Your Delicious Spine

Hello, hello. Welcome Everybody. Hi, hi, hi. (claps) Did you miss me last week? I still miss doing this last Friday. Like oh, what am I gonna do? (laughs) Anyway, welcome, welcome, welcome.

Today's class is about feeling delicious in your spine. And also, I'm going to let you know now that cueing might seem very different or non-Pilates like whatever you wanna call it, but like I had mentioned on my first class, PA has given me so much creative leeway. It's been really fun for me. So I hope you will enjoy today's class. That being said, I have a little tiny bit of explanation I'd like to share with you.

So this is... You guys still maybe remember this, can you see it? I did pick it to match my outfit. (laughs) This is a slinky, yeah. And this is how I'd like you to envision your spine today from tailbone to crown of head. And in fact, not just the spine, but your arms. You have your slinky arms, and you have your slinky legs, yeah.

So the sensation in your imagination is that you are elongating through the appendages powered from the elongation of your spine. And because I know you know your anatomy, you all have a snake. A snake that lives inside of your slinky spine, right? So the spinal cord. So every movement we will be creating through the spine is going to affect your spinal cord and your nervous system.

This cord floats in fluid, the spinal fluid, which is the same fluid that your brain is floating in, your cerebral fluid. So it's all connected. The coils will represent your vertebra, in between the coils represent your discs. At the discs you know all your little nerve roots emerge. So again, this strongly affects your nervous system and I'll be sharing a little bit more about that as we move along.

The breathing, the breathing is primarily in through the nose and out through the mouth. There are three kind of specific breaths you will hear me breathing. One is sort of a percussive breath. It's a sniff and a blow, for lack of a better way to explain it. Something like, (sniffs) (exhales) (sniffs) (exhales) like that, okay?

One is like you are under the water like a big manta ray. And that's a manta ray breath which is a long inhale and a long exhale. And then the third one is sort of like, (exhales) like a squeeze, like a deep contraction. And you do use the abdominal musculature to really press all the air out of your lungs, all right? These breaths all have different effects on the body.

Just remember there is also space at the top and the bottom of your breath. So kind of like, there's like a swing set, yeah. You know, a swing. It goes, (imitates swing sounds). So when you really notice your breath, we're not breathing, (pants) (laughs) of course, unless we're running from danger or you're at the finish line.

There is a little pause at the top and the bottom, and you wanna languish in those spaces, okay? All right, so let's begin, and the first thing I'd like you to do is we're just gonna do a little tapping of our body, a tapping of our body. So your wrists are loose, you're gonna use the finger pads and just tap the top of your head because these movements we're going to do... When you're on your face be very careful, and I'm gonna super expedite this because this normally is a long little process. This process is somewhat of a detoxification, okay?

So we're opening the structure, the physical structure. And you see how I'm kinda rocking my body back and forth, so I would suggest you do that too versus it's just kinda rigid, you know. So let yourself just rock any way, there's no really particular way you should do this. There is, but there isn't. And I know with Pilates work, it's precision, it's control, it's flowing movement, it's find your core, and all of that kind of thing, I'm very aware of that.

With this is... We can use this. (indistinct) needs this influence to session today. Get your lower back. (sighs) Let your head hang over, go up your back as much as you can. This really is feeling the energy move through your body and beyond your structure, okay? Beyond your structure. (exhales) Okay. I think that's good.

Oh, you know what? Let's get the back of our neck. So you're gonna get here, dig in that meaty part right next to the vertebra, you can feel where the erector spinae are, you really... (exhales) And balance your a little bit. You might find some little crunchies in there. (breathes deeply) Okay, shake, shake shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, shake. (exhales) Okay.

