Spice It Up Reformer

Hi. I am Lara Hanlon back on the reformer for, intermediate borderline advanced class today. Join me. We'll start seated for some legged for footwork to begin. So I have 2 reds and a green could be on 3 reds. Whatever works best for you. Head rest will start up, foot bar up at that medium height.

Scoop all the way towards the front edge of your carriage. Reach your arms forward. Take a deep breath in. And begin to round and roll all the way back down onto your mat, setting ourselves up here, shoulders against the shoulder blocks, and we'll bring the feet into our first position Pilates stance, heels together, knees, and toes apart, really squeezing those heels tight, pressing the carriage all the way out, staying here for a moment to allow those shoulder blocks to press the shoulders a little further away from the ears. The pelvis remains neutral, so we're not tucking or tilting and starting to engage the back of the legs with a little more activation.

Taking a deep breath and pulling that low belly down in her thighs a little tighter. One more breath here to stay. And then exhale, slowly begin creasing at the hips, bending the knees to return. And he'll lengthen back. Exhale to come in, pressing all the way out, zipping up tightly through those inner thighs, keeping those heels nicely lifted and squeezing towards your midline, waking up the legs, I mean, some of those pops cracks out. I know my knees, my ankles like to pop as I warm up here, inhale, and exhale to return 4 more times.

Finding that full length, full range of motion all the way to it. I stretched thigh. All the way back in lengthen and rezess. This time we'll press out and then come halfway in adding a little pulse pressing out an inch or 2 in an inch or 2 back and in This wakes up the back of those legs, hamstrings, and glutes a little bit more for 4. Resist. 3. Really wrapping inner thighs up glutes together last time pressing all the way back out to find that full length.

And then crease at the hips, bend at the knees to return. We'll do the same thing. Parallel, still keeping those heels lifted in the high heel position, ankles, knees, inner thighs, drawing together like magnets, pressing all the way out here on the inhale. And exhale to come back in. Lengthen back and resist. Knee straight up towards the ceiling.

Gaze is lifted. Nice open neck and chest. Inhale to press finding length through the thighs, exhale, breaking right at that hip crease here. So we keep sit bones and tailbone reaching forward, thinking about the whole body. And in in health and lengthen exhale to resist for 2. One more all the way out.

All the way in, as time we press out, return halfway, little pulses out in it in an inch back and resist. I'm squeezing my inner thighs, my ankles together, really working into those adductors, wrapping the seat tight for 4. And 3. The last two. And one pressing all the way out this time, we'll keep the leg straight, lower the heels under fill that. Lovely, stretch for the back of the legs, lift the heels right back up, inhale lower, activating in the back of the legs, lifting in the thigh.

Lower on the inhale, press to lift as you exhale and down, finding greater link through the crown of the head for a 5 and up, 4, and lift 3. Think of zipping up all the way towards that belly button to One more lift and hold, bend your knees to come in. Definitely feeling my calves. From there, we'll slide up onto the arches of the feet, finding that prehensile wrap position pressing on out. Think of, like, you're rolling over the arch of your feet on a ball. Sometimes I like a cold frozen water bottle of my feet are cramping or tight from if you're a teacher standing all day, a dancer working through your feet, an athlete, or something, such a good position for really everybody to open up the bones in the top of the foot, like a massage for the sole of your foot.

And in inhale lengthen out, exhale to resist still finding that full stretch of the thighs, feeling the legs grow longer, the hamstrings, the glutes get a little bit tighter. Nice engagement for the back of those legs. A nice length through the front of the legs, one more all the way out and all the way in, pressing back. This time coming halfway in for those pulses out and in, moving a little quicker here back and resist. Out and resist inhaling and exhaling for 2. And 1, press all the way back and come back home.

We'll slide all the way up onto the heels from there, flex seeing the toes up, waking up the muscles on the top of the shins, press on out, and resistor return, finding that same beautiful length through the thighs, through the spine, through the crown of the head, even through the arms here, through the fingertips. Deep breath into lengthen. Deep breath out to return. Trying to bring a little more awareness into the core with the breath. Each time you exhale her ribs draw tighter belly pulls deeper.

Out. And in last time, all the way back, all the way in, press on out, resist halfway. We pulse out and in and back and resist. Inhaling and exhaling. Last breath. Really pull those toes up and back, especially the pinky toes.

Find that length. And return. Shake those legs, those feet out. You should feel the front of your shins, your calves. We'll lower the feet down onto the left.

