Class #203

Long Spine Mat

65 min - Class
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Description

Pilates Anytime welcomes Master Teacher Michael King to the studio. Michael starts and finishes standing, working all the things in between that we need to help keep the spine long throughout the day. Michael artfully adds layers to the movement patterns allowing you to find the most beneficial point for you to maintain the integrity of the exercise. This is a class you will take over and over as he provides many options for you to cater the class to your needs on any given day. Enjoy class from this talented Master Teacher!
What You'll Need: Mat

About This Video

Jun 29, 2010
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Transcript

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Good morning class. My name is Michael King. Welcome to parties. Um, I always thought my class is standing up and I finished on the m. So start at the back of your mats on the wooden floor. There's gorgeous wooden floor. There's monitors. We've got a good stable service. Well, I'd like you to start this morning. It's just with your feet apart.

Let's just remind ourselves about how we should be standing. So when we come to train on the mat, we practice everything we need to be better upright. So feet apart. Think about your feet as the base. So push your feet into the floor. Now think about now, lengthening from your ankles up. So grow and adds length to your spine. This morning we the infill nose breathing out of your mouth. Make your spine even longer, but not just from your neck, from the base of your spine, your pelvis is hanging straight up and down.

I would say is a little bit like if you were an alligator hanging up, your tail would be facing straight down to the ground, not pointing forward or body back. Lift your shoulders up and let your shoulders just drop down your back, not to the forced, which is so they're in a good trading position. So your friends or your chest is open. Now keeping the spine support. Let's think about switching on those stabilizers. There's deeper muscles, two ways, either gently putting up the pelvic floor without switching on those glutes or using that big corset belt muscle just by joining that navel to spine.

It's lightly pulling towards you. Do one or the other, and that's my challenge for you this morning. You're just doing one or the other just to keep a very light support to the spine. Now focusing on your breath. Close your eyes to think about the breathing, breathing into your nose, breathing out your mouth and thinking about your scapular smiling. So as you breathe in the scapular, the back open up. Great. Let's keep that going and we're going to start now.

That breath pattern going, breathing into your nose, breathing out of your mouth. Everything we just set up. I want you to keep throughout the whole class and hopefully the rest of the day. So you're keeping your spine long for the rest of the day. Open your eyes. Don't change anything. As you breathe out, push up onto the balls of your feet. Breathe in and come down. Let's try that again. We think out. Let the breath out. Lift you up.

Let the breath low you down to match the breath and the movement together so they're working together. Breathing out, breathing in. Remember we're using the principles of Platas, so flow, movement, continuous movement, going up and down. Don't think of just going up and down like a circle. So just as you lower the heels, you start lifting up again. Let's add the arms now as you go up, lift the arms up to the side.

As you come down, bring the arms in front of you, [inaudible] you the adding things for you to think about. So not only will keep you that spine long, that pelvis in line, your sentence reached on, but now think about those shoulder blades sliding down. They slide down to lift you up. So the shoulder blades slide down your back to lift you up or the control coming down. One more time with the owl and slowly breathing in. Yeah. Let's mobilize our spine by lifting your arms up. If you watch for a second, we're going to keep the spine looks. I don't wait to flop. Bend the knees, curve the down and then lift back up and find that position you just left.

So breathing in, I'm taking it down. Breathing out to come back out. That'd be very precise as you go down and come back up. Come back to that good starting position of length. I have your spine. Make a c shape. So the furthest point behind you is your waistband.

So it's like someone's pulling you back by your waistband. We the n Ah, breathing again. Round your back. How low can you get breathing in and slowly breathing out as you come up, draw those shoulders down again, Dow and lift up. One more time. [inaudible] and this time come up. Take the heads behind you, put your thumb and think of behind your back. Uh, measure the length of your back. No, don't change that. Keep the length as you breathe out, lift the right leg out every, then bring that leg down. Now imagine on your head is a glass of water.

Keep it still is. You're alternating from one side to the other and really listen to your body. It's not the height of the leg. This important is really that stability of the bat you're focusing on. So think about that glass of water, not moving, not just the glass but the actual water inside. Keep it still.

Don't forget to keep breathing though. We the out to lift up really into lower good hold that center key, the spine long. How centered can you stay there? We'll have to be a little movement, but I'm trying to make it as small as possible so that pushing into the ground will help your feet pushing down to lift up, keep the front open and keep that pelvis hanging in alignment so it's in a neutral position so there's not tilting as your leg lifts up, you're breaking from the top of the leg. Now let's continue with the arms as well. So push the arms up as the leg lifts up and down.

That's very important as we get into the movements of plot is that you find the level that is accommodating for you. This that's right. So if your body's a little tired this morning, if you're working on a low level that you stand that level level, it's always about the success of the movement, keeping the quality without losing those principles. So listen to your breath to monitor breathing out, to lift up, breathing into lower. One more time. And if you had those fingers behind your back, you remember your back's not moving. Take it down. Let's lift the right leg and hold it up. Now find that good height.

So you should feel in a very strong, stable position. Foot pushing is the floor. If you need to lower the leg, take it down a bit lower. Now take the leg forward, breathing out, breathing in, lift the arms back up. So this balanced, challenging that we're doing. I want you to think about it coming from the center, the arms, the legs are moving, but it's challenging your center to hold your spine stable and each time you reach the leg, try and go further forward.

Don't just go to one place. Make it longer. Like is elastic your legs elastic. Stretching forward really in lift up, breathing out. Come forward. One more time. Lift up, stretch out like forward long lay reach long. Lift the knee and change legs. Say the leg down and lift the left leg up. Pushing up again. Hold that center. Use that stability.

Breathe out. Pursue like forward with the end. Lift up. Check the shoulders, check the length of the spine. Think about that light connection. Don't overuse those stabilizers. Dough sucking too much. Really challengeable at a light level. Push into the floor, breathing out. Lengthen up.

