Class #502

Range of Motion Exploration

55 min - Class
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Description

Join Meredith for this Intermediate BASI Flow workout focusing on feeling the joy in movement in all ranges of motion. This is a challenging class with smooth transitions and insightful cueing. Enjoy!
What You'll Need: Mat

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Aug 30, 2011
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All right, holding onto the back of the legs, guiding yourself up with your arms and with the muscles that support your spine. Close your eyes and just take a moment to connect your mind and your body. Breathing in and breathing out and as you breathe in and out for just one more moment, feel the contraction and the expansion of the lungs, the movement opening and closing of the rib cage. Feel that as you breathe in the ribs open three dimensionally, the entire trunk expands and as we exhale we just gently support that and we're moving in healing. One more time. As we exhale, we're going to let the pelvis tilt under, drawing back through the ABS, not moving a lot yet just flexing through the lumbar spine. Inhale, lift the spine back up, using the arms as much or as little as you wish to. Exhale, feeling the pelvis move again, enjoying that movement of the lower spine.

Inhaling up and exhale. I am. I haven't seen you for a long time. High and inhaling and exhaling to go back. Let's go a little further this time, allowing the arms so fully straight and go a little deeper into the abdominals and inhale, go forward with the bodies that would curve and then re extend. Exhale, we curve back feeling the movement of the pelvis first, allowing the arms to straighten all the way. Let's go a little lower. Sliding the hands down, the size of the thighs. Breathing in and breathing out from the chest. Forward towards the knees and then length forward and up towards the shins.

Notions, thighs. Exhale round, back, straight and let them slide down the side of the legs in me. I'll exhale. Curl forward first and then send this fine law, lighter and lighter. Each time we extend XL two more times we reach back. Yeah, pausing in your low position. This time we're going to send the arms and exhale. Press the arms down as though you're pushing against resistance. And inhale, they float and exhale. They push. Let gravity do its job and inhale, flow, resist gravity and exhale, press down and last two times.

Inhale and exhale down and inhale and exhale down. Either refund the legs or keep the arms just straight reaching forward with the spine. I'm going for my legs too. Extend the spine one more time. Doing that one more time. Xcel to curl back. Moving the pelvis, letting the arms straight, and letting go. If you want to inhale the arms, exhale the arms down.

Challenge yourself by taking the arms further back without allowing the body to move and yeah, and three more times the abdominal strikes in as the arms float and we press and last too we were reaching. And one more time. The shoulders are heavy, the arms, a little height and press. Inhale tip path. Exos, send yourself up. When you get to the top, turn towards me. Take the front hand and put it back on the mountain. Just guide yourself around into a gentle spinal rotation. Come around through center and make your way over to the other side. Lifting the spine long and tall. And one more time.

We just swing around through center, finding the leg, finding the mat behind you and last time to the other side, swing around through center, lifting up, bring it back home. Exhale to come down and as we do so, we're going to slide the feet in worth preparing for a pelvic curl. The arms come down into the mat. They're going to press actively into the mat and read lift starting from the pelvis. We flattened the bat back into the ground, peeling the spine up, one bone at a time in healing. As you pause, exhale, feel the chest move first. Keep the upper arms actively pressing into the mat. Underneath you.

As you feel the spine gently press into the mat and come all the way to the tailbone XL to lift. Again, maximizing the movement of the spine here, excelling to come down, feeling how the abdominals can manipulate and allow the spine to be fluid and stopple lasts. Three lifting, pressing the arms down to lift the hips up. Allow them to be really active. Here we go. On the way down, reaching the fingertips back towards the heels as you slide your spine into the ground. Last two, exhaling up, sending energy with the knees forward towards the big and second toe. Exhale to come down. Feeling energy in between the legs as well. One more for the day for now. Anyway, we're rolling, pausing, feeling the energy and the upper arms. Exhale, we come down when you arrive down all the way, allow your arms to just float out into a low v shape. Pickup. One Lake followed by the other for the spine. Twist. Inhale, come towards me.

Keeping the legs bolted together. Xcel from the opposite side of the ways we dragged ourselves back through center and it's an inhale coming across the body. Exhale has become back focused on keeping the upper body still the shoulders still. As you gently feel the rotation around the lower half of the body. Draw the abdominals inwards as the knees transfer to one side and then deeply pull to come back through center. Last two to each side.