Reach the arms up to the ceiling. Take a breath in. And exhale to round and roll all the way up to a seat. Alright. Hopefully, feeling a little warmer. We're gonna lower our foot bar down.

Change our springs to a red and a blue moving into some arm work, some core work here doing what you need. Bring those legs all the way long over the bar, because you have plenty of space behind you. Reach your arms forward. Allow that chin to tuck over the chest. Take a breath in.

And then exhale to round and roll back down vertebra by vertebra by vertebra. We'll scoot down a bit so there's space between the shoulders and the blocks. Bring those knees back in towards your chest and then take one strap in either hand. Arms press right up over the shoulders here over the chest, leg shift to tabletop, pull those shoulder blades down into the back, take a breath in to prepare, and then exhale starting with a simple arm press as palms lower towards the floor. And tail arms float up over the shoulders.

And exhale arms press back down keeping the chin lifted over the chest here. Gazes that beautiful, nice open neck and throat, staying open across the chest. But knitting those ribs together. Reach up. Press to hold.

We had a circle reaching up. And then this time, opening and squeezing towards the hips, inhale to lift. And exhale. Squeeze. Think thumbs, hands towards your waist. Reach up. And around a little more upper body and core work here, using the low belly to stabilize those legs at tabletop, knees right over the hips.

Shin's parallel to the floor. Hopefully, I'm at that true tabletop reach up and circle. We'll do one more this direction. Lift. Feel that stretch across the chest through the fingertips, hold by the hips, reverse, round and up as you breathe in. Excel, press the palms down. Pull your waistline down. Inhale.

And exhale, press and reach deep breath in. Exhale, of course, it ties tighter, belly pulls deeper. Chin is lifted and gaze is up for 2. One more. And lower those arms down. From here, we'll reach the arms back up.

Take a breath in. And then exhale curl up to the tips of the shoulder blades, finding our first nice, high crunch extend that right leg long as you inhale and switch legs as you exhale. We switch right. We switch left, opening up through the hips lengthening through the thighs, maybe pulling that knee a little closer as you extended the opposite leg a little further. We stretch and switch. Can we reach the arms longer towards that foot bar? Pull the belly deeper towards the spine for 2.

And one, legs back to tabletop, head lowers, down, arms up, deep breath in to prepare, exhale. We're right back lifted. Both legs out on the inhale. Pull both knees in closer to your nose as you exhale. Stretch with those fingers and toes. Zip up tighter through the waist to pull your knees in for 3.

And then for her to can we crawl a little higher one more time lengthen? Pull it and bring them back to tabletop. Lower the head down, arms up, and this time extend your legs up. Keep reaching through fingers and toes. Deep breath and exhale curl back up over the ribs, right leg lowers to scissor and switch and switch.

Inhale, rect. Exhale, left. Continue to lengthen through those arms. Linked in through those legs for 5. And 4. Cur a little higher. 3.

Last two. Last one. Both legs lift. Lower the head down. Arms up. Little external rotation of those legs here often helps my hips take a breath in.

Exale, curling back up to the tips of the shoulder blades, begin to lower both legs down to your point of control, break at the hips to lift, inhale to lower, squeezing inner thighs together, exhale to lift. Option to always have a soft bend of the knees here. Listen to your body. Make sure you're using the low belly to lift and lower those legs versus lifting the hips. We wanna crease right at that hip flexor.

Pelvis stays anchored and up. One more time, inhale down, exhale to lift, bend the knees, lower the feet, down, reach your arms up. We'll take a moment here, let your arms open all the way wide feel that stretch across the shoulders since we both knees over to the right. Taking a breath here. Exhale soften a little further into the stretch. Hopefully, feeling a little more awake in our abdominals after that part of the vacation special abdominal series with that little extra added weight and arm work.

Always a nice little cordburn. Now, we should be ready for our hundreds. Make sure you still have some space between the shoulder black We'll reach those arms back up. So there's tension in the straps, legs back to tabletop. Press so those arms are right up over your shoulders.

Extend your legs as straight as you can to the ceiling without lifting your hips and pelvis. Take a breath in. Curl back up to the tips of the shoulder blades. We begin our hundreds in here breathing in fives. Inhale to 3, 4, 5, exhale to 3, 4, 5.

Now slowly begin to lower those legs down. Taking your time. Deep breath in. And exhale. Maybe those legs get a little lower as we progress making our way to our full hundreds inhale and exhale out.

