Class #1497

Romana's Mat Flow

30 min - Class
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Description

Dana Santi teaches a Mat workout using Romana's flow. Her detailed cueing ensures that you stay out of your hip flexors and in your powerhouse. Dana demands precision from the exercises, and really makes you feel the movement. This workout is a great way to find your center!
What You'll Need: Mat

About This Video

Feb 24, 2014
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Transcript

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My name is Dana Santi. And today we are going to do mat. So go ahead. Step towards the front of your mat. Cross your arms.

Cross your legs. And now keep the head lifted and lengthened towards the ceiling. And go ahead. Have a seat. Lie all the way back.

Reach the arms long behind you. OK, squeeze underneath the bottom, and squeeze those heels nice and tight together. From here, we're going to leave the legs down on the mat. Take the arms. Give me nice pressure in those arms.

Reach them up to the ceiling, and lift the head. Reach the palms towards the tops of your thighs, and pump and breathe. Inhale and exhale. Now keep the breath going. And keep reaching the legs long out of the hips, and keep pulling the abs away from the hip flexor.

Create as much space as you can on top of that thigh. Lengthen it. Squeeze. Smush those heels together. Give me lots of pressure.

Get into those inner thighs. And exhale. And now reach more. Curl and lift a little higher. And try to pump through the tricep.

Make that work. And exhale. And let's do a couple more. Inhale. Keep reaching.

And exhale. And inhale. And exhale. And now reach those arms right up towards the ceiling. And bring them back to the wall.

And now from here, roll up. And I want you to take your feet, and place them into the black strap. Feet are together. And push through those heels. So make that strap nice and tight.

And lie all the way down. Reach the arms behind you. Now we start with the roll up. The arms come up. Chin into the chest, roll up.

Round over. Now stretch. Reach further, but keep creating that space in the hip flexor. Stretch, stretch, and now roll back down. Strong arms to the front.

Reach, and exhale home. And roll up. Push through those heels. Push through the heels. And stretch, and stretch, and stretch.

Now push through the heels even more on your way back down. So it's not a flex of the foot. It's literally a push through the heel. And roll up. Round over.

Stretch, stretch. More heels. Stretch. That's it. And roll back down.

Keep pushing the heels to me-- push, push, push. And again, roll up. Round over. Create that space in the hips. Stretch, stretch.

Strong arms, stretch. And roll back down. Squeeze. And one more time. And roll up.

Round over. Stretch, stretch, stretch. And roll back down. Reach, reach, reach, and home. Keep the left foot in the strap.

Bring your right leg up to the ceiling. OK, from here take your hands, and place them towards the pole. And I want you to push the poles away from you. Push the heel away from you. And now reach this leg long up to the ceiling.

Now take the leg for your leg circle. Cross it over for a second. And stay there. Now you reach those toes. You reach the leg.

But pull of the opposite. Pull that hip way away from the toes as you come over. Bring the leg down. Now as the leg's down, reach it long out of the hip. And now bring it over.

And come back up. And cross. Reach it long, and up. And cross. Reach.

Push through the heel of that standing leg. And cross. Reach it. Lengthen it. And up.

One more time. Cross, reach, lengthen, and now reverse it. Around. Reach, and lead with the inner thigh. Around.

Reach, and lead with the inner thigh. Around. Lengthen, and cross. And up, around, cross. And up, around, cross.

And up. Reach the leg long out of the hip. Swap your feet. And now from here, push through the arms. Push through the heel.

And cross the leg over. Find that opposite stretch. Bring the leg down. Pull it out of the hip. Bring it over.

Lengthen. And come back up. And cross, down, around, and up. Cross, down, around, and up. Cross, down, around.

Now reverse it. So open it. Pull it long. Now reach it to the side. Get that stretch, and home.

Around, lengthen, cross, and home. Around, lengthen-- pull it long-- and home. One more time. And reach it. Cross it.

And come back home. Lengthen the leg long, and bring it down. Slide that foot into the strap. Reach the arms. Chin in, and roll yourself up.

Now from here, don't move the bottom. Just take your feet out of the strap, and grab the ankles for your rolling like a ball. Now find your balance. And what I want you to do is give me a little space in the hip flexor. So get your hip bones almost-- it's like your hip bones are facing up towards the ceiling.