Coming back on the exhale and again, feeder just in front of the knees. Eyes are gently looking straight up. There was no movement in the head or neck. Exhale to come back. Here's our last one. Exhale to come back. Lift the arms up, bring them behind your head. Placed one foot down, followed by the other for the chest. Lift. Breathe in. Breathe out, feel the ribs. Draw down into the mat, curling the head and chest up. Look for neutral pelvis. Inhaling to pause. Exhale, feel laying faith and strength as you reach back down.

So we go working in both directions. Exhale to lift up. Allow the head to just rest in the hands. That's going to challenge our abdominals a little bit more in here and Exhale, stretch your way down. Feel the length and the waist. The strength. Exhale to lift again. We're going to pause here at the top. Take the hands behind the thighs. Don't think up.

Think more forward as you intensify that contraction, reach the arms straight out and lift the left leg. Inhale to pause. Exhale, reach changing weights and change and feel the stability of the pelvis. Challenge the position of the upper body. Heal their ribs pressing into the ground. The angle at the knee stays consistently at a 90 degrees.

One more time. Play Safa down. Place the other foot down. Stay lifted with your body. As you raise your arms up, read them the elbows, hands behind the head, and we lengthen our way back to the ground. Coming right back up again on the exhale. Hands behind the thighs and guiding ourselves into an additional or a more focused contraction, both hands in front of you. One on top of the other.

Inhale as you reach over one knee. Exhale as you reach back through center. Challenging the height. Avoid letting the shoulders creep into the year. So as we turn from a the rib cage, the shoulders are pressing down towards the hip bones and back and across. And as you rotate from side to side, see that the pelvis stays level and back. We're going one more time around.

It's over and center and in to exhale, separate the arms. Inhale, raise them over head. Put them back behind your head and exhale to lower your body to the ground coming up again. Exhale, inhale, same pattern. Hands behind the size. Exhale, look for more. Let go. Reach [inaudible] hands behind the head. Chest lift with rotation. It's the same rotation around the ribs center, the same stability in the pelvis, challenging the stability or the stillness of the neck and head.

Feeling the opposite rib, trying to connect to the opposing hipbone. This'll be our last one. Come through center. Let go of your head. Reach forward, pick up one leg, pick up the other leg, let the arms reach overhead as you lower your body with control to the ground. Exhale, press the arms through space lifts straight back up. Stretch the legs as we inhale and it's the 104 exhale, two, three, four, five in the activation of the back muscles.

As you pump your arms in, in and in three and breathing fully and in. This is five. I'm going to change it after the inhale so we exhale and pulled and easy and inhale. Press the legs and exhale to pull the in and in here. Depressed the legs and three more.

Pulling and pressing the chest towards the thighs and press out and two more and press and one more. Then reach out. I lift the legs up and bend the knees. Place both feet down on the ground. Place your body down on the ground. Stretch your left leg forward. Bring the right knee into your chest, hold the back of the thigh, stretch it. Overheads will keep the five close to the body.

The leg may or may not straighten as we will work for us for a stretch folded back and stretch up and back, keeping a consistent distance between the ribs in the thigh. Pause at the top, let the leg go. We're gonna make a bigger leg circle. Then normal. We'd take the leg across the body, pickup the pelvis, swing the leg down and around and pull it back up. Cross the body, picking up the entire pelvis, swing it down and around. So although the movement is perhaps used to, we still are working for utmost control. And last one is a drop and a catch pause at the top. We're going the other way. Open across the body.

Feel how the Oh bleaks engage deeply to bring the pelvis down and across, swinging the pelvis around and around the last two times. Last one time pausing at the top. Fold the knee, hold onto it with the opposite hand and just gently twist the leg across the body to the side. Looking over the opposite shoulder coming back through center. Allow the right leg to reach out straight. Anchor it down into the ground. Bring the left leg towards the body, holding onto the backside of the thigh. We're going to lightly stretch that leg up and folded back in. Try not to let the thigh leave the chest and bent.

Here's our last one. Reach up straight. Let the leg go without losing the stretch and then take it across the body. Picking up the pelvis. We swing it down around and then we take it across the body. Staying in control, using the abdominals for stabilization. Here's our last two big movement through the hands. Last one.

Pause at the top. We'd go the other way. Catching the leg and space. Feel how that action comes from the center of your body, the rotation within the hip joint of the femur. Last two times. One more time. Fold the knee in. Hold onto it with the opposite hand and twist the leg across the body. Looking over the opposite shoulder. They come home and a breath.