Reaching through the fingers and toes, pulling that belly button deeper in her thighs a little tighter for 3, and exhale out. 2. One more breath and exhale out. Stay where you are. Still your pulse.

Curl up one more inch deep breath and lengthen through those legs. Bend your knees and bend your elbows. And release your head down. From here, we'll bring our feet into the straps carefully getting there. Again, you could always bring your feet to the straps, to the straps to your feet, pull those knees in, lower your arms down, lower your head rest down. I'll want to show some short spine stretch today.

Extend those legs all the way out. Starting from parallel here, legs long, hips anchored. Begin to lift the legs up. As long as you can without lifting your hips. Ideally, we get to perpendicular here. Feel the pelvis anchor down using those abdominals, palms, press down, take a breath in, and then curl up and back from here using your core crossing into the hands, letting those legs float back, and the carriage come home with control. Keep tension in the straps.

Begin to bend your legs into a diamond, knees over the shoulder blocks, take a breath in, exhale to roll down chest away from the chin. Open up through your upper back through the middle back. Keep those heels lengthening up where they are so that your sit bones, your tailbone can lengthen down and away, then pull the heels in towards your sit bones. Then reach your legs out long. You should feel that lovely stretch for the back of the hamstrings. Again, lifting the legs up to about perpendicular.

Take a breath there. Axle to curl up and back. Pressing into the palms, pressing feet into the straps, maybe lift a little higher, bend to your diamond, deep breath in. Now exhale begin to elongate that diamond as you roll down through your spine. You kinda keep your feet in that space hold.

You begin lengthening through the back of the legs. Feel that lovely stretch. Pull those heels in, lengthen the legs out two more times. It should feel so good. Inhale and exhale.

Starting to make it a little smoother, a little more fluid, inhale bend, exhale, roll down vertebra by vertebra, opening up through upper and middle, then low back, heels it, reach through the crown of the head, reach through the toes. Last time inhale and exhale. Find that beautiful structure of the body, bend those knees in, rolling down chest away from the chin, open up through the back, lengthen all the way out through the legs. From there, we'll keep the legs as they are. Reach around. Lift your head rest back up.

And then bend your knees. He'll stay connected to a big, long diamond shape. Feel that external rotation, glutes really squeezing together here, knees open, lift up in this diamond shape, and then press the legs down in the diamond shape, inhale to lift. Exale to lower. Chinsdays lifted away from the chest again, nice, beautiful, open neck and throat.

We're squeezing those heal bones together from high in the inner thighs, squeezing sit bones and butt cheeks together, really engaging pressing the legs down from the back of the legs, and that low belly. Crease at the hips to lift, press down to lower. Palvis stays really neutral square and anchored here. We're not tilting up and down or side to side. Instead, we're working on that pelvic stability using the low belly. Lift the legs. Lower the legs.

Inhale diamond up. Exhale diamond down 2 more times. And press 1 more. And lower from their length in those legs all the way out flex through the heels. We'll do a little Peter pan potashaw bending the right knee, opening the left.

Think of kind of finding that similar diamond shape. So the thighs stay even with one another as far as how much they're opening, and then the legs squeeze in our thighs connect. Bending the left, opening the right breathe, and exhale to extend. This exercise is often so much more challenging than we think it's going to be. Again, we're working our low belly pelvic stability. Hips aren't moving side to side. Often, it takes a little more oblique and core strength.

Using those arms to press down to keep our chest open, inhale to bend, exhale to lengthen on that long diagonal, one more time each side, inhale, exhale stretch and squeeze. Last time feel the hips opening, low belly engaging. Point through the toes. We'll lift the legs back up to perpendicular and then circle down and around from there, keeping length through the toes externally rotated. 3 more this direction.

Pelvis stays anchored for 2. And one, squeeze to hold, reverse, around and up. Press and lengthen through the back and the top of those legs. Lower and Marie three belly button pulls down ribs and it tight too. One more. And lower.

From their bend your knees all the way in, we'll take our feet all the way out of the straps carefully brewing your carriage back to its stopper, hook those straps over, extend your legs out long, take a moment to feel that stretch through the thighs, up through the arms, deep breath in, and exhaled her round and roll all the way up, up, up, up. We're gonna change our springs to one red and move into some jackknife here. So make sure you're a little closer towards the front of your carriage. Send those legs back out, roll back down with control. So when you set up for this, you want those arms near the edge.