Now I'm not sure what kind of chair that you are on, but if you're on a regular chair that has a back, I'm gonna suggest you turn it so you're on the corner. And here's the reason why, when you sit forward and you can feel the edge of where your buttock meets the top of your hamstring back of your thigh, you want your hamstring free and hanging off the chair in the ideal. Your legs are about 90 degrees apart, if you look down, you can see your toes very clearly. And that's because we are going to be rocking through the pelvis a little bit, and this allows the pelvis to have more freedom at the hip joint. If your thigh meat, (laughs) your thigh musculature is hanging up, all right.

Also in the ideal, your hips are a little higher than your knees. If you're very, very tall, and you're sitting kind of like so, so that your hips might even be lower than your knees, I'm gonna strongly encourage you to get something so you're up just a little bit higher. You're gonna be much more comfortable. All righty? Okay, (sighs) you guys ready? Okay, let's widen our legs and let's take a big breath.

So we're just grabbing this energy around us, inhaling, press down in the legs a little bit, (inhales), and then as you exhale, lace your fingers, and put your hands behind your neck versus your head. If your shoulders are uncomfortable, this is your option. Okay, we're going to take a big side bend to the right, inhaling, opening the left side of the body, press your head back a little bit, exhale and come up to the center. (exhales) And then again, inhaling. So the sensation, yes, you could call it stretching. (breathes deeply) Let's call it yawning. (yawns) Yawn, open the side. And up the center, and over enough that you feel little weight on your foot.

You feel it? Yeah. (exhales) This time when you go to your right, press into your right foot, and notice how that opens the left side. Same thing over here, feel how that opens up your right side. Now intention with your mind to breathe in to your left lung, (inhales) and feel all the spaces between your ribs open up, and even between the vertebra, you have that slinky visual, right? (inhales) Very good. We're gonna take a little half circle.

So we'll side bend over to the right, inhale, curl, flex your spine forward, heavy head, and then you're side bending over on your left, and bring your body up. (breathes deeply) Just nice and easy. The whole point of this, today's class, again, is to feel good. It's not for perfection, it's not to get it right, it's really to enjoy the fact you can move your body, you have a body, it's healthy, how great is that! (breathes deeply) Good, do you feel and see your own slinky in your own mind? All righty. Over and exhale. Yes, slightly engage your abdominal, and side, and center.

Let's just do one more. (breathes deeply) Great! Okay. We're going to do something that looks like we're saying yes with our whole body. So we will curl back, okay? So you're a little bit toward your tailbone, slightly contract your abdominals, and then breathe in and arch your spine, lift the elbow straight up versus to the side. And then we exhale and curl down. (exhales) And we inhale and we arch up, take your time. (inhales) Feel your breath moving your body, (exhales) and coming up. (inhales) So I'm rolling my pelvis toward my tailbone, and then I'm rolling my pelvis toward my pubic bone.

So remember all that tapping we did at the beginning, (breathes deeply) breathe with your entire body through the movement, (breathes deeply) as though you have a thousand tiny straws embedded in your structure, they all are taking air in here, (inhales) and blowing it out. (exhales) One more set here, (inhales), and up. Great! Lower your arms, I have my palms toward you or slightly rotated out and just slightly rotate in. And we're gonna go just a hair more percussively and you might be asking yourself, well, but you haven't said anything about your legs, Cath, and you're moving your legs. Yes, I am. So what's happening is on this rollback, I'm coming to parallel, I slightly press without hunching, and then I'll pivot open, and I spiral and spin my arms out, okay. Now if moving the legs in sync with your torso and your arms is putting your brain into an overload explosion, it's perfectly fine just leave your legs still in that slightly turned out position, nothing bad will happen, (chuckles) it's fine.

It's a lot at first to feel this because everything is moving, every part of you is moving, even the internal organs, right? (breathes deeply) As you nod your head, your brain hemisphere slightly come forward in the skull, and then slightly back. Who would have thought about that? One more here. (breathes deeply) We are open, now we're gonna grab that energy out there, you know really reach to the sidewalls, (inhales) and then give yourself a big hug, let your elbows rest, and wiggle your spine. Wiggle your kidneys, wiggle that snake in your spine, (exhales) breathe your air out. And then reopen, inhale like you're saying hello to the world. (inhales) And then the other arm on top, exhale, and now you're saying, Oh, I love me. (laughs) Say it, I love me, yeah.