OK. So now I know it feels like odd and rounded. But now just open your chest, so you can breathe. There. So the round comes from that low back.

And roll back. Now come up. And try to find that same spot. Open those hips, hip bones to the ceiling. And roll back, two.

And up, and balance. And roll back, three. And up, and balance. And roll back, four. And up, and balance.

Now change the rhythm a bit. So roll back, and stay back there. Hold it. Now find me my space that I want. Yeah, right?

Come on. And roll back. Now you're ready. You know what it is. Hold it.

Hold it. Hold it. And come back home. And again. Roll back.

Find that space. Come on. Now bring the knees in. Bend your knees. There you go.

Now pull this in. Hold, and come back home. And one more time. Roll back. Find the space.

And come back home. It's all a work in progress. Bring your right knee into your chest. And lie back down. OK from here, lengthen these legs long.

Keep it right above the hip. Elbows nice and wide. And now give that leg two pulls. Pull, pull, switch, and change. Pull, pull, switch, and change.

Two, two, pull, pull, three, three, pull, pull. Now keep that going. And even the knee that bends in, you have to reach that hip flexor in the opposite direction. So don't crunch it into your hip. Pull it in, but lengthen it away from your hip.

Pull, pull. One more on each side. Pull, pull, pull, pull. Bend both knees in, double leg. So reach arms and legs up and away.

Hold it there. Lengthen. Now reach long. Exhale. Pull it back in.

And inhale, reach. Strong arms. Lengthen. Reach that tailbone. And exhale.

Pull it in. And inhale, reach. Hold it. Lengthen. And exhale.

Pull it in. And inhale, reach. Hold it. Lengthen longer. Exhale, pull it in.

Inhale, reach. Hold it, strong arms. Exhale. Pull it in. One more time, reach.

Hold it. And exhale. Pull it in. Right leg comes up. Single straight leg.

Now create that space for me in the hip flexor. And reach that leg long. Pull, pull, switch. Pull, pull. Resist the legs as they slice.

Pull, pull. Stretch, stretch, stretch, stretch, that's it. Pull the abs away from the thigh. And pull, pull. Pull, pull.

Reach higher to the ankle. Pull, pull. Stretch, stretch. Reach those tailbones long, away from your neck. Keep lengthening.

And pull. One more on each side. Stretch, stretch, stretch, stretch. Double the hands up behind your head. Squeeze those heels.

Lower the legs. Now pull them out of the hip. That's it. Exhale. Come back home.

And again, lower. Reach. Now lengthen. Lengthen that tailbone, and exhale. Come back home.

You should literally see your waist lengthen. Reach. Now lengthen it longer. And come back home. And lower.

Pull, lengthen. Uh huh, and exhale home. Nice, again. Lower. Squeeze those heels.

And exhale, come back home. One more time. Lower. Strong arms. And exhale home.

Crisscross elbow to knee. Hold it. So now to reach this leg a little above the hip. Lengthen it long. But now you have to keep reaching this hip flexor this way.

There. Hold, hold, hold, and switch. Hold, hold, hold, and switch. Hold. That's it.

Nice, wide arms. Lift it. And switch. Hold it. And switch.

Hold it. And switch. And release. Sit yourself up. I want your feet to be just as wide as the mat.

Spine stretch forward. So again, we're going to push through those heels. And I'm going to start you today. I'm going to place your fingers down on the mat. You take the fingers.

Give them substance. Push them into the mat. But pull the arm away. So you have a push and a pull. So, they have a little substance.

Now find your tailbone. OK, and from here-- so find your tailbone here. So come back to me a little, this way, not with your shoulders. There, right? OK.

And now drop the head down. Reach the fingers forward. And stretch. Aim the top of the head towards the middle of those knees. Now lift the abs away from the hips.

And now press into the fingertips. Give them some substance. Find your tailbone. And stack the spine accordingly. And again, inhale.

Push through the heels, and exhale. And stretch, stretch, stretch. And now roll it up. Find the tailbone. Open up that space.

Exhale home. And again, inhale. Drop that head down. Exhale, stretch, stretch, stretch. And now come back.

Find that tailbone. Come back a little more, there. And home one more time. Drop that head down. And exhale.

Stretch, stretch, stretch. And now come back up. Find the tailbone first. Find it more, back here more. There.

