up. So we finish now with this particular standing aside leg splits with the five different orientations.

It's time for standing squats off the end of the reformer.

Standing Assisted Squats Next to Reformer

Figure 6.11 Top Left; Table 10.5 #22; Table 11.3 H; Table 12.3 #13; Table 13.2 #10; Table 14.3 #13

So for this, we do need to make the chords longer, and we have some foot straps. (metal chinking) Some foot straps that we've harvested from the reformers, that we can put through the loops. To function as strap extenders. You can use a second loop and attach it, or if you have extra rope available, (metal thudding) then if you have extra rope available, then you can um put the lengthen the chords.

The reason that we need to lengthen the cords with these strap extenders, is that, when you have a yellow spring, off with the blue, when you have a yellow spring and the headrest up, you need enough rope, enough cord, such that, the carriage will have room to move in the frame, when you move into a squat. You can see that the carriage is very close to the end of the frame. And if I didn't have the cord extenders, I would have run out of carriage uh, excursion before I ran out of a squat. Okay, so here you are with your feet, firmly planted shoulder width apart, as you inhale, drive your sitting bones back, bending your elbows, lifting your chest bone, and turning your palms up. So your chest bone light illuminates the top of the risers.

As you push your heels into the ground, draw your hip joints forward and up. Keep your back body active as you rise to your toes, turning your palms outward and your thumbs downward. One more of these, inhale sitting bones back, chest bone lifted, shoulders down, collarbones wide, all the litany of the usual subjects. Now you just saw what could happen. Panic there you can see that I got a little bit low because I was so fascinated with the word litany I thought, isn't that clever?

Isn't that clever but I got too low and was pulling too hard and the carriage almost jumped the track. Don't do that. It's a sure indication that if you get fascinated with yourself, the universal just bite you in the butt. Don't screw up like that. Okay, keep the carriage in the track.

Keep the carriage down and aim the sitting bones back. And then come forward and up aiming your hip joints forward and up and turn your palms down. Now we'll both swivel to the right. Okay, so that we're on a diagonal here with the center of the pubic bone aiming towards the right side. As you inhale, bend both knees, bending your elbows lifting your chest bone and come on down.

Staring your knees over your toes. I'm a little too close to the foot bar here. Here we go. Now plunge your heels plant your big toes, turning your palms outward and your thumbs downward. I'm about overpowered here.

Come on back body on the left side. Get up. Lower your heels. Bend both knees, collar bones wide, lifting your chest bone, lifting your gaze, eliminating this diagonal. Bring your hip joints forward and up but keep some awareness in your back body, or you too will go hurdling through the risers.

Change to the new side. Here you are on the new diagonal. Both feet and everything else turning on this diagonal. Inhale to bend your knees. Turning your palms upward your collar bones wide.

Come on down. Make your way up. Turning your palms outward, thumbs downwards, rise to your toes. Lower both heels, down your left shoulder blade inward towards your spine, bending both knees. And bring yourself forward and up.

Thumbs downward, palms outwards.

Standing Assisted Squats on Reformer

Figure 6.11 Bottom Row; Table 10.5 #24; Table 14.3 #14

For the standing squats on the reformer, we're going to stay with the current blue spring. Actually, I'm going to move my blue spring to the lighter setting. And we're you Norris we're there already so good. Okay, climb aboard the carriage.

Give yourself a wide base for security with your feet. And take the loops around your wrists. Bending both knees now and bending your elbows come to a squat that you can sustain and with straightening your elbows now we'll drive back from the posterior shoulder. We'll take four of these two and three and four, now elbows bend for your triceps one and two and aiming your gaze at the base of the risers. Turning towards your right, pulling back with your right elbow, planting your left big toe as you rotate to the right.

Then turning towards your left rotation. Marvelous. Steering your knees wide over your toes. We'll keep this orientation and both knees extended come right up to stand and get your new center of gravity a little bit higher now. Lifting and widening between the shoulder blades.

Triceps one and two and three and four, rotating to your right, stand firmly on your left big toe. So you make a spiral from your left big toe to the bottom of your right shoulder blade. And now the spiral is from your right big toe to the bottom of your left shoulder blade turning your palm out and turning your palm up. Now change to the new orientation. Such that you're on this diagonal.

Bending both knees collar bones wide, come down and pull back with your arms. Both elbows straight. Triceps. Rotating to your right, and rotating to your left. Stand your ground with your knees over your toes.

Similar arms standing with both knees extended. Pull back. Chest bone lifts. As you draw your shoulder blades down and slightly towards your spine, pulling with your elbows bending, two and three and four rotating to your right and rotating to your left. We'll finish on this next diagonal.

So your center of your ankles will be right over the diagonal of the carriage. And bend both knees come down to a squat level you can sustain and pull your arms back. Probably over the last few repetitions. You've been adjusting the volume of your device, thinking you must have lost the soundtrack. Elbows bent now.

But know that was just me being quiet. Because mostly I can move and talk all the time. But on this standing balance, turn to your left Norris. On this standing balance I have to focus a lot on the balance of hand, so I got kinda quiet. Rotating to your right.

When you turn it's your thoracic spine, thoracic spine and your ribs and your shoulders and your head, neck and eyes. Come to standing now. Plant the soles of your big toes and pull back with straight arms. Two and-- The light from the back of your brain illuminating the ceiling, elbows pull back, rotating toward your left. Beautiful. Turning your ribs, palm up, palm down. Palm up, palm down. Palm up. And last round turning towards your right.

Aim your right ASIS towards the left, as if your pelvis could turn opposite your thoracic spine. Ah, we're so happy to have made it this far. We're going to put these sling systems

Elastic Recoil Training of the Arms

Figure 6.12

into a rhythmic jumping pattern now. We're going to use a yellow spring, a light spring for some quite-- a brief spell of quadruped arm jumps and then we'll finish with foot jumps, with leg jumps. Change your spring to a yellow spring. (metal clattering) You can leave the foot bar where it is, in this case on the middle level, or you can bring it to a higher notch. (foot bar clicking) Now you'll be kneeling on the carriage with your toes tucked under the shoulder rests.

Or if there's not really room under the shoulder rests, you can do your best to nudge your toes there between the carriage and the shoulder rests. Here's why that is, you can create a ground force with your toes. Your toes will do this, moving into plantar flexion, and when your toes push up into the shoulder rests, that will-- Pardon me, that will activate the entire myofascial sling system from the sole of your foot to your sitting bone up along your spine and that will make your trunk more stable. This is a collectively trunk stability here is a collective responsibility, as it often is with all the abdominal layers and also your spine extensors. Give yourself a wide base with your knees, knees are shoulder-width apart and crouch down.

Well this is not crouching, is it? Crouching would be this. This is a long spine with the-- In neutral pelvis, neutral spine with the heels of your hands in contact with the foot bar. Pressing your toes up against the shoulder rest, push and land. Suspend and land. You've done a wonderful job preparing your shoulder blades for weight bearing. Now turn your arms, palms up, collarbones wide. Suspend and land. Having the idea of keeping your chest bone parallel to the ground.

Now you'll have both hands to the right and both hands to the left. When your hands go to the left, extra action from your right toes. When your hands go to the right, extra action on your left toes. Turning your arms palms up, collarbones wide, palms up, collarbones wide. You have a foot connection going on with your abdominals and your spine. Crossing your arms one on top of the other, one form on top, and land.

Push and land. Push and land. Now, we could go on but really I have already.

Elastic Recoil Training of the Legs

Figure 6.14 Top Left

Let's change the spring to a blue spring. That's what I suggest for this first round of jumps.

We're going to start in quadruped now. So come with onto your knees onto the carriage and bring your knees to the very, very close to the edge of the carriage. Not off the edge, just close to the edge. And the heels of your hands will be in contact with the shoulder rests. If you're new to this and prefer to have a short box on the carriage with your forearms on the box, that would be a good place to start and then you would graduate to having your hands here.

Also if you're taking good care of your wrists, and prefer not to have this much wrist compression, then you could have your forearms on the box. Your toes will be very close to the bottom, right on the bottom of the foot plate. With this good stability through your shoulder, shoulder blades, your shoulder girdle, which you're well prepared for by now, the soles of your feet are going to have the feeling of striking a match, kicking your heels up to your sitting bones. Every time your feet jump, your abdominals jump in and up to your spine. Alternate, land on one foot and land on the other.

Suspend, suspend, suspend, suspend. Being thoughtful, mindful of your ankle alignment, which you have finessed in standing previously. Now each leg gets its own turn. As if the sole of your foot could strike a match. A reminder to keep your thoracic spine with its integrity.

Don't sag here. Pick it up. Other side as if this sole of your heel could come up to your sitting bone. Abdominals jump up. Don't let your eyebrows jump up. That's my bad habit. Sorry. Now that you've prepared the connection between the sole of your foot and your abdominals--

Elastic Recoil Training of the Legs

Figure 6.14 Top Right

Put the headrest down. You can help yourself to a cushion or a pillow, if you would like and slide both sitting bones off the edge, come on down to lie onto your side, and your sealing leg is going to be in the center of the carriage. Your other leg is tucked up out of the way.

Lift up your ribs and lift, lift up your ribs and lift up your waist. Don't sag here, pick it up. Activate the lateral line. We'll have eight jumps in parallel. Suspend and land. Tuck this arm out, tuck your left arm, your lower arm out of the way so that it doesn't get hit in the frame. External rotation.

Keeping your top ASIS, the top of your pelvis, your ilium forward, you will be well-prepared around your hip joint to connect pelvis, knee and ankle. Internal rotation comes next. Lift up your ribs and waist each time you land. Finish. Change now to the new side.

Listening to the rhythm of your jump, suspend and land, suspend and land, suspend. External rotation. Drive your left ASIS, the left anterior superior iliac spine forward in order to activate your external rotators and the lateral pelvic stabilizers. Sure, I'll get right on it. Internal rotation now.

And you've done such wonderful work, she said complimenting you and myself of connecting pelvis, hip joint, knee, ankle, and foot, that this is possible. With your knees near the edge of the carriage,

Elastic Recoil Training of the Legs

Figure 6.14 Bottom Left

unlike where we started however, your right heel is going to be on the top of the, at the very top edge of the jump platform. This will require much more a stability through your shoulder girdle and activation through your deep abdominals. Here we go. Push and land in parallel.

Two and three and four. As your foot brushes up all the abdominals jump up to your spine. Externally rotate, aiming your right ASIS towards your inner left knee. Suspend and land. Internally rotate.

Pigeon toe your thigh aiming your right knee towards your inner left knee, pressing strongly with your left, the heel of your left hand, Finish and change to the new side. Your right knee, your stable knee is near the spring edge of the carriage. The other heel, that's the left heel, is going to be at the top of the foot plate, the jump board. In parallel, eight of these. Press strongly into the little finger side of the heels of your hands.

External rotation. Aiming your left side of your pelvis towards your inner right knee, so your pelvis is level and steady with respect to the ground. Internally rotate. A strong connection of your lower ribs up towards your spine. Wide between your shoulder blades.

I lost count there, but I have to do extra medicine on that side. Now a stretch for the front of your thigh.

Elastic Recoil Training of the Legs

Figure 6.15 Top Left and Bottom Middle

Lots of eccentric control to make this quiet landing. External rotation. It is as if you could draw the tops of your inner thighs together.

Internally rotate. All of the deep abdominals are active. Let the back of your ribs and lungs onto the carriage. One leg at a time, four jumps in parallel, four jumps in external rotation, crossing over the midline and four jumps in internal rotation. Change, suspend.

Crossing over the midline adducting with external rotation. Back in line with your own hip joint for internal rotation. Now you're prepared for corner jumps.

Elastic Recoil Training of the Legs

Figure 6.15 Top Right and Bottom Right

With your knees bending, knees in flexion, and we're going to jump to each corner with the hip joints in parallel going up right first. Up right, up left.

Down right, down left. Up left, up right. Down left, down right. All toes to the outside, up right, up left. Steady your pelvis.

Down right, down left. All toes to the outside. Up left, up right. Down left, down right. Heels to the outside.

Up right, up left. Down right, down left. Heels to the outside. Up left, up right. Down left, down right.

Feel free to continue this practicing on your own with the single leg to the corner. Now place the heel of your hand on the forward pedal.

Seated on Chair, Lateral Spine Flexion

Figure 8.1, Top Row

The heel of your hand in the plane of scaption, just slightly forward of your shoulder joint. Position yourself so that your left leg can be, left foot can be in contact with the ground. Now, as you press your left heel into the ground, your right hand will press the pedal down.

You create a pulsing, rhythmic pulsing action here of lumbar and thoracic side bending. At first your arm is down. You can feel the transfer of force from the ground force through your foot, into the ground force of your hand on the pedal. Now put your left hand on top of your head and poke, aim your left elbow up to the ceiling as if your elbow were going up and beyond the top of your head to where the ceiling meets the wall. This will increase the tug on the glide that's required from the heel of your foot through your elbow.

Now, if all is going reasonably well, slide your palm over the top of your head as if you could cover your floor ear. I Can't hear you! My palm's covering my ear. And to this, you add a slight rotation of your thorax. Look at your right hand, look forward at the ocean, look at the ceiling, and so here you have a pulsing, rhythmic pulsing action that addresses the length from the little toe side of your left foot to the little finger side of your left hand. Reach out, reach up, come on up from here, stand on two feet, go woo-hoo! That's different on the left side! That's 'cause we've been addressing just the lateral line, the length of that.

Other side now. Have a seat so that your right sitting bone is off the edge. Drive your right heel back behind you and place the heel of your left hand on the forward pedal, slightly forward of your shoulder. And we'll start the same motion, creating a pulsing, a rhythmic pulsing action from the ground force of your foot to the ground force of your hand on the pedal. Reach up and bring your palm to the top of your head.

Inhale as you pulse down. That inhalation, as if to fill up your right lung, will increase the distance, the length, of your right side, the length from the lower right ribs to the right pelvis. Slide your right hand over the top of your head as if to cover your left ear, and add the rotation. So your chest bone illuminates your left hand, your chest bone, (sighs) catches the light from the ocean, and your chest bone catches the light from the ceiling. So we go, turn to the floor, turn to the ocean, turn to the ceiling.

Rotating the thorax with respect to the pelvis, creating a ground force from the heel of your right foot to the heel of your left hand. Inhaling as you push down. Reach out, reach up, come on over. Now, the first side again with two differences. First of all, you place your hand on the back pedal so your hand will be either in line with your shoulder, or slightly behind.

That's going to require more emphasis on scapular depression. Don't let your humerus internally rotate. Oh no, don't do that. It's a bit of external rotation as if the back of right lung could push your right hand down. Now, instead of your pelvis and lumbar spine going into side bending here, it's going to rotate.

It's as if you had a paintbrush on your left sitting bone, thank you Eric Franklin of The Franklin Method, and your left sitting bone could brush the floor. How does that work? Inhale, rotate back, exhale, forward. So your pelvis and lumbar spine sustain lumbar side bending, and you add a rotation. The right sitting bone is on the chair and the pelvis and the lumbar spine are turning around the right hip joint.

Bring your palm to the top of your head, that's your left hand on the top of your head. Rotating your pelvis and your lumbar spine. Sliding your hand over the top of your head as if to cover your ear, and you look down at your right hand, forward, up at the ceiling, and forward. Preparing your shoulder girdle, your arm, and your hand for the weight bearing work through the upper body that's coming up in this program. The new side awaits. Swivel around.

Position your left sitting bone on the chair, your right sitting bone off the edge, and position your left hand back of where it was before. Your left hand will be on the backpedal now, and here we go. Right sitting bone aims down, rotation, and side bending. Bring your hand to the top of your head, fanning open your right ribs so that there's a lot of room between your right heel and your right elbow. Lengthening the lateral myofascial meridian, making a long distance from your right heel to your right elbow, to your hand, and adding rotation.

Looking down, looking forward, to the ceiling, and forward. Chest bone towards your hand, chest bone forward, chest bone to the ceiling. All of these rotations enable you to access different vectors, different grains of fiber connection of connective tissue between your ribs and your pelvis.

Seated Side Chair Pedal Single Leg

Figure 8.2, Bottom Row; Table 12.3 #7A, 7B, 7C; Table 13.1H #1

You'll be seated with your sitting bones at the back edge of the chair, your right sitting bone off the edge, and your midfoot nestled over the foot pedal, such at the front of your heel is in contact with the pedal, and the soles of your toes are off. Your right sitting bone is aimed down to the ground, and here you are on your central axis.

The volume of your ribs are on top of the pelvis. As you inhale to your right lung, press the pedal down. There will be a tendency to shift to the left. Don't do that. Inhale, one and two and three and four, palms are on your thighs.

Six and seven and eight. Change to the sole of your toes and the ball all of your foot in contact with the chair pedal. Your femur is in external rotation, for which you're well-prepared. One and, a reminder to keep your chest bone, the xiphoid process right above your pubic bone to lengthen up through the back of your brain, as opposed to over the front of your throat. Now we have stilettos and flats.

The previous rhythm applies slow, slow, slow, quick, slow, slow, slow. Keep your knee the same level as your hip joint or if you prefer, if it puts more focus on your vastus medialis and you can bring your knee a little above your hip joint. Seven and, I excel in creative counting. That was eight, maybe, okay. Now come to parallel and shift.

Make sure for safety's sake that you have when the chair pedal is all the way down, that the sole of your heel is in the middle of the top of the chair pedal. Don't be off the side edge. That's dangerous. You could slip and put too much pressure on these tissues here. On your peroneals.

One, two, three, four, one, two, three, four, reminding yourself to stay, to climb up your central axis. Don't shift to the left, as fun as it would be, don't go forward. Stay on top of yourself. That will anchor this where you needed most. The vastus medialis and medial aspect of your quad.

Quick, slow, slow, slow, we change now to plantar and dorsiflexion, three and. Keep this sitting bone that's your right sitting bone, off the edge of the carriage. This might be six, maybe seven and eight. Now move your pelvis forward over the head of your femur. as if you were in jockey position.

I know nothing about jockey position, but here we are. Quick, slow, slow, slow. The idea would be to spread your sitting bones wide and elongate the back of your neck. As you continue to finesse the connection between hip, knee, ankle, and foot. Finally, on this side, round your spine over.