And open, spread your fingers even, the webbing, exhale, (exhales) exhale all that air, feel the abdominals work a little bit. One more time, (inhales) and exhale. (exhales) Very good, okay. Pull your elbows open like you're becoming a big bird, (inhales) exhale across the wrists. (exhales) Again. (inhales) Can you create or imagine creating a rubber band-like quality, (exhales) not just through your tissue but through your bones, (exhales) through the tendons, (inhales) your ligaments, all your connective tissue, (inhales) (exhales) keep going. (inhales) (exhales) Now with the wings opening, double breath, two breaths. (inhales twice) Exhale. (exhales) Again, (inhales twice) exhale. (exhales) (inhales twice) I'm still flexing and extending the spine, (inhales twice) I'm still moving my legs. (exhales) (inhales twice) One more, (exhales) (inhales twice) great! Come in, and now take your right arm up on a little diagonal, the left arm is on the opposite diagonal, and arch, and look lovingly at that thumb, and grab it in. (exhales) And the other side, (inhales) exhale. (exhales) So the idea here a little bit, (inhales) is that you can feel the movement traveling on the breath.

(exhales) (inhales) (exhales) This is really great for your respiratory musculature, (exhales) right? (inhales) (exhales) Breathing in from the base of your spine, every direction. One more, (exhales) (inhales) exhale. You're in a little curl rounded arms, and breathe in, and open to the side, arch, look upward, exhale. (exhales) The arms are just going from the side to just in front of your shoulders. (exhales) (inhales) (exhales) (inhales) (exhales) (inhales) (exhales) (inhales) (exhales) One more. (exhales) (inhales) You're arching, lace your fingers everybody, pull yourself up, press down in your legs, pull your body up, yes you're scrunching your shoulders, make yourself narrow and wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, and then explode up. (exhales) Lace it the uncomfortable way, unfamiliar way. And again, using your legs to go down, but the arms to pull up like someone's grabbing your wrist.

Feel the organs get more space to do their function, and explode. (exhales) Now we're gonna swim. (inhales) (exhales) (inhales) As you look up, look beyond the ceiling, look through that ceiling. Look, open your face, pierce with your fingers. Two more. (inhales) (exhales) Last one. (inhales) (exhales) Open your arms forward, palms are facing the front, close your eyes, see your slinky, see your snake, imagine a thousand tiny straws, take a long relaxed inhale, and a longer relaxed exhale. (exhales) Now I want you to do these manta ray breaths at your own pace. You'll hear me breathe, (exhales) but you do the pace on your own. Keep going.

(exhales) Breathe with your bones, breathe with your organs. (exhales) Now just rest. (exhales) Okay, good. All righty, just rock a little bit here. So if you get a little lightheaded at all, or dizzy, just slow your breath down for yourself, okay?

You'll be fine, it's sometimes you're not used to all this way we oxygenate, it could be part of your detox. And also the detox isn't always a physical thing, sometimes it can be an energetic or an emotional thing too and you may not have it all happening in this 60 minutes, it might continue through your day or into your evening when you have your dreams, so just know. Again, this is super powerful, and it really affects your structure, your energy bodies, not just your physical bodies, on another level. It's a good thing, right? It's always good to have a letting go, isn't it? (laughs) All righty, so we're gonna do a little corkscrewy-like movement.

You'll think of it as rotating or twisting perhaps, but we want the pelvis to move. So you are allowing... You're staying pretty level on your sit bones but as you push one knee and one hip bone forward, you'll see there's sort of a diagonal there and then the other side. So I'm just going to emphasize that with my hands, one hand slides to the knee, one hand slides to the hipbone. The hand that slides to the hipbone, you kinda tell that hip bone, can you kinda turn and go around.

