Class #1417

Connecting your Mind to Body

45 min - Class
101 likes
Loading...

Description

Blossom teaches a Wunda Chair workout that focuses on connecting the mind to the body. She encourages you to make decisions about what you are doing so you're not going through the motions. This is a great class to have fun and sweat!
What You'll Need: Wunda Chair, Small Tennis Ball

About This Video

Transcript

Read Full Transcript

Hi, I'm blossom. Laelani Crawford. I'm here with Alicia Reese and petty BioNano. We're going to do a one to chair class. We're going to break it down a little bit and have some fun and sweat ready girls. Okay, so I'm just so many warmups. So you're going to start sitting toward the front edge of the chair on the side. And when you inhale, sit up nice and tall and as you exhale, you're going to slowly roll, curling your spine. As you start to lie down, when you bring your legs into your chest is up to you. As you can see, they're doing it different times. You have start to lower down. Yes.

Hug your knees into your chest. When you get down there, give yourself a nice pole. Start to reach the legs forward and down toward the floor and slowly sit up. You can bend the knees, reaching them for the floor and just end sitting up tall. Just a few roll downs and sitting up nice and tall. Let's just do that two more times. Big Inhale. And as you exhale, you're lengthening the belly away and you decide when you're lifting your legs up. Make it be a decision, not just happen. Yes, grab those knees in and take a moment here.

You can either bring the booty up and then bring the booty back down. Just think about which you're doing slowly. Sit back up. Let's just do this one more time. Yup. Reach the legs forward down toward the floor and sitting up tall. Let's just take a little moment just to go for a little extension. So inhale, stay there. Exhale, lift the chest, exhale through the nipples. Forward, yes, or let the Chin really come up and forward. Forward for thank you.

And then from there, set up nice and tall again. Let's just do one more. Roll down. Just a little warmup. Get to get you ready for your hundreds. Denton de, grab your knees, give me a big exhale. Booties are down. Arms down by your sides. Give me a big inhale. Start to move the thighs forward to your low position. Stay there.

That's parallel in parallel. Make sure your heels are apart. Big Toes are together. Press the knees. Let's pump here. Inhale for five pumps. Exhale. That's it. A few more times and just watch the knees. Make sure that you're not locking in the knees, but you're really drawing the legs together. Try not to bring the heels together. If you're parallel [inaudible].

If you think you would like to do a v, you could try the v. Now, if it feels a better connection to your low belly, you decide which one works best for you. On the next exhale, let's bring the legs up a little bit. Sometimes that halfway point yes is actually harder than the low spot. One more breath there. Let's do one more inhale, which be really means to more. As you exhale, bring the legs all the way up to 12 o'clock with a button down. Do one set here. When you exhale, hug the knees into your chest and give me a really big pole. All lady slowly sit up the same way you went down. Take your time, use your abs.

That's it. Paint up the wall with your eyes as you slowly sit up. Tall, tall, tall. Let's pump. Ladies. Have a seat on your chair. So we are on heavy springs. Let me just straighten that out again. Hold on. One second. A heavy springs one on the top and the other one on the second from the, yeah. So press the pedal all the way down if you can. Toes are on the pedal only heels really high. And let's just um, no hands like that yet. Let's just let lower and lift the heels a few times. So take your time to really go through the foot and can you get the pedal all the way down? Yes. And so the keep the pedal down, lowering and lifting the heels.

Make sure that all of your toes are on the pedal. Use a few more. Breathing, breathing, breathing. Yes. And let's go to a goldilocks feet. So we show the really high high heels and show the really low, low heels. Yes. And now give me something in between where you're not doing too high or too low.

Yes. One hand on the belly. One hand on the low back. Let's start a pumping motion of the pedal. Inhaling and exhaling. Yep. Yes. Keep pumping that pedal. And when you feel that your ha what's between your hands is nice and still, then you can bring your arms down by your sides across the arm and just keep pumping for 10 yes, she'll be nice. And so you don't have to press the pedal all the way down and definitely don't go into your super high heels yet. Yes. Do One more.

Press a pedal down and hold it down. Walk your feet forward to arches. You can put your hands back to your belly to give yourself a little check and start that pumping motion. And when you have your arches on, make sure you're curling those chos over. We asked and you're really on the arch, but when you're pressing down in the arch, make sure that you're not rolling into the arch of the foot. They really keeping the outer edge of the arch and your arch is actually are lifted. Yes. Do just a few more [inaudible]. Press down in hold. Stay there. And when you're ready, heels on the pedal.

Just change one and the other and try not to move the hips. Yes. Start to pump again. And when this time when you get a nice pumping motion going and really breathe, cross your arms in front of you just like that. Or you can rest your arms down by your side. Whatever works best for you and keep that pumping motion going.

Don't go too slow. Yes. Keep breathing. Yes. Two more. Press the pedal down in hold. Stay there without changing in the hips. Can you just extend one leg forward? Oh, don't go backwards. Stay lifting up tall, tall, tall. Change sides without changing in the hips. Extend the other like say lifted up. Yes. Energy out of the top of the head.

Yes. Put that foot down. Go back to toes on only and just put your hands on your thighs please. Yeah. So now you're going to do that same flexing point that we started with keeping. Now this time the pedal is gonna move. So flex the pedal up to you. Point the feet Dow. Yeah, few more like that.