If the pads of your fingers can reach the ground, then put your fingers on the ground and you'll be in spine flexion for plantar and dorsiflexion. If your hands don't reach the ground, you could hold onto the side of the chair or put a small box here so that your hands, so that you bring the floor to your hands. Aiming your right sitting bone back. Don't let the right hip hike up, lengthen the right side of your waist. All right, so you have practiced a connection move for hip, knee, ankle, and foot while finessing the trunk control of your central axis.

The new side awaits, swivel around, position your sitting bones at the back of the chair. Your left sitting bone will be just slightly off the edge. Now, if you have left sacroiliac joint instability, then it might be prudent to keep your sitting bone on the chair, supported by the chair so that you don't experience a shearing force. That wouldn't be wise. If however, your sacroiliac joints aren't quite cohesive, coherent, congruent is the C word I was looking for there.

Then you can have your left sitting bone just barely off the edge. Now with the volume of your ribs on top of your pelvis and bringing your left lung towards the left, just to avoid this mistake. Quick, slow, slow, slow, quick, slow, slow, slow, three and, when you have your left thumb over the area of the vastus medialis, the inner aspect of your quad, then you can feel that you are accessing the targeted area. Change in external rotation to the ball of your toes and the sole of your toe, the ball of your foot and the sole of your toes. And we'll press down and up here.

As your knee comes up, your left femur head nestles into the acetabulum. I should have mentioned, but I'll do so now, since I forgot earlier that it would be wise to have a box underneath your right foot because the right foot is open chain here, and it will be a little bit more sturdy when you have a closed chain foot rest. We're wildly over the count of eight now. So it's time to move on quick, slow, slow, slow, quick, slow, slow, slow, inhale as if to fill up the back of your left lung, nod your nose downward and lengthen the back of your neck. When anything gets more difficult, I tend to do that.

Change to parallel now. This is working on the requiring a medial hip glide and throwing a vector to the vastus medialis, the adductor aspect of your deep frontline, keeping your left heel in contact with the chair pedal best you can. If you're limited in dorsiflexion so that your heel can't touch the pedal, of course your heel will come up a little bit and then press it down. It's as if your left sitting bone were pressing the pedal down. Inhaling here into your left lung, stilettos and flats.

Quick, slow, slow, slow, quick, slow, slow, slow, quick, slow, slow, slow, quick. (breathing) Five and six and seven and eight. Change. Come over into a long spine or as if you could have a neutral spine in the direction of a forward bend. Quick, slow, slow, slow, quick, slow, slow, slow.

This is a tricky proprioception exercise for your left ankle. The tendency could be to roll out to the little toe side of the foot, don't do that, that's dangerous. Keep your center of the front of your ankle steering forward over your second toe. And then round all the way forward, spreading your sitting bones wide, pads of your fingers on the ground, aiming your left sitting bone towards the right. This deep flexion of your left hip will nestle your femur head into the acetabulum, seven and eight, maybe.

Now, bring yourself up.

Standing Ankle Plantar/Dorsi Flexion

Figure 8.3, Top Row; Table 12.3 #9; Table 13.1H #2

Standing with your left foot directly in line with the center of, between the pedals, your left foot is in line between the pedals. You'll bring your ball of your right foot, the sole of your right toes in contact with the foot pedal. Steer your right sitting bone towards your inner left ankle, which you are well prepared to do because you just practiced lumbar side bending. Here's the rhythmic action, quick, slow, slow, slow.

Quickly into plantar flexion and slowly into dorsiflexion. While you do this, steer your right sitting bone towards your left ankle so the right side of your waist is long, draw the right side of your pelvis back, the tendency is to rotate your right pelvis towards the chair. If all's going reasonably well, rise to the sole of your left toes, pressing the sole of your left toes firmly into the floor or firmly into the disk. Sliding your shoulder blades down your rib wall. Come down and change to the new side, all you need do to change to the new side is to relocate your patellar tendon cushion, sure, I'll get right on it, and plant the ball of your foot and the sole of your toes on the chair pedal.

Now, adjust your foot on the chair pedal so that when the pedal is all the way down, you can have all the metatarsal heads in contact with the chair pedal. Granted, there'll be more weight towards the first metatarsal, the first three toes, then the last two, then the fourth and the fifth. And your toes will suction onto the chair pedal, particularly during the eccentric control, when you lower your heel and bring the pedal up gradually, that's when your toes (lips smacking) suction onto the chair pedal. Drawing the left side of your pelvis back and aiming your left sitting bone towards your inner right ankle, take a breath. Okay, here we go.

Quick, slow, slow, slow. Quick, slow, slow, slow. Quick, slow, slow, slow. As if you could prepare the soles of your feet and your legs to move with cat-like precision and cat-like grace. Challenge yourself to keep that rhythm going as you press into the sole of your right toes and the ball of your right foot, finessing the ground force of your right foot, and your left knee, whoa, into the carriage.

You can see this is challenging my ability to be level and steady on this disk. Come down from here. Now, we're going back to the first side again, this time with two different orientations with respect to the chair. You are most likely much more familiar with the sagittal orientation, we're going to switch it up a little bit. If you don't have the disk, reposition your left foot so that you are on a diagonal with respect to the chair.

You can see your femur stays steady and you turn your pelvis around the head of your right femur, so now you have a different orientation. Quick, slow, slow, slow, quick. This different orientation with respect to the spring resistance will place a different vector of force in the connection from the sole of your foot up to your abdominals. And then when it's time for the releve, when it's time to go into plantar flexion, to lift your heel off the ground, disk or no disk, you will have to orient to different sets of ground forces, which is a useful motor control process. Change now to the new side.

Your right foot will be aligned with the center, and then without the disk, you just relocate your right foot on this angle. If you do have the disk, swivel it. Cushioning your left knee, turn your pelvis around the head of your left femur. And we're ready to go. Quick, slow, slow, slow.

Steering your left sitting bone towards your inner right ankle, the right medial malleolus. It's always a good time to remind yourself about the elongation at the back of your neck, especially in this age of laptop neck and computer posture. Now, this one is really difficult for me, so I have to be quiet and focus. Plant the sole of your right big toe, and this, as you can see, is creating a ground force of stability through the inner left knee, that's where I don't have much left. (laughing) I don't have any left actually, since my injury was when I was 15, and that's decades ago. Left sitting bone towards your inner right ankle.

Now, note to self, do that more than once a year. Okay, finally, we'll take a different orientation. And that will be rotating your pelvis towards your supporting leg. We've been straight on, we've rotated away, and now there's going to be the direction of a relative internal rotation, and the supporting leg and of the working hip. Quick, slow, slow, slow.

Now the center of the pubic bone and the chest bone are aiming on this diagonal. Still steering you're right sitting bone towards your inner left ankle. And with or without the disc rise to the sole of your left big toe, pressing your right toes strongly into the disk and keeping your laser-like focus with your inner vision. Keeping the rhythm going, and last time for the new side and the next variation. Setting up and then internally rotate, reposition your supporting leg and your pelvis quick, slow, slow, slow.

Recommitting yourself to the length of the back of your neck. Asking yourself to keep this steady, rhythmic action, quick, slow, slow, slow, all the way connecting the sole of the foot to your sitting bone into your pelvis. Sliding your left shoulder blade down towards the right gluteals, the right PSIS.

Side to Chair, One Foot per Pedal

Figure 8.5, Top Right

Your inside foot will be on the back pedal, your outside foot will be on the forward pedal. The reason I was looking up to the left and did a pause there is because the next variation after this will switch the legs up.

And I just wanted to make sure that I did the less demanding variation first and the most demanding next. Now with your feet in parallel on the chair pedals, nestle glide your shoulder blades down and have a bit of thoracic extension. And we're going to shift forward and to the left, weight onto your left hand. Sometime today get off the tarmac. Two and, three and, four and change.

This hand, that's this one, that would be your left hand, it goes to the back of the chair corner. Now you're on a different rotation of your femurs and two and. Bringing the convex aspect of your sacrum up to the ceiling. Your right hand goes to the next accessible chair corner one, two, three, four, two and. Three and, four.

Your left hand moves to the next accessible corner. You can see where we're going, more and more side bending here, lengthening the right side of your waist. That's all right, you're prepared for this, well prepared. Continue turning your pelvis to the left, rotating around the head of your femurs and your right hand goes to the back corner. Lots of weight is on your left hand now, your left shoulder blade, the left side of your ribs.

Unwind just a little bit so that both hands are on the chair corners closer to you. Less side bending than before, and the foe as an FAUX false headstand, don't put your head on the chair top, lengthen the back of your neck, three and four. Now the new side awaits which will be side bending the other way, which is really fortunate I think. The inside foot is on the back pedal. Checking your ground forces there, make sure that you're on top of the chair pedal not on the side of it.

Leading your chest bone forward and up, your sacrum up and back. Sitting bones spread wide as you hover, one and, two and. Shoulder blades snug up against your rib wall. Right hand moves to the next corner, one and, two and. Collarbones wide, avoid the white knuckle grip on the chair.

Left hand comes one notch forward, one and two and. As you descend collarbones widen. Right hand goes up one notch back, one and. This is side bending lateral flexion of the left side, in this case. Turning your pelvis to the right, bring your left hand behind.

Now there's more weight bearing on the heel of your right hand. And we have two more variations left that are less demanding in terms of side bending. And finally come on to your forearms, pressing the pads of your fingers and thumbs against each other in order to elongate the upper trapezius. Your sacrum aims up to the ceiling having the intention of keeping the pedals level. Easy now on the dismount, come up from this.

Side to Chair, Inside Foot

Figure 8.5, Bottom Left

The outside foot comes across the midline to the back pedal, and the inside foot comes to the forward pedal. This is exactly opposite where we were moments ago. When your left foot is forward, it's encouraging the pelvis and lumbar spine to rotate to the right. When both hands are on the corners of the chair, it's encouraging the thoracic spine to rotate to the left. So here we have a situation of the pelvis and the lumbar spine rotating to the right and the thoracic spine and the shoulder girdle are rotating to the left.

This oppositional rotation is not new to you, you do it every time you take a step. Now, shifting your weight forward to your hands, will lift the sacrum up, drawing your abdominal wall up toward your spine. Land the chair pedals, move your left hand to the left, and your chest bone aims over the free corner, two and, three and, four. Your right hand moves one notch back, the pelvis and the lumbar spine are rotating to the right. The thoracic spine is side bending to the left.

Sucking your femur heads up into the acetabulum. Your left hand goes one notch back. One and, two and, three and, four. And finally inhale side bending, all toes are aiming forward. All fingers are aiming back.

Two and, three and, four. And you'll have both forearms onto the chair top. Pads of your fingers and thumbs touching. Shifting your weight forward with your head coming in the direction of your hands, inhale and exhale to return. Inhale and coming up.

The inhalation will help your sacrum lift. The exhalation will help you slide your shoulder blades down and use your abdominals to help. Twice more here, and finish. Come out of your adult twister game now, and we'll take the new side. With your side to the chair, the outside foot comes to the back pedal.

The inside leg comes to the forward pedal. This is implying now that your pelvis is rotating to the left. And when you take your hands to the right, it's a rotation and a bit of side bending of your thorax. The sacrum leads up to the ceiling, both pedals travel together, collarbones wide and shoulder blades nestled down, side bending one end to end. Notice the fingers are outstretched not a white-knuckle grip here, left hand moves to the next available corner.

This is fanning open the left ribs side bending of the left thoracic area, right hand goes to the accessible pedal, two and, it's a constant battle to avoid scapular elevation. And your left hand goes all the way to the back of the chair, side bending, fanning open the left side of the ribs, the left long, unwind a little bit. Bring your hands close by, two and, sacrum leads up, and come onto your forearms. One and, two and, three and, four. Just in case I forgot, these last two variations on the first side, I'm going to go back and do them.

You see it's said everybody has differences between sides. I mean, is that not the human condition? It's a lot easier for me to externally rotate the left leg and therefore a lot easier, for the pelvis to rotate to the left. In contrast, on the other side, when the left leg is forward as the pelvis turns to the left that's more and more internal rotation of the left side which is so difficult to do.

Prone Scapula Patterning

Figure 8.6, Top Row

Come to lie on your front so that the push through bar is even with the frame when your elbow is straight.

Have your hand, your left hand on the far side, on the left side of the bar, resting your forehead on your hand. As you inhale plant the sole of your right foot, and create a diagonal force through your left hand, inhaling as if to fill up your left lung, your left palm slides the bar forward and up, turning your chest bone slightly to the right, exhaling sliding your left scapula towards your right pelvis. Inhale push, anchor, and slide, exhale to return. So this would be scapular elevation and abduction, depression and abduction. A ground force from your right foot travels diagonally to your left hand, inhale, turning your pelvis to the right, exhale turn your pelvis to the left, when it's time to come up duck, and make your way up from here.

Change now to the new side, your right hand is on the far side of the push through bar. Come to lie on your front with a straight elbow. The push through bar is even with the frame, and your forehead, the center of your forehead is on the back of your left hand. Inhale plant your left foot, roll to the right, shoulder blade lifts up and wide, exhale to come back. Dorsiflex your right foot pressing the heel of your right foot away from your right hand, inhaling rotating the pelvis and the thoracic spine to the left.

Inhale to shrug up, exhale to deshrug, inhale, go, go, go reaching long with your right little finger, easy now, duck and make your way up from here.

Supine to Side Lying Assisted Trunk Rotation

Figure 8.6, Bottom Left

When you're lying on your back you'll have the top of your head even, with the end of the table, and position yourself in the center, so that your chest bone is in line with the crossed springs. Your right knee is bent with your right heel in line with your right sitting bone, and your right hand crosses over the midline to the left handle. Pressing the sole of your right foot inhale and the springs will encourage your torso to rotate to the left. Stand your ground with your right foot so the light from your right knee cap goes directly towards the ceiling.

Inhale internally rotating from your right shoulder turning your palm towards the ocean, turning your palm to the right, exhale to come down. Inhale, starting the ground force through the sole of your foot, it travels your pelvis rotating around the head of your femur, and then goes up. On this variation, your eyes stay steady where the springs cross. Now, in the second variation, your head, neck and eyes turn altogether with your torso. If you prefer to have a cushion or a pillow underneath your cervical spine so your cervical spine can be more in neutral and less of a side bending, feel free.

Help yourself to that. Inhale, push, anchor, turn and rotate. On the way down, draw your right shoulder down to the carriage. That's the table, isn't it? We left the reformer sometime ago, and now on the trapeze table, in case I didn't notice.

So that's two variations with the turning of your thoracic spine. Now, the third variation, your head, neck and eyes will turn opposite the direction in which your pelvis is turning. Anchor your right foot, turning your pelvis to the left as before, your head, neck and eyes turn slightly to the right. All the while, keeping your right knee cap shining directly at the ceiling. Lots of opportunity to practice assisted internal rotation and resisted external rotation.

Slide, make a change with your feet now, bending your left knee, your left heel is in line with your left sitting bone, and your left hand reaches across. Aiming your nose and your head, neck and eyes, your pelvis is assisted in turning to the right and returning to the mat is resisted. Inhaling, internally rotate. Exhaling, external rotation to come down. Two more of these, inhale to rotate, steering your right knee cap directly towards the ceiling, pressing the sole of your left foot into the table.

Second variation, your head, neck and eyes turn in the same direction with your pelvis. Inhaling as if to expand to your left lung. Shoulder blade descends. Push, anchor, and go, and return, one more of these. The last variation of these is to turn your head, neck and eyes slightly to the left when your pelvis turns to the right.

Push with your left foot, rotate your head, neck and eyes. Look to the left, inhale, on the exhalation, slide your shoulders down. Now, cross over the midline, both knees are bent. As you exhale, aim your gaze down behind the cheekbones of your face, internally rotate from the shoulder joint, nod your nose downward, and you get some assistance in spine flexion. Come down, and then some assistance in thoracic extension.

Internally rotate this way, and externally rotate. Change so that the other hand is on top, you could either keep your knees bent or your legs could be outstretched. Exhaling, nod your nose downward. Assisted roll up here, and assisted spine extension. Internally rotate, nod your nose downward, see behind the cheekbones of your face.

When you look up underneath your eyebrows and touch the tip of your tongue to the roof of your mouth, behind your upper teeth, that assists spine extension. Now, we'll go back to the first exercise, or the one we were doing just previously, and alternate sides. Push and a rotate, and return, change, push and rotate, and return, change. Push and go, and return, push and go, and return. Time to roll up all the way, nod your nose downward, see behind the cheekbones of your face, internally rotate.

Roll up in the direction of sitting, shoulder blades descend, roll down, change to the other arm on top. Equal opportunity, even though all of us are asymmetrical, it's useful to try all the different variations. Roll right on up, and we're so very done with that.

Seated on Rotator Disc, Scapular Depression

Figure 8.6, Bottom Right

Do a distance test by holding, with your left hand, holding the handle that's more forward. And I'm just checking to feel that when each finger gets a turn to pull the handle down, that there is sufficient distance so that I need to initiate this with scapular depression, rather than something else, okay.

It's as if just the little finger side of your hand could pull the handle down. Starting with the palm, your left palm away from you, as you exhale, slide your left shoulder blade towards the right sitting bone, and turn away from the bar and turn towards the bar. Now, your fourth finger pulls down, shoulder descends, your third finger pulls down, and your second finger. And then all the fingers pulling down and looking away. Now, as your little finger pulls down, you look towards, and then you look away, pulling down, looking towards, and away.

And your focus will be proximal, meaning your shoulder blade motion, that connects to your fingers. The new side awaits, so spin around. And you'll need to relocate yourself and your rotator disc a bit more forward. Turning your palm away from you, swiveling your pelvis away from the bar, it's as if the little finger side of your hand, your arm, and your shoulder blade, that side is what's leading down. Shoulder blade, turning your palm, turning towards to see your palm and turning away.

And your left. Now, that's your fourth finger of your right hand, and then your third finger, and your second, and all the hands. This time as you pull down, you'll look towards your hand, and then look away. Look toward your hand. This is the opposite.