And can you kinda turn and go around, and then let your belly button turn, and your chest turn, and your neck turn, your face, and then your eyes. (exhales) And now we're gonna breathe out, (exhales) with that percussive breath, (exhales) not pushing, (exhales) just allow your body to arrive wherever it arrives. Can you sharpen your gaze, but keep your face relaxed. Keep your tongue relaxed. Use your eyes to go on a little, slightly diagonal, upward point of focus. (exhales) And feel that little swing set suspension air, (exhales) right?

(exhales) Yeah, let it feel good. (exhales) One more time. (exhales) Yes. Hold your hands in front of you, I'm just holding something like so, all right. And just kinda let your arms swing. If you had a little weight like about a one pound weight or so you'd kinda feel the sensation of momentum.

So now I'm a little bit bending my elbow and imagine just a little chop, a little chop. And I'm going sit on the sit bone, and now, I hope you can see, I'm creating a little bit of the shape of the infinity sign. Let your eyes go to the side, (exhales) and your ribs a little bit. (exhales) Okay, now we're gonna go up and around and chop. And up and around and chop.

So it's a little side bend, I come up, I'm arching, my elbows are bent, my eyes are up, I side bend and... Now your body is probably asymmetric, it may not feel the same on both sides, and you just let it go to wherever it goes to. 'Cause remember I talked about the spinal cord and the spinal fluid, so all that tissue now is hydrating, it's getting more spongy. The bursa sacs we're squeezing all over the body are releasing their fluid, the joints are getting lubricated, your organs are slipping and sliding. A couple more.

(exhales) Now what if we stood up and we did it a little bigger. (exhales) Your arms moving because of your spine. Let your knees just bend naturally, they'll just do it. Look over yonder, look beyond your room. (exhales) One more on each side everybody.

(exhales) Good, good, good. Got you off your butt too, right? Your butt probably was getting a little sore on the chair. Okay, we're back down. Yeah, we're back down, and I'd like you to lace your fingers, keep your elbows bent, yeah, if it's available to you for your hips, open the legs pretty wide, be sure your feet are beyond your knees, and kinda pull on your fingers. When you pull on your fingers, do you feel your triceps a little bit?

Yes? (clears throat) Excuse me. So press into your right foot so the left ribs open, dive your elbow down, inhale, (inhales) exhale, and come up. (exhales) So we kinda did this at the beginning, right? But we had our hands behind the head. Now we're using the arms, away to the arms a little bit, present to the foot that you're bending towards, intend with your mind to inhale into the lung that has more space. (inhales) (exhales) And you see how there's secret oblique work here. (laughs) (exhales) Opening up those ribs, they just get stuck you know. (exhales) One more on each side. (inhales) (exhales) Last one.

Oh, good, good, good. Put your right hand down on the chair behind your buttock, take your left hand, you're pushing the ceiling, I mean you see my arm is straight. Now what's gonna happen here, you may wanna watch this one, I'm pushing down to the legs, it's almost like I'm gonna come off of my chair. And then as I exhale, the arm is gonna just fall, and rebound off my ribs. So I'm kind of doing this (thumps), (imitates drum sound) sound like a drum, like you're a good watermelon.

Inhale, you're not hitting yourself, (inhales) it's just coming down and rebounding off. Breathe in, push down with the legs, push down with your back hand, and, (exhales) (thumps) and you'll know when you get it because you'll hear the sound, (thumps) it has a more depth to it. (inhales) (exhales) (thumps) Your hand is soft, it fits really conveniently around the roundness of your ribs. Wake it up, drum. (thumps) You know if any of you drum or you have a child that drums, when you hit the drumhead, you know there's that little rebound, that's what you're creating, right? Because we know the rib area needs a lot of elasticity and mobility for breath.

(inhales) (exhales) (thumps) That's it, one more. (inhales) (exhales) (thumps) Good. And just sit and notice that. Notice that, right? Now this next one is gonna make you laugh, (laughs) it always makes me laugh. We're continuing this little bit of thumping, and you're gonna see why in a second.

