Class #2505

Playing with Body Angles

55 min - Class
155 likes

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Play with the angles of your body in this Reformer workout with Elizabeth Larkam. This entire workout of standing exercises develops whole-body flexibility, strength, coordination, and balance. There is also a great benefit from the standing arm and shoulder strengthening exercises.
What You'll Need: Reformer w/Box

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Welcome to Palladio's any time. I'm Elizabeth Larkam. I'm here with Norris Tomlinson. Norris is the owner of Ciran Pele's in Chicago and Norris and I have been collaborating for 18 years on PyLadies projects. Be sure to watch Norris has classes on PyLadies anytime he has a couple of them. I would also like to say thank you.

Thank you to Jean-Claude West for over 25 years. I've turned to Shawn Claude for excellent teaching and for guidance and you can also watch John Clods workshop on is anytime Norris and I are here to share a standing reformer class with you. You'll need the long box on the carriage and the foot bar on its medium height position. Norris has a blue spring and I have a yellow facing the foot bar. You'll place your thigh on the box with your ankle.

Endorsee flection slightly off the back corner of the box and then bending both elbows puts your forearm on the foot bar and your hand on the foot bar as well. Your supporting foot is forward even with the frame. As you inhale, bend your knee and then place your foot bar hand on the box and push the box back as you bring your pelvis towards the foot bar. Lower your pelvis further, bring the box forward and start again. Inhale to bend. As you exhale, slide the box back using your hand so your inner thighs getting lengthened along the box. Lower your pelvis and come forward.

Third time we'll add on. Inhale to bend. Exhale to push back. Turn towards your supporting leg, turning pelvis, ribs, shoulders, neck, head and eyes, and that's internal rotation of the leg that's on the box. Bending your knee as if you could bring your heel towards the opposite shoulder. Now you change to external rotation, turning pelvis, ribs, shoulders, neck, head and eyes, and looking over your shoulder to see that that foot is still there. Inhale to bend. Exhale to push back, turning pelvis, ribs, shoulders, neck, head and eyes into internal rotation.

Drawing your heel towards your opposite shoulder and term, pelvis, the shoulders, neck, head and eyes. Last time on this side. Inhale to lower. Exhale to push back, rotate turning your pelvis so the light from your navel and the light from the chest bone, Aha, and the light from your eyes sees over your shoulder. Turn towards the box using your arms to push yourself up. Drag your inner thigh off the box. It will come plummeting to earth and you'll go, oh, that's strange.

As that move looks, it sure does feel different and better when it's over. Change to the new side. Now here you go. Move the box asymmetrically plant your supporting foot near the frame. Your new sigh comes onto the box. About 90 degrees of knee flection. With your ankle off the edge.

Your outside forearm is on the bar. The inside hand on the box. As you inhale, lower your pelvis. As you exhale, have the idea that your pelvis comes towards the foot bar. As you push the box back, lower your pelvis further and come in again. Inhale to bend, exhale to slide back. Pelvis comes forward and your leg grows with the box and come forward.

Third time we add rotation. Inhale to lower. Exhale to push back, turning towards your supporting side leg into internal rotation. Drawing your heel towards your shoulder blade. Turn back around and turn towards your leg. Inhale to lower.

Exhale to push back internally. Rotate. Turning the light from your navel, the light from your chest bone to see over your shoulder and look at your own foot waving at you. Inhale to come back. Once again. Lower Push, rotate pushing the box with your arm. You can turn your forearm away from the bar palm up and come back in using your arms to help push yourself up. Sliding your inner thigh off the box.

It comes plummeting to Earth. Now Norris is going to keep the box and I'll do without the box. So a Norris, I think the box stays right about there where it is asymmetrically and the my box comes off. I'll be using it later. A Norris will keep the foot bar where it is and I'll bring my foot bar up. Um, Norris, I think you stay with the a week of both.

Go to a red spring, I think. So here. Yup. Off with your blue on with the red. Now we'll um, bring the head rest down and focus on a medial hip glide. You'll be standing with your supporting foot aiming at the shoulder rest and Norris. You'll bring your heel on, close onto the foot bar. I'll bring my foot further away. Norris goes onto the box and I'll take a dive down to the carriage.