And so when you are pressing the pedal down, I want you think of zipping that belly away from the thighs. Yeah, a few more. [inaudible] work the seat and stay sitting up tall and try not to look worried. Keep breathing. Yes. You got one more breath. Laughing is breathing. Yes. You got one more. I lied. [inaudible] press down and hold. Stay their heels into the corners or toes into the corners.

Whatever would feel best for you. And let's just do a few pumps or you can try both, right? Just a few pumps cause it feels so great in the hips. After all of that. Cross your arms or one hand on the belly. One hand on the low back. She ever works best? Just a few more.

[inaudible] that's enough for me. You guys ready? Let's move on. So let's change, um, change springs for the next one. Do you want to keep them heavy? It's up to you. I'm happy to keep talking. Okay. So let's keep them heavy. You could also go to lighter springs if you want to for the push down. So when you're ready, um, sent a little farther away than you normally would for your push down. Yeah.

And most important part is actually just getting into it. So when you're ready to no prep, all I want you to do is look at the pedal and when you reach forward to the pedal, you're going to, can you just lock in your knees for me and don't lock in the knee. So soft in the knees. Feel the thighs lifting up and still a v position of your feet. And when you're ready, you're just going to reach for the pedal without locking back in the knees.

Go for it. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Try to drop the head and just take a moment. Yeah. When you're ready, walk in closer to the pedal. Regular steps. Yeah. And then press the pedal down. Just stay there and breathe. [inaudible] no locking in the knees, arms or in the sockets.

Let's keep the legs as they are. Go up and down in the torso. Keep the arms straight as well. Up and down in the torso a few times. Breathe with it. And when you go to push down, try not to reach out of the shoulders. Keep those arms in the sockets. Lift the bell. As you press down, you've got one more like that. Press down and stay here. And keeping the torso still in the shoulder.

Still do a little pump of the arms. Small. Yes. Keep lifting the belly. Yes. Stay there with straightish arms. Bend the knees open. Just a little variation. Really say that. And really think of curling that pubic bone under sitz bones. Come together and go under. Same thing. Arms are straight.

Go up and down in the torso. So I liked the little Ben because it helps really get that curve in that low back. Yes. And then saying down there, small pump. And even though you're pumping, you're still thinking booty under booty under arms in the socket and booty under slowly come up to standing. Nothing fancy. Just come to straightening the legs. Don't lock back in the knees as you slowly come up to standing. Take your time. Yes. Woo. Getting hotter now. Okay, let's go to some lighter springs. So, um, I think one in the middle.

Is that what we decided? Yeah. Yeah. One in the middle. And let's go for our teaser. Yay. Let me get out of the way. Okay. Ready Girls. So shall we be mean? Grab Your Tennis Ball, tennis ball times. So, um, grab your tennis ball and if you can, you're going to actually, I'm gonna help you. I'm gonna help you.

So pedal hold onto the pedal when you're ready. Yes. Bring the knees into your chest. Uh, forget it. Not going to use the tennis ball yet. I'll just get rid of them. I'll put them here in my tennis ball head. So anyway, let's start here, shall we? Okay. So from here, the hands on the pedal and I actually want you to soften the elbows and really work at curling the spine. So I really want to see a c shaped spine. They're good. Go Up and down with a pedal here.

Keep the elbows a little bent and just go down and up a few times. It doesn't have to be a big motion. I just really want to feel it coming from your low belly, inner eyes, energy out of the top of the head, right. Few more. And Alicia for you almost think of drawing the chin ups like yes. Do One more. Just stay there. Hovering a small pump of the elbows. Teeny, teeny, so small.

So small. Yes, that's right. Really small. And then stay there on the next exhale. Keep the elbows a little bit so you're really in that belly. Exhale and extend the legs up into your full teaser position. Cause this is all prep. This is all prep. Good. Same thing.

Up and down in the torso please. Yes. And yes you have your legs in this beautiful upright position, but it's not really about that. It's about the torso and staying curl. Good. Stay their smallest pump of the arms. Tiny. Yes. And every time you straighten the arms you're thinking long out of the top of the head. Thank you. Here we go. Start to press those legs together in your v or parallel legs as you lower them down all the way down.

Ideally we get down to parallel to the floor [inaudible] and then I'm going to just hold both of them there. So ideally we get here actually yesterday, holding on to the pedal. If you can, and you do it one more time here. So this isn't my ideal position. Bend and straighten or pump. Yes. Tiny. Yes. [inaudible] I'll hold Ya. And if you can't hold it, then you just go back to those first two variations. Yup. Yes. And staying in their smallest punk. Come up a little bit more so that you're really curling your spine. Yes. Long, long neck. One more. And then from here, come all the way up to sitting up tall. Oh yes, yes.

You can hold onto the back of the chair to try to find that. Find it. Bend the knees. Whooo. Rest. Shall We? So I'm, we're going to do the swan and they both are going to start with a tennis ball between their heels. So can you put that in there or it doesn't have to be between the heels. You can put it between a different part of your foot, but they like the heels.

So then when you're ready, you're just gonna get yourself onto your machine. Pubic bone will rolling ball, pubic bone from on the top of the chair. Patty, scoot over to the right a little bit. All right. So the first thing is just to find that one long line. So Alicia come up higher. You muffed it might have to hover the pedal and make sure you're not lifting the legs too high. You can either appoint the theater flex and just stay there and breathe.

