Class #1609

Short & Strong Magic Circle

30 min - Class
223 likes

Description

Meredith teaches a short and strong Mat workout using the Magic Circle. She encourages you to put your energy into the center of the body while you are bringing the body and mind together. You will use the circle for the entire class for exercises like Kneeling Side Kicks, Push Ups, and much more!
What You'll Need: Mat, Magic Circle

About This Video

Apr 12, 2014
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Today we're going to do a real quick, short, strong magic circle class. Here we go. So sitting on your mat with your feet out in front of you, separated into a parallel to one another. Place the ring just on the bottom side of the knee and the little Devitt just below the Patella. And then press with straight arms the ring backwards into the knees and elongate through the body. And just holding here for a moment, closing our eyes, taking just a few moments to let go, to begin to bring the mind and the body together. And as we work today with the ring, with the circle, I want you to visualize and remember the fact that your core, if you will, is a cylindrical shape. And so to put energy, not through the arms or through the legs or whatever happens to be pressing into the circle. But in addition to that, to put the energy into the center of the body, organizing the spine, feeling the weight of your body centered right over the sitting bones.

Open your eyes whenever you wish. Inhale as you exhale, feel the lower spine curl the ring. Almost reaches forwards, but the shoulders stay in place. They don't back up and they don't curl forward either. In, you'll draw down on the magic circle, lift the spine, and use it as a little bit of an assist. As you exhale again, feel the abdominals draw back towards the spine. Feel almost so much pulling backwards that it feels as though you're trying to reach your ring forwards. Although the ring will not leave the knees. Inhale, elongate the back. Exhale two more times like that we curl.

We are looking to move the spine in a deep way right away and inhale, the ring presses down. The spine elongates last time. Moving on. Exhale, curl the spine. Slip the ring off the knees, hold it in the heels of your hands and curl your spine down just so that you feel that your lower back comes into contact with the mat. Inhale, allow the ring to reach overhead. Exhale, take the ring back forward. Pause for an inhale and exhale to Rola will. Hook the ring around the knees again and inhale to build the spine tall. Exhale, curl the back. Float the ring round down. Inhale, the ring floats overhead x. O the ring comes forward and down. Pause for an inhale. Exhale to curl.

So just letting the breath dictate the movement. Inhale, build the spine. Exhale, curl the spine. Apply a little inward pressure on the ring with the upper arms and also with the sides of your body. Inhale, lift arms without letting the curl sink. Exhale, lower the arms. Inhale to pause and exhale to Corolla. Placing the ring, elongating the spine. Exhale to curl. Slow the ring roll back, pause.

When you arrive at your lower back, we're going to inhale and like a steering wheel. Drive the rings of the one hand comes on top of the other and Xcel to come back to center. Inhale, drive the Ringly. Have one arm coming on top of the other and Xcel to center. Breathe in. As you rotate, breathe out. As you return, breathe in. As you rotate, breathe out. As you return, breathe in.

As you rotate, breathe out. As you return last time, breathe in. As you rotate, breathe out. As you're return, pause for an inhale. Roll the spine all the way back. At this time. List the ring overhead. Feel that the crown of the head is growing towards the center of the ring. Exhale, curl the spine. Raindrops down. Roll down, rotate towards me.

Let the bottom hand come away from the ring so that the ring can rest on the mat. The top hand presses down on the ring and we lower the spine. We have that free arm reaching in the center of the ring. Inhale down. Exhale left. Inhale down. Exhale, lift. Inhale down. Exhale, lift. Last time. Inhale down. Exhale, lift. Picking up the ring. Come back to center and roll the spine. Ah, raise the arms, lifts the back.

Feel the power of the back extensors working. Exhale, curl the spy. Draw deeply backwards. Roll the spine into the mat. Rotate to the opposite side. Ring comes down onto the mat. Free arm reaches through and we exhale and lift. One and a XO and lift two and exhale and lift three and yeah, excellent. Lift four and last time. Excellent lift.