Make your spine longer or say never be satisfied with the length of your spine and try and keep it longer stretched out. Especially as the day goes on. We get shorter as the day goes on. So this morning, set the lens of the spine and challenge yourself to keep it for the rest of the day. Lens it out. Push one more time. Lift, push forward, reach, come back, open out and bring that arm down. Now let's take the like behind you still keep the spine stable, so your t your body pitches forward and you're keeping the angle of the body long. Now start with the toe. Just touching the floor. Long spine is your starting point. Again, like the balancing front. If you need to keep it low, then do so, but bring the arms forward. Now keep the shape of the back, keeping the standing leg straight. Take the leg behind you. What's the rib cages and pop out and how far or how low can you pitch the body?

Keeping the control. Find your point now keeping that now with the end for the out. Come back to think about the center. Now bend the standing leg, take it down and come back up. We the interloper. Breathing out to push away. Use the shoulders down the back, connecting to the center. Remember, it's not the height, it's the quality. So if you need to lower police, lower, keep the hips, Paolo. There's sneak a little turnout in. If you don't need it just yet, take it down with the in with the app. One more time.

Push and bring that leg back in. And let's try the other side. Reach away. Lens and out. Long Spine. I'm down with that leg up. Find the starting point. Keep the spine. Keep the shape of the back long. And now bend the standing leg. Breathing in and breathing out.

Push away again. We are the in lower. I'm breathing out. So this standing section, which you could talk Sunday blood is because we're using those principles. Think about using the breath, using the control, using the precision. Use the floor. Push onto that floor to bring you back out. Try Not kill your toes, either. Have your toes relaxed, push away law. One more time.

Push up and this time come back up. I can come back to standing. Open the arms out. It'd be anybody, dad. So we're gonna start with the first movement. The first movement is the last movement where I say it's a push up. We're going to sell from standing and we're going to start the first part of it just again to mobilize the spine. If your back is tight, soften the knees.

Think about your spine lifting up first. Your head is going to roll down, but without pushing your pelvis back. So literally each vertebrae is going to roll forward one by one to the fullest point and then come back out just to roll down and roll up. Take a breath in first lengthening up and roll down. Breathing out. As I say, if your back is tight, soften those knees. If you can keep your leg straight without too much stress, then do so.

When you get to the bottom, take a breath in and as you breathe out, roll back up slowly coming back up, reminding your body of that center. Keep the center switched on. One more time. Roll up length into the ceiling first and then roll down. Take your breath in and as you breathe out, roll up and come up. Lengthen up. Bring your hands in front of you. As we add the pushup section. This section is to challenge the shoulder blade so you don't want them sliding up. Thinking about where your hands need to be there too wide.

You're going to pinch the shoulder blade if they're too close, you're going to close that for into the chest. So as you push forward and breathe out, you're going to keep the spine stable with the income back. Now we're going to do the push up on the knees first. What I want you to do is going to use three hand movements to come forward. So the transition is part of the movement.

Set the body up your body slightly forward of the shoulders, and as you breathe in, take the body forward as you breathe out, coming up. So before we do a straight leg push up, what I want you to be really sure is that spine is stable. To keep it stable, you've got to use that core, those core muscles, three movers forward, three movements with the hands coming back and then come back to standing position. So let's just remind yourself, it's a center challenging. Slowly roll down. Now think of this transition. It's part of the movement. Three hands coming forward, one at a time.

But the knees on the mat set the body up. Now, long spine, stable spine. Take a breath in, lower as you breathe out, push your way, roll back, come back three times with your hands and come back to a standing position. So think of the movement like silk. It's like you're ironing all the creases out so that there should be no joins as you're coming forward. One movement. Let's do that again. The biggest breath is out. As you push away from the mat on the knees.

Spine is stable. Breathe in, breathing out. Push your way, slowly coming back and wall back up into the floor and rolling up to the top. Last time. Rolling down. So the focus here is the shoulder stability, spine stability, length of the spine, slowly up and come back to add intensity. The next time you're going to go down with the knees bent, but then to come back up, stretch the leg straight and really try and keep those shoulders, stables. If you just watch one time down and then as you go up, stretch your legs straight, push away and length it up so you're really trying to keep that spine stable as you come back out. Let's try rolling down slowly.

Roll, come forward. Don't lose what we just had we in now. Stretch your legs straight, push away, long stretch, come back and then roll back up. Now you felt it was too difficult this morning. You can always just continue on the lower level with the knees bent and again, rolling down fluid movement rolling forward. Slide the shoulders down your back, low down, breathing in straight legs. Push away, lends it up and slowly come back up one last time. Try not increase that intensity on the center. Just keep it constant and again, we're rolling down slowly. Bend those knees long spine, shoulders down with the in straight legs.

Push away and have that up. Roll back. Lengthen up. Good. Let's transition to the mat by using a roll down. So same as you just did. We're going to roll down onto the mat, bend those knees, come forward, turn on the side, on your hips and turn and face the windows and then lay down on the side. Reach down. Good. Now listen to buddy out long.

Let's start with a little bit of a release. Bend the underneath leg up so there is no balance. Reach the top arm and hold that top wrist. Now lift the top hip up just to hip height. Flex the foot and now push the buddy by lengthy the leg and then reach that arms and pull that arm long.

So now you should feel a nice little breeze coming underneath the waist. Switch on that center. Let's do five breast is holding this with the end. As you breathe out, push out longer, longer leg reach, long. Good again with the end as you be that length and longer push. It's that length of the body, length of the spine, length of the leg you're focusing on. Push Lens. Good. One more time.