So let's talk heads. So no, go back to where were before. Yeah. So this is the sort of what she was doing before. And there's this move that I call angry turtle. So she's gonna lift her head up in line with her spine, right? Yeah. Angry Turtle. Perfect. So staying there hovering arms are in the socket.

Let's pump the elbows open. Here we go. Just a few times, three times. And when you press down, think of the opposition of the belly lifting ribcage, lifting back of the head. Lifting right. Do One more good. Keep the arm straight. Go up and down in the torso. Do jaw muscles as you come up. Lifting the chin up. Yes. And press on down a few more times like that.

Keep breathing with a don't go too slow. Yes. And come on down. Beautiful. One more. Really holding onto that ball. Lifting up, up, up, up, up, up, and come on down to do the whole thing. One more time pumping. Don't forget that angry turtle heads. You're going to really lift the back of the head, right? Yes. Keep breathing. Yes. And when you're ready, up and down in the torso, let this springs for lift you up and come on down.

Feel the lift and resistance of the belly. Two more to go. Keep moving with it. Inhale, exhale to come up. Inhale, exhale to come down. Last one. Inhale. Exhale to come up, Joel. Muscles love lift, lift, lift. Lift the navel and come on down. Stay here. So now bend the knees, grab onto your tennis ball or let it drop and have one handy for you down there. You're going to put the ball in your right hand.

Keep your left hand on the pedal. Yes. And you can move that left hand if you need to toward the center and you're just going to reach out to the side and draw those legs together. Easier said than done. Really straighten the arm and reach and this could be enough, but if you want to add on, add a little bend and straighten. Have that left arm. Small. Doesn't have to be big. Angry Turtle. Alicia, get up here. Lovey up here.

Yes. You got one more. Yes. Up and down in the torsos please. Big exhale. Alicia. Really squeeze that tennis ball in reach. Yes. You got one more. Yes. Change sides please. That's exactly it. Changed the arm legs pressed together and really reach off to the side.

Smallest pump. And when you're reaching, you really want that arm to be either at shoulder height or just a touch lower. Keep breathing and then up and down in the torso. Don't forget my angry turtle head, especially as you go down. Don't, that's it. That's it. Cause we're not doing the dive part of the song. We're just doing the swan part. And then angry turtle. Alicia. Angry. True. Yes.

One more love. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. And come on down. Put the tennis ball down or your other head and slowly come up off the chair who will work on a pretty dismount another time. Shall We? Mermaid please. Yeah. So, um, you can either do it seated like Patty's going to do, or you can do it kneeling, whichever one you prefer. I feel like when you kneel, you get sort of a nice stretch into the hip. And on this one, it just really forces you to lift up out of the way. So whichever one you're thinking would work best for you. Same springs that we had before. And when you're ready, grab on to that tennis ball again in the opposite hand of the pedal. And let's just start with the arms reaching out to the side.

[inaudible] off to the side. If you don't mind, I'll be show. Yeah. And when you're ready, your cyst, look for the pedal and reach to it as you reached down and reach the right arm and squeeze that tennis ball. Just stay there and brief. Let a little, so if you're seated, you can let a little bit of your buttcheek come off. Yes. And if you're kneeling, just make sure you have equal weight in both legs. Stay looking down at the pedal and let's just do a little pump of that left arm please. Reaching in, squeezing that ball each time. Yes.

Two more. That's it. And then up and down in the torso, really look down at that pedal. That's it. An up and down. Yes. And even though you're coming up, you're really not going up both sides of reaching and pressing. Yes. You've got one more. Stay here and let's stay there. Now look down at the pedal, look up to the reaching hand and look down toward the pedal. This is just to give you a little bit of neck mobility cause I feel like sometimes we get stuck. And the other thing is if you want to for, we're going to do one more set, you could end looking straight ahead or down toward the pedal. It's up to you. You decided which one you prefer and let's do a one more set. Small arm pumping.

And as you pump, try not to move the shoulder. Yeah. And really reach with that arm thing and bring that upper arm by the ear. Beautiful. And then up and down in the torso. Keep breathing with it. Two more to go. Inhale to come up. Exhale to press over. You've got one more to go and press on over. Yes. Let's try this.

Reach your right arm up to the ceiling. Squeeze that ball, reach up to the ceiling and let that reach up. Take you up to sitting up tall. Take your time. Take your time. All the way up, all way up to sitting up tall. Keep reaching up, up, up, up. Bring the right arm up to the side and then bring it down. Great. Moving on. Shall We? Let's do the frog. Oh yeah, let's do the other side.

There are two sides to a potty, right? Okay. So here we go. So, um, let's do tennis ball in the left hand and just look at the pedal and reach for the pedal. As you reach over with the tennis ball hand is, take your time. Yes. Get that pedal down and really reach. So again, if you're seated, you can let half of a butt cheek come off. You don't get to have that option, Alicia. So when you're ready, say looking down small pump of your right arm please. And I like to say that when I look at you pumping, I don't want to see the shoulder move. I should be surprised that the elbow is bending and then up and down in the tour. So just a few.

And the speed is up to you if you want to do it fast or slow, but just keep breathing with it. Yes. And this ball, you're squeezing it. You're actually reaching. It's not just a there for looks. Yes. And then press down and do one more. Stay there and do that little head articulation. Just looking up and down a couple of times.