Lift and home. OK, from here try to lift the legs up, and grab your ankles. Now same thing. Get your hip bones up towards the ceiling, but keep your chest open. Roll back, and up, and balance.

Strong arms, right? Squeeze the inner thighs. Now roll back, and up. And balance. Now more space there, and just keep your chest open.

Aha! And roll back. So it's finding that exact spot that your body does not want to go into, OK. Pull this back more. Open your chest. There.

And roll back. And come back up. Squeeze the juice out of everything you can. Pull that back. That-a girl.

And roll back. It's hard. And come back up. Uh huh, chest open, so you can breathe. And reach.

Roll back. And come back up. Give it to me more. And one more time, roll back. And come back up.

Find it. Find it. Love it. Own it. Yay.

Close the legs. Walk your hands down. And we're ready for corkscrew. So take your hands. Push into your pole.

So you may have to move down. You can push yourself so your arms are long. Legs up to the ceiling. Squeeze those heels tight. Now similar to your legs circles.

So take the legs over to the right, and reach them. Now the lengthen them long, but pull the hips away. And bring them down, just to above the hip. Now pull out of there, over to the left. Now reach.

Now give me something that way. And exhale home. And now reverse that. Same thing. And left.

And reach long. Lengthen more, lengthen more. And to the right. And come back home. Corkscrew's funny-- to the right-- because those quads want to take over.

Reach out. Lengthen longer longer, longer. I keep moving you over. Reach. And come back home.

And stretch, over, lengthen. Now reach it long. Lengthen it. Pull the abs away. And reach.

And come back home. Sit yourself up for the saw. So now we'll put your heels into the middle of those boxes. Arms out to the side. Strong arms, like you're pushing two magic circles, right?

Be ready. Find your tailbones. So open then. It's almost like we have two different bodies, the lower one and the upper one. So pull the lower one back.

Reach the upper one forward. From here, twist to the right. Stay there. Twist a little more. Twist a little more.

Now stay there. Pull that left hip bone way back. Drop the head. Reach the pinky finger towards the pinky toe. Stretch, stretch.

So reach the spine one way. But that tailbone has to be lengthening out those legs the other way. Come back up twisted, and center. And twist. Stay there.

Twist more. Pull this back more. Come on, yes. Twist more. It's harder to hold it.

Twist more. And drop the head, and reach, and stretch, stretch, stretch. Come back up. Find the tailbone. There stretch, and come home.

And twist to the right. Twist more. Twist more. And reach, and stretch, stretch, stretch. Come back up twisted.

Stay there, and center. And last one, twist. And twist more. And twist more. And drop the head.

Reach, and stretch. Push through those heels. Stretch. More heels, there, stretch. And come back up.

Find it, and center, and release. Close the legs. Roll over onto your stomach. [STUDENTS TALKING] Not at all. Prop yourself up onto your elbows.

OK, and we'll take the arms 90 degrees. And I want even pressure on your fist, on the forearm, on the elbow. That's all nice and even. Reach those legs long out of the hips. Energy comes out of the head.

Now pull those abs. Hollow it out a bit. From here, take the right leg. Reach it long first. So don't think lift.

Think lengthen. So lengthen it out more. And now bend it in. And kick the tush two times-- kick, kick. Switch the leg.

So lengthen it. Kick, kick. And switch. Lengthen, kick, kick. Switch.

Lengthen, kick, kick. Switch. Lengthen, kick, kick, switch. Lengthen, kick, kick. Switch.

Keep breathing. And kick, kick. Switch. Kick, kick. Switch.

Pull those abs away from the top of the thighs. Kick, kick. One more on each leg. Kick, kick. One more, kick, kick.

Place your right face cheek down on the mat. Clasp the hands behind you. And try to clasp them as high up as you can. Squeeze these legs tight together. Now from here, I want you to take both feet, lengthen them out, and lift your thighs off of the mat.

OK, pull those abs away from the hips. And now bend the knees. And kick, two, three. Now place the feet down first. And then push the palms up to the ceiling.

So push up, and stretch, and lift. Stretch, stretch, stretch. And switch. And change. And lift and pull in.

One, two-- lift your thighs-- three. That's it. Now place your feet down. Push the palms up. And lift and stretch, stretch, stretch.