As you inhale, push out, exhale to bend in. Make sure that your soul of your big toe and your heel are in contact with the foot bar you're in parallel. Inhale to push out. Now aim your rights sitting bone towards the left so your pelvis comes on to your femur head and your femur. Head into your acetabulum. Sure, I'll get right on it. Inhale to Bend X. Hell to push out. Now you changed to external rotation. Heel is below the bar.

Your mid foot is on the bar. Inhale to glide out. Wag your tail bone towards the supporting side. Inhale to push up. Aim your sitting bones up and back to where the ceiling meets the wall behind you. Now you changed to internal rotation. Pigeon toe your thigh so your toes are below and your heel above.

Inhale to drive out. Exhale, encouraging congruence of your Femur, head in the Acetabulum and no surprise to you getting some resilience in the tissue of the posterior hip capsule. Now using your arms to help, easy coming up. Take your foot off the bar. Go, Whoa, that's different. Now the new side, change your box. Nora says you need your supporting foot is in line with the shoulder rests and your heel will be, you'll be on the back edge of the foot bar. There you go. I'm on the forward edge and then your forms are on the box and minor on the carriage planting your first ray, that's the big toe and your heel and contact with the foot bar.

Inhale, your left knee extends ex Hail snugging your pelvis over the head of your femur. Inhale to glide out as you return wagging your tail bone towards the risers and as you return aiming your sitting bones up and back to where the ceiling meets the wall behind you. Change now to external rotation. Your heel is below and your toes above the bar. You nessel your midfoot right over the curve of the foot bar.

Remember in external rotation to steer your knee wide as if you could aim your knee over your fourth toe. One more of these in internal rotation. That's external rotation. My mistake now turning in toes, pillow and heel above. As you slide the carriage in. Think sitting bones widen. Inhale to slide out as the carriage comes in, sitting bones widen and sitting bones up. One more. Inhaling, exhaling tail wagging towards the risers. Use your arms to help.

Easy now bring yourself on up. So a trip around the hip you're working on internal rotation, medial hip glide, the post steer hip capsule, getting more resilient. It's box time. So you'll put the box next to the foot bar end of the carriage and you'll need to make sure that you have a non-skid mat underneath the far edge of the box so it's a short box arrangement. And to make sure that the box is stable there.

Now you bring the foot bar all the way down and I think we're both on a blue spring here. You'll need to get the kickstand of the foot bar out of the way. Climb aboard the box and you'll have your big toe just beveled over the edge of the carriage. Do a test run here so that you can see that there's, you'll be safe standing on the box when you glide in the direction of a standing split. But that's about as far as we're going. Okay, here you are with hands at your hip joints, checking to see that your pelvis is level and steady and just getting accustomed to this glide out and glide in. Now once you glide out, stay out and slide towards the risers.

Move your hand down the outside of your thigh and sweep up to the ceiling. So here you are in side bending the longest distance from the little toe side of your foot to the little finger side of your hand. Take a hold of your own wrist and pull. Inhale to bend. As you push the carriage away, turn your chest bone and your gaze towards the ceiling. So you're reaching over inside bending. Okay, go further into side bending.

Pull your hands towards the wall beyond the risers and with both knees extended. Shift your pelvis towards the ocean pulling side and side and side and side. Getting the longest possible reach inside bending. Bring yourself all the way up and bend your knee in. Now the new side awaits so easy on the transition.

Turn to the new side. Do a test run so that after you push out, make sure you have room to slide. And so you do. Starting with your hands on your pelvis. Inhale to push out a bending and straightening your knee here, Norris for justice. Start. That's it. Driving your right sitting bone towards your inner left ankle when you bend your knee. That's right. So bend your knee and and lower your right sitting bone.

That's it. Now this time you'll keep your knee extended and keeping your knee extended. Slide the carriage towards the risers. Reach your right hand down along your thigh, side bending. Reach your left arm up to the ceiling.