Taking the ring with you will come to center. Roll the spine on, lifts the back, press the arms back, and then lower the ring down. Scoot. Get yourself a little closer to your feet. Still keep the feet in a parallel distance to one another and reach the ring and place it in between the knees. Drawing close on the ring. The knees will be just slightly wider than the feet.

Use your arms to help you lift your back. Take a little bit of back extension there and then let go. Holding the back still. As you exhale, enroll down. Press into the ring with your waist and with your legs coming all the way down onto your back. Slide the feet in a little closer. Head down on the Mat. Inhale. Exhale. Roll the spine up. Coming up into a pelvic curl.

Pause at the top. Give the ring five squeezes, one and two as you squeeze into the ring, as you press into the ring, lift your hips up to the ceiling. Here's number one. Maintain this. Press into the ring and roll the spine all the way back. Elongating as you go. Release the tailbone. Let the legs have a small rest. Again, squeeze, articulate the spine and feel equal energy through both legs. Press the arms down in the hips. Hot. Press the ring one.

Hard two, three. Remember to focus energy through your waist. Here's number one. We roll the spine down. Feel that the arms are reaching towards the feet. The top of the head is reaching out in the opposite direction. The pelvis drops. We let the ring come undone for a minute and press exhale to roll.

Last time like this, we press one and two and three and four and five and our tic ELA, this is fine mean all the way down. Pelvis drops. This time we're going to come up in a flat back. Release the ring, squeeze and pick the hips up. Release the ring as the pelvis comes down. Squeeze and lift up again, trying to look for even pressure with both legs. Let the pelvis as it comes back to the mat. Come down absolutely evenly. So a lot of hip extensor work here.

Press up and press up and press up and down. Two more up and last time. Lift. Hold. Inhale and roll the spine. Slide the feet a little closer to you so that you can without any lower spinal pressure. Picked the ring up. Bring the legs to touch the feet to touch together.

Arms reach out to your sides. We're going to inhale for the spine, twist and exhale to pull back. Inhale to reach over, lifting that opposite hip off the mat and press into the ring. A specifically with the bottom leg. As you come to center, inhale over. Press into the ring with the bottom leg as you come to center. Inhale as you reach over and exhale to pull back.

Inhale to reach over. Exhale to pull back. Last one. Inhale to reach over. Exhale to pull back. Slide the hands behind the head. Pause here to breathe in. As you exhale, press into the ring and curl the head and chest up in. Allow the legs to drift away from you. I'm not going all the way down cause I know I need to work my control x.

Also pull back through center and inhale the head and chest. Come down. Exhale to curl the head and chest up. Press into the ring in heel. The legs drift away. Exhale, the legs drift back. The chest presses up underneath the ring and inhale we come down to more like that x hotel left in her legs away. Exhale, legs up. Inhale, spine down. Last time. Exhale to lift. Inhale, legs away. Exhale, legs back. Pause to hold. Curl up just a little bit more.

Reach over the top for the ring. We're going to take the arms over the outside knee or over one knee and back to center. No forearms touching there when we just rotating the trunk and center so it feels like you're diving up and over that top lay and center. Dive up and over the top plate and center. One more time. Each side. Reach over. Find Center. Reach over, find center, pause and center. Take the ring out from between the knees.

Hold it in your hands. You're still lifted with your trunk. Still lifted with your trunk. Is your feet. Come to the floor, still lifted as the leg stretch all the way out. Pause here. We're coming up XL to roll the spine all the way. Take the ring out past the feet. Inhale, Ilan. Gate the back, pressing the ring overhead, looking for a nice flat spy XL. Dive back down and articulate this fine all the way back to the mat law, allowing the arms to start your reach up and overhead. Inhale, head, chest and arms. Pause. Xcel to curl.

Articulate. Reach past the feet. Inhale from the base of the spine all the way up through the top of the head, the top of the it's reaching through the ring. XLE. Curl back over and over. Roll down bone by bone, one at a time reaching the arms overhead. Inhale, we lift the head and chest. Exhale, we curl. Reached out towards the seat. Elongate the back round, back forward.

Roll back down. Arms start to lift. Use it to challenge the contraction of the center. Inhale to lift the head and chest. Exhale to rural yourself up in heels to reach past the fee. Elongate the buy. Pause there. Sit all the way up.