Two breaths coming back through center. Stretching, both out, sending the arms overhead. Feel that all 12 ribs are on the ground as the arms are lifted up, pick up the head and chest. Look forward. Exhale, curl through the spine. Stay long but round at the top and we go down. Reaching the pelvis out from underneath this, we feel each bone in the spine come down individually. The head goes down.

Inhale, arms and head. Exhale, curve the spine, creating a long round spine at the top end. Exhale to come down and he left. Press a little bit inward through the upper arms. Feel the shoulder blades reaching down and we curl back. Okay, couple more times. Lifting a feeling the mobility of our spine. Join that movement. Come back down. Find your low back. Pause. Fold the right knee in. Turn the palms to face down.

Stretch the right leg up. We make another circle, a small one. This time coming around and around and around enough, lots of stability. Last to pressing the chest in the side together. Pause at the top. Go the other way. We crossed the body and I feel that there's a string attached to the belly and the thigh bone.

Pulling it deeper into your body to one. We're going to bend the knee, it's going to slide next to the other leg and we're coming all the way back. Lifting the head and chest. Inhale, exhale, curl through. This so and the upward position. Long and round XL to come back. Finding the low back, connected into the ground. Bend oppositely stretch it up, the palm stern down and they push against an imaginary resistance as we start.

Oh the lake anchoring with that support. Lay around and up and around and here's our last one and go the other way. Crossing the body and pulling in. It's the in that we're primarily interested in. Last two times. One more time. Hold there. Fold the knee in.

Stretch it out along the ground and lower the body all the way down to the ground. Bend both knees, bring the arms around to the sides, curl the head in chest stuff. Find the hands just on the tops of the knees for the double leg stretch. Stretching the legs up the arms overhead. We circle the arms and bend the knees in who we reach. Exhale, feeling the expansion. That is the inhale, the contraction. That is the closing of the body.

Remember to take full breath and around and last four to pull around. Chest reaches into the thighs here. Who's 30 don't be afraid to your hands when you come in onto your legs. Let that arms be active. Last one, hold onto the knees. Curl yourself up a little more. Both hands on the left knee, right leg out straight for this single leg stretch and we change and change back or the legs are active. One leg pulls in as the other leg reaches away.

So it's an active, no, no, no, they're going in opposite directions anyway and he was five and five again, don't be afraid to let the arms be active. Let them help you last too. One more. Here we go. For the crisscross, hands behind the head, pressing up and across with their wrists, reaching around through the ways, keeping the elbows wide. The head still in the hands. Last four, sorry to, and one coming back to center. Place the feet down on the ground. Separate them for another pelvic curl arms pressing down to the sides of the body. We inhale. Exhale, coming up into a pelvic curl, folding your way, feeling that the body comes into a straight line. So not much of an arc here in here.

Make your way gently with control down into the mat. Enjoying the movement of a sky, releasing the pelvis. Starting again. Exhale back, flattens. There's our flection. We come up looking for a neutral pelvis at the top. Arms pressing down. Inhale, annex, how to release one more to go. Rolling up again, pausing at the top. We keep the right leg on the ground. Pick up the left leg and curled down. Dude would just as much intention, just as much control and roll at barely noticing that, that, that we've got one leg off the ground and, and uh, and, and pause at the talk with the leg stretch to the sky.

Imagine being pulled up from your incl and the shoulder bridge down and back. Pressing the leg down, pulling it up and reach it away from you. Keep the pelvis high and steady. Last three and two. No, I'm brewing the Lega folded back in one more time.

We rolled down through the spinal. Oh all the way. Take care of that. The collarbone. Stay long and level on the ground and let the pelvis come down. We're coming back up again. Here it is. Exhaling, left, left leg, stays on the ground. This time the right leg just comes up and we do three.

We just peeled out, landing evenly on both sides of the spine and roll up. Feel that you're rolling just through the center of your spine and, and uh, and and uh, here comes a shoulder bridge. Stretch the leg, let it be pulled to the sky and then press it away and float up and press using the arms to stabilize. Seeing the back of the both legs to stabilize. Last five for sure. Theory to animal.

Fold the knee back in. Make your way down. Feeling the spine massaging into the ground. Once you arrive at your tailbone, bring one leg up, bring the other leg up. Heading into the rollover. We stretch the legs on the diagonal. Bring them to a vertical. Peel the spine away from the ground.

Rolling over legs parallel to the ground. At this moment, flex and separate the feet. Lower the feet if you can. Keep the spine steady and peel down bone by bond. Stretching the backs of the knees. Point the feet. Circle the legs to touch. Inhale that annex hello. Nice and smooth chin stays into the chest.