Look away. Look toward. Look away. Look toward. Right shoulder blade is sliding, inferior angle of your right scapula is sliding toward your left PSIS.

Now, spin around, relocate, and here's a homework assignment for you. When you have a little bit more time to experiment and explore these moves and make them your own, do the same variations we've just been practicing with your arm behind. That will be much more demanding on the tissues at the front of your shoulder, much more demanding on the scapular depression. If, those of you who have instability at the anterior aspect of your humerus, (clucks) don't do that. But otherwise, if you're well connected with your shoulder girdle, then you can have practice with your arm behind.

OK. This next variation will be with internal rotation, swivel away into flexion, and then external rotation, swivel into extension. Internally rotate, swivel away. Externally rotate, swivel towards. Side bending and rotation.

Rotation and extension. Side bending and rotation. Rotation and extension. That can also be practiced with your hand at the back. (clucks) Swivel around, and relocate the disc.

Internal rotation and flexion. Externally rotate. Your right shoulder blade leads down, leaning away into internal rotation. Leaning away into external rotation. Exhale to turn.

Inhale to return. Exhale to turn, thumb down. Inhale to return.

Seated Circle Saw

Figure 8.7

As we were saying, inhale, shrug up. As you exhale round your spine back.

Anchoring through your heels especially your left heel, exhale, it's flexion and rotation. Making a long distance from your left foot out through your right fingers, as if you could reach that upright. Now, push into your right foot and move into side bending, reaching as if you could touch that upright. Not this way, not an anterior pelvic tilt and spine extension, but drive into spine flexion and side bending. Continue in spine flexion and side bending, and then come up and over into side bending, with this hand reaching for the upright, aiming your right sitting bone down.

Pressing through your right foot, your right hand sweeps towards the ocean, side bending, push through your left foot and reach with your hand towards this upright. Now, your hand towards this upright and sweep parallel to the ground. Internal rotation of your shoulder with your hand on the foot bar, come across to this upright and then reach across to the other, nestling into internal rotation of your left shoulder joint. Come up from here, inhale to shrug up. As you exhale, nod your nose downward.

See behind the cheekbones of your face. Inhale to prepare. On the exhale, dive down, reach down into flexion, a long diagonal from your right foot to your left hand. Push through your left foot, left side bending. Sweep around into rotation.

Anchoring your left sitting bone, reach your hand towards the upright. Continue to sit down with your left sitting bone. Side bending, flexion, rotation. Reaching from your heels of your feet towards your hand, swing out towards the ocean. Come across to this upright.

Come across to that upright, and nestle into internal rotation. Picking up the pace, one more each side. Inhale to shrug up. Exhale, deshrug, spine flexion. As you exhale, sweep down.

Pushing into your feet, make a huge arc until you come into side bending. Pushing more with your feet, connecting your ribs to your pelvis, swing out. Internal rotation and dive in to listen to your knee. Exhale, deshrug, and nod your nose downward. Exhale again.

Rotation to the left making the longest possible distance from the heels of your feet to your hands. Side bending. Swing around, reach, reach, go! And internal rotation, nestle right on in.

Parakeet with Single Hip Flexion

Figure 8.8, Middle Left

When your arms are outstretched and holding onto the uprights, you would have the soles of your metatarsals, just above the soles of your metatarsals in contact with the foot bar. Now, if when you lie down, you recognize that you're not quite the right length to be able to have a good grip onto these uprights, then by all means put a platform or a small box, a platform across the table this way so that you can press the heels of your hands into that box.

You will need some stabilizing force through your hands and through your arms. The sole of your mid-foot is in contact with the foot bar now, not the metatarsal heads and not the ends of your toes. You need to get a force from above, pressing down through the first ray in order to make a strong connection from your feet on the bar to your sitting bones. As you exhale, bend your knees, and then anchor your sacrum towards the ground as you extend your knees. Drawing your heels towards your sitting bones, drive the bar down.

Start now, don't wait to connect your ribs towards your pelvis as the bar goes away, drawing your heels towards your sitting bones. Yes, your legs are following the arc of the bar. Pressing your midfoot, your metatarsals down. Pulling on the uprights to give some stability through your shoulder girdle as the bar goes away, pulling on your arms to give some stability as the bar comes towards you. Now pressing down through your midfoot, and pressing your hands into the uprights, it's a neutral bridge such that ASIS lead up to the ceiling.

Land your sacrum. Inhale to bend, exhale to slide away, inhale to bend, exhale to press. Push your hands into the uprights, press your feet into the bar and a neutral bridge, stand between your shoulder blades. Move your pelvis over the head of your femurs to land on your sacrum, sliding your ribs into your pelvis. Sequencing this gradually, safety first, and sequencing for success.

Push your hands into the upright. Push the bar away with your feet, while you're up anchor through the back of your left leg aiming your right sitting bone towards your left ankle, anchoring through your right foot, aiming your left sitting bone towards your inner right ankle. It's a neutral bridge. Dorsiflex the foot that's going overhead. And then plantar flex when it comes on to the bar.

Dorsiflex leading with your heel of your foot, and pressing the heels of your hands. Inhale to land, exhale to bend. Inhale, push your hands away from your feet. Exhale to bend. Anchor your feet into the bar.

It's the neutral bridge again, pushing your hands away, pressing your pelvis up. Now hold onto the uprights, create some stability here because the bar is going to go away and come towards. Pull with your hands. Pull with your hands. Pull and slide, pull and arc, pull and slide, pull and arc.

Landing your sacrum, inhale to bend, exhale to slide out. Next comes a single leg lifted bridge, press your hands, press your pelvis up. Bring up your right foot, and your left foot pushes the bar away. Pull with your hands, pull with your hands in order to give control to your shoulder girdle, aiming your right sitting bone toward your inner left ankle. Change now, equal pelvis and push away and come towards.

Pull with your hands. Send your left heel above your head and your left sitting bone towards your inner right ankle. Land. Land your sacrum, bend your knees. Snugging the top of your feet down onto the bar, nod your nose downward.

See behind the cheekbones of your face and roll up, fingers interlaced, palms against each other. Take a hold of the bar and bend those knees, straighten out. Dorsiflex your feet, lifting your chest bone as if to aluminate your toes. Inhale to bend, exhale push away, inhale to extend, inhale to bend. Now, if you're wearing slippery pants you will be able to slide on into the uprights.

If however, you're wearing stretch velvet, I don't think you can slide very well, which is so sad. So if you can slide your pelvis into the uprights, that would be a really good idea. I love this costume, but it's not gonna slide now. Okay?

Bridge with Extended Knees

Figure 8.8, Top Middle

To prepare for the advanced bridging, have the heels of your hands wide apart on the push through bar, and anchor the souls of your heels and your big toes into the uprights.

As you inhale, aim your sitting bones wide behind you and shrug your shoulders up as if to hide your neck and hide your ears. As you exhale, slide your shoulders down, roll back into spine flexion, adjust your feet on the uprights and bend your knees so that you can skim your sacrum along the table and come to lie on your back with knees bent. As you exhale, press the bar down, roll your pelvis up in a posterior pelvic tilt. Come to stand between your shoulder blades, roll down widening between your shoulders, nod your nose downward, and pushing into your feet, slide your pelvis back. Again, inhaling wide to the back of your lungs.

As you exhale, shoulders descend, nod your nose downward, adjusting your feet, pressing the ground force through your feet and through your hands pulling, slide your pelvis in. Inhaling here once again, as you push the bar down, peel your pelvis and spine up. Opening your hip joints to the ceiling and then broaden between your shoulder blades. Put each vertebrae down on the table. Nod your nose downward and carry your feet.

Peel yourself up and skim back with your sitting bones. This next variation we'll go into lift off with the advanced bridge. Inhale to prepare scapular, elevation, exhaling scapular depression. Roll back, and slide in. Inhaling now, start the same.

Peel your pelvis and spine up, plant your feet and lift your chest bone and gaze directly to the ceiling. As you lower your shoulder blades, lift your pelvis higher land on the back of your neck, the back of your head, your neck and your shoulders. Roll down your spine, roll up and then push your feet into the uprights so you can skim your pelvis back. Inhale to shrug up, exhaling, roll back. Bend your knees, slide on in as you exhale, peel your pelvis and spine up, lift your pelvis hip joints higher.

As you descend, roll down your spine and push back. Inhale to come up exhale and be grateful for your success.

Thigh Stretch in the Sagittal Plane

Figure 8.8, Bottom Middle

Come onto your shins now with the front of your thighs up against the shoulder rest. And here you are holding the push through bar with palms down, torso is vertical. You were well prepared for this spine articulation.

Nod your nose downward, look behind the cheek bones of your face, round forward inflection from the top down as you inhale sitting bones spread up and wide behind you. The light from your chest bone shines on the push through bar. Exhaling, nod your nose downward, roll your spine upright. Turn your arms, palms up, lift your chest bone, see the ceiling behind you. Bend your elbows and slide the carriage in, slide back drawing from pubic bone up underneath your chest bone.

Something related now with starting with spine extension, inhaling, chest bone lifts, collar bones wide, exhaling partially in deflection. Inhale in the direction of extension. Continue coming up into extension palms up, lift your chest bone, lift your gaze drawing from pubic bone up underneath your chest bone, come on up. So we've had a flection cut and an extension cut with knees straight ahead. Swivel your legs now so to get your feet windshield wiper to one side and your knees are aiming on this diagonal that also changes the facing of your pelvis to this diagonal and the facing of your chest bone to this diagonal.

Now full disclosure. Let's just realize that you have a lot of options here. You could dive through the uprights through the push through bar with your chest bone facing forward while your lower body faces to the right. Or you could keep the diagonal axis all the way through here. All choose the latter, although if you have lots of time one rainy afternoon, feel free to do both.

Exhaling, nod your nose downward, see behind the cheekbones of your face, inhaling, spine extension, lifting your chest bone high. Exhaling, nod your nose downward, keeping your chest bone towards the right diagonal. Turn your palms under so it's spine extension and then elbow flection, push back and come up. Spine extension on this side, extension and flection, and extension lifting your chest bone, lifting your gaze, palms up, continue in your arch, elbows bending and come up. Swivel your feet now to the new side and start with flection.

Palms down, nod your nose downward as if you could roll down inside your unit hard, the pelvis moves over the head of the femurs into extension, nod your nose downward. Pelvis comes underneath your rib cage. Continue in this smooth arc, palms up, spine extension and come back. Stay at this angle and stay in extension to come forward. The light from your chest bone shining through the windows to the waves.

Curl, flection arch into extension, make your way up, change your grip and come up. Come back to the center now and yes, I have not forgotten the tongue. So let's just put the tongue back in with the eyes for a full body flection experience. Here we go, exhaling, curl down, tongue out, Inhale, tongue touches the top of your teeth, exhale to curl, inhale, tongue up eyes, look up and back underneath your eyebrows into spine extension. If you're enjoying this just so much, just be aware that there's some additional variations you could do, which is flexion and rotation, building on what you already articulated in sitting, flexion and rotation, extension and rotation.

And of course the other side, flexion and rotation, extension and rotation as well. Now you'll place your heel on the pads

Foot Corrector Movement Sequences

Figure 9.1

and your metatarsal heads over the foot corrector. Now with your knee aimed over your second toe, Norris come just a little bit more forward, so that not only the soles of the toes, but more the metatarsal heads are on top like that. Even more forward, the metatarsal heads there. And then similar to what we were doing with the ball, the toes wrap around the metatarsal heads.

What one might think that this is somewhat similar to the prehensile grip, the prehensile foot position that you would do on the foot bar. Now with weight down through your metatarsals, on purpose shift your pelvis forward, and the pedal will go down and bring your pelvis back. As you exhale, bring your pelvis forward, inhale to come back. Keep your heel firmly anchored, exhale forward, inhale to come back, exhale forward, and inhale to come back. So rightly so you're looking at this and saying, "What is she thinking?

"That's not foot strength, "that's moving the pelvis. "That's transferring the proximal way "to the pelvis over the foot." Yup. Didn't escape me. I'm doing that on purpose, so that you'll get the feeling of the proximal area, moving forward over the distal, and the weight transfer through your foot. Now we can localize this activity by keeping the focus at the activity in your ankle, foot and lower leg, by keeping your pelvis steady, and have the intention of moving your foot towards plantar flexion and dorsiflexion, plantar flexion, and dorsiflexion. At least in my experience, there's a big difference in the range of motion that I can get pressing against the spring by shifting forward with the whole body approximately versus the distal activation here.

Useful and very important when the effort is greater not to internally rotate. So don't internally rotate and pronate, but stay clear with the integrity of your foot. Now we'll take that similar action with the other way. Let's see you have been activating into plantar flexion, now we'll activate into dorsiflexion. Place the front of your heel in contact with the top of the metal pad, the front of your heel in contact there Okay.

That's not to be confused with the center of your heel or the rear heel. There will be a more accurate transfer of force, from your foot into the long bone of your tibia, when the front of your heel is in contact with the foot corrector. Now, as you exhale, bring your pelvis forward and that transfer of weight, even more I'd say Norris, back your foot up slightly. There you go, right there. Exhale, rocking forward, inhale to come back.

Now, a note of caution, those of you with compromised knee, I should know those of you with compromised knee joint surfaces, recognize that this may not be in your best interest, because here you are putting direct force through the long bone of the tibia going right up into the tibia plateau, and the joint of the knee, the intersection of the tibia plateau and the condyles of the femur. If those surfaces are compromised for you, from chondromalacia, I know that's from the back of the patella, or from arthritis. This is probably not in your best interest. I do this with care and et cetera. So caution there.

Now, keeping your pelvis steady, moving your foot in the direction of plantar flexion. And there will be less capability of pushing down so strongly, but still beneficial for you to do that. Seven and, eight. Lots more where that came from excuse me, lots more where that came from always, but step off the foot corrector, and appreciate the differences here. Each one of these particular moves in our foot festival that I show you, have different benefits, the benefits layer one on top of the other.

So if you have all day, what a pleasure to get so well connected from your foot to your pelvis and spine and brain. And if you don't have all day, then of course choose your favorites and the ones that best makeup for your motor control deficits. Now we'll do the other side very quickly, as to go make sure that you're organized. Here you are in dorsiflexion. As you get familiar with this, you could decrease the amount of assistance that you get from building up the floor.

I'll just show that that's possible. Norris, as you wish. So we've gone from two pads to some pads, and you can see that now, you can stay as you are that's right, but there's a much steeper angle of dorsiflexion, exhale forward inhale to come back, exhale forward, right away you can see that When I don't have, when I have not built up the floor, there's the possibility of increased impingement at the anterior aspect of the ankle joint. It's not worth the trouble, keep the floor built up. Now having shifted your weight forward and back, keep it a more distal action.

And I'm certainly appreciating differences between sides. There are always differences between sides, seven and eight, change now, so that the rear foot that would be the anterior aspect of the heel is in contact. And now you can see that there's a much greater pitch. Of course, if you're going out to the ballet gala, or to the opera gala, or just stepping out and want to train for your stilettos, this is the thing to do. Exhale forward, inhale back.

You'll have much better ankle proprioception. You'll be able to walk with more grace and ease, no matter how high your heels, six, seven, eight. Now leaving your pelvis steady and focus on the distal aspect, put the pads of your fingers on your sitting bone so that you can feel that the moment you press down with the front of your heel, there is increased action all the way up the chain through the superficial back line, where the attachments of the connected tissue and mild fascia meridians are to your hamstring. Now been there, done that, at least the taste of it and coming to the functional footprints.

The Leg Pull Front Rocking

Figure 9.3, Top Left Pair

In this progression of the quadruped, you'll recall, we have had forearms on the arc and then hands on the arc with both knees on the ground and then single knee.

Now it's a long plank. So, buckle up, tuck your toes under, have your feet about shoulder width part and have your arms perpendicular to the ground. Rock to the steep slope. Inhaling here, exhale. It's a lateral translation and a little bit of rotation.

Inhibit elbow bending, i.e don't bend your elbows, keep your elbows fairly straight and that you can appreciate, will require more work for the lateral aspect of your thoracic area. More work for the area around your ribs. One more here, inhale to shift, the light from your chest bone goes towards the supporting hand, and then in the other direction. Come down now, spin the arc around, the new side is coming right up next. Here you are, taking good care of your wrists.

Decompressing your wrists, by having the heels of your hands as wide on the arc as is comfortable for your shoulders. Tuck your toes under, give yourself a stable base with the soles of your feet and your hands rocking to the steep slope. Inhale to shift, exhale to rock down. Meanwhile, back at the lower ribs, draw them up so that the TL junction, the area between the thoracic spine and the lumbar spine, where those two meet is very well supported. When you rock towards the gentle slope, there will be extra weight through the soles of your toes there then push with those toes to help propel you.

You can push with the opposite toes to go to the new side, push with the opposite toes, to go to the new side, come down from this now and spin this around. Now, we're going to do this same thing, maybe not as many variations, with a single leg lift. So just as you were lifting one knee before, now we're going to shift, anchor and lift the other foot. So buckle up, slide your shoulders down and broad, tuck your toes under. And we're going to the steep slope first.

And while you're there, lift up the gentle slope foot and bring it down, go to the gentle slope, while you're there, lift up the steep slope foot, inhale to shift, buckle up, anchor, and lift, inhale to shift. Make a clear diagonal between the heel of one hand and the standing toes of the opposite foot, shift, anchor, creating the diagonals of stability. I said, not as many, but then I got so fascinated with the cues. I thought, oh, maybe just one more to clarify the diagonal relationship between, other side, please, between the soles of the feet and the heels of the hands. All right, let's see what other queuing gems we can discover, tuck up now.

And here you are, buckle up the shoulder girdle, meaning scapular wide. So rock to the steep slope, exhale to hover the gentle slope, inhale to shift, anchor and lift, those of you who follow the work of Thomas Myers, author of "Anatomy Trains," and creator of the term, the Myofascial Meridians. It's a fascial field day here, a fascia festival, here you are anchoring the lateral line with no small amount of work for the front and back functional lines. And I dare say the spiral lines are a bit at work as well. More on that later.

Come down from here.