The longest distance Sarah and your right hand takes a hold of your left wrist pulling into lateral flection. Inhale to bend your right knee. Exhale, pull your hands, press your leg again. As you inhale and bend now as you pull, turn your chest bone towards the ceiling. Stay towards the ceiling as you bend and straighten your right knee. Keep pulling your hands beyond the risers, making the longest distance across your left waist. Keep both knees extended.

Pull your hands to the right and shift your pelvis to the left to the ocean, keeping your both knees extended as if you're right here. Could listen to your right foot. Bring yourself all the way up right now and bend your right knee. Easy on the dismount. We are done with that and we're also done with the box so the box goes away.

That's the first three moves with the box. No more box. Now it is standing rotation. No springs at all here, otherwise known as pilates for golf. Here you are with the carriage all the way home, bending both knees so your feet are shoulder with the part bending both knees, the foot bar, hand points to the risers and the other hand points straight ahead. Keeping your knees bent. Inhaling, the carriage glides towards the risers. As you take a nosedive, pull towards you with your right hand and push away with your left. Now you do something similar. Turning your head, neck and eyes to look towards the bottom of the risers.

Your ear listens to the carriage. Swivel your feet so that your toes aim towards the corner of the carriage beyond the risers. Inhaling, you take a nose dive polling with your right hand, pushing with your left and then an ear dive sitting bones up and why behind you now pivot swivel so that your toes aim to the corner of the carriage beyond the foot bar. Inhale to bend. Exhale to come up. Keeping both knees spanned and it's an ear dive. Looking through the risers, staying on this side. Bring your ankles, your inner thighs close together and both knees extended. Hover your chest bone light directly between the shoulder rests.

So don't eliminate your feet, but the middle of the carriage sitting bones up and wide. Inhale to bend. That's, that's nothing's bending actually. You're moving your pelvis over the head of your femurs and come to vertical. Keep the sole of your right big toe firmly planted. So this is axial rotation, but not translation or lateral rotation.

Pivot. So your toes aim towards the corner of the carriage. Adjusting your hands so you can pull readily with your right and push with your left. And now your ear listens. And don't look at the ceiling, but just look through the risers low because no one's here to unscrew their cervical spine. Turn your toes to the far corner by the foot bar. Inhale to bend to keep saying, inhale to band.

That was last exercise. Sorry. Don't manned it all and your sitting bones up and wide. Moving your pelvis over the head of your femurs. So we've had thoracic rotation, six different variations of it. Surely it will be different on the new side. Let's try bring the carriage all the way home. Stand your feet. A comfortable distance.

Say shoulder with your left hand. That's the hand near the foot bar. Points to the risers. Your other fingers aim straight ahead. Hover your chest, spawn between the shoulder rest, bending both knees all the time. Move your pelvis over the head of your femurs. Pull with your left hand. Push with your right ups. Let's say it's a nosedive towards the carriage and come up.

Now you turn your ribs, shoulders, head, neck, and eyes so that your ear listens to the carriage and you can see through the risers. Second Angle, turn your toes towards the corner of the frame. Nose aims straight down. As you pull with your left hand. Push with your right. And this time turning your cervical spine with thoracic spine. Your ear listens to the carriage swivel your feet. Aim to the corner of the Frank.

Keeping your knees bent on this first round of three variations and your ear listens as your cervical spine turns. Now the second round of variations, you have your inner thighs close together at the midline. Chest bone is hovered between the shoulder rests, stand your ground on your big toe. Inhale to take a nosedive, pull with your left, push with your right, and then your ear listens. Your gaze is down towards the frame between the risers. Swivel on your feet, toes towards the far corner of the frame.

Inhale, exhale to come up. [inaudible] a posterior deltoid stretching I think come back up and the new angle awaits. Inhale, no straight down sitting bones spread up and wide behind you as your ear turns. Now it's time for connecting. The second move with the move we just did on this next exercise, you'll need a spring yellow spring, a yellow spring on the top deck, and Norris, she'll have your foot bar at the middle level. I'll put mine on the high level and then we're all set. Stand your supporting foot so it's aiming at the shoulder rests, Norris.