Flex separate and peeled and point and circle together and I'll lift and over. Arms long and straight. Fingers together and [inaudible] here so we come together and touch. Separate in lift, rollover, flexing and bringing the legs together. The toes are reached down just across the eyelids. As you peel your body down, as the tailbone touches, the legs begin to lower. They start to separate. We bring them up and we roll over. Flex and bring the legs together. Squeeze them tightly, ruling the knees, brush the tip of the nose.

One more. Lifting, rolling over, bringing the legs together, flexing through the feet, and coming slowly down one vertebra at a time. When your tailbone arise at the floor, reach behind your thighs, bend your knees, Curl your head up and just rock back and forth just to the lower back and find your way all the way at the sliding your feet a little closer inwards. Reaching the hands around for the ankles, rolling like a ball. Drawing the abdominals backwards. Flexing the spine.

We rock back and rock up to a balanced position and back and keeping the body small, keeping the body light. And then we'll do three more. And last one. Let the feet come down, stretch the legs out. Separate the legs. Sit up tall, arms out straight for spine. Stretch breathing and allow the head to move.

Nodding the chin into the chest. Feel how the ribs drop backwards. The spine starts around forward and then we take the spine forward. Inhaling to pause, pressing the backs of the legs into the ground. We articulate the spine back up, bone by bone, creating space between the bones in your spine. Allow the eyes to be the last thing to move next hill to reach forward abdominal strike back. The spine flexes. The further your body goes, the more we've got a focus on the center of it.

Inhale and exhale to release the spine or stack the spine or lightly contract the muscles around this fine. I hadn't going down and in here and excelling to role [inaudible]. Breathing in again, breathing out to move forward. Changing the exercise slightly and as we inhale, we're going to take the spine out. Long arms, reaching up towards the ears. Exhale, refold the spine. Bring the arms forward. Inhale, bring the arms out to the sides. Press the spine forward. Exhale, bring the arms forward, guiding the spine back. Inhale, lengthen up on the diagonal, arms to the ears. Exhale, fold back forward. I'm just alternating.

We send the chest forward as we press the arms to the sides and we curl foe and we left and we'd die. Feeling how? Enjoying the fluidity, the mobility of our body and reach back one more time. Lifting long and tall. Hold it there and just press back. Little presses with the arms back and back and, and go forward and take the spine out again on the diagonal with the arms out to the sides and reach the arms down behind you. Put your hands on the mat, push your spine a little straighter. Bring the arms back to the side and press back and it didn't flying away.

Last two, last one. Sit Up, raising the arms overhead. Step the legs together, fold the elbows, springing the behind the head, flexing through the sheet for a twist. We're just going to turn and then turn a little more and come back and turn and then turn a little more and come back. Feel the spine growing longer as you move it into the rotation and center and spiraling around at their ribs again and center. So the stability in the hips and the legs. Yeah, and again, and back.

Couple more times we're reaching upwards. I think the app in my mind anyway is more important than the around. I'm trying not to force anything. Try to let the body just go where it can. Maybe challenge, it would be kind and back to center. One more time in my direction. Take the hand for this away.

Bring it to the front leg and just gently give yourself a little more. Keep that and comes back behind that. Come back to center. Take it around to the other side. Come around through that back hand, guiding yourself a little more and comes back behind that. Come back to center your body forward. Roll through the spine. Back Up. Hinge back, pressing the head into the hands. Flex the spine.

Roll your body down all the way into the ground. Picking up the head and chest. We inhale. Exhale. Pull the abdominals back to the spine. Take the body forward all the way and the length in the body up, right. Hinge back on the diagonal.

Feel the pelvis as the first thing to move. As you place your body down into the mat, picking up the head and chest, curving the spine forward, looking for control, stretching out. Re extending the spy, inching back. Dominal active, long flat back. And we move the pelvis that allows us to move the spine and left and and over here is our last one. Growing tall, taking it back, rolling down. And I left. And, and then just allowing the arms to reach around for the ankles or the feet.

Wherever feels good to you. Take a moment. Enjoy your moment. Flex the fee. Check in with the backs of the knees. I mean all the way back up, hands behind us, fingers facing in or to the side for the back support. So start right now to think about engaging the back of the legs. Press up through the arms and here we go. A Deb, turn your hands either inward or to the side. Perfect.