The Swan Dive

Figure 9.3, Top Right Pair

It's time for a spine extension and you are so well prepared for spine extension. This is going to be arm jumps, sort of swan dive rocking. So you have your hands on the rib of the arc, and belly on up to your surfboard here. Ooh, butchering metaphor, so that your lowest ribs are slightly forward, in contact with or slightly forward of the front edge of the steep slope of the arc.

Now position your palms so that as you rock forward, putting weight into the heels of your hands, that drives your shoulder blades down your spine towards your pelvis. If your hands are too far forward, your upper trapezius will work more strongly than the appropriate landing gear of your shoulders. If your hands are too far back, then you should get a nose guard immediately. All right, so your palms are in line, just in front of your, just behind your shoulders. Pardon me.

So rock forward, do a test run and inhale to push up exhale to rock forward. As you inhale the soles of your toes can tuck under. Exhale to rock forward, inhale to rock up. Now it's time to jump, push and suspend, and land and suspend and land. If all's going reasonably well, then you can intensify your spine extension by moving your hands and your gaze forward.

Inhale, suspend, exhale to plummet to earth in slow motion, twice more. (all chuckle softly) Sometimes you get up and it's just hard to come down. Slide on off of this.

Standing Weight Shifts in Coronal Plane

Figure 9.3, Bottom Left Pair

Stand your right foot onto the gentle slope, with your right big toe hooked over the edge. Hold onto something steady, and then stand onto the steep slope with your left foot.

Check to see that your arch is parallel to the wall or to the plane in front of you, and make an anchor with your big toe. So your big toes and heels are firmly anchored. You have a good, firm stance through your first ray. Rock to your right, to the gentle slope of the arch. Drive your left sitting bone down towards your right ankle and then rock to your left, bending your right knee.

Here we go, this rocking side to side, making a clear connection between your sitting bone and your heel. Keeping a force of air duction, drawing the tops of your inner thighs towards each other. So that's the first variation, rocking side to side, alternating knees bending. Now keep your knees in extension and its tail wagging or lumbar side bending, push down on your right foot, and your right sitting bone to the left heel and push down on your left foot and your left sitting bone to your right heel. So lumbar spine side bending or tail wagging, deleting or editing out any kind of rotation of your pelvis, only side bending.

Now the third variation in this orientation is to push down with the sole of your right big toe, steering your ankle forward over your toes, and then make a clear connection from your left sitting bone through your left big toe, alternate now, have the intention of keeping your pelvis level. So there is a bit of a lateral translation of your central axis, because of the asymmetrical design of the arch. Two more here, broad across your collar bones and long in the back of your neck. Now for the dismount, always stand on the gentle slope first, take your uphill foot off, stand on stable ground and turn your arch around.

Standing Weight Shifts in Sagittal Plane

Figure 9.3, Bottom #3

Stand with your right foot at the back of the arch, keeping the arch from spinning out, and then your left big toe comes forward making sure that your left first ray, your left big toe and your left heel are firmly anchored on the arch.

That's right, and sometimes the arch is slippery on a wooden floor. If you're on carpet, the arch won't have as much instability. As you inhale, drive your hip joints, drive your pelvis and your chest bone forward and up, keeping both heels firmly anchored. As you inhale, it's as if your naval light could shine towards the left, just a little bit, exhale to come back, driving your left sitting bone down towards your left heel, as you make a transition of your central axis forward and up, leave your right heel firmly planted as both hip joints, including the right, come forward. Second variation here will keep both knees extended and push down with your back toe, so your back heel lifts up and then push down with your front toes and rock from back foot to front foot, lengthening the back of your neck, as if the light from the back of your brain could shine right up towards the roof, steering from sitting bone to heel, steering from hip joint to big toe.

Stand on your back foot, and this is a mid-air transfer. Keep your right foot where it is, but the left foot back with it. Stand firmly with your left heel and bring your right foot forward. Here we go on the new side, bending the back knee and bending the front knee. Inhale to advance, exhale to retreat, it's as if you could put up the sails of your back, filling up your lungs, inhale, the full lungs bring you forward and up, exhale, driving from sitting bone to same side heel and even driving from sitting bone towards opposite heel.

Now both knees are extended and you push the back foot down drawing that left ASIS forward and then you push the front foot down. Imagining the naval light shining towards the ocean, slightly to the right, slightly to the left, slightly to the right, slightly to the left. Keeping your chest bone directly above your pubic bone. Stand on the back foot, keep your left heel planted and take your right foot off.

Standing Weight Shifts Away from the Wall

Figure 9.3, Bottom Right

Spin the arch around for the third and final orientation.

Make a test to see that the arch can indeed clear the wall, and then your right foot will stand forward onto the gentle slope of the arch, hooking your heel over the rib and your left heel and left big toe are at the back of the arch. Both your heel and your big toe have a firm platform on which to stand. Now, press your left sitting bone towards your left heel and rock, sorry for that. And rock back, bending your forward knee and keep your back heel firmly planted, bending your back knee. Navel shine slightly to the right, navel shine slightly to the left, left sitting bone to left heel, right sitting bone to right heel, left sitting bone towards inner right ankle, right sitting bone towards inner left ankle and your pubic bone and chest phone come full, back and forth evenly, both knees extended now and push down with your front toes and push down with your rear foot forward and back foot.

Activating your hip extensors, making a clear connection from pelvis to foot. Stand on your front foot, make a mid air transfer. So now your left foot is forward. Standing on your left foot, relocate your right and resume. Alternate back heel planted, front heel planted, both heels firmly planted steering your knees wide over your second or possibly third toes.

Inhale to walk backwards, exhale to rock forward. Standing firmly on both feet, the front foot pushes down and then the rear foot, alternate keeping tone in your glutes, a good connection of pelvis to foot. Now stand on your left foot on the gentle slope. Stand on your right foot and then easy on the dismount climb off. Now

Single Overhead Elbow Extension

Figure 9.4 Top Right

I'm going to park these loops and take an overhead arm press.

So this would be the material that's more closely related to what Norris is doing. Inhaling our press arms above the head. The inhaling to press out makes it more likely that you'll be able to keep your thoracic area in towards the, or down towards the roller. Turning head, neck and eyes to see past one elbow and turning your head, neck and eyes to see past the other elbow. When it's time for one arm at a time, you can rest one hand on the carriage or one hand on your abdominals or reaching up, good luck to us, reaching across towards the ankle, the shin and the ankle, or the big toe, creating a ground force with your pelvis.

With the back of your sacrum, turning your head to look away from the supporting hand and then turning your head to look towards the supporting elbow. Then the new side of weights crossing the new ankle, shin in front, your arm can be down on the carriage, or resting at your pelvis, or reaching across to your shin, ankle or foot, turning your head, neck and eyes to look away from the bending elbow and turning your head, neck and eyes to look towards the bending elbow. Now, when both hands are wide apart, join me here Norris, when both hands are wide apart, you have the option, just the option, if you'd like, of taking the Pilates mat exercise to roll over. So pressing the heels of your hands into the bar, curl your pelvis up. Posterior pelvic tilt is spine flexion, the souls of your toes can go towards the bar or in Norris's case as you like your legs can slide underneath the bar, coaxing a little bit more length to the superficial back line.

All the connections from the soles of your feet, towards the top of your head, press away with your hands. Bend your knees a little to be kind to your spine. Roll your spine and your pelvis down. Now, Norris you can roll to either side and come up to sitting and I'll plant my feet and interlace the fingers. Nod your nose downward, roll your head, neck and shoulders up, reaching your hands towards the poise and come all the way up to vertical.

Spine Extension During Hip Extension

Figure 9.5 Bottom Right

As you exhale, slide your shoulders down and hover your pelvis. Now keeping the pelvis suspended, do a hamstring curl, bringing your heels towards your sitting bones bending your knees. This is the first variation here, keeping your pelvis lifted. As you get familiar with this slide your feet over the shoulder rests, and as you bring the shoulder rests towards you, press your pelvis forward, lifting your chest and lifting your gaze. So we have scapula depression, some length of the superficial front line, some length of the deep front line and this would be having the intention of thoracic extension.

Roll across your collarbones. Remember your eyes are the advanced team of your spine. So as you become familiar with this, you can look up and back to the ceiling above and behind you. Last two coming up and last one. Easy now on the dismount, have a seat.

Reformer Quadruped Single Hip Extension

Figure 9.7, Top Row

And you'll put the long loop on the sole of your foot again. Have a seat, just making sure that you don't go through the uprights in an unplanned fashion. Stand your foot firmly on the ground because remember there's a loop pulling it off and you don't want to lose it, and then hook your foot in dorsiflexion over the edge of the carriage so that you have a ground force from the top of your foot to the carriage. You can use some cushion underneath your wrist if you'd like. One hand is on the side of the shoulder rest and the other hand is on the headrest.

Now the first rounds of this, the spine will be fairly steady. As you exhale drive back, connect from Pubic bone up underneath your chest bone, into a hip extension, but not too much spine extension yet. Again, now depending on your leg length and your reformer height, you may be able to drive your heels straight down from your sitting bone. That's not my situation currently. So I have to make a little bit of a detour outside of the joint line into abduction, and then swing back into hip extension.

As you go into hip extension press with your hands down, create a ground force there and connect your abdominals up. Now we'll continue with this motion, with spine flexion, spine flexion, exhaling. As you pass into hip extension, also move into spine extension, lifting your chest bone higher than your chin. This is not such a good look shortening the back of your neck. Keep your neck long while you are up it's knee bending and knee straightening.

Press down with the little finger side of your hands in order to lift up your front body. Don't let your ribs sag. Inhale to bend exhale to press.

Quadruped Single Leg Circles Outside Foot

Figure 9.7, Bottom Row

Now we come into hip circles, spine flexion and hip extension, activate your ground forces with the top of your foot and your hands are going to sweep up and around, into circumduction and extension. And again sweep forward, flexion driving from your sitting bone through your heel, lifting into extension collarbones wide, and then reverse the direction of the circle, pressing through your heel and around to the front.

Curl down flexion, and arch your spine, extend your spine coming around. One more of these. You wouldn't know until you try this that there's enormous amount of eccentric control right about now. If you find the carriage banging into the frame (laughs), know that you are in the majority, and it's not your fault it's the environment. You know, if things don't go well, first of all, blame the environment.

Second of all, blame the instructor, and only third of all, do you consider that you might be making a contribution to the situation.

Trapeze Table with Head Sling

Figure 10.2, Top Left

Slide down onto the box, and position yourself so that the stability sling is cradling your head, cradling the back of your head, as if you had a hammock for the back of your brain. Now these springs ought to be perpendicular to the ground. And when you are supported by the springs, your head and your neck, your cervical spine will be in neutral. You could have your knees bent, the soles of your feet in contact with the box, that will throw more weight towards the back of your head.

Or you could have your legs outstretched, your inner ankle bones and your big toe joints and your inner knees aiming towards each other. You have options for your hands, your arms. They can be here, your hands resting on your pelvis, or you can have your hands pressed into the uprights. In this case, you can use the ground force through the heels of your hands, to remind yourself for scapular depression, and to remind yourself further of the connections of the anterior oblique sling system sliding your ribs in the direction of your pelvis. The last arm variation would be to have your hands above your head like this.

This more advanced position makes more demands on the upper obliques and the intercostals. Anchoring your hands here, as you exhale, lengthen the back of your neck, and glide your face away from the ceiling, exhaling. As you lengthen from the back of your neck, press the heels of your hands into the uprights, and remind yourself to keep the connection of ribs to pelvis and the collarbones wide. Next variation is a slight tilt. Tilting your head on your neck, as if to bring your right ear to listen towards your right shoulder, and your left ear to listen towards your left shoulder.

Now when your left ear listens to your left shoulder, increase the pressure of the heel of your right hand onto the bar, that will help to stabilize your shoulder girdle. Because remember, this is a slight motion of the cervical spine. It's not for the thoracic spine at this moment. Do this keeping your nose and your gaze directly forward to the ceiling. Eventually you can let your eyes be the advanced theme of the spine, by moving your eyes down into the left, you'll encourage left side bending of the cervical spine.

By moving your eyes down into the right, you'll encourage right side bending. Next it's your Bollywood debut on the trapeze table. This is a lateral translation. Lengthening the right side of your neck. Your right ear listens past your right elbow.

Come to center. As you inhale, lengthen the left side of your neck. Now, as you shift your cervical spine and your head to the right, reach long with your left heel and anchor the heel of your left hand. Inhale translate to the left, press your right hand and your right heel. Inhale to laterally translate, exhale center.

Keeping your arm pits fairly steady as your head translates. The next variation is rotation. Lengthening the back of your neck, turning the back of your brain, the right hemisphere of your brain to the left, rotate nose to the right and come center. Turning the back of your left brain to the right. Your nose turns to the left, exhale, elongate, and rotate.

When you rotate to the right press through the heel of your left hand, and when you rotate to the left press through the heel of your right hand. And no doubt you'll notice the activity of the upper obliques and the intercostals as you rotate around your central axis. And next it's as if your head was on a small saucer at the top of your cervical spine. Translate to the left, elongate to the floor, translate to the right and towards the ceiling. Exhale towards the floor, inhale towards the ceiling, keep the rotation out of it so that your nose is aiming directly towards the ceiling.

When you finish with these variations, you could have an active rest. Interlace your fingers, aim the palms above the top of your head, your elbows wide to the side and the sling will support your head while you activate your upper obliques and intercostals to keep the connection of your chest bone towards your pubic bone. This active rest in which your elbows are wide to the side might give some relief to the shoulder tension. That's so prevalent in this era of laptop neck, and computer posture. Now to get out of this, caution, slide back and work your way back onto the box, pushing with your hands and when you get to the box so that your head is supported by the box, then you can gently remove the sling and put your head down rest for a moment and feel your new self.

Supine Assisted Cervical Rotation

Figure 10.2 Bottom Row; Table 10.5 #1

As you exhale, send your heels underneath the bar into Dorsey flection, turning your head towards the left with your right arm, your right hand. As you inhale rise to your toes, lower your heels and bring your right arm your right hand back to the center. As you exhale move your gaze to the left corners of your eyes sockets. Inhale to rise. So your head is turning is being turned to the left by your right hand.

Second variation, keeping your gaze directly ahead at one point on the ceiling, your neck is the passive recipient of the movement from your right arm, your right hand. Again, next same variation. Keeping your gaze straight ahead at one point on the ceiling, rise to your toes and lower your heels. Now the third and final variation is turning your head to the left. Move your eyes to the right corners of your eye sockets.

Keeping your eyes to the right corners lift and lower your heels and come back to center. Once more, using your left hand to warm your neck, to warm your throat, move your eyes to the right corners of your eye sockets, as the hand on your forehead is turning your head to the left. Close your eyes, bring your arms down beside you. Continue that motion of your feet and ankles. And now with your eyes closed as if your eyes could rest into the back of the eye sockets, the recesses of your eye sockets, as if your eyes are resting in your meditation sanctuary.

With a minimum of force, turn your head to the left. That's the direction, the familiar direction that you're right hand had helped with previously, come back to the center. And now for contrast role, turn your head to the right. There are differences between sides, there always be differences between sides, but maybe you can feel an extra difference now. Open your eyes, put your left palm on your forehead so that your left little finger is just above your eyebrows.

And your left fingers are aiming to the right. Using your left arm, your left hand, turning your head to the right, moving your eyes to the right also, rise to your toes, lower your heels and use your hand to steer your head back to the center. Once again, as you let the air out, let the back of your lungs rest into the basket of your ribs. Your eyes are the advanced team of your spine. Move your eyes to the center.

Now keeping your gaze at one point on the ceiling, using your left arm your left hand, turn your head to the right. You can feel with your hand on your, your right hand on your neck. That you're warming your neck your throat, and that your neck is on vacation. It's the passive recipient as you keep your gaze straight ahead. Now turning your head to the right moving your eyes to the left corner of your eye sockets.

Keep your gaze to the left corner of your eye sockets as you lift and lower, come back to the center. Last one here, as you let the air out, all the abdominal layers come into your spine. Inhale to the back of your ribs, lower your heels and come down. Rest your arms alongside close your eyes. Rest your eyes into your meditation sanctuary deep into the recesses of your eye sockets with a minimum of effort and a minimum of force turn your head to the right moving your eyes to the right corner of your eye sockets, feel the ease with which I hope that happens now.

And then turning your gaze your eyes to the left, your nose to the left also, keeping both shoulder blades easy and contact with the ground. Now, eyes open, roll to your side and come up to sitting.

High Kneeling Overhead Arm Press

Figure 10.4 Left

You'll have the long loop around your right wrist and you'll have your left hand on the shoulder rest. Aiming your right elbow up to the ceiling. As you can appreciate you just prepared your lateral line and side bending in the standing side bending.

Now we're going to take that side bend range of motion and put an arm exercise on top of it, leaning over so your left ear listens to the ground. As you inhale, turn your left lung to the ceiling. Exhale to turn back and see your feet behind you. Inhale to rotate exhale to come back. Twice more, push with your left hand turning towards the ceiling and turn back.

and turn, and turn back. This time, rotate and stay rotated and extend your elbow. Reach to the ceiling, bend and look back at your toes. Inhale to push out, exhale to bend. Or exhale to press, that's fine too.

Inhale to bend, drawing your right shoulder down, prior to and during the lengthening of your right arm. Change now so your left hand gets the long loop. Knees together, best you can, right fingers are reaching towards your right knee. Ear, neck, shoulder, and ribs go into side, bending and reach out lengthen, so from your left knee, through your left little finger and reach your right fingers towards the carriage and towards the edge of the carriage. Inhale to look down at the springs as you bend your elbow, exhale, to look up.

Inhale to bend, exhale to turn. We'll have two more of these. Inhale, collecting your lowest front ribs towards your pelvis. Last one, find your left shoulder, slide it down. Now, reach to the ceiling fingers, fan the ceiling, and then bend your elbow and come down.

Putting this loop down now, change to the new side. Knees are together, front to back and right to left. This time it's your left wrist that gets the short loop and your right hand, the heel of your right hand leans onto the shoulder rest. Keeping your left elbow bend. Inhaling seeing the ceiling above you, exhale there are your feet behind you.