And switch, and change. So you don't even have to think-- go ahead kick-- out. Think more up with the arms. Ready? Push them up.

Push up. Push up. Yes, now we're stretching where we need it. And again. And one, two, three.

Push those palms. Push up. Stretch, stretch, stretch, and release. And now I'm going to have you sit back onto your heels. But let's work it.

Bring your face forward, chin into the chest. Pull those abs in, and hide the tailbone as you go to sit back onto your heels. Hide it. And release. And now, from here, your neck pull.

So take your feet. Slide them into your black strap. Push through those heels. Yeah. All right.

Open up a little bit. Lock and load in that strap. Lie all the way down. Double those hands up behind your head. OK, strong arms.

Push your head into your hands, your hands into your head. And now from here, roll up. Round over. Stretch, stretch. Push through those heels.

Pull the hips back. And now find the tailbone. And roll to sit up. That's it. Uh huh, shoulders forward, hips back.

And now roll back down. So pull those abs in. Pinch under that bottom. And come back home. And roll up.

Push through those heels. Stretch, stretch, stretch. Find that tailbone. Roll to sit. And now roll back down.

Push, push, push. And again, strong arms. And roll up. Round over. Stretch, stretch, stretch.

And roll to sit. And roll back down. That's much better. One more time. And roll up.

Round over. Stretch, stretch, stretch. Roll to sit. And roll back down. Reach.

Push through those heels. Push through the heels. Pull the abs away. And home. And now let's lay facing this way.

And we'll do a few side kicks. Back lines up with the edge of the mat. Feet come forward to your box. There you go. OK.

Now remember, this hand here is behind your head. Push your head into your hand, your hand into your head. That activates underneath that arm. Just ever so lovely. Pull the tailbone back a little bit further.

And now, from here, the top leg comes up. Do one slow. Bring it to the front. Now stay there. Reach the toes.

But pull the hip and the tailbone back. Now reach the leg to the back. Now pull it out of the hip, and see and feel your waist lengthen. And forward, forward. And stretch it back.

And kick, kick. Lengthen it. Reach it back. And forward, forward. And reach it back.

Kick, kick. And reach it back. Forward, forward, and lengthen it back. One more. Forward, forward, and lengthen it back.

Heel to the middle of the bottom foot. Two kicks up, up, up. And now reach that leg long. So kick, kick. Now push through the heel.

And lengthen it, lengthen it, lengthen it. Resist it. And lengthen it. Again. Up, up, and reach and lengthen.

More. More waist, more waist, more waist, more waist, and again. Up, up. And reach. And lengthen.

One more time. And reach. Now-- of yes, there you go. And lengthen home. Now small circles.

So take this circle. Circle forward, up, back, and stop, and lengthen. Forward, up, back around, stop, and lengthen. Forward, up, around, stop. Forward, up, around, stop.

Forward, up, around, stop. Reverse. Back, up, around, home. Lengthen it long. Back, up, around, stop.

Back, up, around, stop. Back, up, around, stop. Roll over onto your stomach. Take your hands. Place them underneath your hip bones.

Lift your chest. Lift your legs. Reach away from the center. And now beat the inner thighs and heels. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.

10, 9, 6, 5, 4, 3, and release. Over to the other side. OK. Lengthen that tailbone away. Strong arm.

Top leg up, and two kicks. Forward, forward. Now reach it. Lengthen it. Stretch it back.

And again, opposite. Forward, forward. And reach it back. Kick, kick. And lengthen it long.

Energy out here. And forward, forward. And reach. Reach it back. Kick, kick.

And stretch. Lengthen. Again. Forward, forward. Strong abs.

Come on. Lengthen it back. Forward, forward Lengthen it back. One more. Forward, forward.

And lengthen it back. Heel to the middle. Two kicks up. Stretch the foot. Stretch, stretch.

Now push through the heel, and lengthen. Let me see the waist grow. Up, up, and reach. Now grow, grow, grow, grow, grow. And again, up, up.

And reach. And lengthen longer, longer, longer. Again. Up, up, and reach. And lengthen.

One more. Up, up, and reach. And lengthen, long, long, long. Small circles. Reach that leg.

Circle around. Stop, one. Now give it to me. Circle around. Stop, two.

Give more to me. Three, and stop. And four, and stop. Five, and stop. Now reverse.