[inaudible] push away. Line through the leg. Push Long, long and come down. Now stretch the underneath leg out straight as well and just put the top palm in front of you. Just just the fingertips on the mat. Now the closer the hand, the more difficult, the further away, the easier to find for you today where you want to start, list the top leg up first. As we do the first movement on the site, we're gonna be focusing on the psychic. We're working again on a balance. Think about the waist center needs lifted and now lift the underneath leg up as well. Now what would you be conscious about is that you're not pushing down all that hand if you can get to one finger. So you're just sure that they're not using that upper body or using the center.

Now think about the waist underneath. Your legs are together, the inside thighs kissing. Push the legs along like you had before that long stretch shoulder blades down. And now if you can take the hand away. So you want a side balance. Now I'd like to use a lot of visualizations. What I want you imagine this morning is he got a sh candle on the shoulder and that candles lit. So you don't wanna move it or those that wax or fall and burn you.

So keep it still. Now the balance is too much. Then go ahead and just put one finger down, but not the whole hand. I'll cheat now keeping the candles still breathe out and just bring that top like forward. Breathe in, bring that leg back. Good. And again, breathing out on your ankle is a cup of tea. Keep it balanced as you bring it forward. As you're slicing through the air, the underneath leg is not moving. So this balance challenges, asking your center again to be supporting the spine.

Breathing out. Come forward. If you've got the fingers on the floor, just make sure they're not going white, so they're just very light on that floor. Find the range of movement for you. Obviously the further you bring that, like forward, the more you're gonna challenge that back and the balance. So I'd rather have a smaller movement keeping that quality, that a big movement, using that finger too much. It's all about working the center, a good lung spine, shoulder blades down. [inaudible] one more time with the hour and breathing in. Bring those legs back together.

Now hold that balance. Lift the top leg up underneath Lego's to meet it. Bring both legs down. Let's try that again. Top leg lift underneath legs slowly and down with the end. Lift the top leg out, lifting the underneath leg and take them down. Breathing in good both legs. And uh, now again if you've got the hand down the side, which the arm up to the ceiling.

Good. Now let's lift both legs together. Breathing out, breathing out, lift up, breathing in lower. Now keeping that length lifting up and lowering down with the legs at the upper body as well. So lift the upper body up and bring the upper body down. And again, yeah, you can keep the underneath the arm down on the, on the floor. Just a little bit of support.

Just make sure you're not pushing again on that arm to cheat. So if I did ask you to lift the arm up, you could lift it really out. Now any kind of neck problems or back problems, you want to lower the levels, keep the head down and you can even go just lifting one leg because with this move we're focusing on the side flexes. You're using that top waist. Close it in like a book, your little toe and your ear and lifting to the same height. Lift up. Push and guys, keep your faces. Who Likes?

There's a lot of face work out going on this morning, but that work in the center, not in your faces. Breathing out, lift up. Push long, long and down. Breathing outlived up. Push and down length with the spine. Lengthen the leg this time. Lift up and hold it in a stay that hold it up. Stay there long buddy. Long stretch. Hold that center now. Small little pulse.

Go up and down. Lengthen up nice and easy. It's like you're floating in the wind. That's it. No, no hearkens. Just gentle, gentle. Lift up. Push. Think of the waist center. Really add even slow it down a little bit. Play with the Lenson. Belabor the breath. Push away slow. Really good reach for more times for lift.

One more time. Lift up and hold it. Stay there, hold it. Check the pelvis is in line. Check my shoulders in line. Check your faces. Lengthen the spine longer, longer, reach higher, higher, higher, and relaxed as to how gorgeous. Let's roll over and do the same thing on the other side. Ted over, so you're facing the other side. Bend the underneath leg. Let's start with that release first to hold that top arm. Excuse me, bend the underneath. Leg Up. Top leg is long. Lift the leg up, flexor foot first. Now breathing in I just five breaths. As you breathe out, holding that top wrist, pull that top risk and lengthen the leg.

Stretch out. Open the hip again. Breathing in and again, breathing out. Little length, little way. Push good. Bring in and breathing out. Lengthen the leg. Now just be aware of your ribcage. You're not probably in the rib cage out or is it almost like you got a waist coat on and you're tying that waist coat, keeping it held so your pelvis and ribcage are connected.

Don't lose that connection by popping out. One more time. Lenson hold. Lengthen. Reach low. And now put the hand down in front of you. Stretch both legs as we do the psychic prep. Lengthen Long. Find the position for the hand first. Lift the top leg. Connect the center. Not too high, so you're still keeping that waist underneath lifted where that little breeze that's coming through. Now lift the underneath leg up. Hold it. Still.

Find the balance first. Go to one finger and if you can again, take the hand away. That's too much. Again, just put one finger back. Now keep the shoulder that candle on that shoulder still and breathe out. Bring the like forward. I'm breathing in. Breathing out, leg back. Good. Find again the range of movement for you. Can we forward and back? Lengthen.

Hold that center. Hold that rib cage. The out-breath. Bring the legs forward. The inbreath. Bring the legs back. Think of the stability of the back so the weights of the leg is challenging. This stability Kaylie underneath like still, if it becomes too much for your back, put the underneath leg down. Really stay switched onto listening to your body. Your body will try and find way of cheating.

Just recognize where your challenges and not letting the cheating systems go into place. Push Way Long. Two more times. Keep that waist lifted. Good. Remember that candle on the shoulder. Keep it still and now bring the legs back together. Lift the top leg up first underneath legos to meet it and then bring them down together. Breathing in, lift the top leg underneath, leg breathing out and bring it down. And again, lift the top leg. Push and ah, and again, lift up, pull the center and down. Keep it lie though. Don't over recruit.

Pushing up. Lift that is, try both legs to get and breathe out. As you lift up, push breathing in as they lower again, breathing out as they lift up. Now if you can take the hand away, lift the arm up to the ceiling, keep that lens and now lift the legs and lift the upper body as well. Good. Reach away. Remove that ear. The Tapia and the little toe goes to the same height and space.