So my arms are here a little bit in front of me, I'm going to rebound this inner tricep off of the ribs that you were just thumping on. And the breath expels, I'm already breathing, (breathes deeply) but it's the thump that kinda pushes the air out. So we're not going (whizzes). (laughs) Still makes me laugh. So that's one, (exhales) two is, (exhales) three is, (exhales) four is inhaling, (inhales), (exhales) okay?

So the movement is one, two, three, four. It is exhale, exhale, exhale, inhale. And the C is a bone toss. So the feeling you wanna have here is like, I won the lottery. (laughs) We won the game. (laughs) I could have a V8 (laughs) or whatever. Okay, got it? All right, we'll start slow.

If you can alternate the arm that's on top per set, you get an extra point. Here we go. Ready? (exhales) (inhales) (exhales) (inhales) (exhales) Press in your legs. (inhales) (exhales) (inhales) (exhales) Loose bones. (inhales) (exhales) (inhales) (exhales) (inhales) (exhales) (inhales) (exhales) (inhales) (exhales) (inhales) (exhales) (inhales) (exhales) One more. (exhales) (inhales) Okay do a check in, feel your buzz? Yes. You've had the Kool-Aid now. (laughs) Okay. Let's do this. Remember the infinity sign?

Make that infinity sign around your sit bones, and around toward the pubic bone, back toward your tailbone. So you're tracing around those bones you're sitting on. So the pelvis is moving, the hip joint is moving, the sacrum is moving, the lower back is moving, your whole spine, (breathes deeply) your spinal cord, (breathes deeply) your spinal fluid, (breathes deeply) your brain, (breathes deeply) your organs. How big should you do this? You only do this as big as it's comfortable for you.

All the movements we do, okay? They don't have to be big and crazy, you know. As the demonstrator I do them probably to nearly my fullest capacity but there's so much power even in the small movement. And even when it's sort of microscopic, yeah. Use your breath, (breathes deeply) slide your hands a little bit, let it be delicious.

You're by yourself, so hey, well, hey, hey, hey. (laughs) Good, good, good. Take your fingers back over your head, remember the tractioning? All right, now we're gonna move everything. So we're going to side bend, inhale, let the arms come down, curl back, side bend to the left, inhale and arch up and over. You're taking it all the way around.

Massaging your internal organs, or maybe the organs are moving, and that's what's creating your outer movement. Can you feel the breath move through your whole structure? One more time. (breathes deeply) Change and let your neck and head go. (breathes deeply) Last one. (breathes deeply) Stay here.

This time you will inhale. You will inhale and let your arms just sort of float up on their own to wherever it feels like it's effortless to hold them. It could be anywhere from about usually here, here. If you wanna leave your arms down right now that's fine too. So here we go.

Deep breath, lifting and floating the arms, feel. (exhales) Now we're doing the long manta ray breath. Allow there to be a little bit of a internal sway. Your outer body might sway a little bit like that, like a gentle breeze. Inhaling, pulling in from the universe, exhale, letting go. (exhales) Again. (inhales) (exhales) One more. (breathes deeply) Bring your arms down.

We're gonna use the breath to represent receiving and letting go. Curl back, pull up, inhale, (inhales) exhale, arch, and open your hands forward. Pull back, (breathes deeply) let your lower back and spine change shape, reverse it. (breathes deeply) You can lift your arms higher up if it feels good for you. (breathes deeply) Okay, that's the move. Now personalize it. Pull up something inside of your being you're letting go of, (exhales) that you know that it's better for you that you let go of.

(exhales) You've been meaning to let go of it, (exhales) here's your opportunity. Breathe it out through your breath. (exhales) Now you have room to receive. So what you've been waiting for, pull it in, (inhales) drop into your own mind. Just in case you didn't let go of everything, let's do it one more time. If you're like, what I'm gonna let go of?