And then we just left the feet, press down, they help us lift and then we sit down the chestnuts up. So we're hinging at the hips, the ribs drive down, good modification. If you wanted to just keep the knees bent and press up into the hips like a table. And then we sit down and then we left up and then we sit down guiding the chest forward of the shoulders to access a stretch to the front of the shoulders and down. Here's our last one. Lifting up and coming down. Lift up, strain. Then the knees opening up the legs, heading into the open leg rocker here, modifying the exercise with bent knees or reaching for one ankle and then the other. That's been a while. That has, I don't know if I'll hit it the first time. Let's see.

Rollback and roll. Maybe sometimes taking a break is exactly what you need. Roll back an overall lab analyst, finding ease in the movement, extending through the spine at the top and back. Feel support through the insides of the lay. It makes a difference, so support continuously through the upper back and left elbow. One more time. Back to left. Growing long out of the spine, let go of the legs, lower the legs, sit up, flex the feet, the saw.

I'm bend my knees for a second and now I'm going to straighten him. Here we go. Towards me. It's a turn and we reach long and straight over that far leg. Evelyn lengthen out to come home and to I the abdominals back as we stretch over the opposite leg on the left and center. Keep in mind that you want to see this flat as you can.

It's going to look different for most of us to come home. How about three more and less and come home and allow your breath to be your rhythm. Like a dance. It's exhale and in your feeling light and coming home and in. Yeah, and reach. Lengthen and center. This can be our last one. And reaching fo and lifting and coming back to center. Bend your knees, turn your body so that you're facing me.

Crossing the top leg over the bottom. I take us into this side bend. Um, on the elbow works. If you're looking for a modification or on the hand is just fine as well. Okay, so we start by stabilizing the shoulder. Second coming into the waist and now we left there. Our inhale find energy as you reach up to the waist, taking the top arm overhead. We want to stretch in that upper way.

So look for it. Inhale as you come back through the long straight line, go down just a little bit. There you are. And Bent and lift again. Nice Job Shannon. And then up from there, over goes the m. The eyes go down, but not anything else changes back to that straight line. Lovely. And Ben last two times here. It's up and over.

Imagine trying to clear a hurdle with your lower waist and back and down. Here's our last one. Lifting up, reaching over, bringing it back and taking it all the way down. Coming down onto the elbow, going to keep the bottom knee bent and stretch the top leg out. So for the F, we're just going to do the side kick here, but I'm wanting us to let it be free. Kick forward and stretch back and kick forward feeling a long line from the shoulder to the hip. The neck is long. Shannon, pull up with your ribs a little bit back to it. That's perfect. Here we go.

Together, forward and back, forward and back. If you have any doubt, if you're losing stability down here, touch yourself down here. It should be straight and back. Here's our last one and we're going to make a circle. So you're going to take the leg forward, point your foot, reach up and around, flex and bring it through point and reach up and around flex and bring it through. Trying not to sink. Point and reach up. Flex and bring it through. Two more flex and bring it through. Well, last one, flex and bring it through. We know what's coming right there.

Rivers up in around flex and bring it back. Point. Reach out in around. This can be done all the way down. If it would feel better to you, flex and bring it back last two times. Bring it back on more, bringing it back. Once it's back there, bend the knee holding onto the ankle or the foot.

Press the pelvis forward and the knee back. See what a little just gentle extension of the spinal give you and then take the leg across. Sit Up, bring the knee close to the body as you shift down into the hip. Good. You could always straighten out the bottom leg if the stretch didn't work for you and if it works, I'm going to stay here and breathe for a moment. Can you use your hands to guide your spine up? You can hold onto the front knee.

Taken just a couple of moments here. Letting them muscles of the hip relax, guiding yourself gently into the back of the both sitting bones evenly into the ground. Take the leg that you're holding on to bring it around to the side. I'm going to do the mermaid, so we've got arms up. We're going that way, that way. Here we go.

Put in the hand down, stretch the body around. Place the hand down, lift the chest up so it's just gentle back extension. Re Round or fold the spine. Open this arm back out to the side lifts. Using that opposite oblique. Bring the arm up and stretch it over and we lift up the arms.

Reach out to this side. We're hinting out the hand comes down. The rotation is the biggest deal, so we really worked through the obliques. The hand comes down, extend the spine slightly forward, re round the spot. Take that light arm back around, lift up like someone's pulling you by the wrist. Reach the supporting arm up and stretch over. And again we lift up again.