Back around, stop, one. Lengthen. Back around, stop, two. Lengthen. And three, longer.

And four, one more. And five. Roll over onto your back. Teaser. OK, this is a good time.

Stretch those legs nice and long. Squeeze those heels together. Reach the arms back. Strong arms. Do not lift your legs.

Leave the legs activated. But lengthen them long. I want you to roll up, and reach the upper body into your teaser position. But isn't that so comfortable? So put yourself in an uncomfortable position.

So reach forward. Strong arms. Roll back more. There. Now isn't that exciting?

Open your chest so you can breathe. But keep this round, more. There. Now inhale, strong arms. Exhale.

And now roll back down. And back. And roll up. Hip bones to the ceiling. Don't let them shift.

That's it. Pull the abs away. It's like yes. And inhale. Exhale.

And roll back down. And again, roll up. And reach. OK, find it. Come on.

You're there. Now roll back to the shoulder blades. Come back up. Yes, that's the good time. And roll back.

Reach. And come back up. Get those inner thighs to help you. And roll back. Strong arms.

Lengthen. That's it. Two window shades right above those hip flexors. Pull them away. Roll them up.

Come on. And roll back. And come back up. Now keep the hip bones where they are. Strong arms.

Lift your legs. Don't move your torso. Hold it there. And now lift the arms. And unfold everything away from the middle as you roll back home.

Nice. Sit yourself up for your seal. Grab in and around the ankles. And now from here, your arms push your legs. Your legs push your arms.

They are fighting each other. OK, from here I want you to find your hip bones. More. Create them. Give them more space.

Keep the chest open. And now roll back. Clap, clap, clap. And come back up. Find it.

And clap, clap, clap. And roll back. One, two, three, and come back up. Find it. Make it hard.

And roll back. Now stay there. Don't move. Yep. And now come back up.

Now stay here. Don't move. Find the hips more. Get them more. Give me more space, more space, more space.

That's it. Let the arms fight each other, and the legs. And roll back. Here we go. Ready?

One, two, three, and come back up. One, two, three, and roll back. One, two, three, and roll up. One, two, three. Last time, ladies.

Roll back. Cross the legs and stand. Stand to the front of your mat. Put your heels together, and your toes slightly apart. Reach the arms in front.

OK, from here pull those abs in. Now tailbone straight down to the floor. And I just want you to rise up. But don't shift your body weight forward. So rise straight up, straight up, straight up.

Stay there. Stay there. Now keep all the toes on the mat, all five. Now shift your body weight forward, and bring those hips with you. That's hard.

Yeah, right, yeah. Not where I come from. And now lower the heels back down. And come back home. You have to work every muscle in your body.

Go again. Straight up, straight up. Now pull those abs in. Strong arms. Now come to me in midair.

It's like being in midair. It's harder. It so hard out here. Hold, and come back down. One more time.

And going straight up, straight up, straight up. All the toes connected. All the toes connected. Now go out in mid air. It's a good time.

Bring those thighs and hips with you. Bring them with you more. And now, nice and easy, control it. And lower down. Drop the arms.

And you ladies are done. Good job.

Comments

I enjoyed this class again tonight, but this time I was in my hotel room while on a two day holiday! Thanks Dana!
1 person likes this.
The teaser is always better after a glass of somethin' somethin':)))))) Have a great holiday!
3 people like this.
Oh, I love this class for reminding me why Joe never leveled his work. Integrity of movement is all you ever need! Fun teasers...lol. Dana, I am really becoming a fan of your endings! Thanks ladies!!!
1 person likes this.
Great class. Really loved your saw and teaser and the really hard ending too. Thanks!
2 people like this.
I liked the class and instructions, but don't have a mat with the straps, blocks, and handles. I appreciated the attention to detail. Thanks.
2 people like this.
Patrick, sometimes you can push your hands or your feet into the wall to get a similar feel of the straps and poles.
2 people like this.
Wow, wonderful and intense! I don't have the related props but felt I was able to benefit from the instructor's deep cueing.

Super...Thanks.


Patrick I just did Dana's other Mat class at home last night without the mat and strap and just as Dana says if you push your feet into a wall (or in my case a railing in my loft) it works surprisingly well. Hope you have the same luck.
1 person likes this.
Love this class. Clear, precise instructions. The cues were very helpful!
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