Push away. Lengthen, push long and out within everybody. Out. Push Long Lens in half. Again, lifting up, push and again, use that breath. Good. Just two more times. How far can you go? Play with a range? No. When you've gone too far. No where your range is.

There's up this Simon. Hold it. Now stay there. Rib Cage held Senta and now a little pulse lifting up and down, but very gentle. Use that breath out to lift you up with our breathing in again, out at in Lenson. Push. Challenge up. Just a few more.

64 63 pushing up the Lanza. Good. Let's not reach up. Hold that center. Push up. Good. Two more. Hold it. Stay holding that long, long body. Lengthen further. Further, further up and take it down. Bend those knees and roll onto your back.

Now have your knees and feet apart. We can do the preparation for the a hundred. Um, we wanted, did you just remind your buddy about using those deepest stabilize his first, so long. Spine Lake. We did standing. And let's find the position for your spine. Where the head and shoulders down. Either from your pelvis or from your lower back. Let's start from your pelvis first.

Put your fingers together to triangle and place your hands on your pelvis. Now tilt the pelvis, see your fingers come up so your lower back touches the mat. Now all at your back. Take the pelvis down and see your, something's come up. So you just rocking the pelvis backwards and forwards. Forward and back. Try and keep the glutes down. Don't lift the glues off the mat. Keep it as small movement, just the pelvis rocking.

Now take the pelvis back until your pelvis is in an alignment. So if you were to look up, you could put a glass of water on the pelvis. It wouldn't spill a ball. So you got a nice alignment. Yeah, but they all have to stand on the side. Another way you fighting the visit, this position is from your lower back.

Thinking about the space between your ribcage and hip now and thinking about underneath your lower back is a great without moving the rib cage or your pelvis now. So it's really subtle. Squash the grape into the mat. Now lift your back off the grape so you're just flattening your back. Imprinting squash the grape, and now lift the back of the grape and I go halfway. So all of us will have a space and do your lower back.

Depending on your posture, some of us might be able to get it handed to them or some of it is just a piece of paper. But there's this space I want you to keep to keep it switch on those stabilizers. So again, either pulling the pelvic floor, well gently switching on that ta, that belt muscle. This is a training position. You're holding that spine stable. Now nothing should change the pelvis or your back as you slowly now lift one leg up to a tabletop position. So you're using the weight of the leg to challenge that back with the in and breathing out. Hold that breath, hold that leg still as you're just breathing. Check the shoulders down, your back check. The spine is long. So there's low level challenge. There's a lot of stability is just using those deeper muscles that we need support. When we worked the more difficult exercises.

Slowly bring that leg down without moving the pelvis. Lift the other leg, so keep that pelvis as stable as you can. Good. Now this space again is still under your back with the inner breathing app. Hold it stable.

[inaudible] I always like to remind our bodies just about those deeper muscles less than the back of your neck. Keep the spine long and now bring the leg down. Now we're going to ask those muscles to wet with the global muscles. Go back to the first leg, lift one leg up. Hold it. There now really is to say, listen to your body. If lifting two legs is too much for you today, stay with the one leg. But if you can now lift the second leg up as well.

Now nothing should have changed. The spot is still long. The shoulders are down. Don't let your arms push into the mat too much. Listen to your breath. Breathing into your nose. Breathing out of your mouth. I'm beginning now to start lymph through the legs away from you. How far can you take those legs away without losing that position?

There'll be a point of control. I want you to find today. If it feels it's gone into the back too much, bend those knees back in again with the breathing out. So you're asking your back muscles and abdominal muscles to be working together. [inaudible] now bend those knees back slightly. Let's shift the focus completely working different muscles by imprinting the bat and lifting the head and shoulders up.

Now you're in a long spine position, so don't shorten the spine. Keep it long. It's almost like somebody picked up the mat you're laying on and is holding the Mat to support you. Reach the arms long as well. Lengthen with the head and shoulders up. You're focusing on that rectors that long muscle at the front. If your neck too much, go back to the previous exercise with the head and shoulders down again in this position, how far can you take the legs away from you?

How far keeping that control. If those tummies pop out, you've gone too far. Bend those knees back in. Find that range this morning with the infield nose, with the outfield mouth. Make that breath long in and breathing out. Hold it static. So as we build the a hundred we have to build this as a system of support from the center out and as slowly but the head and shoulders down. Let the spine come back to that neutral. Bend the knees, place one leg down and place the other leg down.

Now we're going to go to the shoulder bridge preparation, tilt the pelvis imprint, and then come back to neutral. Just small movement first. Just imprint switch on this course again. Don't let them relax and now begin to make it a little bit further. As you imprint, lift the pelvis up. I'm thinking about the glutes in the core, working together and then roll back down each time.

Go a little bit higher. If you can go out to the ski slope position, so your pelvis, knee, and shoulder in alignment. Then lift up. The higher you go, the more the glutes want to work. Just to remind your buddies the glutes and core working together as a relationship and roll back down with the out to go up again. Take your breath in at the top and breathing out. As you roll down all the way back to neutral release each time. So you find that little space under your back where the end, and again, breathing out rollout Lenson feel like the top of your legs, your knees are pushing away and now slowly roll down.

Don't have your feet too far away from the knees. Otherwise you might find those hamstrings working a little bit too much. Again, Rola tilt, push away. Now stay up at this time, just like we did with your back. Use your thumb and finger, but now measure the distance between your glute and the Mat. So if we take your summer thinker, put them behind and get that space measurement. Now is that space. I want you to keep hold that center. Don't let the glutes come down. They'll let them legs take over the work.