Push with your right hand, turning your left lung in front of you to the left and then turning your, that's turning your right lung in front to the left. Here it is, right lung in front of you to the left, left lung in front of you to the right. This time turn, bring your left shoulder down and push out. Reach up and over left elbow to the ceiling, three more of these. Left shoulder comes down as left arm goes out, turning your thoracic spine with respect to your shoulder, sliding your shoulder down.

Change now so your right hand gets the long loop. Left fingers slide down towards your left knee, left ear listens to the ground side bending. Right fingers stream beyond the foot bar. Left fingers, reach to the carriage and over the edge. Bending your left elbow, your right elbow.

Is it right, left, what is it? Bending that elbow and turning to look up, look beyond your elbow to the ceiling. Inhale, rotate, see the floor below you, exhale, see the ceiling above you. Fanning open your right ribs as you exhale, slide your shoulder down in the direction of your right pelvis. One more of these, bend and reach keeping your right elbow straight, reach up to the ceiling and then come down by bending your right elbow and put this loop down.

Prone Forehead on Hands

Table 10.1 #7

And here you are with your right hand on top of your left hand, tuck your toes under dorsiflexion with your heels in line with the sitting bones. Place the center of your forehead, along the back of your right hand, pushing with the sole of your left toes. As you inhale, slide your head to the right, elongating the right side of your neck as if your right ear could listen past your right elbow. Exhale center, pressing with the sole of your right toes, inhaling, sliding your forehead along the back of your forearm. Ear left ear listens past your left elbow.

Once again, each side, push down with the sole of your left toes, point your right foot, right ankle and dorsiflexion. That's plantar flexion, I'm so sorry. It's one of those do anyway. Points your foot flex your foot here. So you create a ground force with your right foot and your left leg reaches long through plantar flexion.

Come back to the center, inhale to slide to the right. Right ear listens past your right elbow, hover your right elbow off the ground. Exhale to come back to center, planting your right elbow and your right foot, inhaling, hovering your left elbow, left ear listens past your left elbow. Come to center, once again, that expression on each side, left toes tuck under right foot points long, right ear listens past your right elbow, right toes tucked under creating a ground force reached long to listen past your left elbow hark. Come back to the center.

Come onto your front with your left hand

Prone Thoracic & Cervical Extension

Table 10.1 #8, #9, and #10

on top of your right hand now, elbows wide to the side. Heels about sitting bone with the part, left hand on top of your right hand. Now with the center of your forehead in contact with the back of your hands, keep your forehead in contact there. As you inhale, move only your eyes to look up underneath your eyebrows. As you exhale point your feet and hover your arms, your hands, your upper chest, up off the ground.

Look higher up underneath your eyebrows, lift a little more and then land your hands. Tuck your toes under, inhale to fill up wide to the back and sides of your lungs. As you exhale, press your toes long into plantar flexion. Look up underneath your eyebrows, while you're up here, glide only your eyes to look at the top of your right ear and side bend to the right. Glide your eyes to look at the top of your left ear and side bend to the left.

Come to the center, look up behind your eyebrows, come a little higher and tuck your toes and land. Inhale to prepare for flatting the sides and the back of your lungs and ribs. As you exhale points your feet long, look up underneath your eyebrows hover now, move your eyes to see your right elbow rotate to the right. Exhale to come center, look up underneath your eyebrows, glide your eyes to see your left elbow hover, extension and rotation, we'll do that once more each side. Inhale extension and rotation, exhale center, inhale extension and rotation, come to the center and land.

So when you position yourself on your front,

Prone on Chair Spine Extension

Table 10.5 #14

position yourself so that your shoulders are directly above the heels of your hands, your arms perpendicular to the ground, broad across your shoulder blades. That will be depending on your torso length and your arm length, that will be different for each person. Meaning the position of your pelvis and ribs with respect to the chair top will be different for each person's differing proportions. So, make sure that your shoulders are directly above your hands. The reason for this is there will be a preferred transfer of force from the springs to the chair pedal, to the heel of your hand, through the bones of your arms, right into the side of your ribs.

If you were too far back off the chair pedals, then the arch of these springs drives right into upper trapezius. And we've been there, done that, we're over it, moving on and not practicing that anymore, at least right this moment. Okay, so hover your spine parallel to the ground. For those of you whose arms are considerably longer than mine and your torso longer. If it's helpful to build up the chair top so your hands, the pedals don't bottom out, by all means do that.

Now we'll start with legs fairly wide apart. Maybe feet are shoulder width apart to decrease the amount of compression at your sacrum. Shall we? We shall, inhale to hover. Hover your chest bone more than your chin.

Here's what I mean by that. The tendency for everybody to think, oh I'm going into spine extension. I'll just lead with my chin. And then all that does is make the thoracic flection enhanced. So rather than that, it's the light from the top of your head, that glides up the wall towards where the ceiling meets the wall.

And now you have thoracic extension without cervical hyperextension, a real plus in this computer-driven world. Again, Inhaling, taking the longest possible arc from the top of your head, towards the souls of your feet. Now change your legs into internal rotation. So pigeon toe your thighs, inhaling, buckle up your abdominal seatbelt, drawing your lowest front ribs into your spine. Exhale to come down, inhaling wide between your shoulder blades, filling up the back, the sides of your ribs, the sides of your lungs.

Now externally rotate, heels can be close together at the midline. Pressing the heels of your hands down onto the pedals and drawing the heels of your hands towards the inside of the chair. So there's a pressure towards the chair, and that will help to stabilize your shoulders. Now, as you come up, lift and reach long with your left leg. So left hip extension, reach long and hover, exhale to come down.

Right hip extension reach long and to come down, alternate sides, inhaling, keeping the chair pedal steady, even though you're lifting your left foot a little bit higher. Inhale to reach a little longer, exhale to come down, inhale to reach, exhale to come down and if all is going reasonably well, the last variation here will be to lift both legs. So hip extension and spine extension. The tendency here might be to leave your ribs behind. Don't do that, have your ribs be the advanced team, your lowest front ribs draw up to your spine and come down.

You can have the idea that as your spine comes towards the ceiling, your hands delay a little bit, the heels of the hands press down on the pedals as you come forward and up. Now enough all ready of weight on the heels of your hands. Come off of this.

Prone on Chair Spine Rotation & Extension

Table 10.5 #14

You'll adjust the chair springs so that you can be on your front again with the heels of your hands wide apart, creating the optimal transfer of force from the spring to the pedal, to the heel of your hand to your arm. Now hovering your pedals off the chair.

This is going to be rotation. In my case, turning to my left. Pressing the right palm down, turning the lower ribs, middle ribs, upper ribs, head, neck, and eyes and bending this left elbow in order to turn a little bit more. And while you're there, lift up, lengthen your right leg and hover it into hip extension, exhale to come down, let's do that again. Turning to the new side as the pedal descends.

First of all, you keep your elbow straight. And then as you continue the rotation, bend your elbow and hover into hip extension keeping you in my case, the left ear is listening towards the floor. Exhale to come down, inhale to reach long and hover and suspend, exhale to come down, inhale to rotate, turning the lower ribs middle ribs, upper ribs, head, neck, and eyes. See the ceiling above you. Next variation, keeping your gaze and your nose towards the ground.

So rather turning your cervical spine, turning your ribs, turning your lungs and keep your gaze towards the ground. Inhale to turn. Exhale to return. Inhale to turn, and return. Inhale to turn.

Now, turning your ribs, shoulders, head, neck, and eyes to the, no, turning your ribs and shoulders to the right, turn your head, neck and eyes to the left. So it's as if my right ear could turn to listen to the ground. Exhale to come down, turning the ribs, in my case, to the left, turning the head, neck and eyes to the right. Lift long and hover. Starting with the ribs to turn, and then head, neck and eyes turns opposite.

Shoulders gliding down away from your neck and ears. One more of these, reach long and hover, lowest front ribs and shoulder girdle, all organized here. And come down from this.

Standing Alignment

Figure 11.2

Feet about pelvis-width apart, greater trochanter-width apart and place your heels of your hands on the bones at the front of your pelvis. The pads of your fingers midway between pubic bone and navel.

It's as if the placement of your hands could remind you of an abdominal seatbelt low and tight across the bones of your pelvis, or the skin on the head of a drum, that's being more taut. Keeping this area present with your chest bone just above your pubic bone, keep your one hand now on your chest bone, the other hand at your pubic bone. Realizing that sometimes on the inhalation or just sometimes in life, there's a tendency for the chest bone to go behind the pubic bone. And that's more compression on the lumbar spine than is optimal. And on the other way, there could be a tendency to have excess kyphosis and the chest bone forward of the pubic bone.

It would be preferable to climb up your own central axis drawing from pubic bone up underneath your chest bone, and drawing the back of your neck long as if the back of your brain were ascending. Now, keeping this central axis, without going backwards, lift your toes up. Lifting your toes up without going backwards will tension, tension the deep front myofascial continuity and plant your toes down. Now, bring your hip joints forward and up, planting the soles of your big toes. Keeping your central axis in its current location.

Lower your heels without going backwards. Staying on this central axis, toes up, toes down and bringing your hip joints and your whole central axis forward and up. Maintaining that central axis, lower your heels, edit out the going backwards. So it's not heels down and back, but inhale to rise, exhale, rising further as you lower your heels. Now we have more quickly, toes up and heels up toes up and heels up.

Twice more, toes up and heels up, ideally keeping your central axis central without rocking back. Thank you so much for being with us on Pilates Anytime. I look forward to hearing from you, bye for now. So lift this foot up

Functional Footprints

Figure 11.2, Bottom Row Left and Associated Close-up

and place that axis just in front of your outer ankle bone. Now, I'll hold this steady while you move your foot more forward.

There we go, that's right. Now, your second toe. So here we've got, the axis is here. There we go. And the second toe, correct, your second toe is in line with this notch.

Now, you're fine here. Now your Achilles tendon is in line with the notch at the back. So, this is all fine on the first side. Now, in order to get to the second side, hold everything, and you can hold on to me, shoulder or head there, I'll hold this steady and climb aboard. Precisely, excellently done.

Now your second toe is in line with this notch and your Achilles tendon in line with the back of the notch. And the side of this axis is in front of your malleolus to the neighborhood of the cuboid navicular area, right there. Now, when you stand here on these footprints, you will appreciate that the footprints have degrees of freedom, such that you can rock forward to your forefoot, to your toes. You don't have to lift your heels, you just rock a little bit and then you rock back to your heel, to your rear foot. Exactly.

Do that a little bit now, rocking forward and rocking back. It's a slight rock, only a few degrees of freedom. And we'll just note that you are well prepared to do this because what have we been doing for the last many minutes, but connecting the soles of your feet with your central axis through the inner leg, through the pelvic floor and the deep abdominals. Excellent. Now, having rocked forward and back, your next task is to not rock, okay?

So here you are floating or hovering on the footprints, neither the front of the footprint, nor the back of the footprint is touching the base of the footprint. And you're well prepared for that, having done your work on the front, on the balls with the Franklin material of ball squats, et cetera. Now, next thing to notice is that these footprints have an opportunity to rotate. So there is keeping this foot steady, moving from your right hip joint, externally rotate, correct. And then internally rotate.

Yes indeed, just like that. External rotation and internal rotation. Now the next side awaits, keeping this foot steady. External rotation, and internal rotation, and that's right. External rotation and internal rotation.

Now for everybody, there are always differences between sides and always will be. And that we will always have jobs. However, because it's always important to improve each side and its own way. Now, I mentioned that the functional footprints were designed for dancers to improve the integrity of their external rotation at the hip joint. It would be preferable to keep the pelvis in a neutral position when you externally rotate both legs, correct, and when you internally rotate both legs.

Now, when you do this external rotation and internal rotation, it's likely that you will appreciate that there are differences between sides, even though do keep the souls of your toes in contact with the functional footprints, exactly. So don't put so much weight there that you make the footprint stop on their base, but that's right, okay. Now, as you do this in external rotation and internal rotation, you would notice that, she said climbing, aboard her skis. For obvious reasons, I do not ski, this is as close as I get to getting on those surfaces. Place your hands at your pelvis and you will notice that with external rotation comes the tendency towards swaying towards an anterior pelvic tilt and spine extension.

With internal rotation, there could come the tendency to drive into a poster pelvic tilt in spine flexion. Put the pads of your fingers on your pubic bone and the pads of your fingers at your chest bone. Now keeping these tube of bones of one on top of the other, externally rotate, drawing more strongly from pubic bone up underneath your chest bone, neither rocking forward nor back and internal rotation say. Now, keep a one foot steady, keep your left foot steady. And as you inhale externally, rotate your right leg.

You will note that the whole pelvis tends to follow the right leg. It would be preferable now to put one hand in the neighborhood of your external rotators, remind the external rotators to be active as you externally rotate one leg, keeping the light from your navel straight ahead. Change hands now, okay. So the light from your navel stay straight ahead while the external rotators on one side, stay steady. Now, with internal rotation at the hip joint, that brings about a sitting bones widening, a spreading of the posterior pelvic floor, and then focus on an elasticity of the posterior hip capsule, extensibility of the posterior hip capsule.

When you move into external rotation that encourages the anterior hip capsule to be more moveable, right? So you can go back and forth between spreading the posterior area of the hip capsule and the anterior hip capsule. That's relevant because people who are anticipating a hip replacement will have reduced mobility and internal rotation and a tightening of the posterior hip capsule. And this action of coaxing internal rotation encourages the posterior hip capsule to have more glide in it, to allow internal rotation. Now, turning everything to the right, have the intention of keeping equal weight on both legs and turning everything to the left, have the intention of equal weight on both legs.

I'm running into my, that's okay. We're running into things here. So come back to the center, climb off a little bit and we're going to do, make two changes at once. Now spring the right functional footprint back and a little bit wide, okay. Now we have a staggered stance having prepared in parallel.

So plant your, the axis of the horizontal axis just in front of the lateral ankle bone and the similar one here, climb aboard your footprints. Now we have a staggered stance. So when you keep this staggered stance and externally rotate both legs, there will be more demands on the external rotation of the back leg. And then internally rotate, here you are with your staggered stance, okay? Now frictional functional footprint straight ahead, turn everything to the right, keeping these footprints straight ahead.

Place the pads of your fingers on the bones at the front of your pelvis and coax the back leg into internal rotation, keeping the light from your navel straight ahead. Internal rotation. Come back to the center and change to the other side. You know, we're not gonna go that way, we just have to change the stagger to the stance that I believe me, it occurred to me. And then I thought that wouldn't be prudent, would it?

All right, last bit of things here to do. Climb aboard to our footprints. We'll just note that there are spiral. Everybody has a blend of spirals going through, suffusing their entire structure. Spirals as in the bone rhythms of the legs and the arms, the bone rhythms of the pelvis and the spine, and also an overlay of mild fascial, the fascial webbing has spirals in it as well.

When you stand on these footprints and close your eyes and let go of your sort of external good behavior, when you just have the idea that you could allow your body to wind or unwind the way it would like to go, you may discover your own particular blend of spirals coming into play. That can give you more information about how you might organize spontaneously or disorganize spontaneously after spending long hours at the computer sitting. So now eyes open, behave yourself, turn everything to the new side. And now it's the back leg, the posterior hip capsule, coax it a little bit, internal rotation and internal rotation, have the intention of keeping equal weight on both feet and do that by bringing the back hip joint forward and up. And that will put weight on your front leg as well.

Come back to the center, easy now on the dismount, we'll climb off of this. Again, these functional footprints are exceptionally sophisticated tools,

Proprioceptive Stimulation of Feet Using Balls

Figure 11.2, Bottom Middle and Associated Close-ups

Nestle the ball underneath your forefoot, so that the soles of your toes wrap around the circumference of the ball. Bring your heel a little bit more forward, Norris, with respect to the ball. That's right. So the ball is encouraging a doming of your foot as well.

Your heel is in contact with the floor and your toes are wrapped around the ball. Now, pressing downward onto the forefoot. Roll forward from forefoot to rear foot, spreading your toes and aiming your knee forward over your second toe. Now push off from the soles of your toes and rock back to your heel. Exhale to roll forward, steering your knee forward over your toes.

Inhale, push off and roll back. Once more again with your eyes open, exhaling, bringing your pelvis forward, inhale to push back. Now, close your eyes and with your eyes closed, without the visual input. Now there's more push off from your toes. Now there's more attention to the proprioceptors and the vestibular system.

There she goes, forward and push back, open your eyes now, and nestle the ball underneath your rear foot. Have I got that right? Yes, okay. Now, with the ball nestled under your rear foot, spread your toes and keeping your left foot steady, take a step, right foot forward, right foot back. I'm just going to back up so I'm still on the mat. Right foot forward, right foot back, right foot forward.

As if your foot were taking a walk. Now, move your pelvis forward and your foot will move. Sorry for saying right and left, Norris, you and I are on different feet, your pelvis moves forward and your pelvis moves back, taking a step, putting weight down through your rear foot, over the ball. Pause and nestle the ball underneath your forefoot again. Now the ball is keeping your foot in dorsiflexion.

That's right. So it's not only the soles of your toes that can wrap around the ball, but the front of your metatarsals as well. Now, keeping your toes wrapped around the ball, take a step with your foot, forward and back, and forward. When you first take this step, your pelvis is fairly steady. Sorry, you're focusing on your leg moving forward.

Now, it's your pelvis that moves forward and your pelvis moves back, pelvis moving over the ball and back, twice more forward and back and forward and back. If all is going reasonably well, nestle the ball underneath your midfoot. So neither your toes nor your heel are in contact with the floor. Now, if you have ankle instability or a tendency towards ankle sprains, similar, just different language to describe it, or have a tendency towards pronation. This is not the move for you, because when the ball is underneath your midfoot and neither your forefoot nor your rear foot are touching the ground, there's much more instability, and the contour of the ball will tend to make your foot acclimate like so, that is not a preferable if you already have that tendency.

So you have plenty of material, heavens knows, and we'll just go through this quickly for those of you who are clear of ankle instability at this time, okay. Take a step forward and back and forward and back. My proprioceptive acuity is not too good on this side, so I'm very conservative. Now your pelvis takes a step, pelvis walks forward and back, nice, forward and back and forward and back. Pick up the ball for a moment so it will not be an attractive nuisance.