There's it's rhythmic man, comes down and the rhythm can be your rhythm, your internal rhythm lifts. As you inhale, following your breath. Exhale, curve back, open the body, reach up and over. Coming all the way back up. Bring your legs around in front. So you've got a couple of choices here. I'm going to turn around, but you guys can stay where you are. A two choices. You can either be, we're going to do pip circles, the prep. You can have your hands here. An easier option is to go down onto your elbows. So there's your two options. Here we go. The hands are pretty far back.

For this one. The legs are up. We're going to shift the legs. Let's all go to the ocean and down and around. Pull in and away from the ocean and down and around in. Pull in, lifting the chest into the legs, down and around and in and the other way down around in. Imagine that if you didn't have your hands to hold you, how?

Like can you feel in your spine? This is down and around and in hold. Can you pull in more and bend and shift the legs around to the other side. Okay. Okay. And so coming off, just in case you're wondering what I'm fussing with, here we go, the side bend, stabilizing through the shoulder, working through the waist. It's an to come to a plank position aside, plank and exhale to reach up through the waist to take the top arm overhead and press into the seat. Arm in the feet, reach in opposite directions. Inhale to come back. Side plank. Bend the knees to come down. Here we go again.

Inhale, exhale, reaching. Clearing a hurdle with the side of your body. Inhaling to come back and bending down. We've got two to go. Lifting, feeling the joy in that arc. Then back and this is it.

Lifting up, reaching up and over thinking, finding a bigger stretch each time coming back, coming down and all the way to the elbow. So I've just kept my bottom like bent thus today. Certainly try to straighten it but it wouldn't be easier. There we go. It says kick forward and I reach back and I kick forward. And if you're on your elbow you want to make sure that you're not caving into your shoulder forward. The body is still lower, waist as long and strain, but three to go here, I don't keep lifting up out of the ensembles like you're trying not to put a lot of pressure downwards into the elbow. Last one, here comes our circles. So we go forward, the foot stays pointed, we reach up and around, flex the foot and swing it forward.

Point in, reach up and around, keeping the body strong and stationary and point reach up and around and flexing through when it reached up and around and flex swing through. I think this our last one here, we go to the other direction. Point, reach, flex and kick the leg back end in a point to start the next circle. Flex and pull back. And here's three. How Sto can you keep your body in? Here's two and back. Last time. And as the light comes back, this allow the knee to bend. Reach for your ankle.

Press the Polis forward and the knee behind the pelvis. Stretching open through the front of the leg. Okay. And then helping yourself. Huh? That legs gonna come across the body. Bottomley can be bent or straight, whichever feels more appropriate to you. Hug the knee into the chest, square the chest towards the leg, and then guide the pelvis into the ground and lift the spine a little straighter, a little lighter. Now as the spine is lightly reaching up, the shoulder blades are reaching down into the earth. Let me just breathe and then take that leg, that top leg and bring it around to the side.

Both arms. Nice and light here when we reach in and comes down, big rotation around through the wayside. As we bring the hands to the ground again, inhale, lifting the chest, following our inner rhythm. Exhale, refold the back for reach the arm out using the obliques. We left up, bottom arm comes up and we stretch to the side and then lift up from the stretch. The arms float out to the side. We hinge away, the hand comes down and guide the ribs around into the ground. Lightly pressing on both hands. You let the chest grow long.

Fold the spine back. Open the arm, lift up and reach up and across. And one more time. Here we reach out and comes down or reaching around, lengthening out in, up through the spine. Refolding the back, reopening the body and coming all the way out. I had it all over.

Alright, come all the way up. Turns to the ear on your hands and knees. Find the hands directly under the shoulders. Spread out the fingers presence and not just the wrist, but all the fingers as well. Slide the feet out on the ground, coming into a front support position, stabilizing through the waist. We're going to reach the right leg out and back for five, four, three, two holding the laid up. Curve the spine.

Bring the knee into the nose and stretch out long and curve and extent and creating an abdominal contraction to bring the knee right up into the chin. Last too, Herbie and stretching. One more hill and stretching out. Place the foot down. Fold the knees down. Stretch back with the hips towards the seat. Sorry. Here to curve the spine undulating through, around shape. Bringing the shoulders back over the hands.

Drawing the shoulders away from the ears. Step yourself back into your front support position. Finding a pointed left leg. I it out. In, up and out and pulling the shoulders down and back. And from here we curve the spine. Stay low and stretch and the spine, the knee just grazes the mat as it comes in towards the body.