She'll have your heel at the back and I have my toes forward as before your foot bar. Hand points where you're going and the other hand points ahead. Now Bend your foot bar, knees. So you shift on a diagonal leaning or lunging in towards the foot bar as you extend your foot bar knee. Push the carriage by rotating your thoracic spine, taking a nose dive towards the carriage. Exhale to come back in, bending your knee in a lunge.

As you inhale, plant the soul of your heel, your big toe. Extend your knee. And now keeping your oc seal length new. Rotate pulling towards you with your right hand, pushing away with your left and bend your knee to come in this time turning your ribs, shoulders, head, neck, and eyes as if your ear can listen towards the carriage and make your way in. Careful on the dismount off with that foot.

Here comes the next side stand. So your big toe, your toes are aiming at the shoulder rest. Launch your foot up onto the foot bar, exactly your foot bar. Hand points where you're going. Your other hand points forward, bending your left knee. Your whole body leans on a diagonal towards the foot bar.

As you push, as you extend your left leg rotate. So your chest bone aims towards the risers, nose towards the carriage pull with your left hand push with your right, come back in. Another round of that to be consistent with the first side. So you have a nose sty looking straight down at the carriage, sitting bones up and back behind you. Exhale to come in this time, turning ribs, shoulders, neck, head and eyes so your ear listens to the carriage. As you push away, pushing out with your hands, pushing out with your feet.

A moment of tensegrity come back in, easing on the dismount from this. Now we're ready to stand on the reformer and rotate. So for this, I think we've got a blue spring. We'll bring the foot bar all the way down as we don't need it up. One blue spring.

And we have lengthened our chords as much as the ropes will allow so that the loops are a little bit longer than if they were around the shoulder rests. And for us, this will work fine. For this exercise. You might prefer to have the cords a little bit longer. Stand on the carriage and you'll be standing with only holding the loop that's from behind you. Feed our shoulder with the part. Give yourself a wide base for security and bending both knees.

Both hands will enter. We'll go through the loop from the court on the back. Now best you can illuminate your hands with the light from your chest bone so you keep your hands directly in front of the chest. Bone is she will. Let's see. Aim your knees directly forward and turn your pelvis, ribs, shoulders, neck, head, and eyes so your eyes are looking away over your left shoulder to the ocean there. As you inhale, as if you could screw a light bulb into the ceiling from the back of your brain. Turn to see the ocean over your right shoulder.

Exhale to return. Next variation. Turn your head, neck and eyes directly where your toes are pointing. As you extend your knees and draw your knee caps towards your hip joints, you eliminate your hands with your chest bone and the third variation. Turn your head opposite where your hands are as your ribs. Turn to the right, your head, neck, and eyes turn to the left, lengthening from the back of your brain.

Now we do all three of those variations aiming on a diagonal access towards the risers. It's as if there was an access of the carriage, a diagonal from this corner over to the opposite corner, and then your feet would stand right over that line. Bending both knees, hold onto the loop. Knees are aiming forward over your third toes. Pelvis, ribs, shoulders are looking over your left shoulder as you inhale, rise. Turning to look over your right shoulder. Endless fascination to see the ocean today. Now the second variation, your gaze aims where your toes are pointing.

Inhaling, elongating the back of you. Exhaling to return. Eyes look opposite where your hands are. Inhaling chess bone turns with your hands. I think it's actually the other way around. Hands turn with your chest bone.

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

Inhale to turn pelvis, ribs, shoulders that could analyze a direct line from sitting bones to heels and heels to sitting. Bones, eyes. Aim where your toes are pointing in, hailing going up. Exhaling, coming down. Eyes look over the opposite shoulder from your hands in hailing to look over the opposite shoulder. Exhaling to return. So that was three, six, nine rotations. Here comes a new side.

Keep the current loop and chain so that you're standing on the central axis of the carriage. Both knees, bend, fingers, interlace or Hanse. Take a hold of the loop. Turning to your right. Look over your right shoulder. Plant the souls of your big toes, your heels. Inhaling, drawing up as you rotate to the over your left shoulder. Exhale. As you rotate over your right shoulder I same straight ahead.