Slowly breathe out like one leg to tabletop where the end come back and change the other leg slowly near slow the movement. The more difficult, as I say, uses fingers just to measure the space. Just make sure you're not dropping and down as you alternate. Focus on that pelvic stability. Breathing out. Push and dad. Now continue the movement, but lift your arms to the ceiling so you're not pushing on the floor or the mat with your arms. So that space is held. Hold that center control the movement is somebody who's walking past the window right now.

They're looking at it and look quite easy. They may get a little difficult. Find that center. Use the rib cage, shoulder blades down. Breathing out and breathing in. One less time on each leg. Slowly up [inaudible] and this time put the feed down and slowly roll back down. Good. Keep this one foot were exactly where it is.

Bring the arms down by the side. Crossing one leg completely over. Of course, it almost like a cocktail party stretch. So you're crossing that leg over. Now the other foot hasn't moved. Lithium's back to the ceiling. Now let's try this variation of shoulder bridge. So the leg is completely crossed over acid take that they complete. That's it. Good. Now the challenge is that pelvic stability, so roll the pelvis up, unroll that pelvis down. See, you're trying to keep it stable. As I say, not assaulted a class yet. This morning. We do salsa later in the day.

Keep that pelvis stable up and slowly roll down. Think of that relationship again between the glutes and the core all the way back. Each time she released back to neutral. That's it. Good, and again, roll up. Now this time up, stay up. Uncross the leg, which like to the ceiling. Point up, push up, touch the ceiling with a toe. Lift up. Good. Cross the leg back over and roll back down. Let's try that again. Breathing in, breathing out, lift up, take a breath in and then breathe out. As you unfold the leg, reach the ceiling up.

Cross the leg back over and slowly take your time. Roll down. Enjoy it again with the end and again, breathing out, rollout. Drop the shoulders down. What's that rib cage? Lift up now. This time reach a leg up. Now think about those that high to the pelvis. Don't drop the pelvis. Reach the leg away. Long. Push the leg away. Long.

Good. Lens them back up to the ceiling. Cross the leg over and roll down. One less time. Shorter blades down. We the out to go up. Take a breath in. We the, as you lift the leg up, we the energy, reach to the leg away. Push away long leg, push the leg back up to the seating.

Cross the like over and slowly roll down and change legs. Let's do the same thing on the other side, on the other side, over and crossover. Now we'd like to remind my glasses. You have to work both sides equally. Otherwise you finish it with one glute bigger than the other and it's not a good look on the beach. So shoulder blades down. So center now tilt the pelvis, roll up first. Good, keep that pelvis stable. Great. And as slowly roll down, keep the waist long. Lens the waist, go back to neutral.

Good again, rolling up lithium to the ceiling so you're not pushing down on the hands. Just lift up there. That's again shoulder blades down and as slowly roll down in, print each vertebrae, each one all the way back, all the way back and release. Back to neutral. And again we're rolling out this time. Go Up, unfold the leg at the top. Reach like to the ceiling length and find that height. Push up, cross like back over and rolled out and rolling back.

So we're building the movements as you build a movement. Keep reminding yourself of everything that we've set up. Pelvis stable, core shoulder blades down. Lengthen up, push out across the like over and down. But most importantly, that relationship between the glutes and the core is equal. Don't let that glute do all the work. Lift up this time. Lift up, push up to the ceiling, shoulder blades down. Now push the leg long away, push away, stretch further. Good.

Come back up, cross it like over and slowly roll down. And again, breathing in as you breathe out. Roll up long spine, lifted like to the ceiling. Push up, reach leg away, keeping the height of the pelvis keep. I said great. Push your way long. Push up. Cross like over and roll down. Two more. Breathing out, lift up. Take a breath into, reach up with the out. As you reach away with the leg, take your time for the movement. Keep it slow and constant speed. So he's a little bit like a DVD playing in slow motion does suddenly speed up.

Keep that speed constant. Lift up. One last time up, push away. Litho like up, stretch, Ridgway low, lends it up. Cross the like over and slowly roll down. Unfold the legs. Just pull the knees in toward you and released the back of the legs. Malcolm, will you come to the front? Now I just, we're going to demonstrate, take your nieces. I come up to sitting position.

Just bring your mat to the front. Now come to the front of your mat. So your feet are on the floor. Let's do rolling like a ball. Place the hands down on a mat by the side of you. Now the most important thing with this movement is that you keep the shape, so your ribcage and neat as same distance apart. And also as you go back to your feet, your ankles and your hamstrings are connected.

So it's almost like there's string tying you here and tying you here. Use the hands first just to allow that body to tilt the pelvis. And as you come back up, come back to the sitting position. So hands down, we are the integral back. Roll back on your two shoulders. Really add to come back up now play with the speed. How slow can you go this morning? So don't use the momentum.

Use that center to lift you back up again. As you come back each time, come to a tall position, length of the spine, lift up, lift up, and again, rolling back. We think in everything out. Now if you feel you can take the hands away, put the hands on the legs or you can always keep the hands down on the side. Reach down toward you ankles, but don't grip the legs. It's almost like, as I say, you've got Suntan lotion on and your legs a little bit slippery. Keep them there. Now rollback tilt good and come back.

Acid again. Control the movement. If you can come to a balance, bring it to a balance again, rolling back, breathing in and breathing out. Great. One more time. I'm come up now let's just test that shape. Take one finger and thumb again like we've been doing, but the shape, measure the distance between the rib cage and the knee. Now keep that so it doesn't change and roll back good. Use your breath with the indigo back with the ads. Come back up.

Use the center. Good. One more time. I'm come up now take the hands behind the legs. So the ankle, if you can, the lower the it harder and keep that shape as you come back out. [inaudible] so you were really that bowl shape. You're not losing the distance between the legs and the body. And of course if you want to really challenge yourself this morning to do one of each. So one on top of one behind. We'll show you. Don't, didn't move anything.