And here you are standing on two legs, appreciating the differences of that. Put the ball down and nestle the ball underneath your forefoot. Now with your heel in contact with the ground, as you exhale, roll forward, spreading your toes, inhale to push back, exhaling. Your pelvis goes forward and back, twice more, five and, six and, and seven and, and eight. Keep the ball underneath your forefoot, or let's see, put the ball underneath your rear foot.

I have to stay on the mat and take a step, foot and leg go forward and back, two and, three and, and four, and your pelvis takes a walk, so the step is a little bit bigger. So the pelvis is moving forward and back in space and bringing you along. Now, the ball is underneath your forefoot again, underneath the heads of your metatarsals, your metatarsals and the soles of your toes wrapped around. So you have a dome of your foot. Your pelvis stays fairly steady and you take a walk forward and back, forward and back and forward.

Now you take a larger step. Pelvis takes a walk, more demanding in terms of dorsiflexion. Five in, keep your toes wrapped around the ball. The ball is underneath your midfoot. Neither your toes, nor your heels are touching.

Be conservative at first she said taking a two inch step, sorry, four, five and, just before leaving the ground lots of abdominal action here, and then a larger step maybe three and four, five and six and, seven and eight. Bring both balls to the windows. And here you are with one ball underneath each foot. Hold onto the windows. Have your balls about sitting bone width apart and check to see that you are neither pronating nor supinating Keeping a hold of the windows, appreciating the view of the waves and the sky, sitting bones wide, and your sitting bones back behind you.

Steer your knees over your second toes, coming on down here. So it's a ball squat. As you inhale, bring your hip joints forward and up, standing high on your hip joints. Let's see, exhale, sitting bones wide, steering your knees forward over your third toes and inhale to come up. You could also take this inhale to come down, doing your best to balance here, neither your forefoot nor your rear foot touching the ground and then bring your sitting bones forward and up.

One more round here, sitting bones wide, steer your knees wide over your third toes, broad across your collarbones and then bring yourself kind of warming up to this forward and up. Easy on the dismount, now climb off of that. So lots more where that came from.

Seated Leg Press Heels on Pedals

Table 11.3 A1; Figure 14.1; Table 14.3 #9

Now, sitting on the chair top. You are going to have the front of your heels in contact with the chair pedals.

You might ask yourself, what is wrong with this picture? How on earth is it going to be possible for most people interested in this program to sit up on their sitting bones while their knees, their hip joints are in so much flexion? Well, it would be preferable to have a sitting box. So if you have this moon box or sitting box, then put it on top of the chair and make sure it's stable. Climb aboard, and voila, provided you have the proper height, you can now perch on your sitting bones with a neutral pelvis, neutral spine, as you press the pedal down.

So for those of you who are thinking, but I don't have one of those boxes, that's all right, I'll do it as if I didn't. I just wanted to give you the option. So here you are with the front of your heel, over the curve of the pedal, so that when you push the pedal down, the entire sole of your heel is anchored on the pedal. Now, when you bring the pedal up, rock forward towards the front edge of your sitting bone, here we go, inhale to press, exhale to come up, inhale to press, exhale to come up, three and. As you do this, steer your ribs directly on top of your pelvis.

The tendency will be to lean over this way or lean over that way, neither is preferable. Other side, inhale to press, exhale to come up, each time, have the intention of rocking towards the front edge of your sitting bones. And that will help to keep your pelvis aligned in neutral, not an anterior pelvic tilt but in neutral, two more here, inhale to press. Meanwhile, back at the neck, lengthen it too. All right, change now to the soles of your toes and the balls of your feet.

So here you are with the soles of your toes, the metatarsal heads and perch high on your sitting bones. Now this is going to be keeping your ankle in a neutral position, press down on one foot. The tendency might be to let your ankle come forward, but that decreases the work required for ankle stability and strength of the quads. So do your best, she said, to keep your ankle fairly steady the same degree of dorsiflexion, the same degree of plantarflexion, as you press from your hip joint down through the second first metatarsal. The other side is next, inhale to press.

The reason that I suggest inhalation on the press down is exhalation usually drives a posterior pelvic tilt and spine flexion and we don't need to be there now. Instead it would be preferable to use the inhalation to encourage the uplifting of the thoracic spine in the direction of extension, not on the front of the ship, just on top of your pelvis. Alternate sides now, pressing and come up, inhaling, sending your knee forward, Exhale, inhale to send your knee forward. Exhale, to sit a little taller inhale, to sit a little taller on both sitting bones. So the light from the top of your head goes towards the ceiling.

Still connecting your abdominal seatbelt around your middle. We're going back to the seated version here

Seated Leg Press Toes on Pedals

Table 11.3 A2; Figure 14.1; Table 14.3 #9

in which you have the soles of your toes and the balls of your feet on the chair pedals. And it's time again for stilettos and flats. This time in this orientation, quick, slow, slow, slow, other side, quick, slow, slow slow. So you alternate, inhale, perching high on the front of your sitting bones and keeping very good control on the descent of your heel.

It's particularly the count of two that's when you should slow down quick, slow, slow, slow, and quick, slow, both feet at the same time. Stand your ground with your spine. Slow slow. There'll be a tendency here to help yourself out by pressing your ribs forward. Don't do that.

Even though at home, do your best, to keep your manubrium directly above your pubic bone, and T12 directly about S2, so finesse your central axis without a posterior pelvic tilt. The front of your ankles press as forward over your second toes. One more of those. Easy now on the dismount from that.

Quadruped Hip Extension Neutral Pelvis

Figure 12.2 Top Right and Table 12.3 #3

You have options for your feet.

You could have your feet on the headrest, you could have your feet wider than the shoulder rest, as you like. And keeping the light from your chest bone directly between your hands, slide, between your forearms, slide the carriage back from hip extension. Now sustain hip extension and slide the carriage back by movement of your shoulders. Now the light from your chest bone is over the springs. Move your knees forward, and bring yourself forward, chest bone directly between your forearms.

Inhale to slide back, exhale to slide further. At the moment, your torso is taking a ride on the movement of your hip joints and the movement of your shoulder joints. Knees come forward. Now, change your hands so both hands go to the left corner of the box. Keep your knees where they are, and windshield wiper both feet to the right edge of the carriage.

So you have a diagonal now from your hands to your feet. Keeping the light from your chest bone between your forearms, slide the carriage back from hip extension, go further back from your shoulder joints, bring your knees forward, and your whole torso forward. Three more of these. Inhale to slide back, exhale to slide further. Inhale to come forward, and return.

Knees back, shoulders wide, on your rib wall, forward. I get so fascinated with my queue, we're gonna do one more. I lose track of the count of four. So, just in case you're frustrated and saying, "Well why doesn't she make up her mind, "are we doing four or are we doing five?" I set out to do four, and then I get interested and think, "Oh, maybe one more would illuminate this." Change to the new side. Both hands to the right, both feet flip to the left.

Inhale to slide, exhale to go back. Inhale to return. Again. Knees back, chest bone goes further back. Knees forward, and for the moment, we're editing out rotations.

So there's no rotation, that's just at this moment. And once again, inhale to slide back. Exhale to slide forth.

Reformer with Tower Sequences for Knee

Figure 13.3, Left Side; Table 14.3 #3, Open kinetic chain jumping using Reformer with Tower

Push back. Reach for the loops.

And one long loop goes around the back of your knee. The other long loop around the back of your knee as well. Push off, and you'll grab the brass ring? No, the yellow loop handle. Here you are, ready for open kinetic chain jumping, which is a long phrase for too much fun.

Here we go. Exhale to push out, inhale to bend in. Now, I have a red spring on the carriage, which is making (rattling) whoa, the carriage move quite a bit. You could put a yellow spring on also, and that would slow you down a little bit. Only one side gets a turn by itself.

Only the same side arm and leg. I'm going to aim for a total of six of each, so we have two more here. Anchoring through the sacrum, reaching through the foot. Now the new side is next. Same side arm and leg.

Anchor the sacrum, move from hip extension to knee extension, and I of course have lost count so there's one more coming up here. Alternate sides, only the same side arm and leg, only that side arm and leg. Articulating from hip, knee, ankle and foot. Now it's time for the diagonals. One leg, and the opposite arm.

Aim your foot below the bar. Change now to the new side. Six of these. Anchor your sacrum in a neutral position, and drawing the left shoulder blade towards the back of the pelvis. Now we alternate diagonals.

One shoulder blade to the opposite hip, one shoulder blade to the opposite hip. So you have a posterior oblique sling system, and an anterior oblique sling system. Easy now. Let the swing come to a rest. And carefully let go of the springs.

The arm springs, and here you are in knee circles, circles of the femurs. Internal rotation and external rotation, dorsiflexion of the ankle, plantarflexion of the ankle. Keep the corners of your pubic bone aiming down to the carriage. Reverse. Internal rotation, external rotation.

Dorsiflexion of the ankle, plantarflexion. All the while, settle the back of your ribs and the back of your lungs down on the carriage. Easy now, let the swing settle down. Off with one loop, the high foot bar is ready for you. Careful letting go of the long spring.

Slide on in.

Foot Exercises Practiced Seated

Figure 13.Mat1

Choose the foot that, to your estimation, needs the most attention. So, whichever, say if you were to stand in the sand, and feel the weight of your feet into the earth. If one foot feels particularly strongly connected to the earth, choose the other one, okay? I'll do the same.

Here you are seated and crossing your shin over your thigh. By all means if you're practicing at home and would feel more comfortable doing this, sitting in a chair, go right ahead. It's just that this set is so gorgeous. We didn't want to mess it up by putting in a chair. All right, so with your shin crossing over your thigh, use your thumb and first finger and this thumb and first finger are holding onto the little toe.

With your thumb and first finger on the little toe, you make a motion as if, a spiraling motion as if to pull a cork gently out of a bottle. You're going to have a spiral motion, a rotation that encourages length through the little toe, length through the little toe side of your foot and a rotation towards the outer border of your foot. Now you go to the fourth toe, pulling each toe long, making a little space between the joints of the fourth metatarsal and all the bones of your toe. Now the third toe pulls out long, spiraling to the outer border of your foot. Now, when it comes to the second toe, pull the second toe long, no spiraling here, not spiraling to the inside nor to the outside, because the second toe corresponds with the metatarsal and the bones of your foot that correspond to the arch of your foot, the keystone of the arch.

Now hold on to your big toe with all four fingers and grasp your big toe, pull long and then spiral gently towards the big toe side of your foot. So this spiral has a medial aspect to it, as opposed to a lateral aspect. More information when you get to the, this on your next foot. Now you'll need the thumb and first finger of each hand and the same side hand as foot holds the aspect of the toe that's closest to the metatarsal and the opposite hand holds the end of the toe. Now your each hand moves in opposition to the other.

It's as if you were unscrewing the lid from the base and the base from the lid of your toe. Now come to the fourth toe. The amount of pressure that you have has the intention, change to your third toe now, has the intention of making contact with the bone, not to cause bone pain, but to have a firm contact. Come to the second toe now. Affirm contact you're through the skin, through the superficial fascia, through the periosteum and to the bone.

Now to the first toe, the thumb and first finger of each hand are encouraging an oppositional rotation of the distal and prostitute proximal aspects of your toes. You're thinking, what could be next? It would be to hold onto the fifth, the last toe, the fifth toe, with the same side hand and hold onto the fourth toe with the opposite hand. Now this is toe braiding. Not really because it's only two toes, but you cross each toe over and under its neighbor.

And there's a little rhythmic action here, I think you know, and cross and cross and cross and cross a little toe dance here. Now across the fourth and the third toe so you create a rhythm here. Five, six and by now you're wondering, okay, now leave the second toe steady, okay? Don't mess with the keystone of the arch, cross the third toe over the second. Now keep the second toe steady and cross each toe over each other.

I was gonna make a joke and I forgot. I interrupted myself, I was so sorry, all right? Now, it's time to attend to your metatarsus. Thus far you've been attending to the toes. Now we're coming to the metatarsals.

So let's take a hold of them like so. The same side hand holds on all four fingers. The pads of your four fingers hold onto the underneath side, that's the plantar surface of your fifth metatarsal and your thumb, same side thumb is on the top. So you have a grip on your, you have contact, let's say, with your fifth metatarsal like so. Now onward to the fourth metatarsal, the opposite hand comes to the sole of your foot with the pads of your fingers underneath the fourth metatarsal and your thumb on top.

So now your hands are going to go ceiling, floor, ceiling, floor. Here we go. You jostle your metatarsals a little bit, one up other down, one up one down. All I know what I was going to discuss is the amount of repetition for this. Now change to your fourth and third, the same side pads of your fingers up in the same side hand, go underneath the fourth metatarsal and the thumb on top.

Opposite hand takes the hold of the third. It really depends on how much time you have, you know, when I'm in an airport lounge and the Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt is delayed. Believe me, I am on the floor that lounge. I try to find a place where people are not gonna really pay too much attention and I take a lot of time to get my feet mobile anchored, et cetera. Now, but I still haven't answered your question.

Come to the third metatarsal on the second. That's it. Norris back up just a little bit more to your mid foot. Yes, so move away from your toes. Move away from your toes and towards, more towards the mid foot and then up and down here, I'd say between say eight to 10 repetitions of each of these moves.

Now keep your second metatarsal steady and move the first up and down with the second. Don't mess with the keystone of the arch of the foot. Now it's time to interlace your fingers between your toes. Cross one shin over the opposite thigh, spread your fingers, spread your toes and with your thumb on the outside of your big toe, it's as if you were going to, let's see, put on your gloves, put on your toe socks, get it, you know, shake hands with your own foot. Now you'll note that it's the opposite hand to foot, it's as if you could clap the sole of your foot, like pleased to meet you, get a grip, all right.

Now, nestle your fingers right down into the roots of your toes here. And this is when you realize that one has to be genetically suited or genetically modified for this particular activity. If you have thin widely spread toes it's no problem, no issue to get your fingers between your toes. For others, it's easier to do this in the bathtub with soap or with lotion, all right. Now it's not that your hands circles your foot.

Go ahead, it's not that your wrist circles, your foot, not even your elbow circling your foot and ankle, way up at your shoulder blade. It's your shoulder blade that's gliding around the curve of your rib wall. And as the shoulder blade glides around the rib wall, that encourages a mobility of your shoulder joint, a mobility of your arm, through your elbow, through your wrist and through your fingers. Now lighten up on that white knuckle grip so that you have a through flow of feeling, kinesthetic acuity all the way from the thoracic spine, through your entire shoulder girdle, through your arm, to your hand and then your foot. Reverse direction before you get unscrewed here, reverse direction, that's fine.

And then your foot and ankle are the passive recipient of this motion from your thoracic spine through your shoulder girdle and arm. And here you are creating a circuitry, a circuit of your upper extremity, that's your arm and your lower extremity, that's your leg. So you have a through connection, sort of like a serape wrapping around you connecting the lower extremity on one side with the upper extremity on the other. Now, as fun as that is, there's another variation. Let go, and now reinsert your fingers between your toes such that your thumb is on the inside of your big toe and your fingers wrapped around this way.

Now your thumb is between your first and second toes resume. Shoulder blade is gliding around. Easy flow there, relaxing your fingers so there's a through transmission of force and reverse direction. Appreciating the feeling of perhaps the stimulation of the area around your shoulder blade. Now let go, And with the same side hand as foot, pull your toes back.

So here you are putting a bit of a tensioning on the plantar surface of your foot, and use the opposite pads of your fingers to stroke from the toe to the heel along the first, underneath the first metatarsal, underneath the second metatarsal, underneath the third, underneath the fourth, underneath the fifth. So here we are providing stimulation to the plantar surface of the foot, go through each metatarsal again. And this line of force is running from the forefoot to the rear foot, the forefoot to the rear foot, for the forefoot to the rear foot. You could also run the other way, rear foot to forefoot, rear foot to forefoot, rear foot to forefoot. And here's why I suggest those two things.

Those of you studying with Thomas Myers will appreciate that the forefoot to rear foot stroke. Those of you who are interested in following the myofascial meridians, will appreciate that that particular line of force will encourage a lengthening of the entire superficial back line. You could read Thomas Meyer's book "Anatomy Trains" to get to an introduction to that. However, those of you who are studying with the work of Vladimir Janda, J-A-N-D-A, the late Czechoslovakian physiotherapist, know of his work that the short foot, shortening the rear foot towards the forefoot activates the intrinsic muscles of the foot accurately. So there you have it, more for your directed reading.

Now, where were we? Time to wring out the foot. So the same side hand holds onto the forefoot, the opposite hand holds onto the rear foot. Now this is the foot as a twisted plate. You move your hands like so, with respect to each other, the forefoot going towards the ceiling, the rear foot, the heel going towards the floor and then reverse, wringing out your foot.

I've had the very good fortune of being a student of Eric Franklins. Eric Franklin, the founder of the Franklin method, who has a three year instructor training program in which I have participated. And it's from Eric Franklin that I learned the concept of the foot as the twisted plate. This is a necessary and appropriate action of the foot so that when you are walking over unstable surfaces or standing on unstable surfaces in the Pilates studio, your foot is well adapted, both for mobility and stability. Now, come to standing and take a look at your feet, appreciate the differences in how you feel.

Here you are standing, take a look down at your feet. You may notice a difference in color she said, leading the witness. I know there are always differences between sides and there always will be differences between sides. My hope is that the extra attention that you give to the pressure sensors of your feet and your ankles will help to remind the motor cortex that you indeed do have a foot. And that increased kinesthetic acuity can inform and improve your balance, the ability to stand on one leg.

So there may be a color difference just indicating the change in circulation. Stand on the foot that got the attention. And remember, this was the side that needed the attention anyway, and then stand on the other side. And there may be differences between sides and maybe not. All right, have a seat again.

And let's give the other side a turn in a much more rapid way so that you can become more familiar with the sequence. And I will interrupt you less frequently. Now cross foot over, so with the opposite hand of foot, hold onto your distal end to your toe, starting at the base of your toe and pull out, creating a spiral motion. Now we'll go to the fourth toe and I'm doing this in rhythm with a count to myself, four, five and six and seven and eight. Now the third toe pulling long, this is when you learn that the flight which was delayed is coming up soon, so you're gonna have to get to that gate fast, six, seven and eight.