There's the ocean in this view. Inhale to turn. Head doesn't turn but your ribs, shoulders do and come back. Turn your head opposite ribs. Turn hands. Go with head, neck and eyes look opposite and return. Now keep the loop and change to the diagonal towards the risers so your feet are above this diagonal axis. Both knees, bending both HelpBot spending. Line up your chest, bone and your hands. Inhaling, going up, pressing your hands away from your torso.

As you rotate eyes, look where your toes are pointing. Lengthening the back of your neck, turning and turning. Eyes look opposite. Head turns opposite, drawing up, rotating, pushing your hands away and calm down. Now we've done two very two categories holding onto the back cord. Now you need the front court to come to the final one. Stand on the new diag and all this is a diagonal towards the foot bar.

Both knees are bending, aiming a directly your sitting bones towards your heels. Turn to your right looking way over your right shoulder. Inhale to go, going up, rotate and come back. Eyes. Aim on the diagonal where your toes are pointing. Go [inaudible] and go into your eyes. Don't, that's right.

And the last one turning toward your left shoulder. Inhale to go. Turning over your right shoulder and return. Let's put this loop down now off with this loop and it's time for us standing squats off the end of the reformer. So for this we do need to make the chords longer and we have some foot straps, some foot straps that we've harvested from the reformers that we can put through the loops to function as strap extenders. Um, you can use a second loop and attach it or if you have extra rope available that if you have extra rope available, then you can um, put the lengths in the cords.

The reason that we need to lengthen the cords with these strap extenders is that when you have a yellow spring off with the blue, when you have a yellow spring and the headrest up, you need enough rope, enough cord such that the carriage will have room to move in the frame. When you move into a squat, you can see that the carriage is very close to the end of the frame. And if I didn't have the court extenders, I would have run out of carriage, uh, excursion before I ran out of a squat. Okay, so here you are with your feet come, uh, firmly planted shoulder with the part. As you inhale, drive your sitting bones back, bending your elbows, lifting your chest bone and turning your palms up so your chest bone light illuminates the top of the risers. As you push your heels into the ground, draw your hip joints forward and up. Keep your back body active as you rise to your toes, turning your palms outward and your thumbs downward.

One more of these. Inhale sitting bones back, chest bone lifted, shoulders down collarbones wide. All the litany of the huge, the usual, uh, subjects. Now you just saw what could happen. Panic there. You can see that I got a little bit low cause I was so fascinated with the word litany. I thought, isn't that clever? Isn't that clever? But I got too low and was pulling too hard and I, the carriage almost jumped the track. Don't do that.

It's a sure indication that if you get fascinated with yourself, the universal just bites you in the butt. Don't screw up like that. Okay? Keep the carriage in the track. Keep the carriage down and aim the sitting bones back [inaudible] and then come forward and up, aiming your hip joints forward and up and turn your palms down. Now we'll both swivel to the right. Okay, so that we're on a diagonal here with the center of the pubic bone aiming towards the right side. As you inhale, bend both knees, bending your elbows, lifting your chest bone, and come on down. Steering your knees over your toes. I'm a little close to the foot bar here.

Here we go. Now pull out your heels. Plant your big toes. Turning your palms outward and your thumbs downward. I'm about overpowered here. Come on back body on the left side. Get up, lower your heels, then both knees. Collarbones. Why? Lifting your chest phone, lifting your gaze, illuminating this stag and all bring your hip joints forward and up.

It keeps some awareness in your back body or you too. We'll go hurdling through the risers. Change to the new side. Here you are on the new diagonal, both feet and everything else. Turning on this stag and I'll inhale to bend your knees, turning your palms upward, your collarbones wide. Come on down. Make your way up.

Turning your palms outward. Thumbs downward. Rise to your toes, lower both heels, drawing your left shoulder blade in or towards your spine. Bending both knees and bring yourself forward and up. Thumbs down. Red Palms outwards. No, it's external rotation, so take a wide base with a reasonable amount of external rotation. It's squat time, bending your knees, turning your palms outward, aiming your hip joints, your sitting bones right on down, pressing into your heels, accessing your external rotation and rise to your toes.