[inaudible] don't lose your pressing arm as you look up and end the position that either looking down or straight ahead or up and do one more set. Here we go. This arm that's reaching really goes by the ear. Yes, yes. One more. That's it. And really press reaching to me. Reaching to me, Alicia. Yes. Beautiful. Two more. Yes. Up and down and really move through it, patty. Yes. Don't go too slow. Really pumped that peddle. Yes. When you guys are ready to reach that left arm up to the ceiling. That tennis ball hand. Yes. Let that reach uptake you up to sitting up tall. Take your time. Take your time. Take your time Brock.

Onto both butt cheeks for you. Open the arm out to the side. Let's move on. Now we're going to do the frog. Yes. So get rid of your tennis ball and come to standing in front of the chairs. Springs are the same sort of a medium weight. You could go lighter if you want to. Heels together. Toes apart. Alright, so frog, so you're going to come on down. Let's go.

Pressing the heels together. Bend those knees to slowly come down to touch the chair. Stay there for a moment and come back up again. Whoa. Yes, a few more times. This is an exercise I feel like I avoided for a long time, but then I forgot how great it is for the quad and slowly come up.

What the problem is that every time people get down there they just kinda hang out. So that's why we do it this way and come on down for the last time and now you're going to stay there and just pump the arms. Yeah, you decide. And it doesn't have to be big. It's small. And what I really am looking for is when you let the pedal come up that you actually are coming together more. Yes. To bore. That's all it needs to be pressed. The heels together slowly come up. How are you doing?

Don't you want to do it the other way? Aha. Turn around please. [inaudible] okay, ready? So I actually do a little cheat. I let them start with the heels on the top of the chair. So you can yeah, because I feel like it's Kinda hard to reach back there. So you decide if you want to do that at home, right? If you want to bring your heels on the top of the chair, keep it in front.

Keep that V and when you're ready, bend those knees. Reach behind you for the [inaudible]. Oh. And slowly come back up to more. That's all I want. Yup. And so as you reach back, you have a choice of either drawing the shoulder blades together or letting them roll forward. It's up to you. Yes. And slowly come up. Last one.

We're just going to get down there. That's it. That's it. And slowly come back up Ms Alicia. I think that's plenty slowly come up. Up, up, up, up patty. Awesome. Okay, let's move on. Let's do 'em toy soldier. So grab your tennis balls again. [inaudible] and let's see. Let's do left-hand in the pedal. Right arm has the tennis ball. Yeah, we're in the right spot. Okay. So when you're ready again, the spring, stay late. You can lighten them up more if you need to. Yes. Or make it heavier. Yeah. So when you're ready, um, v of your feet, again, you're standing off on a little bit of an angle from the chair and you're going to simply reach down as you reach the right arm or the tennis ball arm up toward the ceiling. Press the pedal down. Let's have a moment.

This arm is the hardest one cause it's behind her and she can't see it. So you are trying to squeeze the tennis ball in your hand, reach it up to the ceiling and you are, we think that bringing the shoulder into it actually helps. I actually want you to let the shoulder roll forward and bring hand up yet and if you can, try to see if your hips are square, which is not easy to do at home. I know, I know. Stay there. Don't move yet. I'd like you to bend your knees open, kind of like what we did and pushed out and really think of pelvis underneath you while you keep reaching that right arm up. Now ladies, bend the knees a little bit more, Ben and straighten that left arm.

And so when you bend in straight and just think arm in the socket. And I like to think of the spring almost pressing my shoulder back up into it, up into the joint. That's it. And almost press down and stay there. Up and down in the torso. Booty stays under as you go up and press on down. Squeeze that tennis ball. Yes. Two more to go. I know it's hard to think about that backhand but it's re that reached an almost drawing it to the center line and reaching up to the ceiling will really help do one more. Let's do the whole thing. One more time. Small pump of this left arm.

So the hand is squeezing the tennis ball is really drawing into the center but also the pinkie is reaching up toward the ceiling. Yes, and then up and down in the torso. When you go up and down in the torso, really squeeze that tennis ball and come up. Yes and push on down. You've got one more to go up. Press on down. Stay there and let the tennis ball arm come down for the floor so your arms are dangling and slowly come up to standing. By the way, this is not really called toy soldier. This is just what I call it because it looks like radio city Rockettes, toy soldiers, other side tennis ball on the left hand. Let's go. So when you're ready, you are going to reach for the pedal with the right hand and squeeze at tennis balls. You reach up to the ceiling with the other arm. Yep.

And the hard part is just trying to feel if your square, which is hard to do at home, but you're trying and when you're ready, bend those knees open. Really try to get the pelvis underneath you because I feel like you can get a bigger stretch in your low back when you let the knees bend, reach up with that pinky arm. Good. And almost let the little shoulder roll forward toward the floor. Correct. Small pump of the right arm please. [inaudible] yes. One more. Stay there. Keep the knees bent and go up and down in the torsos please.

And what I like to think of two is what am I going up and down from? What's my base? Feet are the base, right? The other base could be pelvis. Stay down this, repeat the whole thing. One more time. Small pump. And it doesn't have to be a big motion. It's small, it's in, it's about the belly lifting in heels down. Pressing together. One more. Yes. And then up and down in that tour.

So keep breathing with it ladies. Two more to go and press on down. One more. When you press down, think pelvis underneath you let the arm drop down toward the floor. Use your belly, let your legs straight, straighten as you slowly come up to standing and maybe mop up a little bit after that. Yeah, I know. So now we're going to change the springs to do the forward lunge are going up front. So we're going to go to two heavy heavier springs.

