Fun, Full-Body Challenge

Hi. I am Laura Hanlon back on the reformer to teach you a fun flowy fluid movement class today, really articulating through the spine, working our core, and all the things. So today, we'll start at our foot bar edge I have one red spring on the springs here, and then my foot bar down. Think of kind of wash your woman from your chair work. In her thighs are connected, arms reach up. Take a deep beautiful breath in as you gaze up. Flip those palms forward and begin to roll through the spine, leaning with the fingertips and the crown of the head, beautiful articulation right away through the bones of the back vertebra by vertebra, until the hands touch down to the edge of the reformer and carriage. We press on out. I like to think of kinda pressing my feet into the Laura, reaching my sit bones, my tailbone back, beautiful stretch for the back and the legs, deep breath in. XL, use the belly to pull the carriage back to the stopper as you scoop out through the waist really rounding and lifting from the belly there. Again, just like that, pressing out, sit bones, tailbone reach back, opening up through the hamstrings, exhale pulling up through the waistline to open up through that spine.

Two more like this. Trying to keep equal weight into the feet so we don't sink into the heels or into the back of the knees, be aware. If you have any hyper extension of the legs, really lifting in the knees and the thighs for support. Once more, press on out, lengthen through the back, open through the chest and shoulders. Pull that belly up and in to pull the carriage in. Take a breath once you arrive, and then exhale pull the belly up as you begin to roll back up. I think of pressing the pelvis forward, zipping up that tight pair of pants through the low waist lengthening all the way back up tall.

And pressing those arms down. We'll do the same thing in our pilates stance heels together toes apart not too wide of a turnout here. Again, start by reaching the arms up deep breath and exhale find a little lift of the heels. They could be really high or somewhere in between between, inner thighs wrap forward, glute squeeze together, belly pulls up, really squeezing those inner thighs heels tight. Take a breath in, palm slip forward, exhale again. We roll down. Now if you're on that releve, that lift of those heels, this is challenging for our balance right away igniting our core, the backs of the legs, working to keep those heels hovering, weight into the toes. Palms fingertips touch down.

Same thing. We press the carriage out, lengthen through the spine, deep breath in. Ex, I'll pull the belly up, zip up tighter through the legs, tighter through the waistline, trying to keep that balance by squeezing inner thighs together, pulling the waist up, keeping that head heavy, releasing tension in the neck. Deep breath in to lengthen. XL the spring closes. The ribs close. The carriage closes. Again, inhale to press.

XL to pull that carriage Hanlon more time like this. Think of lifting in the knees and the thighs to help support the legs and keep those heels lifted. Now we hold the carriage still. We try and hold the heels up and then start to roll back up through the spine bone by bone. In four squeeze those glutes forward. Three.

Biceps frame the ears, zip up through that waistline, two. Lift tall through the crown of the head, reach through the fingertips, lift the heels a little higher on one. And then slowly lower the heels, lower the arms. Well, with that simple warm up, our bodies should be woken up. We're gonna swing the legs around and lower our bodies down onto the reformer. Before we do so, hook on one additional spring, I'm gonna move to a red and a blue here.

My feet are on the bar. That bar will stay down, and then take a moment to hold on to the back of your knees. Scoot your hips forward, roll your shoulders back. We'll lift the heart and the chest up a little extension, hyper extension stretch for the spine. Beautiful breath and exhale round and contract like you're rounding, hanging back away from those legs.

Twice more shoulder slide away from the ears. Heart lifts up on the inhale. Round and contract, back pulling back through that waist, maybe a little bit lower on the exhale. Last one, lift up through the chest and the heart, exhale round and contract, keeping those feet firmly pressing down into the bar belly fully pulling back in and really feel that scoop from their arms reach forward, try and hold this half rolled back position deep breath and maybe get a little lower as you exhale. Holding the body where it is.

Pull the elbows back on the inhale. Pull the belly button back as you reach forward on the exhale. Simple movement, elbows bend, elbows extend. Deep breathe in, ribs knit together, exhale it out. Pull. And reach, opening up through the chest and the shoulders, using that low belly transverse abdominal area beneath that waistband to really stabilize taking the stress out of the top of the hips and thighs. Working a little deeper into that low belly.

Holding it forward, take another breath in. XL, just right elbow pulls back. We twist to the right. Maybe that elbow taps the carriage, inhale center over to the left. Inhale center. Wake up that right oblique as you twist, inhale center over to the left.

One more time. Each side, making sure knees stay straight to the ceiling. We're twisting from our waistline, not the pelvis last time. Reach forward breathing. EX, I'll take the back of the legs, curl all the way back up. Make sure you're right at the edge of your reformer here. One more breath in with this beautiful, tall back, exhale to curl and around all the way down this time, laying the body onto the mat with control, and then making sure you have a little bit of space between the shoulders and blocks. That way they move freely when we grab for our straps. Again, one red, one blue spring, two springs for a little arm and core work here.