Okay. Inhale to bend. Ideally your heels and your two sitting bones will be in the same line with each other and you've done enough preparation so you can might be able to do that. Change. Now to the diagonal to the right, I think I'm going to straddle this foot bar, bending both knees, bending your elbows. Inhale, second position. Grom plea a coming right up, palms outward, thumbs, downward chest bone upwards, bending your knees wide, so from your sitting bones actually from your hip joints and your external rotators. They are active, active, active, active, active, last stag and all this coming up.

Now straddling this foot bar just a little bit in hailing. Ben Sitting bones widen, exhaling sitting bones, narrow collar bones widen, measure sitting bones narrow. Once again, inhale to band wide squat. Exhale to come up. Chest bone lifts and eliminates proof. Exhale done with that.

Take the carriage all the way home and it's time for standing. Standing variations of side splits. For this one we'll use a blue spring off with the yellow and we'll tuck the kickstand of the shoulder of the foot bar in. I've never heard it called a kickstand either. I just can't think of another name for it at the moment. Alright, so stand on the platform and then stand on the carriage. It's useful that the head rest is up and you'll be able to get a grip with your big toes just over the inside edge of the, of the carriage and the inside edge of the platform.

We'll do five different orientations and two variations per orientation. Okay. You've been warned, bending both knees, arms across your torso, keeping your knees bent as you inhale. It's as if your right ear could listen in the direction of your left knee. Exhale to swing your torso to vertical and now rotate around the central axis, which you were well prepared to do. Both knees extended. Now in this same orientation, it's a standing version of the Palati saw.

It's as if your little finger, you know this story from Ramana, it's as if your little finger could sa off your little toe. That always struck me as being so violent, but it is, it is a, um, a reasonable image because that's where we're headed and come up from here. Now the second orientation, your platform foot will be forward and your carriage foot will be back. Hook your big toes over the edge. Bend both knees. Take a dive right down the middle here. Inhale to listen. Sitting bones wide. Exhale, sitting bones narrow. Inhale, your spine goes right down between the inner thighs.

Both knees extended. And as you slide out, you turn reaching your little finger towards your little toe. Draw back with your right sitting bone and to come to vertical. And then the other way, I'm having a hard time getting a good ground force with my right heel. That may be, I just found it [inaudible] and come to upright.

Now Upright, get up right. Okay, so now the carriage foot comes forward and the platform foot goes back. Your big toes are over the edge and both knees are bent. Inhaling your ears listening towards your left knee. Both sitting bones are wide. Drawing the left sitting bone back. Exhale to come all the way to vertical. Inhale, shoulders descend. The usual story, the collarbones widen and the chest bone lifts extending both knees. Now both arms wide turn.

So it's, hmm, what is it here? There could be a little bit of lateral flection because the more the carriage moves, the more your toe moves away from you, so that's understandable if you have some lateral flection on that motion. Lateral flection of the spine and the other side. In this case, your, the foot to which you're turning is stable. It's stationary so there's no lag.

There's less lateral flection there. So we've had three orientations with the toes aiming straight ahead. Now we'll take [inaudible]. Now we'll take a pivot towards the back foot. Now you're facing the diag and all such that your center of your pubic bone is aiming to the corner of the frame here and bending both knees.

It's ocean view time for us. Inhale, keeping an even amount of abduction, exhaling to swing your chest bone. Light up. Pride moving your pelvis over the head of your femurs, steering your knees wide over your third toes. Pelvis comes up, arms reach out, drawing from the center of your chest, bone out through your middle fingers. Inhale to rotate. Where's that foot? It keeps going further away and swing all the way up.

Inhale to rotate and reach. Exhale to come up. So we've faced one diagonal. Now we'll face other diagonal staying on this side, your feet or finding a good ground force. A good connection there. Both knees bend.

Inhale to listen right down in the middle. Both knees equally bent. Exhale to come up right in. Hey hell to rotate. Widening your sitting bones driving your left sitting bone back and come up and sweep from the center of your chest bone out through your fingertips, your fingernails reach and come up right under.