So like one on the top, one on the second to the top. Alright, so let's do the forward lunge or the step ups, I believe going up front. Yes. So step the pedal down. Just put your hands onto the side of the chair and just step the pedal down. Nothing fancy holding onto the sides of the chair. Let's just again, like we did at the beginning of the class, just warm the food up again, lower and lift the heels a few times. And I really want you to take a look at how your feet are going down and up.

Are the heels drifting off to the side or your arches dropping as you do this. So you really want to keep the outside of the feet parallel. So you might want to separate the heels a little bit more. Yep. And sometimes this means also not going down so low. So really take a look at your feet. I'm giving you an opportunity to do that.

Yeah. And so then I like to, um, have you do what we're now calling goldilocks feet, so not too high, not too low. And then when you're ready, um, you're going to step your right foot to the top of the chair. Yes. And you decide if you're doing this foot really close to you, to the middle, you have to know where your foot position is. And when you're ready, you're going to, I like to just start by stacking the hands on the top of the knee and taking a moment here, square off those hips. I know. Yup. And make sure you haven't changed your goldilocks foot. Not yet. And then you can choose your arms. You can either cross your arms in front of you. And if you do that, I like to have you press the thumbs into the elbow creases or reach the arms up, whichever you want. And then when you're ready, you're gonna start going up and down. And as you're going up and down, be careful of almost letting the hips go forward.

I almost want you to think of pushing into the front leg, the top like, and sending your hips back. Yes. And this little sort of grab of Patti's butt is exactly what I'm looking for. Yes. And it's not just squeezing the butt, it's really just thinking of straighten it like, especially on the way down, down, all the way down, ladies, all the way down. Let's change sides. Beautiful. Whew. Other side. So simply stepping down, holding on is fine for me. [inaudible]. And then again, second hand sent to the top of that knee. And let's just take a moment to square off the hips.

And so that can be this way. And also this forward and back, right? So have a moment. And then when you go, just have a mental check right now where your hips, right. Cause sometimes you want to almost let them go forward. Keep them back. I almost like to think of keeping my hips back over my standing. He'll goldilocks, he'll right. Not too high, not too low.

Do the arm of choice crossed or reaching up and start going up to the ceiling. So think up right as you do. Again, think up. You will go forward a little bit, but don't think for you have to really think up. Yes, but not in the heel. Up in the body, in the spine and the energy of the body, but not in the heel. Yes. So that you're really working the whole body and not just the foot. Yes.

And do one more as high. Don't send the hips four. Really keep them back and come all the way down. Lengthening, reaching, reaching, reaching, reaching through the body, and come on down and put your hands on the sides of the chair. Both toes on the pedal. And again, lower in, lift the heels just to take moment. And for me, I prefer a Little v position of the feet right now. [inaudible] and again, find your goldilocks foot, drop your head and round your spine. Good.

And let's just try to lift that peddle ups are going into the pike. Rose. I like to call it the levitation. Oh yeah, that's it. Do a few of them please. Breathing. Yes. And as you do it, it's really hard not to lift those heels up. You're going to try to keep the yes legs connected. Heels connected. Good. Do two more. Breathe with it. Great. On this last one, I'm just gonna add in a little something. Say they're hovering. Good.

Now go to parallel legs and do a little bit of a knee stretch. Bend those knees and press on down a few of those. Yeah, that's it. And when you bend the knees really curl under. Yes. A few more and go. You could go faster. You can go slower, but just breathe. Yes, just don't lift the heels too high. Thank you. And come on down. Ooh, lower the heels. Take a moment to stretch. Step the feet off.

One at a time. Slowly. Great. And let's grab a mat so we can do some stuff seated on the floor. Okay. We've also changed our springs. Now you're either on a medium to light spring, it's up to you. You decide how much tension you want and get into a spine stretch forward position. So your legs on either side of the chair and put your hands on the top of the pedal. And I'm going to break some rules a little bit.

So give me a rounded spine. So really curl and I, let's do that again. When you go to curl, I don't really want you to go back and down. I do want the curl, but I'd like you to lift and bring it in. And don't let the shoulders elevate. I actually want you to lift your spine up, up, up, but stay curled. Stay there. Good. And then remember that angry turtle we were talking about earlier. I really want you to almost tuck the Chin Angle. Turtle can also be done in this curve. Spine. Stay there.

Stay in that beautiful position. Feel the lift out of the hips. Almost think of putting a belt on, right to quote Cathy Grit and do a little pump of the arms. Tiny, tiny pump. Good, good. And so I barely want to see anything in the tour. So what I do want to see as the torso narrowing and lengthening. Good. Two, a couple more. Goodness. Stay here. Come to sitting up tall. If you need to bend the elbows to do that, go for it. But you're so pressing the pedal down. Yes. Come to sitting up tall.

Easier said than done. And you know what? Let's go to reversing the spine. Slowly. Exhale through the nipples. Really lift the chest up. Really send it forward. Let that Chin come up and small. Do a small pump here. You can keep the arm straight or let the elbows bend. Yes. And this is what I want to see. Press. And when you go to release, lift up, taller, taller, taller, right. Use that resistance to help you lift you up, up, up, up, up. You got one more good. Stay here with the pedal. Use the PR.