Then the elbows reached the ring around the forehead like a halo and flex through the fee. We're going to press into the ring and twist towards me in yell to center. Exhale, present to the ring, twist towards me the other way and center. So late call. So make yourself even if I made you confused and center and lift and twist and center and reach out to go over and center and reach up to go over and center and turning this way. Now we slide the arms up and we feel the spine.

He longing elongate as the arms reach out. We read in the elbows growing through the and we come to center. Inhale as you rotate and stretch the arms, exhale is the elbows bend. The spine lifts through the ring and XL to come back to center. One more time through. Inhale, rotate and reach and pull.

Left and center and rotate and Elongate and pull. Lift and center. Bend your knees. Take the ring in place at it. Your ankles draw back through the waist line using the arm. Suppress the ring into the legs to press the legs into the body.

Inhale, rock back. Try to keep the position and balance and rock back and BA and rock back and balance and rock back and balance and one more rock back and balance. Let's separate the legs. Place the ring in between the ankles, hold the outsides of the ankles and reach for straight legs. Reaching up through the back. We go again. Press into the ring. Rock back. Inhale, Ooh and excellent. Maybe you just found out as I did that that rings a little heavy.

I'll take you over faster. So there's just some, some gravity to play with. They're lifting the spine in between. Three more. Rock back and lift and rock back and lift. Rising up. One more time. Rock back and lift. Holding the lift, holding the lift. Take the ring out from between the legs, flex the feet, lower the legs, reach the arms up overhead in heel.

Rotate towards me. Exhale, the arm that you've just turned away from is going to be the bottom arm. We're going to dive to the outside of that foot. We're going to reach up on a long line and we're going to come center. We rotate. So I'm rotating to my right. My last term dies underneath my right.

We reach out long and find center and in Hilton, twist and Xcel to d and Elongate the back and center at a Rosie and Du and Eland, gate and center, a Roti and [inaudible] and Elna and center, a Roti and and elongation and center. Take the ring down in front of you. Place both hands right on the top of the ring, sitting tall. Inhale as you exhale, draw down into the waistline, press down on the and then send the ring out on its side. Inhale to pause. Exhale, we create more downward pressure and we roll the spine up from there, bringing the magic circle just underneath an upright inhale. Exhale, draw. And so we create crusher on the rink by creating an internal pressure.

And then the ring travels forward as we take that further stretch. And then we build the spine all the way back up. Lifting, lifting, lifting to more round down, pressure on the ring. Shoulders heavy. Roll back up and lift. Last one, press down on their ring. Roll forward. Inhale, exhale, roll back.

Take the ring in your hands. Bend your knees, take the ring just over the tops of the knees. Shift backwards, lift the feet and roll yourself with control to the mat into the double leg stretch position. From here, we reach everything and we pull. We inhale out and exhale back again, just holding the ring into the heels of the hands. Creating a little internal dialog here, pressing into the ring, but feel that pressure traveling from the arms all the way down the ribs through the legs. Like you've got 10 rings wrapped around your body and back and theory and Paul and two and Paul One and hold it here. Ring goes back behind the head. Right at the base of the school.

Hands are opposite the eyes. Bend your knees, stretch now the right leg and then the left. We reached through that leg and switch and switch. Continue to press the chest up in forward and reach and reach for four elbows wide. Shoulders heavy, head heavy. Oh, I think I just added what? I'm sorry. And here's the criss cross, elbow to knee, touch, elbow to knee touch and rotate. Again, wrapping around through the waistline, through the rib cage, lifting. As you rotate all the time, coming across and across. Stay here. Kick the leg up, send the leg away from mystery. Rotate, kick that leg. Bend the opposite knee.

Reach up so the legs are doing a bicycling action and switch. Elbow to knee kick and bet. Rotate, kick and reach. Kick and twist. Kick and last one. Kick and twist. Kick and brewing it to the center lot. Take the ring out from behind your head. Reach it across the tops of the knees.