That will allow you to grab a hold of the end of the carriage, which often adds a little more support here. It does depend on what apparatus you have and what handles you have. Make sure your headrest is down as we'll be rolling up onto the neck, and then we'll grab our straps, bring those needs to tabletop to start, and then reach your arms right up over the chest and the shoulders. Pull and anchor your shoulder blades down. Take a breath in. And then exhale extend your legs long in a diagonal.

Something that works for your body. A lot of core control here. Begin to press your arms down as the legs float back, breathing, and exhale. Reach your toes up, up, up, up, beautiful long line here. From there, break at your hips. We start by lowering the legs back down parallel to the floor. And then begin to roll back down through your spine vertebra by vertebra.

Once that tailbone, back of the pelvis comes close to anchoring to the mat, we reach the arms up and lower the legs down. We'll do one more like this. Inhale. And exhale. Feel like your body is getting to a vertical line as best as you can.

Lower those legs, thies over your eyes. Make sure they don't drop and then begin to roll back down. Chest away from the chin. Use your core. Squeeze your inner thighs. Keep pressing down from your triceps.

Legs lower arms lift. You can stick with that or add on a little more advanced variation. Inhale and exhale. We take a breath to hold or lower the legs, listen to your body. More advanced, we roll down from vertical.

Think of someone pulling your toes straight up to the ceiling. You squeeze the heck out of your glutes, of your inner thighs, of your core to land with control before lowering those legs, maybe a little closer to the bar. One more inhale and exhale. Find that gorgeous lift deep breath in. Begin to roll down vertebra by vertebra engaged in the whole body here. Use your arms, use your legs, use that powerhouse, lower the legs, reach the arms up, and then bend your knees in carefully.

To get out of it for me. Those arms straps hook back on. Make sure you don't roll off the edge of the carriage here. Scoop yourself back if you got pretty far down there like me. Legs extend along arms reach up. Deep breath in.

And exhale to round and roll all the way up. Such a fun exercise. Alright. Our headrest will stay down. We're staying on one red. Or if you wanna change this, we're moving into some rowing facing back.

You can always go a little lighter, a little heavier depending on the health of probably your shoulders for the most part. Grab those straps. Legs could be together. Like myself here, if your calves don't quite fit, you can always cross one over the other. Make sure you have plenty of space behind you for when we roll back.

Hands, fist to fist, palms facing your chest. You pull them in elbows wide deep breath and begin to round and contract back from there, bringing those arms with you. Tun hovers over the chest reach your arms out, think hug a tree arms, press your palms back, really press them now into the straps as you dive over, forehead to the knees, hands clasp one over the other, reach them further back, and further up. Feel that glorious shoulder stretch. Keep them lifted with control, release, hand stretch all the way over towards your toes.

Enjoy this forward fold. For a brief moment, we bring those hands back together. You start to roll back as you pull your arms in deep breath. And and open. Flip those palms. Acts. I'll dive over.

Reach it up. Circle around. Enjoy that stretch. Begin to pull inhaling and exhaling, shrouding back, feel your core engage. Your shoulders stay down, inhale to open, and flip exhale start to press into the palms, dive the forehead to your knees.

Reach your arms up and back. Try to work for that shoulder stretch. Open up across the back as you round all the way over your legs one more time. Get a little bit lower. Use your core here.

Dive it forward. Reach it back. And stretch. Hook those straps back over your pegs and roll all the way up. We'll spin around for some porta bra and rowing front.

Again, if you would like to change to a little bit lighter, I'm gonna stay on my red today. Legs still long. Let's keep those toes pointed, that beautiful lift in your waist, and start by bringing the thumbs into the loops with the arms in by our ribs. Pull your shoulder blades down, really hug your elbows in, like, wings. Reach up on a beautiful high diagonal, lower the arms just to the edges of the reformer, reach them back up, think of drawing a circle with your fingertips along the side wall, and then resist as you fold it back in, inhale to reach up.

Axle to lower. Inhale to lift. Axhale to circle. 2 more times, feeling this beautiful lift in the waist, gorgeous tall posture, zipping up through your inner thighs and the core resisting with the arms in the back last one. We reach and lower, lift, and circle in from there.