Those legs float up to a tabletop position, inner thighs connected knees over the hips, and then press the palms. So your straps are taut, and the arms are right up over the shoulders. Pull the shoulder blades down into the back, lift the chin off the chest. Feel your core supporting you here. Simply hold for a breath and pull the belly a little deeper as you breathe out inhale to prepare.

Exhale arms press down. As the arms lift, the right toes lower to hover or tap the bar. And then exhale, lift the leg up as the arms press down. Inhale, exhale belly pulls down to lift the leg and press the palms towards the mat again right side. And lift and press.

Lower the leg. Keeping that 90 degree bend of the knee. Two more each side. Trying to stay really square and anchored in that neutral pelvic position. We're trying to use the low belly to lift and lower, supporting our bodies from the core here, thinking of that corset right around the waist.

Last time with the left. Arms reach up inhale, exhale, press the palms down, curl up over the ribs, gazing between the thighs, head down arms up. Again, like that now just moving the upper half. Lower the head arms straight up over the chest. Curl up reach up once more inhale and exhale.

Both legs lower down, deep breath in, zip up through the waist, both legs lift. Trying to keep the 90 degree bend of the knees, creasing at the hips, using that low waist for three. For two, inner thighs ribs squeeze together one more with just the legs. Toes lower head and arms lower. Arms up. Arms down as we curl up.

Toast lower fingertips to the ceiling, head back down. Curle up, reach up using that low belly for three. Moving upper and lower body here together, letting the breath guide you to, exhale, we lift one more time inhale, curl up, reach up, hold. We move into our hundreds. Inhale to three, four, five, exhale. Two, three, four, five squeeze those inner thighs a little tighter at tabletop.

It really anchor beneath your waist band thinking about pulling that low belly down, curl a little higher on that breath out. Two more here at tabletop and exhale. Inhale. Halfway there, option to extend those legs on a diagonal. Keep using that breath, squeeze inner thighs and ribs to the midline for Laura out, legs a little lower three, exhale out for two, and exhale.

Little lower one more breath in. And exhale out two, three, four, five, stay hold, reach, reach, reach, pull the belly in to pull your knees in, bend the elbows, bringing the carriage to rest and your head down. Right away, we'll bring our feet into our loops and move into some short spine stretch, short spine massage. Make sure that headrest lowers down. We always want it to be flat anytime we're rolling up onto the neck.

Pull the heels into the seat, and then start with the legs extended long on that diagonal parallel legs. We're gonna do a beautiful stretchy version to begin. Crease at the hips. Start to float the legs as far as you can without letting the hips lift. I'm really trying to keep this neutral pelvic position.

You could always bring your hands to your hips if you need. That might mean the carriage comes to the stopper. It might not go as far as you can go. Take a breath where you are, and then begin to tuck and curl the hip up from that position using the low belly. As you reach the legs up and back, make sure you're engaged in the back of the legs so you're pressing your feet into those straps for support. Finding the stopper with control. So that carriage comes to rest, see if you can lift the pelvis and the hips a little higher, and then begin to bend your knees with control to a beautiful diamond, thighs right over the eyebrows, take a breath where you are, exhale to roll down chest away from the chin, you're extending from your knees, but your legs don't really move. You're rolling through your spine.

Your heels keep squeezing together. You feel this link through the low back and especially through the back of those hamstrings. Again, working that spinal articulation, pull the heels into the seat and then extend those legs back out long and low. Parallel a little bit smoother and quicker. We float the legs back as far as you can go, feeling the stretch in the hamstrings, exhale to curl up. Inhale we bend to a diamond, exhale to roll down bone by bone, making sure those thighs stay hovering over the chest.

They don't collapse. Once you can't roll any further, heels to the seat. Legs extend long, crown of the head reaches back in that position twice, more legs back inhale. We roll up on the exhale. Mending the knees in.

Exhale to roll down with control bone by bone moving through the spine with care, heels in legs lengthen last time her legs over Ted. Exhale roll up, scooping out from the waist, squeezing inner thighs and seat tight reach through the toes, bend the knees, deep breath in, strap, stay taut, pull the belly in as you roll down vertebra by vertebra. Opening up through that low back. Pull the heels in, pull the belly down to extend the legs long. From there, bend your knees in, take your hands back into your loops or handles, pull the knees into the chest, pull the elbows in tight to your waist, and then we'll curl up into our tight little ball for our coordination exercise. Inhale arms and legs extend open and close those legs, pull the belly in to pull the knees in, and then bend your elbows working from those triceps.

Reach everything out. Exale, pull the knees in, pull the belly in, bend those elbows back. We reach, exhale, pull it in, and resist. Lincoln Hanlon bend. One more like this.