Use that resistance slowly come back to sitting up tall. Find the inside motion to sit up tall and let the pedal come up. Beat on the top of the chair please for teaser. Thank you. Yup. Adjust your hips if you need to. But now let's talk about the feet. You can either put your heels on the top, heels on the top of the chair, or you can do arches on the top.

It's what works for you. Hands on the pedal. And again, we're going to break rules a little bit. If this position works, but your arms happen to bend, then bend them, right? So when you're ready, just find the press of the pedal. Hopefully it's not rubbing against your thighs. Yes. Yet you might didn't need to adjust. That's right. And just go for a press. Decide if you're doing parallel or Pilati stance and just give me a pressing the pedal. Don't go backwards, right? Go in and up. Perfect. Stay there. Smallest pump of the arms, right?

So it's really just about bringing the belly in and maybe a little bit more and a little bit more. Drawing those legs together and just hold it there and take a breath. Good. Can you lift your right leg up without changing your spine? Bringing in yes. Just I don't care. That's it. Tiny. And then pump again. I know. Yes, that's right. Other side. Take that leg down with control. That's it. Breathe. Find those under our muscles to lift. Curl the belly in.

Lift that leg up and pump. Yes. Small, teeny. Yes. Bring the leg down and I'll take a moment. One plus one is true. Lift those legs up if you can. If not, just try. Yes. And again, another set of pumps. Breathing under our muscles. Come on, Belk. Each time you release each time with control, lower the legs. Let the pedal come up and you're going to get ready to lie down.

Yeah. Here we go. So, um, turn around, lie down on your back with your head facing the pedal and the same springs that you just did. Teaser and spine. Stretch forward on. You're gonna grab onto the sides of the foot bar. So whatever that is for you, right? That's it. Yes. Thank you. I prefer an underhand grab. If you're grabbing onto the dowels. No, you are headed, right. So bend the elbows open. Good. And so when you bend the elbows open, don't let the shoulders be up.

Really draw the shoulders down. You might even want to bring the elbows a little forward so you can kind of see your elbows. Yeah, I really want you to feel right now the connection between elbows, rib cage, rib cage to the floor. Good. When you're ready, bring one knee into your chest at a time or both. It's up to you. [inaudible] and on the next exhale, you're going to keep those arms bent. Exhale, the belly ends. You extend both legs up to the ceiling. You decide if you're doing parallel or a [inaudible] stance.

Pulling those elbows open. Roll over. Bring those legs up and over your head. Take your time. Yes. Breathe. Good. Inhale. And as you exhale, you're going to exhale right at your chest as you slowly lower down. Pull on the chair to create that opposition right to as you lower your hips down, take your time, take your time, take your time. When the booty touches down, bring it up and over again. Do it a few times.

Your own speed, right? Yes. And the coming down is really what I want to work on. So as you go down, you're exhaling through the chest and you're lengthening as if I am pulling on your feet as you're reaching your hips down. Right Greg? Great. Do One more time. Here we go. Maybe two more times. [inaudible] and you're ready. Bend those elbows. Open. Lengthen. You think it. That's it. Even even if you're not doing it at home, you're just gonna really think it. That's it.

And end with a button down and the legs. Right at 12 o'clock you got one more to go up and over. Grover's. Yes. I'm going to add a little something on from there. Keep that pull of the arms. Reach the legs up toward the ceiling. Up to 12 o'clock. Yes. [inaudible] and as you come down, let's count. Say three as you come down.

Four elbows are bent. Yes, really counts. Keep moving. Move through it. Move through it ladies. Keep moving through it. Keep breathing and, and rest for a second. Woo. Corkscrew is going to be next. Yeah. Stay holding onto those dowels. Xn both legs up to the ceiling. Small. Take your legs over to the right.

Think of the right hip down toward the tailbone over to the left hip and come back. Find your center. You decide how big the circle is. Keep going to the left, to the right hip and center. Keep going side to side. Inhaling as you go over to the side, exhale from the low back to the center again. Inhale to the side. Exhale low and come back to center. Stay here. Yes, let's go for it. One big one.

Really let the hips go forward. Yes. Swing those hips around. You got it. And from six o'clock bring those like flowly back. Bind your sand to keep those feet together. Last one. Inhale. Big exhale as you go from six o'clock yes, yes. And then the knees had the knees into the chest. Take a moment to pull. Ooh, all right. Sit Up nice and tall and let's change our springs. So ideally, ideally I would love to have two light springs on at this moment and have that be equally weighted on both sides.

But if that's not available to you then just do sort of a medium setting. But ideally, especially for this next bit, I'd love it if you could do even springs, two light ones if possible. And just even on both sides. I don't care what the setting is, but just even so when you're ready, you are going to lie down on your back. We're going to do the feet pumping on the chair. Lying down. Pumping. Yeah. So like all the way down and put your feet on the pedal and you hadn't had to play around with your position. So press the pedal down.

Can you find a place where you can pump the pedal easily without your butts sort of coming up and down off the ground. And then let's talk feet for a moment. So when the pedal goes up and down, just do it. So I don't want you to do it from the the knees. So let the pedal go up and down from the knees. Right? I actually want, so yes, there's knee movement in there, but I actually go ahead and lift that the pedal come up. I actually want you to have a little wiggle happening in the ankle so that as you're pressing down, you're actually pressing the heel down and letting the pedal come up and the arch is kind of roll, right?