Fear, (exhales) worry, (exhales) lack. (exhales) And now receive, what do you want? Love, (inhales) health, (inhales) peace. (inhales) Gather all that energy around you, again pull it into your bubble. (inhales) Really reach up, make a little more room for a little more air, and then right down that center, spinal cord receive. (inhales) Close your eyes, let your arms hang, and just be. All right. Very good. We're gonna go on a roller coaster now, a little roller coaster movement.

I always turn that direction, lemme turn this way. Yeah, so you will arch your spine, there's what we call an oppositional feel here where my elbow is pulled back but my heart slightly goes forward enough, and then like a wave at the ocean, oh like wouldn't you love to be in Hawaii? Maybe some of you are watching from Hawaii. And you fall forward, you go about halfway. Be very aware of your neck is not overcraning.

And then like the waves in Hawaii, they warn you about the undertow. The undertow, I'm pressing in my legs, the undertow rolls you back, and then you roll up, yeah? So like a nice, slow roller coaster ride, (exhales) pivot your feet, press, and the undertow rolls you back, (inhales) breathe with your spine. (exhales) Your eyes are about 45 degrees, and they graze the wall, and then they graze the floor. (inhales) One more here forward. (exhales) Place your hands at the top of your right thigh, gaze in the right diagonal, pull your belly button over your knee, look beyond the room, press into that right foot. Oh, how it opens the left side of your lower back.

(breathes deeply) Let the bones fall. (breathes deeply) Let the bones fall. Take it over the left leg, same thing. (breathes deeply) Why I say let the bones fall is because sometimes we overcontract the muscles, trying to make the shape we think in our minds it's supposed to look like, and you actually stiffen your body. (breathes deeply) So we talked about it being with the bones, yeah? Okay, close your legs, and remember earlier we did the little corkscrewy movement, so that will happen here just a little bit. Lace your fingers and pull yourself really high, like you're gonna pull yourself out of yourself. Arch a little, you're looking up, keep the arch but lower your arms, and the palms are against each other, and you feel your hand on the outside of your right thigh.

Take a breath. As you exhale you're sliding down the outside of your right thumb, pressing against my leg a little bit. I allow the pelvis to slightly rotate. So I'm turning to the right, but I wanna look with my chest and head forward 'cause I wanna see you. Roll your spine up, lift up, get your spine really long, arch your back, especially that lower back, inhale, (inhales) and then slide breathing out. (exhales) Let that left hip and right...

Sorry, right hip and left... Right hip and right knee go forward a little bit. Come all the way up, reach and arch, lower the arms and exhale. (exhales) And come up, reach up, up, up, up, arch your back and exhale. (exhales) Yeah. Good, good, good. Okay, stretch one of your legs forward, I'm doing the right, but you can do what you want, hands at the top of your thigh, breath out, and mentally push your energy back down into your legs. Switch, spread your toes. (exhales) We're just bending over just a little bit to feel the torso weight into the arms and onto the legs just a bit. (exhales) (chuckles) I live right by a railroad track, I live on the right side of the track, and so it does blow.

It makes me feel like I'm on the (indistinct). Exhale. (exhales) One more, (exhales) good, good, good, okay. (stamps feet) All right, let us stand up for a second and wiggle. You see what I'm doing? I'm just alternating the knee, okay? Keep your feet flat, so you can start out slow, lemme stand here, and then the rest of you is just hanging.

Oh, I know. You know this is like if you're on a vibration plate, you know those power plates? And then you wanna go really fast, so everything is jiggling, jiggling, jiggling, and breathe out. (exhales) Come on. Come on, who can go the fastest? Stop. Do you feel that vibration? Cool, right? Do it one more time.

Breathing out. In case we just have any little tiny bits of residue left, we need to get rid of. (exhales) And rest. Good, good, good. Okay, you good? All righty. Let's do a little bit of this yes movement on our hands with the chair, adding a little bit of our leg. Oh sorry, change of plan, but I wanna open up your hip flexor quad area.