Sorry. And come up. Now it's time to change to the new side. Both knees bent. Get a grip with your big toes over the edge. That's right.

Here we go. We'll be turning um, towards the left. First Norris towards your left. Me Inhale to Ben going forward. Exhale to come up, right all the way to vertical and then the other side over and under. Both knees extend both arms wide from the center of your chest.

Bone will turn towards the carriage. Now rotate towards the moving foot and come back in and rotate towards the stationary foot towards your left and come in. Bring your left foot forward and your right foot back. Get a grip with your big toes. Both knees bent. I was really inconsistent. We will turn to the right now. I made a mistake previously.

Turning towards your right inner thigh, drawing your left sitting bone back and come to vertical. Left sitting bone continues to draw back as you turn towards your left inner thigh and come up pride. Both knees extended both arms wide, diving towards your right foot, which happens to be towards the back left sitting bone draws back and come all the way. Vertical of left sitting bone still draws back, so the sitting bone that goes with the forward foot, that's the one that draws back. Now careful on this transition. Such one foot comes forward and the forward foot comes back.

Both knees bend, hail going towards the carriage, towards the risers. Exhale to come to vertical, sitting bones towards your heels and sitting bones up and wide behind you. Right sitting bone draws back and come to vertical. Both arms. Why inhaling diving over such that your left hand reaches towards the outer aspect of your right foot and to come up right.

Moving your pelvis over the head of your femurs, your rights sitting bone, draw back and come up. Now we have done three orientations this way. Yes, make a pivot to your left so that your toes are aiming towards the ocean. Bending both knees, going towards the carriage leg. First. Inhale to bend over your femur heads and come up right. The light from the top of your head goes up towards the ceiling and now eliminates the wall in front of you up towards the ceiling. Again, both knees extending, shooting out from your collarbones through your middle fingers.

Inhale to reach. Exhale to come up right all the way. Vertical. Inhale to rotate around the central accents and come up. Now we're going to stay facing the side. Bring your left foot forward, your right foot back, and we're facing this new diagonal, which is, there you go. Both knees, bend, inhaling, steering your knees wide over your third toes. Exhale to come up. Inhale, knees wide sitting bones. Why?

Exhale to come up both knees, extended chest bone lifts, and the light from your chest bone makes a big arc to shine up and back. Exhale to come to a vertical, reaching out from the center of your chest, bone out through your fingers. Inhale to dive over and coming up. So we finished. Now with this particular standing aside, legs splits with the five different orientations and it's time for a squat standing on the carriage. Let's get ready for that. Climb off just a moment and we will take the uh, extend or straps off of the loops because these slightly elongated courts will be just fine. For our purposes, for the standing squats on the reformer, we're going to stay with the current blue spring. Actually, I'm going to move my blue spring to the lighter setting and a were you Norris who were there already? So good. Yeah. Okay. Climb aboard the carriage.

Give yourself a wide base for security with your feet and take your, uh, the loops around your wrists, bending both knees now and bending your elbows. Come to a squat that you can sustain and with straightening your elbows. Now we'll drive back from the posterior shoulder. We'll take four of these two and three and four. Now elbows bend for your triceps.

One end to end, aiming your gaze at the base of the risers, turning towards your right, pulling back with your right elbow, planting your left big toe as you rotate to the right. Then turning towards your left rotation. Marvelous. Steering your knees wide over your toes. We'll keep this orientation and both knees extended. Come right up to stand and get your new center of gravity a little bit higher.

Now lifting and widening between the shoulder blades, triceps, 110 [inaudible] for rotating to your right. Stand firmly on your left big toe so you make a spiral from your left big toe to the bottom of your right shoulder blade. And now the spiral is from your right big toe to the bottom of your left shoulder blade. Turning your palm out and turning your palm up. Now change to the new orientation such that you're on this diagonal. Bending both knees collarbones wide.

Come down and pull back with your arms, both elbow straight. Try Sir. Rotating to your right and rotating to your left. Stand your ground with your knees over your toes. Similar arms standing with both knees, extended pull back, chest bone lifts as you draw your shoulder blades down and slightly towards your spine, pulling with your elbows. Bending two and three. Yeah, and for rotating to your right.