So there's a little bit of this little bit of a new conversation happening between the arches of the feet and the pedal. You guys, you guys see that nice little arch hope you feel it cause then it's a more hamstring booty connection, right? Yeah. So Jess, that's the beginning. Start to pump, right? Keep going. So as you go to pump, I'd like you to try not to let the arches fall into the pedal, right? You're really feeling the outside. And let's talk about breath. Keep going. Exhale the rib cage down and you could even think energy out of the top of the head so that you're not taking it. And, and losing that nice cervical curve and with the pedal downish she doesn't have to be all the way down, but down ish. That's a perfect technical term. And when you're ready, keeping it there without changing in the hips.

Extend One your right leg. Let's say the right leg up to the ceiling. Try not to move in the hips and you can feel it cause you're really pushing with that other leg. And then if you, that works for you, then do a little pumping of the left leg. And don't forget about my little ankle wiggle, right? And don't let it just be all knee. It's the whole leg, right? A few more. Breathing is a good thing. Yes.

One more breath pedal is downish without changing in the hips. Bring that right leg down and get ready to change the other side. So when you're ready, extend the other leg up to the ceiling. And when you move in that when you are trying not to change in the hips, I don't want an extra tuck. I don't want this and I don't want a side to side rock. Little pump. Ladies, thank you.

Really get that ankle movement right and it's hard not to roll into the arch of the football. You're really gonna try to feel that outer edge, that little toe side of the foot, right, without collapsing into that arch. Just a couple more. Yes, one more. And now I'm gonna mess with them. So you're gonna put your feet down. Get that pedal all the way down to a full pelvic lift just because it was going to feel really good after that, really get up there and as you exhale, slowly come down. Upper back comes down, first energy out of the top of the head, middle that comes down waistline. Don't let those knees drift. That's it. And let the tailbone come down. Let's try that again.

Full pelvic lift. Really do. Press into your arms. Don't forget about the arms even though their legs are working and just as a test, can you stay up there and maybe try to lift the pedal? It's okay. Yup. Thinking, thinking. Okay, so if it's not working, let's come down. I'm off just trying. It's like my kids like just try it.

You don't have to eat it. Let the pedal come up a little bit, hovering the pedal. So you are going to push into it a little bit as you try to lift up again, but not too much where the pedal goes all the way down. And don't forget about that nice conversation you're having with the pedal. That's right. Cause you're going to need it. Now you're gonna do a little pumps small. Right?

And aren't you glad that you know where your feet and hips and butt and your hamstrings are working? Beautiful. So when you're going with to press, you're actually thinking of lifting an energy out of the top of the head, right Alicia [inaudible]. That's exactly it. That's good. Petty. Still think inner thigh connection. Good. And let the pedal come all the way up and roll your torso all the way down. And one last thing. Press the pedal all the way down. And my favorite part, you get a cookie now, right? Bringing the pedal all the way down. Bring the soles of the feet together. Ish. Yeah, that those knees open.

Yummy. And if your knees do go try. Actually not to let them go this, maybe bring them up ish and then let the pedal go up and down a little bit. I don't have those kinds of knees, but if you have that, yeah, you kind of have to keep it in just a little bit. And this is the important part of having the springs equal just because it really matters if you have two springs and this way you can work both sides of the hips evenly. Doesn't that feel good? It's your nice cookie. You worked really hard for that one. Just a few more pumps.

And then the last one, bring the pedal all the way down. Draw those knees together. If you need to use your hands, please do so. Let the pedal come up and let's get ready for lying down swan. So you're going to lie on your tummy with your head facing the pedal. And you could ideally leave it on these springs if you want or you could make them heavier if you, if you want the in little extra lift lying down on your tummy, getting ready to do the swan from the floor. Uh, we have it sprung just one heavy spring second from the top.

So grab onto your pedal and press the pedal down. And the only way I remember this exercise kind of helps actually in the teaching of it or the doing of it. So have your risks or Sorta heel of the hand beyond the pedal. And just to let the arms go. So when the pedal is up, the rib cage is down. That's how I remember this exercise. And just, and I let yourself have this moment where it's really letting your shoulders stretch and pull away from the wasteland and let the springs do something for once. It's gonna let them so breathe, breathe, breathe. Exactly. And so when you're ready, you're going to start to press the pedal down and start to lift the rib cage up.

Let's say looking down at the floor. Say looking down at the floor. Stay looking at the floor even more. Patti dropped the head. So stay right there. So in this position, that's that angry turtle I'm talking about, right? So now the pedals hovering the rib cages hovering. Now press that pedal all the way down and you really lift the chin and chest, shoulders down the back. Big XL jaw muscles. Find the lift of the naval.

Let's find that in between place. Looking down at the floor and let the pedal start to come halfway up. Hover. Don't lose my angry turtle. As you come back down with the head pedal goes up a few more times. A little faster. Ladies, here we go. Hover, press, big XL, jaw muscles. Swan.

Almost think of pulling yourself forward. Linkedin, get that last bit of naval up. Miss thing. Yes. And come on down. Or Mr thing, if you're a mister and let's do it one more time. That last, that's exactly it. And let's add a little extra here. So staying up in the full salon, can you just do a little pump? And again, like I said, small micro movement and it's not about the moving, it's about what's not moving up. That's it. Two more breath and rest. Rib Cage down. Let the arms go forward and let the spring stretch your shoulders out.

Just a couple more breaths. Woo. Great. So let the pedal come all the way up. Push back into child's pose of the child. If you want just to stretch the back out. Come forward Alicia. Yeah, that's it. There you go. Love and just get a nice yeah, stretch. Okay.