I think if you were with me on my first class, which I think is visible now on the site, this is to open up your hip flexor and quad area. So you're sitting on your chair with only one buttock. That side you have to use your hand to help you keep your balance, and then your back leg, knee bent, thigh straight down from your hip. So depending on how you are today, some of you may already feel that lengthening they already feel that lengthening sensation. And then what we're doing is we're imagining creating a circular energy between the top of the head and the back foot, on the back heel specifically.

So we will end up kind of in this round shape. But to get there, we have to build it, okay? So let your knee be really heavy, that's the outside knee, support your lower back either with the fingers down. If you have the wrist mobility, the fingers are up, and you see the circle that's created by the arm, all right? Look straight ahead, already press down into the back foot and the front heel, inhale like you're gonna almost kinda little bit stand up off your chair, puff the chest up, look up the wall a little bit, if it's available you start to reach through the back heel and then exhale. (exhales) So we're pulsing like a sea anemone.

Inhale, (inhales), imagine that you're in the ocean with all the other people on the class and we're all pulsing together, (inhales) doing that same movement, but still individual. Inhale, inhale. (inhales) Yes, I'm slightly firing up the buttock of my back leg. Yes still, so to support the hip joint I'm not just kind of yanking the front of my hip open, I have to do a little work in the booty, breathe in, maximize, and then release. Turn around, organize yourself, you know how we can feel our bodies are so asymmetric so allow that to be, just allow that to be information. Here we go.

Engage a little bit of the abdominal structure, you are already up slightly, and indicate inhale. So the breath, feel it inflate your body, that's what's creating the movement. Remember I showed you that slinky at the beginning. Can you imagine your back leg, especially like that slinky, and the snake inside is the bone marrow, teeming with life and reaching through. (exhales) One more. (exhales) First side, one more time, okay?

Your choice is to do it the same way, the same way. Or if you'd like to and you're comfortable adding the arm, the arm movement is part of the spine movement. Be very aware that when you reach the arm back, it's not reaching on its own, it's because of the movement of your torso. For those of you who are like, oh (indistinct) for the first one was already enough, I get it. You don't even have to really back bend, you could just breathe in and just live, fill your heart, and up and down.

Just that pulsation of the breath is moving your spine. It really, really is, okay? All right. So you have a lot of choices here. Do what is the most... That just is the best for you today, right?

Here we go. And inhale and exhale, (exhales) pulsing, so you pandiculate like an animal. It reaches into a stretch, and then it just completely releases. We're getting one more, here's where you get to go maximum if you want, inhale, inhale, inhale, and (exhales). Little rush, rush, rush rush.

Wasn't that a band from the '70s? Who was alive in the '70s? (laughs) I don't think that Julie and Nicole were, but maybe they were. (laughs) Ready? Oh, the arm. (laughs) Inhale. So see again, it's that kinda like I won the lottery, hallelujah! Fill your body with... You know it helps to have some great emotion come over you, some wonderful memory. (inhales) (exhales) Here we go, maximize.

Oh and exhale. (exhales) (sighs) Okay. Now let's do a quick lengthening of the spine. So standing up, puff up your kidneys, puff up your kidneys, and hinge a little back. (breathes deeply) Let your head come between the arms. So this is a long bow, I am not pushing, trying to push my lumbar spine or sacrum upward in a very aggressive way. It's again, the slinky image I gave you at the beginning.

Keep your knees spread, bring your hands a little closer. As you bend your knees and bend the elbows, bend your elbows, but lift your chest. So instead of sinking, we're coming up. Arch, (inhales) heart forward, hands forward, hinge back and blow that lumbar spine up a little bit. Once again, bring your hands a little closer, bend the elbows, arch it, chest forward, careful with your neck, and last set.