Hug the knees into the chest. Take the ring just up over the shoulders. Place the feet on the floor in heel for a pelvic curl. Exhale, rolling the spine. Good. Getting that nice long line reached the ring over. Head. Exhale, peel the body away. Lowering one bone at a time until the whole spine comes into the mat. As the pelvis drops, sending the ring back over the chest. Exhale, we roll the spine, pause their left leg off the mat, touch the knee with the ring, kick that leg to straight and then it reaches down and back.

Down and touch, reaching away and back, reaching, pressing into the ring, reaching away and back to Moore and back. Last one, bring it back. Bend the knee, reach the ring up overhead, lifting the hips a little higher, and then we peel the spine all the way down. Pelvis touches, ring comes over the chest. Exhale the spineless back up again. Feel your weight on your feet. Lift the right light. Touch the need of the ring.

Kick that leg to straight and we go down and back. Down and back. Reach and back. Reach and back down, all the way to touch. All the way to touch. Pause there. Bend picking up the pelvis, reached the ring over. Head roll down, rolling the arms away from the ring. Lift the head and chest. Can we roll up from here? I may have cheated and moved my feet a little forward.

In fact, I'm still enjoying them forward. Now just in case you want to cheat with me. Here we go. We row all the way, elongating the back and we lower the ring. Come up onto your knees so we take the ring out overhead. We inhale reaching over and Xcel to come up any other Rachel and Xcel. So come and anyhow to reach over an exhale to the left.

I didn't heal. To reach over an Xcel to the left. Take the ring in your left hand, right arm out to the side. Reach over to the left hand is on the rain. Look after yourself here. It's a bit balanced. He lifts the right leg up, right hand behind the head. Reach that right out and it swings forward and back. Forward and back.

Forward stabilizing. Forward and back. Forward and back. Pause. Take the leg to the back. Lift Front, lift back. You feel that [inaudible] change in pressure. You feel the change in gravity.

You feel how the body has to respond to the last two. Last one. Take the like up to the back. Rotate towards the ring. Place it down on the mat. Turn yourself so that you're parallel. Step back onto the leg that was just in the air and then with your opposite hand placed the ring underneath your sternum. Hands on the mat.

We stepped back into a plank position. We bend the arms, allowing the ring to absorb some of our weight and press in hill, Ben and Xcel, press in hell bent. And exhale, press. Inhale, bend and Exhale, press. Inhale, bend and Exhale, press. Lift the leg, the one that was in the air. It's my right. We reach up. I think it's everyone's right. Ah, ah, ah, ah to [inaudible] one place the right foot down. Place the left knee underneath us. Rotate the knee, rotate the body, lift the ringer, reach it overhead and stretch over to the right. And then we lift and we bet. And here we go. Either side, put my clothes on and all gets started. Here we go.

So we take the ring in the right hand, left arm, reaches out to the side, ring comes to the mat. [inaudible] you want to put a little weight on it but not a lot. And you want the ring to be fairly far away from you. Let's do hand behind the head. Flex to bring the leg forward and back. Monitoring your balance and back. Pressing the head into the hand and back to and back.

One and back. We take the leg down, lift front, lift back. Quite interesting to feel the difference between the two sides of the body. This one is not my forte. As you may notice, front and back. Front last time and back, take the leg to the back. It stays. We're gonna turn. Place the hands down. Start to your body. Both knees on one.

So now we're going to step back on that left foot, right and he's still on the mat. Take the ring underneath your chest, your sternum, both hands on the mat, right leg goes back. We Bend and press absorbing some of that gravity with throwing and lift in and lift in you and the lift. Last time. India analyst, left leg in the air. Reach out and elongate through the body. All this stays low. At this moment you're just hovering off the ring. Push away.

Try to lift off the ring. Actually two and one place the left leg down. Then the right knee. Rotate yourself back. Bring your ring with you. Reach it up overhead. Stirrer at your body over, over, over lift, turn.

Place their rings down on the Mat and come onto your stomach. So from here, bend your knees, reach back, and place your ring in between your ankles. Reach forward and just place your head in your hands. So utilizing through your shoulders. Feel the pelvis heavy on the mat, abdominals in the legs. Lift feet, flex. Now we just press up and Ah, and Ah and AH and hold. We stretch the legs out and bent.