Flex through your feet, lower your arms towards the mat by your hips, and he'll begin to tuck the chin over the chest, exhale belly pulls back, reach those fingertips past your toes. Start to lengthen from your low back, your middle back, your upper back, how still can you keep the carriage finding that diagonal and then begin to lift all the way up to vertical and control all the way out and around. Last time, inhale, exhale, waist pulls back, limbs reaching forward, lengthen as you lift deep breath in and exhale to circle around and in. Oh, I feel longer and taller already. Alright. We are going to move into our long box series.

Starting with keeping either one red, I'm gonna also add a blue on here for a little more work since we'll start with some hamstrings. Grab your box for me. You will place it long ways. Keeping bar down headrest down. Start by sitting back.

My favorite transition crossing one strap over the other. And then remember I'm gonna go the other way so I face you all. Whatever strap is on top, you're gonna turn over that shoulder. So I want it to go this way. And then you carefully point kind of through your feet here so those straps don't slide off.

Chest just about off the edge. I'm gonna let my knees be in a diamond shape again. We've worked there today for the most part. Thighs no wider than the width of this box, heels together, straps, taut, and then hands could always hug in front of the box if you have any shoulder issues, or they can come to this small low part of the back. Adding a little more lift in that back.

Squeeze your shoulder blades together. Squeeze your glutes together. Begin to reach your toes up to the ceiling. So you find that lift in the thighs first as your pelvis, your hip bones press down. If we start to go here, We're doing a lot of work in our low back, which is not what we want, and we're not really lengthening out those hip flexors.

Now we want to open up the front of the body and engage the back body. So 1st and foremost, find that lift of the knees. This might be all you do today. From there, we inhale pull heels towards the glutes, exhale to resist and return, inhale to pull, exhale to return, keep lifting those thighs away from the box, squeezing heels together, sit bones, and butt cheeks together, should feel it in the backside more than just in the hamstrings, even though it's called hamstrings curls, still a glued exercise from there. We'll go into one leg.

I'm gonna take this second spring off sticking with one red pull my right thigh up a little more. Start with that curl from my right glute for 5. And resist for for keeping my chest lifted neck in line with the spine here. 3. And two. One more.

Their side. Left thy lifts pulling in for 5. Equal pressure into both of my hips here. So even though I'm working one side, I'm not going crooked. So important, oblique's core, glutes engaged, one more, pull, resist.

Bring those heels back together. That second spring back on if you can. We're gonna finish with both legs. Parallel, if it allows, if it agrees with your knees, I should say, lift those thighs, squeeze your inner thighs together. I find a little more challenging here.

Heels pulling for 5. Keep reaching those toes up to the ceiling for 4. Squeezing glutes a little tighter for 3. And 2. One more. And rest. Let those straps drop.

Give your legs a little shake. And then while you're here, lift your footbar. If it works, back up carefully without hitting yourself in the face. Alright. I'm gonna take off one spring. So, again, I'm back to one red. We'll do a little swan, or as my mother would say a white swan, a friendly swan, lift your thighs.

Keep that backside engaged. It might be tired if you need to take a break do so. Keep your core engaged to support it. Finger tips forward, palms on the bar. Press yourself all the way out, creating this beautiful long line of the body.

Pull those shoulders away from your ears. And then begin to lift your heart and your chest up. Deep breath in. Exhale, press the body down and away, pulling the belly away from the box, lengthening out through fingertips and toes out through the crown of the head. And as you can see, my legs separated a little bit.

They don't have to be glued together, but you still want energy in the inner thighs and the glutes, drawing together like magnets. It's gonna help keep your back supported using your core, using that back side of the body. We'll do this 3 more times. Should feel so good. Maybe getting a little higher each time.

Pull those shoulder blades down the back. Lift your heart forward deep breath and exhale. Pull the belly away from the boxes. You lower. Keep lengthening longer through the sides of your waist.

Inhale forward and up and exhale all the way back down. From there, bend your elbows in One more thing here. Legg still lifted. Make a diamond shape with your hands so those elbows are wide. Moving into a little push up series, press the carriage away, and then bend those elbows back out.

Think of reaching your forehead right through that diamond. Legs are lifted, glutes and hamstrings are burning, inhale to press, exhale to bend, one more on both arms, working on that pelvic stability here, left hand to the middle of the back, right arm presses out for 5. Resest. Furr4. Same ideas. The single leg hamstring curl, even weight into the hips. 3. 2 shoulders stay square towards the mat.