How slow can you go? How slow, how slow. Good Lens in the spine at the top. Lift up, lift, lift, lift, lift, lift. Good. And again, we're rolling back. This is why I have to remind you not to use your faces again. Put that work in the center will actually draw. Keep the spine long. Keep that little space between the Chin and the wheel cage.

One more time rolling. I'm coming back to a sitting position. Good. Put the feet on the floor and we're going to start the role of an a sitting position. If you can sit up straight with your pelvis in alignment with your legs straight, then do so. But if you find it, you've got tension in your lower back. Bend those knees.

The most important is that start position again that we're fighting that pelvis alignment. The on top of the spine, on top of the pelvis. Lift the arms up and have the thens to the ceiling. Keep the chest open. Now start with a small movement, keeping those centers switched on. Tilt the pelvis and just slightly roll back with the end and then come back up. Now focus on the length of the spine. Tilt the pelvis first.

Don't shorten so til the pelvis. Keep it long. That's it. And back. Come back out. Breathing in to go back with the out to lift back up. Let's try that again. Back. I lived up. Now your spine is flexible. Begin to take the movement further. Find your range that you can control it.

If you can go all the way to the mat and then do so and then come all the way back to the sitting position. But if your back is tight, keep the movement smaller. Listen to your body and find how far you can go. Controlling it. If you're going to the mat, put the head back on the floor and take the arms behind you. But again, finding that neutral spine. So roll down Audi. Take the arms as far back as you can without that with cage popping up. Push the legs away from you. Inside thighs pulling together, drew up the shoulders. Lengthen up again. We're rolling down. Good. We'll begin.

Unless you've without roll up. Now we're going to take a movement from the Cadillac. We do half the Sir 70 circle first or wherever around the world. Take one arm to the side. Your eyes are going to follow your hand. Lengthen out, reach one arm, semi circle back, curving back, and then come back to a sitting position. Now keep the big toe stay together so they're kissing. Let's do the other side.

So you're alternating from one side to the other. Roll up, keep those inside thighs. We're the [inaudible] and with the ad tilt the pelvis lengthen back, roll out. So again, find your range within. I'm breathing out. Reach back, lengthen and come up. Now let's take it to a full circle. So you might be going to the mat or you might be getting halfway down.

Find that range again. Circled down around, take it over the head length and back and slowly roll up. Curving fluid movement. Reverse it. I'm back. So there's big toes. Stay together inside thighs pulling together. Use the set and no little bounces really in and breathing out to come up. Try both hands. Circle, circle around Lenzen.

Push around and curve up and again and keep both glutes firmly on the mat as you circle both loose. Stay down, push and lessen up. Good. Reach up two more times. Curve breathing in really out as you go over the head with the end is you lift back up and breathing out as you come back to the center one last time. But in however they are, find the range, how far if you need to go you to keep it smaller, keep it smaller and lift up and come a place as behind you. Preparation like bull supine.

Put the hands back now again, pull the inside thighs together. Use that center connection. Breathe out as you lift up. Push long lent along so your head is on line with the spine, the head drop and then slowly lower back down. Good one more time. Breathing in and breathing out. Lengthen up long legs. Push away long stretch regionally. Reach, reach, reach and slowly coming down.

This time, lift up. Find the heights of the pelvis just like we did with the shoulder bridge. Hold that now. Don't drop the pelvis. Reach one leg away from you and then through the leg up and then change legs. Now it's not. The height of the leg is the push away.

Make the push away more important than the at height and as slowly come back down. It's usually one on each leg. So again, it's really like somebody pulling your leg out while than going straight up to get that opening of the hip. Let's try it again and push up. Lends it up. Hold that center now. Open the shoulders, fix the position. Use the center. Now push the leg away. Push long, long, long and down. Breathing it. And again, breathing out. Push away. Long leg. Push down and slowly come down.

Lithium's out. So we're going to sequence those two movements together. Circle around first around, good over the head. Come up, place the hands behind you. Push up Lenzen. Lift one leg away unchanged with the end really outs and reach away. [inaudible] and slowly bring the body down. Lift the arms up, circle the opposite duration and down. Round. Reach back. Good. Come up to sitting. Place hands, push away. Push out. Lengthen, breathing out.

Wash that rib cage. Keep that connection. Push slowly and come down. And again, arms up and around. Reach back, good around, come out. Yeah, keep the speed, the same dose speed up. Suddenly lift your body controlled. Now keep the speed the same length of the leg. Put your way long. Control it down. Good. Out aside, push way long. Control it down and slowly lower the buddy and lift it.

One last time. Circle. Route your route. Oh, lifting, come back to the sitting. Place the hands push up. Hello. Lengthen. Good. I now reach away. Lengthen and which way long? Slowly lower the legs down and bring the body to sit in position.

Let's add a movement from the reformer. Lift up. It'll pull again. For this, you want to think about the legs not moving or changing? Shape. Big Toes together. Keep the elbow close to you as you pull and diagonally. Reach back with the right arm and then come back up. Let's try together. Here we go. Right on first and pull diagonal. Paul.

Lengthen and lift back up. Good. Read again. I decide I'm push. So focus on those toes. Keep them together. And again, diagonal. Paul [inaudible], Paul, good reach. Now let's add the leg. So as you turn to the right, bend the right knee out. Turn good. And lift back up.

Change at a side, reaching back pool. Good. And again, this time, bend the knee as you go back. As you come back. Lens the bent leg lends it up. Stretch. I'm pleased to lay down other side and down. Bend. Keep it lengthen, reach away. Push the leg away. Long, long, long.

And please select [inaudible] and again, back bend, reach. Lift the leg up. Straight. Push and down. Less time rolling back. Tilt the pelvis. I can come up. Good. Let's put that with the other combinations. So there's a three secrets movement.