(inhales) And (exhales) great! So you can see we're doing the same movement through the spine, that we did at the very beginning, we just happen to be on our feet and our hands. Now we were going to do the same thing, but add our legs. So, (laughs) I'm kinda updating myself here. When I used to teach aerobics in the '80s, you know the days of the leg lifts, well, we would just work and kind of the cue was actually not to move your pelvis too much and just crank on your leg. In this approach, actually the height of your leg is going to be determined by your spine's ability to flex and extend, and your pelvis, which is obviously the end of your spine, to flex and extend, because the hip joint is living in the pelvis.

So continue to think about the slinky, and here's my spine flexing, extending, and then my leg is just a continuation of the spine, all right? Okay, so here we are, we will stand, I'll do the leg that's closer to the screen so you can see. Scrawl your spine first, so flex, easy, and then bring your knee toward you. It's not super tight, all right. So think of it as a garden hose, you don't wanna put a kink in the garden hose.

You feel that shape. Then let's do the spine first, so we'll arch the spine, keep the knee bent. You see I'm bending my standing leg, so the back knee is bent, I'm pulling the chest forward, the leg is bent everybody, the knee is super bent. Keep your knee joint the same. The spine is pulling your knee in, exhale. (exhales) The spine is moving the leg up and back. (exhales) My elbows are bent.

When I am pulling the knee toward my chest, my arms are straight so I can be able to push down. (inhales) Use the breath. My standing leg is straight here, elbows bend, knee bends. (exhales) You should feel your butt a little bit. One more. (inhales) And arch that spine. (exhales) How did you do? Okay? Remember again, 'cause I often feel too, oh I'm not getting my leg very high, it's not about the height, it's the connection of energy here, and the muscular firming quality, that's just the bonus.

(coughs) Excuse me. First side. Sorry, second side. Straight standing leg, straight arms, curl. Just take your time. Then bend your elbows a little bit, bend the standing knee, the spine takes the leg back.

If you can, point your foot. Straight arm, straight leg, breath out, (exhales) (indistinct) and inhale, exhale, extend, back knee super bent, and curl it in, push down in those arms, exhale. (exhales) Long spine everybody. One more, (inhales) and (laughs) (exhales). You got it? I got it. (laughs) First side, now that you know what you're doing, a smidge faster if you want, meaning a little more rhythm to our movement, and exhale.

(inhales) (exhales) (inhales) (exhales) (inhales) (exhales) (inhales) (exhales) Second leg, and (inhales) (exhales) (inhales) (exhales) (inhales) (exhales) (inhales) (exhales) beautiful, beautiful. All righty. We're almost at the finish line, so I'm coming down to the floor, okay, down to the floor, take your legs in this somewhat of a diamond shape. Now, if it's super challenging for you to be on the floor, if you have a towel or something your hips are a little higher, it probably will be helpful. It will probably be helpful.

Remember that roller coaster we did on the chair earlier, we're going to do it here. With the feet in a flex position, when I pull the pelvis forward, I can drag my feet in. You see it, that'll help. Hands are comfortably placed on your lower leg, arch and pull. (exhales) Now press forward with your feet and roll the spine back. (inhales) And (exhales).

Can you feel that little bit of a push-pull sensation? (exhales) (inhales) It doesn't have to be far, some of you, you might be really upright like so, it's totally fine. That fluid in your spine is moving all the way to your brain. (inhales) (exhales) (inhales) (exhales) (inhales) Last one, make it count. (exhales) (inhales) (exhales) Okay. All right. So I'm gonna just talk to (indistinct) 30 more seconds, but after I'm done, you can lie down, put your legs up, and take a rest, okay?

I hope you enjoyed this deliciousness in the spine, thank you so much. We always read the chat after so please feel free to write in anything. My last class is next week, we're working with a physioball, you know, the big ball, and I have some fun stuff for everyone, so I hope you can join in. Make sure you follow me on all the social media platforms. And I so appreciate all of you.

Some of you I know have already joined the tribe with me, I thank you, thank you. And again, big shout out and thank you to the back team that you guys don't see, they help us keep it together. (laughs) All right, bye everybody. Have a wonderful, wonderful day.