One more. Other side, left hand on the bar, right arm to the back, inhale as you lengthen, exhale to resist against that spring to return, press on out, and bend elbow wide. Fingertips are facing up on that diagonal, lengthen back to. One more all the way back. All the way in squaring it off. 5 more both arms, press on out. Keep your body in this long horizontal line, crown of the head right through that diamond, open through the chest in the back for 2. Last one. And in and rest.

Whoo. Shake your legs out. You should really feel the back of them just by holding them up there. I mean, it's a lot of work. Yeah. I feel it. Hopefully, you do too. We're lowering our footbar back down.

Should be a little easier now that we're not faced with it. We're gonna move into some backstroke. So grab your handles, your straps first, one in either hand, the best mount for this, sit on the front of your box, I'm still on one red. I'm scooting a little bit forward. One hand in each strap, make sure they're not twisted back there, and then roll on down.

Your shoulder blades, shoulders should be kind of near the edge here, adjust as you need. Pull those knees all the way in, bring your arms so your palms are facing your thighs, one hand over the other, curling up into this beautiful high crunch chin over the chest hovering there to support our head and neck alignment. We will reach the arms and legs up on the inhale. Open the legs and arms to a v on the exhale. Sweep on around.

Palms over the thighs, inhale to hold. Exhale. Stay lifted as you bend those knees and arms back in. Inhale. Reach up. Ax hail open, circle around and reach, exhale to pull everything in one more time this direction, lift, and open, sweep around reach, pull it in. We reverse everything forward. This time, the head releases back, arms and legs in that open v. You close the arms and legs on the inhale, bend your knees and your elbows, curling up as you exhale.

Reach. Sweep around and back. Inhale to close, exhale to bend everything into that tight little ball last time. Getting our neck open and ready for what comes next. Make sure you're healthy there.

Pull everything in. Then we release everything out long, legs, long arms, long. Again, make sure you're in a comfortable spot on your box here. I have a healthy neck and spine to allow your head to release. Beautiful stretch for the front of the body, moving into our teasers, deep breath in to prepare, start to bring some tension into the straps, exhale chin over the chest, legs, lift, arms, lift. Everything reaches up, up, up to that beautiful v shape.

We hold shoulders down, arms lift up 1 more inch deep breath in, exhale to lower, leg staying at eye level. Can you pull your belly deeper as you find the hover of the shoulder blades before releasing everything down with control. Again, just like that, deep breath in, exhale, sweeping through the space, scooping up with those arms, reaching a little higher towards your toes, lift everything up, up, up, deep breath in. Excel to roll back down vertebra by vertebra. Belly keeps pulling down and back, finding that length all the way out through the front of the body, last time, deep breath in, exhale scoop and reach.

Trips draw together, inner thighs squeeze together, reach for your toes, lift through your heart. Arms lower towards the hips. Exhale. Arms lift. Four more times lower. Shoulder blades keep pulling down into the back.

Belly keeps pulling back to the spine for 3. Squeeze, inner thighs, and heels tight for 2. One more time. Lift everything up, up, up, up, up, stay and hold, reach up 1 more inch deep breath in. And lower all the way down vertebra by vertebra by vertebra, letting it go at the bottom.

From there, we can drop our straps and carefully make our way all the way up Alright. We are definitely warm post teaser. We are finished with our box. We'll carefully step off and take this off. Noted, as you're lifting and lowering your box, think of it as an exercise.

Yeah. I'm totally guilty of bending over all the time to pick things up. I mean, luckily, I do have that flexibility, but as we age, it's important to for our back health. So a moment to kind of be aware of how we pick things up. The box tends to be a little heavy at times. Alright. So from here, headrest comes back up. I put my straps back on.

I'm lifting my footbar back up, and we're moving into some stomach pole exercise similar to elephant one of Ron Fletcher's series here, all about pulling the caroten, pulling your stomach in. So we'll stand all the way up carefully. I'm on 1 red and 1 blue. Starting with flat feet here, think of like a downward dog from yoga. After all that work we did for the back of the legs, my goodness, does this feel good? Press the chest towards the thighs, shake your head a little yes and no side to side, maybe wiggle your toes a little bit, making sure there's weight in your heels.