Lift up, stretch out and bend. Lift, stretch out and bend. Lift, uh, stretch at home. And then, and one more. Reach and bend and lower the knees. Reach one on Beth for the ring. Place it underneath your body. So slightly forward of the chest please here with the ring in between the hands.

Few need to move your ring a little bit more forward for a less compression in the lower back. Please do. But we will reach out, press the ring into the mat and try to push yourself away from it. Float the length and k, k, k, k, k. Kick alternating legs. Looking to keep [inaudible] the body fairly still reaching up and forward through the spine. Kick, kick, kick, kick, pulling backwards on the upper arms to keep the spine lifted. Reach, reach, reach, reach, stretch both legs. I lower the legs, lower the body down. Take your ring out in front of you. Yeah. Closer. Your arms are to the top of the ring.

The more challenging it is for shoulder flexibility. I'm going to about a 10 and a two position. And so from here we allow the head to start to lift up off the mat. We slide the arms backwards into the shoulder joints and we rise up. Try to lift off the ring with your arms instead of bearing down on the ring with your arms. It's helpful looking above the ring.

And then we reached down articulating in a reverse way so the legs are strong and active. That head lifts first shoulder blades. Slide spine begins to Ilan Gay Elan gain, Elan looking just above the ring and then reaching back down. We'll do two more like that. Always allowing the head, the cervical spine first. That then leads into the second part of the spine, the middle spine, the thoracic spine. And then if you're really brave, you can lift up as high as you want, right? Unreached Ya. Last one. Head lifts like you're rolling a marble along.

The Mat comes above the arms. Then and only then do the arm start to get involved. Sliding back into the shoulder joints. Eyes reaching up over the top of the ring and Elongate. Lower down the eyes. Come down at the end, turn your ring on its side so it can rest on the men. Put your hands underneath you. Push up onto your knees and sit back on your feet.

Pausing here just to take a little stretch. And then from here we're going to dry it on the abdominals. Curl through the lower spine. Start to roll yourself forward. Let the pelvis drop through so we reach, we allow the hips to drop, we feel the backs of the leg supporting the lower back as we reach articulating into an extension and then press into the mat with your knees, with your arms. Pull up away from yourself with your abdominals or into yourself with your abdominals is maybe a better way to say that. And we go again, curling this fine. The pelvis drops the spine, Ilan gates, the eyes lift and we press in and curl and just one more like that, trying to open it up. The front of the hips.

The pelvis is dropping, but there's a lot of upward energy here. Upward through the spine, upward through the abdominals, feeling just that expansive quality to back extension and then rounding, rounding and just coming to a seated position on your feet. Roll through the spine, lift up. I'm going to turn to face you. You can stay as you are. We're going to take the arms overhead, reaching up, reaching. I take the arms down, the front of the body, flex with the heels of the hands and open through the chest and then reach the arms forward and pull back. Creating oppositional energy. Arms forward, hips back. Push through the heels of the hands.

Press the pelvis forward. Open through the chest. Exhale, curl the spine. Rounding going all the way back just to hover up off those heels. Reach out, open the chest, open the chest around. Yeah, and open the chest. Taking the arms out.

Pressing in both directions with the hands, lift the arms overhead, feel that position, feel the length of the spine energy reaching out through your extended fingers, and then just allow your arms to fall to trickle down that intention go out of the body. Yeah. Thank you.

Comments

1 person likes this.
great quick workout! thanks :)
Thanks Michelle!
1 person likes this.
Beautiful form and flow Meredith. Thank you for new ideas on how to use the Ring to enhance a Mat workout.
1 person likes this.
Great class!
Beautiful form and nice flow........
More Meredith,,,,,
1 person likes this.
Nice workout! I enjoyed it. Thank you!
1 person likes this.
wonderful !
1 person likes this.
Lovely! So glad to see a ring routine. Thank you.
1 person likes this.
Thank you! Fabulous class.
Michele M
2 people like this.
Loved it! Great use of the circle for Pushups! Thank you for such a great quick practice:)
1 person likes this.
Hooray, excellent!
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