Circle leg, Paul diagonal. Paul Circle. Legco diagonal pole. Here we go. Arms Up Sarah. Set the buddy first thumbs lifted. Opened the chest. Long Spine. Circle to the right circle round, good over the head. Push and lift by the hands behind, pushing up. Lengthen up and slowly reach out like away and down. At a side. Push and down. Speed is the same. Control it down. Diagonal. Paul, reach diagonal, back. Lengthen. Come up, blends up. I'm placing the hands down. Circle the other side. Circle around.

Push over the head. Good Center, smooth movement. Place the hands back. We think in really out. Push up. Lenzen up, up, long leg. Reach away and down. Change other slide. Lenzen and down. Lithia Rosa left diag Nepal. Reach back, landfill leg up. Reach and come back. Now just come to the front of your mats. We're going to finish this combination.

We've done the rolling. We're can do added with the rolling with the preparation. Um, Jack Knife. So with the hands back first, if you watch it first, we're going to place the hands on the legs. As you roll back, you're going to tilt the pelvis under rollback and push the legs to the ceiling. Now it's almost like you've got, it looks like you've not got much time, but pushing the legs up and coming back down. You've got lots of time. In fact, the time going up and down on the Jack Knife prep is the same as the rolling. So try not make it too quick. Let's try it. And again, with the hands, it's like you're pulling socks up.

It's like you're pulling your trousers are pulling your socks up, your legs and then taking them back down. So keep that contact with the legs and the arms. Let's try. Here we go. Roll till back, push up. Good. And then come back. Now most important is don't take your feet past ahead so you could see your toes at all times. Push up and down. That's it. Keep them above the face as you go up. Again, roll up, push and lift it up. Sit through a toll position each time.

Find that balance and roll back. We the in, we're the app again. Breathing in, tilt, Push, control it and lessen. And again, lift up rural, push and lift it up. Good. And stretch the leg straight. So this is the last movement of the sequence. It's a form of a sequence you can do to move in. Sequence three movement sequence. You're putting the movers together, but then there's the length of the movement. That's the challenge. So the idea is that you're keeping that speed the same. No, suddenly get faster in any of the movements. Let's try it.

Yeah, set the body. Lengthen the spine, open the shoulders, circle around around the world. Good. Come up, hands behind leg Paul. Take your time. Push up. Lift one leg away, lower down or the leg. Push away. Lower down. Take it down. Diagonal Pool. Lift the arms up. Reach back. Lengthen. Stretch to like out.

Push and down. Pull those legs in. Rolling like a ball and TJ. Nice roll up. Push. I'm back leg straight. Just one time around the world at a side to the left. Good long movement around. Come up, Lakeville supine. Has behind. Take your time. Place each pot. Precisely. Where does the leg go to?

Controlling. Coming down. Arms Up, diagonal. Pull. Pulling back. [inaudible] controllers do you come up and lend to the leg? Long leg. Place the leg down. Hands down. Rolling cuff. Push up. I lived at one less time. Length of leg. Straight circle around.

Glutes on the Mat. Long Spine Center. Control it. Coming up. Oz behind. Breathing in, breathing out. Push up the lens it up the length of Lake [inaudible] dad, reach away. I am Dad. Take it dad diagonal. Pull to the right pool. [inaudible] push. Pull the legs in. Rolling like a ball.

Push up and lengthen out. Legs straight. Circle to the left. Circle around around the world. Good. Has behind Lakeville supine. Breathing in, breathing out. Push away. Long stretch. Reach away. How far can you touch leather change? Push away.

Lengthen solely down. Lifting up. Diagnosable. Reach up. Lengthen up. Push hands down. Rolling into Jack Knife. Push. Listen up and come to a city position. Stretch your legs straight.

Now let's do the preparation for sigh. Ben. We're going to take one leg over turned to the side as you turned to the side. So one leg is straight, one leg is bent. We'll turn to face the right first. So your left leg on top is bent. Squeeze the ankles together. Now turn to face this side. Good. Reach back. Open out, open out long stretch.

Reach and come back to the front. Let's do the other side. Bring in to really rotate from the rib cage across the leg and turn. Lengthen out. Use those ankles. Squeeze the ankles together to help that rotation turn further. Lengthen the spine. Sit Up Taller, taller girl and come back. Let's try one to each side, but make it flow.

So just cross one leg turn and open out. Push. Lengthen long spine. Sit Up and sit up long God and change other side turn. Lends it out. Now hold it that good. Place the hand down on the Mat.

We're gonna very gently push up and decide. Bed. Push up. Reach the toll position. Good. Lengthen up. Turn to facial mat. Walk back and slowly walk back out of pushups to come back. Walk to the back of your mat. Slowly walk back and kept her standing position and just step back off your mass to finish. So it's finished. The glasses. We started standing.

Let's remind your body what we've just done. We've been using the center to support the spine. She said, when you leave today, think about that. This, that center support for the rest of the day. I want you to be thinking about length. Shoulder blades down your back. Just lift the arms up and bring the arms down. What creates that movement is literally that slide. They slide down your back to lift the arms up. They're not rigid. Make them float.

Give them life. Breathe into those shoulder blades, push lift up, push and down. Good and hold it back. Now take the lake to the side. So you're just touching the floor to the side. The body's going to be pitched slightly over to the side and keep the head on the spine so it's not going to drop or tense. Just reach the arms up. Lengthen out. So we're gonna do a balance again as we did at the beginning, but this way, sideways lateral, see how far you can lift that leg up. As you reach your way further, the body will tilt, but keep the shape of this side of the waist the same. Good.

And then come back and bring the leg back down. Let's try the other side. Pushing out. Start with the toe touching the floor. Set the spine. Lengthen with the in a richer way. Long spine like water's falling out the air. Let it come out, Richard. Way further along. Long stretch, stretch and come back.