Then rotating to your left. We'll finish on this next diagonal so your center of your ankles will be right over the diag and I'll have the carriage and Ben. Both knees come down to a squat level. You can sustain and pull your arms back. Probably over the last a few repetitions you've been adjusting the volume of your device thinking you must have lost the soundtrack. Elbows bent now, but no, that was just me being quiet because mostly I can move and talk all the time.

But on this standing balance turned to your left Norris on this standing balance, I have to focus a lot on the balance at hand. So I got kind of quiet. [inaudible] [inaudible] rotating to your right. When you turn, it's your thoracic spine, thoracic spine, and your ribs, and your shoulders and your head, neck and eyes. Come to standing. Now plant the soul. Self your big toes and pull back with straight arms.

Two [inaudible] the light from the back of your brain illuminating the ceiling. Elbows pull back. Hmm. Rotating toward your lef. Beautiful. Turning your ribs, palm up, palm down, palm up, palm down.

Palmer last round, turning towards your right. Aim Your right Asi s towards the left as if your pelvis could turn opposite your thoracic spine. Oh, we're so happy to have made it this far. Thank you so much for being with us. I look forward to hearing from you and we'll see you always on Pele's anytime. Thank you, Norris. Bye Bye.

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Comments

1 person likes this.
Elizabeth: I always enjoy seeing so much of this spiral work. Obviously great for whole body integration and tensegrity. Would you do any of the first half of the lower body for people who. Red hip replacements pre-surgery to get their slings to better support them? I also see this as be beneficial for people with shoulder issues. Perhaps for people just starting out there is a modification to standing right on the carriage? Tall kneeling instead? So human of you to acknowledge, that in a moment of not paying attention, how we can lose out integrity quickly, no matter how long you do this work. It gets the best of us. Thank you Norris for showing how a mans body can relate to these exercises. Not just for women. It's about the human body.
Elizabeth,
Thanks a million for sharing your outstanding knowledge and creativity! It's one of the best spine and hip opening sequences I've ever experienced.
Thank you Lynn for your deep understanding. Even though research proves the value of standing for all aspects of health, we have the responsibility to prepare our clients to move safely in standing and to provide functional, fulfilling sequences when standing is not an option. As you suggest, many of these standing sequences can be practiced in quadruped, sitting, high kneeling and standing with support of a barre or poles.
The sequence I teach in the PA class is a program for one of my clients. We started working together prior to his left hip replacement, continued following his left hip replacement and continue now to manage his degenerative right hip.So yes, these sequences can be responsibly adapted for clients who are anticipating hip replacement, and progressing following hip replacement.
So happy this class works for you Victoria! I have been to your studio, Body Harmonics in Toronto, and would love to visit again the week of July 11 when I come to Toronto to take a course from Jaap van der Wal.
It is certainly the ultimate challenge since the whole body needs to be controlled the whole time. I wonder if anyone but a former or current dancer can accomplish that.
That said I appreciate the work and thank you for it.
I appreciate your concern Copycat. Since Pilates is a superb practice for safely developing motor control, many clients can develop the skill to enjoy and benefit from at least some of these sequences. The key is in creating an order of exercises that provides the client with experiential building blocks and confidence. This Pilates Anytime class is an example of an exercise order that works well for my clients, the vast majority of whom have no dance background. No matter what the client background, safety and functional benefit are always paramount.
Thank you Elizabeth. I always become wiser with your classes
I look forward to meeting you in person and learning more from you, Elizabeth!
Myla P
It would be wonderful if these exercises could be translated to other kinds of equipment that don't have risers or different weight springs like Graz equipment
Myla, it's likely that you will be able to practice thiese exercises on Reformers other than Balanced Body. Most likely this will require more strength and control. When the user interface has fewer degrees of freedom/adjustability the mover has to have more degrees of freedom and skill. An analogy with mobile phones mightv work here. All mobile phones support voice calls. In addition to that , each type of phone offers different features. All the best to you!
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