See if you can lift your little pinky toe, not just your big toe, And if you are hyper extended in your knees, of course, be careful with all that weight into the back of the legs. So stay in this beautiful flat back position, sit bones, tailbone reaching up, inhale press the carriage out, exhale pull the carriage in, pulling up in that waist sign inhale to press back, exhale to pull it up and in. Staying open across the back and the shoulders, lifting from the core. 2 more. One more. And in from there, we'll do the same thing on relevay. So a moderate heel, high heel position here, heels up against the shoulder blocks, keeping that chest pressing back shoulders open, inhale to press out.

And exhale to pull the belly in, pull the carriage in, pressing on out, exhale, lift sit bones, tailbone up and back, staying lifted in the knees and the thighs here. Inhale. And exhale. Now we'll do the same thing on one leg, starting by extending the right leg straight back into an arrow esque position. Hips and pelvis stay square here.

So those hip bones are pointing down, lifting the left knee and thigh, press on out. Pull the belly up and in to pull the carriage in. I'm trying to stay as square as I possibly can here, pointing back through my right toes, lifted in that left heel squeezing that left boot to press the carriage out one more time. End in. Now hold the carriage still. Pull that right knee all the way in towards your nose as you shift forward and then carefully step your right foot onto your foot bar. I'm, like, close to my toes a little closer to my arch. When we move into front splits, so swivel your left foot so that heel is reaching back on a diagonal towards your headrest and your foot's kind of wedged against that shoulder block for support.

We'll stay holding on here. Pressing that right leg as straight as your body allows. Feeling that stretch, that length through the left thigh, really important to keep that left thigh engaged to support your knee, and then lengthening through the back of this right hamstring, reaching back through that left heel, pulling that carriage in. One more with our hands down here. No. You could always stay with those hands as they are.

If you feel solid in your balance today, lifting the chest, the body up, arms come to that hug a tree shape in front of us trying again to drop this right hip, tighten up through that corset, pressing that right leg as straight as your body allows with support and control for especially that knee. Don't have to lock it out here. Feel that glute, that right hamstring pull the carriage in. 2 more inhale and exhale one more and bring it in with control. Sit a little lower. Hands come back to the bar.

Swivel your left heel back up and then carefully lower your left knee down onto the mat. We'll take a stretch here. I like to kinda wiggle my left foot back a little closer onto that shoulder block. Press my pelvis a little further forward. Maybe you stay here.

Maybe you reach 1 or both arms up, really feeling a lovely length through the front of that left hip. Pull your shoulders down. Take a breath in. Exhale. Slight arch at the back as long as the belly stays lifted to support the spine.

Open up through the chest the heart, do what feels good with your arms, maybe goalpost elbows, or a beautiful porta bra, and then bring those arms all the way around. We'll reverse how we got into it to carefully step up. Press into the left toes, the right foot. Right foot comes back up. We're right back, ready for our second side.

High heel position. Right leg stays as is. Left leg extends straight back, pressing out on the inhale. Pull the carriage up and then engaging in the course. You exhale 4 more times, lengthen out. Lift to pull it in for a 3.

2. And then one more time. Bring it in with control. Pull the left knee into your nose, shift the shoulders over that bar, and then step your left foot onto the bar. Now that's hard to get into if your hips are tight. That's an exercise in itself.

Right foot swivels. Press that heel down. And then begin to lengthen that left leg out inhale to press out, exhale to pull the carriage in. Think of opening up both the front and the back of the legs here. Now we're finding a very deep flexion for that hip crease on this front leg. Nice to open that up as we engage those hamstrings in.

Feel that lovely stretch, right heel presses down, pull the carriage in, make sure your left foot stable here, maybe test your balance first. If you're in it, you lift, you lengthen through that right leg, press the carriage out as you inhale, pull it in as you exhale, trying to stay low into that bend of the left knee, but lifted through your chest and your heart for a 3. Squeezing glutes together, pulling that belly up and in for 2. One more. Pull it all the way in.

Carefully lower back down hands onto the bar. Lift your right heel up, swivel it back against that block, and then lower your right knee down. Be really careful with these transitions. Press that hip forward. Feel that stretch through the thigh.

Pull those shoulders back. Maybe take your arms up, maybe take your gaze up, do what feels best in your body here. Pretty deep hip flexor stretch, thigh stretch. Cautious of your shoulder alignment, your knee alignment, deep breath, and lift the heart, lift the gaze a little higher. And then slowly open those arms, bringing that left foot off.

We'll kneel back down onto the mat, sitting all the way back. Well, I think that is a lovely stretch to finish with today. I hope you agree and enjoyed the rest of the class. See you next time.