Now, no twisting here, no spiraling here, just pulling long, envisioning the spaces, the joint spaces of your, I'm gonna keep going here 'cause I'm gonna say something, between the joint spaces, between the metatarsal and the toe. Now hold onto the first toe and resume the spiral, having the idea that you are contacting your bone and in an encouraging rotation. Now two hands, finger and thumb, hold onto the root of your toe and the distal part of your toe. And it's an oppositional rotation, change to the fourth toe, I'm thinking to myself, one and two and three and four, five and six and seven and eight. And then I always wanna keep going 'cause it feels good, nine and 10 and 19, 20.

Next one, third one and I may be moving a little bit too slowly for you, so you'd like to pick up the pace, that's usually the case I know, all right. Now the second toe, rotate, that's right and now we go to the first toe encouraging an oppositional rotation here of the distal and the proximal aspect of your toes. Time for toe braiding, crossing each toe, fifth and fourth over and under its neighbor and the fourth and third over and under its neighbor, four, five and six and seven and eight. Leave the second toe steady and cross the third over and under the second, hold the second steady and cross the first over and under its neighbor. Time to activate the metatarsus, so take a hold with the same side hand underneath the fifth metatarsal thumb on top the opposite hand underneath the fourth and move the fifth and fourth metatarsals ceiling and floor.

Now this is not to be confused with a way in towards ceiling and floor. And I teach this material frequently to my clients for their home exercise programs. Now we go to the fourth and third, or their travel programs, and I'm just remembering the mistakes that they often make, I'm trying to save you from them. Now hold onto the second metatarsal and move the third up and down with respect to the second. Meanwhile, while this is all going on, not only is your foot appreciating the benefits of this and your motor cortex waking up, hold onto the second and move the first metatarsal.

Also, you may be noticing that your hands are feeling a different quality of movement, different feeling in the tissue, different vibration or frequencies in your two feet, of course, there are always differences between sides, remember I suggested that you start with the foot that needed the most attention. And now we are perhaps working on your more dominant side and you may feel that the tissues, perhaps that the tissues on that side are a little more resilient, maybe a little tighter because this is the foot that you choose to stand on. Again, it's just useful to notice differences because that's why we're here. And now it's interlacing the fingers between the toes, so, spread your toes, interlace your fingers, pleased to meet you, and rotating, encouraging mobility of the ankle, reverse direction. And usually I have to do this a couple of rounds because I have to remind myself that this is not coming from the hand, not from the wrist, not from the elbow, not from the shoulder, oh no, it's coming reverse direction from the shoulder blade, a reminder, gliding your shoulder blade around the curve of the thoracic wall, reverse.

And that may indeed, it could, radiate in a good way and to a release in the side of your neck, even the side of your jaw, you could pretend you could drool, okay. Now change the interlacing, now your thumb is on the inside, and rotate two and three and four, five, and relaxing your fingers, no white knuckle grips, reverse. So one and two and three and four, five and six and, looking at the light changing, and the sky changing too. Pull your toes back, tensioning the plantar surface of your foot using the opposite hand stroke along the plantar surface of your foot just underneath the metatarsals. Now go from the rearfoot to the forefoot, rearfoot to the forefoot, more information on that rear to forefoot and forefoot to rearfoot connection and flow when we come to stand.

Now foot as the twisted plate, opposite hand to forefoot and same hand to rearfoot, moving your hands in opposition to each other. Now I usually finish with a couple of toe cracks and (cracks toes) okay, got that turn.

Foot Exercises Practiced Standing

Figure 13.Mat1

And your fingernails under, under, up, up, under, under, up, up, under, under, up, up, under, under, toe waves, little to big, spread your toes, wave, pick them up and wave, pick them up and wave, pick them up and wave, pick them up. Put down your big toes, all the rest of them, big toes, all the other eight, big toes, all the other eight, big toes. Now keep your big toes and thumbs down and wave the other four.

Do your best to keep your tongue in your mouth, now put down the eight toes and wave the first two. Now we alternate. Four up, one up, four up, one up, four up, one up, and because I get just one chance to teach you everything I know, put down four toes and the opposite one and then switch. Four and one, four and one, four and one, four and one. Now, it may not have escaped you there that there's a strong connection between your, the activity of your feet and your deep abdominals.

We're going to do this once again, starting on the other side, starting with your new foot tugging, hiding your toes under and as you do that, add to your awareness to keep your central axis vertical and your central axis in the following alignment. Keep your manubrium, the center of your chest bone directly above your pubic bone. Not leaning back for compression at the thoracolumbar junction and not tilting forward either. Standing high on your femur heads, that would be a quote from Eric Franklin, my way of saying it, get up on your femur heads if you had eyes at your hip joints, they would be wide open, balancing your pelvis atop your femurs. So, this will require a current of your abdominal activation from pubic bone up towards your chest bone.

Here we go, fingers and, fingers and feet together, toes under on the new side, under, under, up, and yes I know that dorsiflexion tends to make you lean backwards, do your best to stand your central axis forwards, toe waves little to big, wave, pick them up, and wave pick them up, and wave pick them up, and wave pick them up, big toe, all the other four, big toe, and every time your toes work in the dorsiflexion, they're your deep abdominals. Put down four and one, now I can't talk and do it at the same time, four and one, four and one, four and one, alternate, four, one, four, one, four, one, four, one. Moving on, here you are with the ball and the yoga block. Now, making a dome of your foot, plant the soles of your toes and, without going backwards, have the idea of drawing your midfoot up, and then spreading your foot long and toes will, our toes lift. Plant the soles of your toes, have the idea that your midfoot could lift up.

Without going backwards, lift and spread your toes, plant the soles of your toes, midfoot comes up, and out, every time you make a dome of your foot, you draw extra abdominal strength. Now, you may notice that you could have a current drawing forefoot to rearfoot. Let's just say that you keep your heels steady on the ground and draw the toes towards your heel. That will move your central axis backwards. And decrease the tone of your lower abdominals.

Let's just say that the reverse is going to be intended. Now, it's not possible but sometimes when you try to do what's not possible, it still has a beneficial effect, let's try that. Plant the soles of your toes, I know you're standing on your heels, don't lift your heels, instead have the idea that you could draw your heels forward, drawing your rearfoot towards your forefoot. That will also activate the intrinsic muscles of your feet and it has a stronger effect in connecting the planter surface of your foot with your deep abdominals, maintaining your central axis not only upright, but a little bit forward on the way to up. The doming of forefoot to rearfoot is what I was taught in dance medicine when I worked at St. Francis Memorial Hospital as a Pilates instructor.

It's only more recently in studying the work of Latermary Yonda that I learned about the importance of moving the rearfoot towards the forefoot in order to intensify the connection of the planter surface of the foot to the deep abdominals and hence more functionally integrating the activity of the feet with the core control of the torso. Now, having addressed that area of the central axis, you might be feeling that it might be time to remove the constraint of the block, why not? Move the block away, take the ball away, and put the block down.

Side Lying Roller Assisted Counter Rotation

Table 14.1 Preparation for #1

Here you are lying on your side, you can support your head, your neck with a pillow or cushion if you'd prefer, bend your knees, aim your knees forward of your pelvis, forward of your hip joints, and then rock your pelvis so you hike your hip up and then de hike your hip. Inhale to hike up, exhale to de hike.

Shorten your top waist, that's your right waist in my case, lengthen your top waist and shorten the bottom waist by aiming your right sitting bone into the pads of your fingers, inhaling, exhaling. Rocking your pelvis and your lumbar spine, side bending and side bending, side bending. Now add rotation of the pelvis and lumbar spine. Inhale, slide your knee, top knee forward, your right knee forward, exhaling, slide your top knee back. Now I think I have the breathing confused here.

How about exhale to go forward, inhale to go back. As you exhale, slide your top knee forward. As you inhale, press your PSIS into your thumb and lead back with your PSIS. You know, those of us who have spent decades in the Pilates environment facilitating a post here pelvic tilt and spine flexion, the tendency would be to go into spine flexion. Don't do that, instead it's extension and rotation.

Exhale forward, inhale back. Now connect all four of those points, making a circle, or perhaps it's an oval, inhale to hike up and slide back, exhale to press down, de hike and forward. Here you are creating a circle with your ceiling greater trochanter. Undulating your pelvis and lumbar spine. Side bending, extension and rotation.

Side bend the other way. Rotation to the front. Inhale to the back. Exhale forward. Inhale to the back.

Reverse. Sit down with your sitting bone. Your right sitting bone towards your right heel. Back and shorten your top waist. Exhale down.

Inhale. Exhaling, rotating forward and down. Inhaling back and up. Exhale, forward and down. Inhale, back and up.

Forward and down. No surprise to you, you could do this with your ceiling shoulder as well. Circle your ceiling shoulder up and forward. Down and back. Up and forward.

Down and back. Slide your palm and your arm, on the side of yourself, the side of your thigh. Reverse the direction, forward and up. Back and down. Forward and up.

Back and down. Twice more. Inhale, up and back. Exhale, down and forward. Up and back.

Down and forward. Now, time to change up to the new side. Switch around now, and come to lie on your right side. Here you are lying on your right side, with both knees bent. This time your top leg is your left leg.

And we'll address the movement of the pelvis and the lumbar spine first. You rock from side bending to side bending. Press your ilium up towards your ribs. And press your ilium away from your ribs, such that your sitting bone goes into your hand. Side bending, shortening your ceiling waist.

Side bending, shortening your floor waist. Inhale. Exhale. And continue this rocking motion. Rocking your pelvis over the floor greater trochanter, that's the right greater trochanter.

Moving now towards rotation of the pelvis and your lumbar spine, forward and back. Slide your left knee forward and then push your hand, your fingertips, into your left kneecap to drive your femur back. And that will facilitate rotation of the pelvis and the lumbar spine in the direction of extension. Exhaling. Inhale back.

Exhale forward. Inhale to the back. Slide forward and back. And forward and back. Circle up and back.

Down and forward. Inhale up and back into extension. Exhale down, in the direction of flexion. Up and back. Down and forward.

Again, inhale. Exhale. Reverse. Inhale to the back. Exhale forward.

Inhale, down and back. Exhale, up and forward. Inhale. You know, frankly, you could make a case for breathing any which way. It's just important that you do breathe, of course, but you can make a case for inhaling or exhaling during this circle.

Now it's time to address the shoulder on this side. Shrug your shoulder up, as if to come to your ear. Roll it forward. De-shrug it, and back. Inhale.

Exhale, down and back. Inhale, up and forward. Exhale, down and back. Reverse the direction. Forward and up.

Back and down. As your shoulder joint moves, it brings with it your shoulder blade. And as those two areas move, they bring with it the responses of your ribs and your thoracic spine, and also your lungs. Now that's pelvic circles and shoulder circles on each side. Time now to go to the first side.

Come to lie on your left side again. And this time your shoulder circles and your pelvic circles will happen in the same direction, at the same time. Set up with your knees forward of your hip joints. Inhale, up and forward. Exhale, down and back.

It's as if you had a light source on the side of your shoulder and the side of your greater trochanter. So that you could create a light show on the ceiling above you, with a circle coming from your shoulder and a circle coming from your pelvis. Reverse. Up and forward. Down and back.

Inhale, up and back. I said that badly before, I'm sorry. Inhale, up and back. Exhale, down and forward. Inhale.

Involving the movement of your ribs and your thoracic spine. Together with your pelvis and your lumbar spine. Now, having circled the ribs and having circled the shoulder and the pelvis in the same direction at the same time, it's time to circle them in opposite directions. Shrug your shoulder up towards your ear and de-hike your pelvis away from your ribs. This is lengthening your ceiling side of yourself.

And then shorten the ceiling side of yourself. Pelvis, sitting bone, and shoulder, go away from each other, and then they come towards each other. Puffing up to the ceiling. Puffing down to the floor. Slide your knee forward, your right knee forward, and your right shoulder back.

Slide your right knee back and your right shoulder foreword, rotating your pelvis and lumbar spine opposite the direction in which your shoulder's moving. Time to put these together in opposite directions. Aim your sitting bone down, your shoulder up and your knee forward, your shoulder back. Hike your pelvis up and bring your shoulder down, take your pelvis back and your shoulder forward. Inhaling, having as your intention to create a smooth circle in opposite directions of your greater trochanter and your shoulder.

What's implied here is that you are creating a figure eight light show on the ceiling. Now, reverse the direction, pelvis goes back and shoulder goes forward. You might ask yourself why are we doing this? Because the ability of your thoracic spine and your pelvis and lumbar spine to move in opposite directions, that's included with every step you take on a good day. Other side now.

It's just unusual coordination when you're doing this lying on your side. You're accustomed to standing on two feet and falling forward as you walk, okay? Now, shrug your shoulder up and dehike your pelvis down. And then they come towards each other. Inhale away, exhale towards.

Inhale away, and towards, rocking your pelvis over the right greater trochanter. As your knee goes forward, your shoulder blade and left lung go back. As your left PSIS goes back, your left lung comes forward. Rotating your pelvis, lumbar spine and your thorax in opposite directions. Resting your lungs in your rib basket.

Circling now, shoulder up, pelvis down, pelvis back, shoulder forward. Hike your pelvis up and deshrug your shoulder. Knee forward, shoulder back. Inhale to separate away from the center, exhaling to come close to the waist. Inhaling away, exhaling close.

And away. And close by. And away. Reverse pelvis back, shoulder forward, pelvis down, shoulder up. Et cetera.

Slip down. Deshrug. Sit down and one more here.

Side Lying Roller Assisted Counter Rotation

Table 14.1 Preparation for #1

Let's take a preparation for the Pilates med exercises side leg kick. Come to lie on your side.

Your left side, in this case, with both arms forward, both hands forward of the bottom of your chest bone. Both hands forward of your xiphoid process. Now, each knee is front of their respective hip joint. Your right knee is in front of your right hip joint, et cetera with your left knee. Hover your ceiling limbs parallel to the ground.

And bring your right knee forward and your right shoulder blade back. Bring your right PSIS back and your right fingers forward. Here you are unscrewing the lid from the base and the base from the lid. Lift up your ribs and lift up your waist off the ground. Turn your arm thumb up and then turn your arm thumb down.

External rotation and internal rotation. What's important here is that you keep your knee forward of your hip joint. This is not hip flexion and hip extension. It is rotation of the pelvis and lumbar spine. This is a great way to tone your lateral pelvis stabilizers, the gluteus medias.

This is an open shay movement. The sole of your food is not touching against a steady surface. That almost makes it more difficult because you're not getting any distal feedback. Come to lie on your new side. Both arms outstretched.

Your left palm is hovering above your right. Your left inner thigh hovering above your right inner tight. And pelvis back. That would be your pelvis forward and your shoulder blade back. And change up.

Creating a ground force with the right side of your shoulder into the mat, creating a ground force with your right greater trochanter into the mat so that you can lift up your ribs and lift up your waist. Rotating the pelvis and the lumbar spine in opposite directions. The usual error when someone gets tired. I can feel myself doing this is to say oh, maybe if I take my leg back into hip extension, it'll be easier. It will be easier.

It will also be wrong, okay? You're going to get more benefit for your pelvis, your lumbar spine and your lateral pelvis stabilizers when you keep your knee forward of your hip joint.

Bridging with Rotation

Table 14.1 Preparation for #2

Interlace your toes. For that, you will place one big toe on top of the other and then interlace your toes. Now, is this required?

No, you could just press the soles of your feet against each other. However, there's something to be said for practicing the interlacing of your toes. Come to lie on your back now with the soles of your feet together and your knees wide to the side. And begin to create a pelvic clock. Perhaps you know it as a Feldenkrais pelvic clock or perhaps you do know it from your Pilates training.

This would be rocking in the direction of a posterior pelvic tilt and spin flexion. Press your naval spine, the posterior spinous process of L3. Press that into the mat and then roll around to your left, so the back of your left pelvis is in contact with the mat, continue to move down in the direction of six o'clock as if your pubic bone could be heavy and then roll to the side. Inhale to circle, exhale to circle, inhale to circle, exhale reverse, inhaling, exhaling, inhaling, exhale. Cross one heel on top and circle your pelvis.

Reverse the direction, going backwards in time, resting your lungs into your rib basket. Cross the other heel on top, circling and around. Inhale to move in the direction of extension, exhale in deflection. Now with the souls of your heels against each other, nod your nose downward and roll up. Change the interlacing of your toes.

The new toe, the new big toe is on top now and the toes interlaced and come to lie on your back and if you find that just maddening or quite uncomfortable, realize that it takes a while to condition the tissues between your toes and that you can just press the soles of your feet against each other if this is your first round to experience this. It does get better with time. Come to lie your back and circling your pelvis with both heels against each other. Inhale to move into extension exhale, into flexion circle and around and circle. One heel comes on top circle and around articulating your pelvis, your lumbar spine and your hip sockets, your hip joints and reverse your ribs and your thoracic spine will respond also.

Pressing the souls of your heels against each other, nod your nose downward. Look behind the cheekbones of you face, pressing the heels of your hands against each other and the soles of your feet against each other. Now, for your further practice of this, be aware that the pelvic clock that you just practiced here, the Feldenkrais pelvic clock with the souls of your feet together can be accompanied with a clock of the cervical spine, and you can circle your pelvis and your head in opposite directions. When you have a little bit of time, you can practice that for more coordination patterns. Now, with your soles of your feet press together

Bridging with Rotation

Table 14.1 #2

or your toes interlaced, it's time for some bridging.

Plant the palms of your hands into the ground with your elbows towards the ceiling so that you can create a ground force here. Slide your left heel on top and as you inhale, press into your left hand, turning your pelvis, ribs, shoulders, neck, head and eyes. Turning your head, neck and eyes to look underneath your left elbow. Peekaboo, turn to see and then return. Your right heel goes on top and points to the left.

Turn your pelvis and lumbar spine to the left, your head, neck and eyes to the right. Your left heel points the way for your pelvis to turn rotate and come down and rotate, pressing your right palm into the ground. One more each side, it's as if you could open the eye of your left hip joint turning your navel to the right, sliding your ribs towards your pelvis, opening the eye of your right hip joint, turning your navel to the left. You could of course, practice that with the new big toe on top. Just for equal opportunity for all the different sides.