So as you're doing the balance, we're focusing on what we've been doing with the map. Does your center support, let's try that again. Reaching out. Now this time, go out, circle the arms, reach up, lengthen and come back with the end of the side, pushing out. Lengthen, long spine. Good. Circle the arms. Reach out, lengthen up, reach and down. You can always keep the leg a little bit smaller. Again, even touching the mat or touching the floor. Circle that obs is a fluid circle. Reach up, push and breathing in. Breathing out. Push. Circle the arms it up. Push and down. As you guys are good this morning, add a little bit more challenge. We're going to circle as you. So cool. We're going to rotate. So your red gate or to the ceiling, it smiles to the ceiling as you turn and lift up and then bring the leg back down.

Let's try to get now Senta remember this is the key is your support system. Take the leg to the side, circle the arms. Now as you turn, rotate the rib cage. Lift up, lift to the Chester sitting further. Lift up more. More. Push the leg away from you. Push long and bring the leg back down. Good. I decide. Let's add a breath as well cause there's a lot of holding the breath.

So breathing in, breathing out as you reach away. Now breathing in. As you rotate, reading in more, more lengthened lens and Lenzen and breathing out as it comes back. Good fluid is it? Say Make It look easy and circle. Lengthen, rotate lung spine. Lift the chest as seen in long.

Push up further. Hold that center further. Push the leg away more, more, more, and bring it down. So as you're lifting the leg, what it should look like is it someone's pulling your leg so someone's pulling your leg this way and you're not pulling back into the hip so you don't pull into the hit with the leg. You're reaching it out. Test your limits. Where can you go to safely? Where can you go to the leg? Let's try other leg. Left leg reach. Now, circle, turn. Now take the leg out the door. Reach it out the door for the other way. No push. Push further and further and come back. Great flexes by rounding and come back out.

Good. Take a little bit bigger. Bend those knees. Take it down. Push. So all that stability work of holding the spine has to be balanced with some ability work. So round your back. Then those knees. Good. It's almost like someone's pulling your waistband back, Paul. The waistband as a oh you want to sit on a chair behind you? Sit back, push curve and lift up. Good. And again, breathing out. Come back out. Now take the leg to the side, reach out to the slide Lenzen and just come back up. Small movement again. Breathing in, breathing out. Lengthen to the side. If you feel you need support, you've got your hand.

You can put your hand on that fi to help you come back up cause I don't want to seize effort coming up. Control it. Control up. Good again. Over push and lift up. Breathing in where the out with the indigo, over breathing out to come up. Now how far can you go? Keeping the control go out to the side. Lengthen, lengthen, lengthen and come back. No effort, no effort. And again out of side. So the key again is that center. Use your sentence, a lift you up.

Good. Again, reach out. [inaudible] push coming. Ah, one more time. Let them out. Push Long. I come out. Now we can take it over. Flex the spine, play, and come back to the center. Let's try and go. Now. Reach over to the same point. Go over now. Bend those knees. Blade comes to the center and lift up at the side. Reach out, push.

Then those knees round your back. So you're trying to find that flex position we did in the center. Reach out now. Flex position in the center around and come up. Good. And again. [inaudible] out. Flexed and comeback. Smooth movement.

Easy floating control. Easy, floaty control. One more time. Each side. Go out. Long floaty control. Less time. Reach out, control, and come back and hold it there. Find that center balance.

Walk forward. Walk back. Find the center of your feet and just balance. Going up on coming down again, breathing out. Bring precision into it. So the highest point of your feet is when your finger is the highest. Just as your heels touch is when your fingers are the lowest. You train your body to be precise.

Efficiency with movement. Use that body lengthen up. Use the center. I'm coming down that train. The breadth. How slow can you go? Warm breath up. One breath down. We the ad to go out with the intercom down the big of the breath. The more capacity, the more you're training, the more control.

Think of this center like connection. Remember, it's the details of philosophies that make this method special. The principles we use to check list, we're working with. Quality, breath control, precision flow, movement. Use these to check any movement you're doing. One last time with the owl. This time come back to center. Just bring the arms down.

Remind your buddy of that lesson, the width across the front of your chest. As the day goes on. Don't let the chest close. Keep it open. [inaudible] it looks like those lampshades you can get with the front of the lampshade is the same width as the back as oblong ones from a popular store. Keep it open, keep the back open. It doesn't close. A great teacher. Judy asked him once, told me, think about the internal volume.

So underneath the rib cage, underneath the muscles in the chest, think about inside this space, increase that space. We have to breathe. It's just visuals, but it helps just create that internal volume in. Lift your arms up with the outside the hands down. One more time. [inaudible] [inaudible] and breathing out. Thank you for coming this morning. Thank you, Malcolm, for demonstrating [inaudible]. He remembers the key plotters in your body all day.

So I always say is outside that you change is not in the class. You, you come to class or I remind you what you should be doing outside. So keep that principals, get that control everything in your body all day. Thank you very much. Yeah.

Comments

1 person likes this.
This is a wonderful and challenging class!
Amazing class, detailed explanation, great example how basic is challenging & beautiful!
Ann S
That was just awesome!! I loved the way the movements were slowed down and added together. It created a more precise, flowing, and mentally challenging movement. AND don't forget more physically challenging!!
A great challenging class, thank you.
Oh my gosh !! I am like a kid in a candy store...this workout is beautiful ! I especially loved the add-on towards the end...so calming !! thank you !!!
Outstanding cuing and analogies. Beautiful, slow, challenging movements. A reminder why we all love Pilates.
1 person likes this.
I agree Sherry! I was in class that day and was surprised at some of the beautiful simplicity, but yet how challenging that was. I love that!
Brilliant!
Raymond Harris
A truly wonderful and flowing class. LOVED IT! Raymond Harris Syd Australia
I loved how he build the class from the very basic positioning to support the advanced moves!! Great class! Thank you!
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