Last two times last one time, reach back, placing the foot down, bend the knees and sit back. Once again, leaving the hands where they are, we float the hips up away from the feet again, undulating through this spine. Start dropping the shoulders down. I mean back into the front. Support. We're going to do one more thing here. So both feet down on the ground. Gonna bend the knees and as you bend curve your body, let the knees reach down towards the ground, just tap or not.

And then back to a straight line and then curve the spine, dropping the knees and lengthen and aniline and tumor and lengthening. Yeah. And then one more. Emily, can you now? Oh, I lied one more time, but this time leave the knees down and stretch back again. Staying here for just a moment. Let's walk the hands towards me with the arms reach across, but drunk the hit heavy towards the opposite heel. [inaudible] no walking around through center and all route to the other side.

I'm walking back through center. I'm coming once again just onto the hands and knees for the cat stretch. So the knees are separate. They are directly under our hips. Shoulders are down and broad and we exhale separating the lower half of the body from the upper half of the body, flexing through the lower spinal. Just look down at the pelvis as it curls.

Inhale to find neutral and exhale as you draw the shoulder blades down. Lift like you're yawning through the chest and find neutral and XL flexing through the lower spine. Nice. And Inhale, find neutral and exhale keeping the pelvis still. We extend out and forward. Maybe forward more than up through the upper spine and find neutral last two times XL. Flexing the lower spine. Inhale to find neutral. Exhale looking for strength, but subtlety I last one and bring it home in. One more extension.

And coming back, we're gonna just going to slide the legs down onto the mat and lower our bodies to the ground. Let the arms come down next to the pretty close to the body with the upper arm, with the forum just to the outside. The forehead's going to rest on the mat for now. They're taking a moment, just contract with the abdominals. Not a ton, but just so in a supportive way. Track through the backsides of the legs a little and then gently start to feel the forum's pull backwards towards your feet. And with that, send the spine forward. Small, intense, controlled and release back down. So we go through all those steps, abdominals support, and then we just guide its stay low to the ground so you can feel the work happening right in the middle back and release.

And you're welcome to come up as high as you can. But I find that if you challenge yourself to stay low and focus on keeping the ribs down and just letting this chest stretch away from the ribs, you might find more work and down. Last one. Okay. And uh, uh, take your hands just to the outside's. Check this check and see if this will work for me. So with the hands on the outside, can you slide them back and forth without getting really sticky on the ground?

Well, we're going to get dirty here. Are you ready? All right, so the hands are going to be just outside of your mat. I'm going to be up here. So we just find that same upward position again. No, from there with support of the spine slide, you can just let the hands hover. If you prefer to slide them along the ground, you stretch out in front of you. Then we're going to guide them back, coming from the upper back, dragging them back to the start position. And we lower the body down. So here's some breath. Inhale as the head and chest come up.

Exhale is the arms just slowed along? Skimming the floor. What was that thing in the Star Wars? The hovercraft thing. Think about that. Landcruiser okay, so your arms are like Landcruisers. Again, lifting the head and chest, stretching the arms. I like hovercraft better than landcruiser. Landcruiser makes me think of a truck. So we're going to be hovercraft.

This is not going to be our last one. Lowering everything down. Here it comes again. We're going to stay at the top when we get there. So find good, strong work in the upper back. Hold Yourself, stretch the left arm in the right leg away. Keep the right arm in the left, lay down and then change. So it's a swim slower and smaller and stretch your swim. But a swim nonetheless. Reach for the stretch and, and reach for the stretch. Like you're pulling your leg out of its socket in a reaching this seniors away from the toes.

And just a couple more in each direction reaching out. And uh, let's see, two more of each down. And uh, and now here's our last one in the last one to the other side. And then just all the way down, fold the Elvis so that the hands come underneath the forehead and just let the forehead rest on the hands. Taking a, I like to wiggle my back a little bit, just letting the back relax. And then we're gonna slide the hands underneath the shoulders to help us up all the way up onto our knees and sitting back onto the feet for a stretch here.

And when you're ready, roll up so you're on your knees. Allow the arms to just reach down towards the sides of the legs. You can do the five stretch. We've got to find a little bit of a backward pressure, like a chest expansion action. Tuck the pelvis, and as you press your pelvis forward, press your arms back and then hinge from the knees in healing back. And as we exhale, push the arms back a little more.