Let's continue with the idea of rotation here,

Supine Longitudinal Rotation

Table 14.1 #3

and this'll be more of an axial rotation, a longer axis, you would say. Place your right heel in line with your right sitting bone and nestle your left Achilles tendon between the big toe and the second toe. Interlace your fingers and press your palms away from the top of your head, settling your lungs into your rib basket. Now, aiming your toes, all toes to the right, both knees to the right, aim your navel and turn your pelvis to the right, pressing away from the top of your head. Turn your head, neck and eyes to the left.

You have a long diagonal from your left elbow to your toes, exhale to center, pressing away from the top of your head, turn your toes and these to the left, your navel to the left. Turn your head, neck and eyes to the right, inhale to reach long on this axis. Exhale, to collect, inhale, to reach long. And a reminder that your upper obliques and your intercostals are active in order to keep your TL junction, your thoracolumbar junction T1112, and L1 to keep it in neutral, not too much compression there. Keeping your left Achilles where it is, relocate your right heel in the center of you as if to be in line with your symphysis pubis.

Inhale to rotate all knees and navel to the right, exhale center, head, neck, and eyes turns opposite the direction in which your navel is pointing. One more here, settling the back of your left lung down into your rib basket. As you turn your feet to the right settle the back of your right lung down. Third variation on this side, relocate your right heel so it's in line with your left sitting bone. This will be the most demanding of the rotations.

So now, as your toes and knees go to the right, your pelvis, your left ASIS, this area of your pelvis, turns all the way to the right, as you keep the back of your left lung in the direction of the mat. Exhale here, inhale to rotate. Exhale to return, rotate. And rotate, keeping the collection of your ribs to your pelvis. Those three variations are present on the new side.

Align your left heel with your left sitting bone. Turn all toes and your navel and your pelvis to the right, center, and turn to the left. Center. Pelvis goes one way, head, neck, and eyes go the other. Once more, pressing the palms of your hands away from the top of your head.

Plant your left Achilles in line with the middle of your pubic bone, and continue with your rotation. Settling the lower lobes of your lungs in contact with the mat. And finally, put your left heel in line with your right sitting bone and continue this motion. Last two, and last one. Nod your nose downward, put the, stick out your tongue, actually, for the roll up.

If you stick out your tongue, it'll be easier because sticking out your tongue and moving your gaze down to see behind the cheekbones of your face, will make your abdominal stronger. If you put the tip of your tongue to the roof of your mouth and look up with your eyes, that gives your system the idea that it's time to go into spine extension. So if you want to make the role of harder, touch the tip of your tongue, to the roof of your mouth and look up underneath your eyebrows. You can do the roll up, but it will be a lot harder. If you want to make it easier, stick out your tongue, look down behind the cheekbones of your face and roll up.

Come onto all fours now.

Quadruped Spine Extension

Table 14.1 Preparation for #12 and #13

Here you are on all fours. And pressing both palms into the ground and your right knee into the ground. Inhale. Turn your pelvis around the head of your right femur and hover your left knee.

Inhaling, exhale to land. Inhaling, rotating your pelvis around the head of your steady femur. Now plant your left hand and hover your right. Plant your right hand and hover your left. Inhale to lift, exhale to land.

Rotating your thoracic spine a little bit. So the chest bone aims to the left, illuminating your left hand, and the chest bone aims to the right, illuminating the lifted hand. Hover your right knee and your left hand, and put them down. Spread your sitting bones wide behind. Create a diagonal to stand on, that's your right hand and your left knee.

Hover your right knee and your left hand. Create a diagonal to stand on with your left hand and your right knee. It's as if you had three helium balloons, one on your coccyx, your tailbone, and the other on each PSIS, each posterior superior iliac spine. And you take turns. The left helium balloon floats higher, and it comes down.

The right helium balloon floats higher, creating a diagonal to move from and a diagonal to stand on.

Side Lying Leg Kick

Table 14.1 Preparation for #16

Come onto your side now for the side leg kick. You'll be so well prepared for this. Pressing the palms of your hands against each other. Lift up your ribs and lift up your waist, creating a ground force with the side of your shoulder and the left side of your pelvis.

Aim your right sitting bone towards your left ankle bone. Inhale, sweep your leg forward. Exhale, lift up your ribs and lift up your waist. Inhale forward, exhale, lift up your ribs and waist. As you reach your leg back, funnel your ribs towards your pelvis.

Inhale forward, exhale to go back, taking the longest possible distance. Is that true, you know, it's not true. You're not taking the longest possible distance from your xiphoid process to your right big toe. Instead, you're taking the longest distance from your ASIS to your big toe. Inhale forward, exhale to come back.

Sideline leg circles, forward, up and around to the back. Sliding your low ribs towards your pelvis. Up and around to the back. Reverse direction, back, up and around to the front. Exhale back.

Inhale to come up and forward. Other side now. Of course, you're welcome to support your head, your neck, with the cushion or a pillow as you like there, if your lateral neck stabilizers get tired. And whose wouldn't? Aligning your heels in line with your sitting bones, and pressing your palms together in front of the xiphoid process.

Lift up your ribs and lift up your waist, inhaling, sweeping your heel forward. As you exhale, start now, don't wait to glide your ribs towards your pelvis. Inhaling, aiming your left sitting bone towards your inner right ankle, wrap the sole of your foot around space, and press the sole of your foot back as you connect from pubic bone up to chest bone. Inhale forward, lift up your ribs, and lift up your waist as you sweep back. Inhaling, forward, exhale to go back, two circles in each direction.

Forward, press into your ground forces to circle up and around, keeping your left ASIS forward as you circle. Exhale, back, reach out, and come up and around. Exhale, back, reach out, and come around. Come on.

The One Leg Kick

Table 14.1 #8

Now, come on to your front for single leg kick.

You could have your forearms on the ground with your palms downwards on the ground, you could have your palms towards you, or you could interlace your fingers. If your fingers are interlaced, that could create a little bit more stability but as you prefer. Now, heels are staying sitting bone width apart, and with your tops of your feet on the ground, drive into a posterior pelvic tilt so you hover the front of your thighs up off the ground. Bending your right knee, bring your right heel towards your sitting bone, heel to your hip once, twice. Now more of a posterior pelvic tilt precedes and accompanies hovering your right knee off the ground.

Point your foot and then descend to the ground. Other side, left heel towards your sitting bone once, twice, keeping your left knee bent, plant the sole of your left foot towards the ceiling, point your foot lifted higher, and extend your knee. We have alternating right heel once, twice, footprint up, point, reach. Left heel once, twice, lift it up, point, reach. Heel to your sitting bone, footprint up, point, reach, and heel to your sitting bone, lift it up, point.

Last two, driving a posterior pelvic tilt, with your gaze looking at your crossed thumbs, last time, once, twice, lift up, and down. Here you are on all fours. As you exhale, slide your right leg back behind you. Collecting your lower front ribs, reach hover your right leg off the ground.

Quadruped Spine Extension, Hand to Opposite Foot

Table 14.1 Preparation for #12

Stand your ground on your right hand and your left knee shin and reach around to hold onto some aspect of your right foot, ankle, or shin.

Holding on to something that belongs to you, as you inhale, lift your knee up. As you exhale, press down with the palm of your hand and lift your chest bone a little bit higher. Inhale to lift your knee up. As you exhale, kick back into your hand, lift your chest bone more than your chin. Yes, I know that's physically impossible but it's worth trying because we're aiming, continue this action for thoracic extension here, not so much cervical hyperextension.

Easy now, let go of that, and bring your leg down. Give yourself a wide base with the palm of your left hand. Dorsiflex your left foot. As you exhale, slide your left toes back behind you, creating a long distance from the left ear lobe through your left heel, and then reach long through your left toes, hover your left leg off the ground. Create a diagonal to stand on, but from your left hand to your right knee, and prepare yourself to take a hold of something that belongs to you.

Foot, ankle, shin. As you inhale, kick your foot back into your hand, lift your toes up. As you exhale, press down with your left palm, lifting your chest bone more than your chin. Inhale and kick your foot up. Exhale, stand into the ground to lift your chest bone twice more.

Exhale, kick, and lift. Inhale to lift, exhale to press further. Easy now, come down from this.

Quadruped Spine Extension, Hand to Same Side Foot

Table 14.1 Preparation for #12

Here you are on all fours. Previously, you had your hand to the opposite foot, now it will be hand to the same side foot.

Stand your ground and we will shift up towards your left first. So as you inhale, shift to your left, the light from your chest bone goes in the direction of your left thumb, the light from the center of your pubic bone goes in the direction of your left knee. So you've shifted your central axis from the center to load the left lateral line. Tuck your toes, your right toes under, and slide your right leg back. Hover your right leg off the ground.

Stand your ground on your left side and reach around to hold on to something that belongs to you. As you inhale, lift your toes up. Exhale, press down into your left hand, and lift your chest bone. Continue this action, doing your best to keep your right ASIS towards your inner left knee. Press your pads of your fingers and thumbs strongly to create a ground force through your hand.

Lift your chest bone a little bit higher, nod your nose downward a little bit more, and come down to the ground. Not a moment too soon. (giggling) Now inhale, spreading your fingers wide on your right hand, shift to the side. Now you have a new central axis over your right side, tuck your left toes under, drive your left heel back. As your left heel goes back, all the abdominals lift up towards the spine.

Hover your left leg off the ground and then reach around to hold on to something that belongs to you. As you inhale, your knee lifts. As you exhale press down to the Palm of your hand, lifting your chest bone more than your chin. Continue this action aiming your left ASIS towards your inner right knee. Giving your right shoulder blade a good floor at the side of your ribs, lifting your chest bone a little bit higher.

Easy now, come down from that. Come up to high kneeling side leg kick.

Kneeling Side Leg Circles

Table 14.1 #15

Come up facing me now and you will have your knees close together. We'll go towards your right first, towards my left. Now side bending your right ear listens towards the ground, right fingers slide down and then timber, your pelvis moves over the head of your femurs to land your hand.

Those of you working at home or in the studio, feel free to use a small box or platform underneath your hand so the floor is not such a long way away. Now reach your ceiling arm up and bring your ceiling hand over your ear so that you cover your floor ear. I can't hear you. You could alternately put your palm on the top of your head. If the floor ear is such a long distance away, and I just have to make sure that I stay dressed during this exercise.

Now with your knee bent and make a circle, inhale circle to the ceiling. Exhale turn to see your supporting hand, flexing your foot, inhale in the direction of the ceiling, exhale to come down one more in this direction of circle, nestling your supporting shoulder blade into your rib wall. Reverse seeing your thumb down below you, seeing the ceiling above you. Twice more point your foot, your ankle, as it goes behind, flex your foot as it comes up. Once more exhale back, inhale to come up.

Reach for the ceiling, push up. A small cartwheel to the other side. Side-bend ear, neck, shoulder, and ribs timber the floors along way away. Sweep to the ceiling, reach long and then you can place your palm on the top of your head or over the side of your head towards your ear. Look down at your thumb, inhale forward, exhale up and around to the back.

Inhale front exhale. Front ribs slide to your pelvis. Inhale, exhale, reverse back and bend. Using the weight of your leg to challenge the lengthening of your hip flexors. The area of the deep front line that sometimes gets in the way of a bow and swan dive rocking, push off the ground, come all the way up now.

Step into the sacrum spring of the sacrum

Standing Supported Weight Shifts

Table 14.3 #15

stability sling first. So you'll climb into here and this sling is going to hug around your sacrum. Back up from the table to put some attention onto that sling and feel how it is to be supported on that sling. Shift to one side, shift to the right lift your left heel, shift to the left and lift your right heel. Shift, anchor and lift, shift.

If all is going reasonably well, you could shift, anchor and stand on one leg. Shift, anchor and stand on the other side to side moving your pelvis and your ribs in the same direction at the same time. Next you'll put the second sling around your rib cage. Climb on in and this sling goes around the bottom of your ribs. Step back a little bit, putting just enough tension onto the springs so that you can feel supported, the back of your pelvis and the back of your ribs.

Now there's more feedback around your lower ribs. You can shift your ribs to the right, shift your pelvis to the right and stand on your right leg. Shift your ribs to the left, shift your pelvis to the left and plant the sole of your left big toe. Ribs lead, pelvis follows, anchor and lift. Ribs lead, pelvis follows, anchor and lift.

Now take a hold of the short yellow springs with your elbows bent and add some rotation to this. Turn your pelvis, turn your ribs and to the right and pull back with your right elbow. Turn your pelvis, turn your ribs and pull back with your left elbow. Turning everything, pelvis, ribs, shoulders, neck, head and eyes in the same direction. Keeping your knees aiming straight ahead.

The light from your knee caps aims straight ahead. Don't let your femurs, your thigh bones go skiing. Next, turn your pelvis to the left, your ribs to the right and pull back with your right hand. Turn your pelvis to the right, turn your ribs to the left and pull back with your left elbow. Pelvis and thoracic area turning in opposite directions, rotate the movement of your arm, go the arm that's pulling back is the side to which, you know, I just can't fix that phrase so I'll just say, when you turn your ribs to the right pull back with your right elbow.

And when you turn your ribs to the left, pull back with your left elbow, staying around your central axis with your sacrum and your lower ribs staying in the line with the central axis. Now, turning your pelvis to the left, your ribs to the right, pull back with your left arm. Turn your pelvis to the right, your ribs to the left and pull back with your right arm. And now you are approximating the oppositional rotation. That is part of the pattern of gait, part of the pattern of walking.

Not exactly walking because walking doesn't occur like a kangaroo jumping. But in any case, it's this oppositional rotation. Rotate, shift, and lift one leg, turning your pelvis to the right, your ribs to the left, stand on the left foot. Rotate your pelvis to the left, your ribs to the right. Stand on your right foot, rotate, anchor and lift.

Rotate, anchor, lift and hover, et cetera. Hours of entertainment with your stability slings, particularly beneficial for your clients that have had hip replacements or knee replacements or otherwise some lower extremity injuries such that they feel insecure in being upright. You can use this strap piece table for such a wide variety of material. And you've seen some of that today in this program.

Tribute to Daphne

JOE Talk

Daphne is my sister.

She is the inspiration and the partner for my life's work. Just after she was born, it became apparent that due to chromosomal abnormalities Daphne would not have a normal course of development. She did not develop language, nor the motor control required for self care skills. Her phenomenal sensitivity to music was the only source of comfort to the pain that she could not verbalize. Growing up together, sharing the same bedroom I sang to Daphne.

Now she is age 55 in the Texas state schools since age 12 and Daphne continues to teach me invaluable life lessons. One, the body does not define the person. Two, it's not possible to heal another. Three, every spirit has a unique vibrational frequency and four, there are countless ways to communicate in addition to speech. Dreams, thoughts, presence, gaze, touch, and heart song.

This dance embodies our relationship. (quirky music) (audience cheering) (quirky music) (audience cheering) (quirky music) (audience cheering) (quirky music) (quirky music) (audience cheering) (quirky music) (audience cheering) (quirky music) (quirky music) (audience cheering) (quirky music) (audience cheering) All my life, I had been told that Daphne had chromosomal abnormalities, that something was wrong with her. And as a result of making this recording on November 14th, 2013, I had the courage and the interest to ask, what was the reason for Daphne's condition. Something I had been afraid to ask before. And what I learned was that she actually had developed quite normally right up until birth and that it was a medical misdiagnosis.

There were some mistakes made at her birth, which contributes to her current condition. Recognizing that now, it's a powerful recognition and reframes my entire life and my understanding of it. It also is a powerful reframing of our partnership and our collaboration, recognizing that Daphne has so much courage to stay present, and to stay embodied, and to keep her heart open, to teach me.

Guimberteau Figure 1.40

Guimberteau Figure 7.4

Supine Assisted Cervical Rotation with Footwork

Figure 10.2 I–N

We have one red spring up on the post, and the foot bar is down fairly low.

If you're able to take the shoulder rest off as I am, do that, otherwise keep your shoulder rests on. Now, come to lie on your back, with your tailbone very near the spring edge of the carriage, so that your shoulders are free of the shoulder rests. You'll have the front of your heels in contact with the foot bar, with your outer ankle bones about greater trochanter with the part. Rub your palms together, and warm up your palms. Place your left palm on your throat, to remind your neck to relax.

Place your right palm on your forehead, so that the fingernails are pointing to the left, and the little finger side of your hand is parallel to your eyebrows. As you exhale slide the carriage out, using your right arm, your right hand to turn your head to the left, foot bar adjustment, it's in place now, and come back. This time, aim your eyes to the left at the same time as your head is being turned, and come back. The second round, now keep your gaze straight ahead at one point on the ceiling, eyes are looking straight ahead, as your head is being turned. Now glide your gaze to the right corner of your eye sockets, as your head is being turned to the left.

Change your arms and do the other side, turning your head, neck and eyes to the right in the same direction at the same time. Come back to the center, and keep your eyes at one point on the ceiling, as your head is being turned by your left hand. Third variation glide your eyes to the left, looking into the left corner of your eye sockets, as your head is being turned to the right. Take your arms now by your sides and change to the balls of your feet and the soles of your toes. As you exhale, turn your head, neck and eyes to the left, sending your heels underneath the bar.

As you inhale rise to your toes, keep your head where it is and lower your heels, and bend your knees, returning your head, neck and eyes to the center. Keeping your eyes straight ahead, turn your head to the left sending your heels under the bar, rise to your toes, lower your heels and bend. As you turn your head to the left, glide your eyes to the right, seeing into the right corner of your eye sockets. Raise and lower your heels, and come back to the center, turning your head, neck and eyes to the right, heels underneath the bar, inhale to rise, keep your head there as you lower your heels, and bend your knees. Looking straight ahead at the ceiling, head, neck and eyes, or head and neck turn, keeping your eyes steady at one point.

Third variation, eyes glide to the left corner of your eye sockets, as you lift your heels, and lower your heels and bend your knees. Now of course you could do that with one leg at a time but we have a lot of moves to do so we'll leave there.