Ready guys. So we're going to do the pushup next, but we get into it sort of a different way. And this is actually Alicia's variation, which I really love because one day I had her do it and she sort of was like, I actually, I've been doing it this way and I really love it. So, um, get into a cat position. Let's do right hand on the pedal. Is that right? Yes. Right hand on the pedal. Yep. Press the pedal all the way down and get yourself into a cat position. And you might want a pad underneath your knees.

So Patty, are you okay? Yeah. Okay. Okay. So here we go. So get yourself in a nice position. And so this is the, for I, to me, the hardest part is just finding a square torso with one elbow bent. Right? Yup. And it's hard to feel, but you're just gonna do your best. Uh Huh. Yes. And then in this beautiful square tour, so you are gonna find without the shoulder the tiniest pumping motion of that right arm. And again, it's not about what's moving, it's about what's not moving. Right.

It's about that torso coming in toward the center. And even though your legs aren't touching, you can think inner thighs. Yeah. And what I love is that you, I really want you to keep that back of the head lifting tore this. That's right where you're really thinking angry turtle. Pissed off turtle. Alicia, come on, get up there. Get up there. That's exactly it. Okay.

That's part one. Next one, your left leg opposite of the pedal hand is going to go back into a pushup position and make sure it's right at the center line. Don't let it drift off to the side. Right. And again, goldilocks foot, right and without moving in the hips. Smallest pump. Keep the inner thigh connection. That's right. Angry Turtle. One more. Yes. And really use that leg, right. Use what you got last time. You're going to stay down there. So here we go. Push up position full, push up position legs together. Find your angry turtle, use the legs pressing together. So we're gonna try to pump. Oh nope, nope, no, that's pretty good actually. Yes. But if you can't pop, go to a wide position and it makes it a little bit easier.

So it's just a way to sort of creep yourself into it. Nice. Just one more. And when you're done, kneel down, let the pedal come up and oh my goodness. We have two arms. Let's go to the other side. I know here we are on the other side. When you're, so to get into it, you go into a kneeling position, so your knees are right underneath your hips. A little open ideally, and press the pedal down with your left hand. Hardest part is just finding this position, finding your square position. Yeah. And make sure that your hand is underneath your shoulder and the elbow is bent.

And ideally the shoulders are square. That's right. Okay. And just take a moment. Thank you, Alicia. And so when you guys are ready, do you're gonna do the tiniest comping motion to that left arm. And again, it's not about what's not moving. [inaudible] yes. And every time you press down, I like to think of press down, belly head lifts, right? So that's that opposition you're finding in the pedal. Good. Press the pedal down and stay there with purpose in control. Take that right leg, the opposite of your pedal head back and make sure it's not off to the side.

Keep it right underneath you. Yeah, you could even take a peek back at it. Good. Energize that leg and try to do that small pump of that left arm. Good. And in an effort to angry turtle, don't let the chin lift or you really have to almost tuck it. Yes. One more. Stay there. Here we go. Full pushup. Position. Legs are together. You're not. Heels are not too low.

The heels are not too high. You're just trying to square off the shoulders and if you can try to pump. Yup. Pretzels like to get no patty, you know that's not right. If you have to do a big motion, they open up your legs just like that. [inaudible] small, teeny. Even just the position is work.

One more breath guys. Yes. And when you're ready, kneel down. Let the pedal come up. Good. Go into a squat, please. So if ideally you're going to go into a squat, you're going to Tuck all 10 toes underneath you and just squat down [inaudible] that works for me. Yeah. And then when you're, if this hurts patty, can you go into go profile for a moment? If that hurts your knees, can you go into a pike? So hands on the floor with your booty up in the air. Yeah. So if that hurts your knees, then go into this position here. Yeah. And so when you're ready, how do you are just gonna s um, without locking your knees, you're gonna come up to standing.

Or if you're in a squat, you're going to slowly come up to sandy. Use those quad up. No, the head is the last thing. Yes. I'll push down into the feet. Heels come down. As soon as you can use those quads come all the way up to standing. Yeah, that's it. Girls up top.

Okay.

Comments

Brilliant! Great workout! Thanks Blossom
loving it Blossom and maybe my push up is getting just tiny bit better. Like the flow and reminders to breathe!
1 person likes this.
Thanks Lynn and Kerry. By the way, if you are having trouble getting the tennis ball between your feet in the swan. Try using a head pillow between the feet. I hope that makes sense. Thank you for the feedback!
1 person likes this.
Awesome!! You are so cool! Love your cues and flow of exercises. Adding this to my favorites:)
1 person likes this.
I love being a favorite class. By the way I do another version of this same chair routine. It has a little more flow, more sweat but takes less time. It is #1414, check it out!
Thank you Blossom!
Blossom this class was so much fun (and sweat-full-ish)! Ladies, those high-fives at the end were intense. And "pissed off turtle," ha! Thank you!
Great! Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and techniques. Your clients/models are super-strong! Well done :)
Love "it's not about what's moving, it's about what's not moving!"
Great! Will have to try a few new exercises I have not seen yet with my clients. Thanks for the video!
1-10 of 20

You need to be a subscriber to post a comment.

Please Log In or Create an Account to start your free trial.

Footer Pilates Anytime Logo

Move With Us

Experience Pilates. Experience life.

Let's Begin