Allow that action to pull you up. Let the arms relax, let the body relax. Talking the pelvis, we pressed the hips for the arms. Reach down and back. We hinge back, keeping the spine nice and long. We lift back up and in really see arm pressure. One more time like that reached.

It's like you're trying to reach down and touch your knees with your arms out. A little lift up and release. And once again we go back. I'm going to change it just a little bit, so don't go too far. Reach the arms forward. Open the arms that reach the arms overhead. Open the arms up, reach the arm forward and press the body up one more time. Like so. Hinges from the knees. Find your way back.

Reach the arms out and oh and over. Have an open feeling, the gentle subtlety of the shoulder moving and all the way up. Place both hands down. Send one leg forward and just organize yourself so you're in a comfortable position on your back knee. Possibly see just in front of the kneecap if say here, and just press into the hip or if you wish to, we can walk up and left. [inaudible] stretching, lifting the spine. Well, if you've got a little more to give yourself, let the arms go. Reach up.

How you, once again, you're being lightly pulled up into the sky, almost floating or hovering off your mat. Bring the arms out to the sides, bring them back to the ground. I'm just leave them there or it starts to stretch to the front leg. You may need to come up onto your finger tips. You may need. Just let go if you feel okay balancing there, looking for a flat back and a straight leg and then we're gonna fold that front knee back in and just adjust so that we can bring the other leg for us. We slide that one back in the opposite one foot. We're going to start with the foot slightly, the front foot slightly in front of the knee so that when you move the knee forward over the ankle, the ankle, the knee doesn't go too far in front of the ankle. And then if you want, we just walk on lifting this balancing on the knee or the thigh with the arms or reaching the arms forward. And as the arms float up, the body feels a little wider.

It gets a little longer and straighter. Open the arms to the sides, reach them towards the ground, start to stretch out through the front leg, lengthening the back out as you do so, and then ribbon the front leg step back. So then both feet are together again. Roll over the seat so you're gonna Tuck over your toes, pressing the heels down into the mat. From here with this, list the heels up so your heels are tucked right up into the backs of your lanes and then shift back onto the heel. So you get the stretch down through the calves and the lifter stretching into the toes and press down.

And one more to go. Lifting up and pressing down. From here, we're going to allow the heels to continue to sink down into the ground. As the hips rise, uh, the head is heavy. Finding just a moment here. Allow the abdominals to contract deeply so that you can get a feel of the hips opening the fevers going deeper into the hips and the low back. Just folding in. I don't know.

The cascading is the word that comes to mind over the thighs. Allow the knees to slightly bend. I've been engaged for the abdominals. We peel up through the body, rolling ourselves up to standing. As you come up, allow the arms to follow the movement of the body, reaching them forward, stretching them over head. Hold onto them or hold hands with yourself. Turn the hands inside out.

Stretch towards me. Yeah, and who left taller as you come up and stretch away from me. Then the taller still as you come up, let the arms go. Bring them around to the sides all the way to the sides of the legs and fold forward. Rounding your body down, letting tension out at the top of your head or out of your whole body, lengthening the spine into the ground. And with that we roll up. I'll allow the arms to just follow the line at the spine, reaching up towards the sky. I just dropped the artists down.

Are you gonna bend in the knees and reach the arms up again? I let the arms just fall on. Bend the knees, gathering energy. Reach the arms out. I let the eyes just fall one more time and hang on right down. [inaudible].

Comments

Very nice class! The flow, the cueing including the tone of your voice make me stay focused and really feel the energy growing in my body during this class! Thank you Meredith!
Fabulous cueing and variations - the work flows with a good pace. Really enjoyed this one! Thank you :))
Thanks for playing girls! I appreciate your feedback :)
Very nice!! Such a strong, beautiful practice. Thank you Meredith!
Love the pace and flow from one exercise to the next. Perfect!
While I patiently wait for the next theraband class <g> I really enjoyed the pace of this one. Make sure Pele who likes class to keep moving sees this one.
Forgot to mention as I try again today that this class seemed more difficult that other level 2's. I suppose the number is subjective but I would be interested in learning more about how the determination is made. Any links for me?
Joni, the number or level of the class is based on the movements done in the class. From my experience the deeper your work becomes the more difficult the basic/lower level classes become. So, you must be doing a great job following the cues and doing your Pilates work with integrity! Well done.
Thank you Mandy, that is certainly encouraging! WIth the fabulous cueing Meredith offers it really feels like personalized instruction no matter where in the world I am taking her classes.
Thanks girls!! Reading your comments makes me so HAPPY!
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