We're gonna take a scissor of the legs. We reach scissor and switch, knees come in and bend. Inhale, exhale squeeze in and back two more. Reach right left. Squeeze, make it as bigger as small as you wish last time, left, right, squeeze in, and rest. From there, straps back onto their poles, legs extended nice and long, reach your arms up, breathe, and exhale to round and roll up.

We're gonna move on to some arm work facing the back. So I'm gonna drop my springs down to one red and then face with my feet through my headrest, starting with a beautiful simple bicep Laura, really lifted through the waist, a little bit of space behind me, and then reach for those straps, arms extend long, shoulder blades slide down into the back, Make sure you're really at the ready, already working, squeezing underneath the seat. So we don't just sink. Postures so important here. Bend those elbows.

They stay lifted, and then extend those elbows, shoulders pulling down, chin lifting up. Inhale, we curl. Exhale, we lengthen pulling up in that waistline, working the whole body here, inhale to bend, exhale to extend. Two more just like this. And we're each trying to keep those elbows lifted and those shoulders back and down. Take a breath in.

Roll back just about halfway. Think of how we started with that half roll back. Same thing, bicep curl inhale. Extend as you exhale pulling that low belly back. We curl.

We extend. Hanlon exhale. One more time staying square. Take a breath in. Twist to the left.

Try to keep those arms even with one another. We curl inhale and exhale. A little more work for that left oblique. Trying to keep those elbows lifted. Think arms towards the shoulders, staying square, palms pull in for two. One more pull.

Extend the arms long. Inhale center. Axle twist right. Feel those biceps working for five, pulling back in that right oblique. For four elbows stay lifted.

They don't collapse down to the hips, working the triceps as well as the biceps to hold those arms up for two. Staying connected in that low belly to support that low back, come back to center, deep breath in, exhale, curl all the way back up. Finding that seat We'll hold on with a tight fist. Move into our rowing, fist to fist. Pull the elbows in wide. Fifth to fist really pressing together here.

Keep that connection round back through your spine. Pull those arms with you. Open the arms, think of your hug a tree arm, slight lift in bend in the elbows, flip your palms, press the palms back first, then dive the crown of the head forward towards your knees, take one hand over the other clasp and reach up and back. Beautiful shoulder stretch. Can you squeeze your shoulder blades together?

Keep your arms lifted. Secure that position. Keep that control as you reach back and then all the way around. Taking a moment to enjoy this forward fold. We'll do it again a little bit quicker and smoother, elbows bend wide, fist pull into the heart, deep breath in, open those arms, flip those palms back, exhale dive over.

One hand over the other. Reach reach reach. Exhale circle with control there. Again, fist to fist pull to the chest inhaling and exhaling reach a little longer and higher. Open up across the back.

Think of your wings flying over your legs last time, breathing in. Reach a little higher, lengthen through the arms a little bit longer. Again, taking a moment. Oh, fold over those thighs. Rolling all the way up. One more thing here with those legs long.

I forgot to mention if they don't fit, you can always cross one leg over the other. And if you did, make sure you switch them here. We'll also cross one strap over the other, and then place our straps in our elbow crease. Working a little bit more of our back, find those sit bones, lift up through your waist. I think two goal post elbows.

Squeeze between your shoulder blades. Pull your elbows back towards where your shoulders are. Not so far that we arch the spine. Keep that core connected, ribs connected, and close. Inhale to open.

Squeeze between the shoulder blades, exhale close the arms, close the ribs. Working, you know, squeeze from our lats, our back muscles here, really drawing them together like you're pinching a pencil between your wings behind you. We squeeze, allowing our chest Laura collarbones are hard to open and shine forward. Pull wide. And resist.

One more we open. Those elbows are staying lifted at about shoulder height. We pull them wide to hold, start to reach those arms up, up, up, up, up, and then pull those elbows all the way down towards your hips. Not a lot of movement from the carriage here. We're keeping those springs taut.

Springs pulling us back. Reach up. And down. I'm gonna think of flying, lengthen through those fingertips. Pull the elbows into your waistline for three, take up the space.

Reep and pull one more inhale and exhale. Hold it here. Maybe pull those arms back a little further. Pull your shoulders down. Lift the heart a little further forward and then close those arms to rest. We'll take both straps in one Hanlon.

Hold them. If you choose to change your springs, I'm gonna lighten it a little bit for some diamond rollback core work. The lighter you are here, the more challenging it's gonna be. You could stick with your red. You could change to a yellow. Listen to your body as always. Sco on forward, we're gonna move into some diamond rollback. One of my favorite things that Ron Fletcher created that I learned from him, we wanna find our diamond shape, start by holding on somewhere around a little bit in front of your hardware.

But you're not gripping and holding on. This is all coming from your core, not from our arms. We just worked those. Let's focus on that low belly again. Sit up tall. Take a breath where you are.

Now, begin to round and contract back. Think of how we started with that half rollback We're in this diamond shape of the legs, allowing our hips, our thighs to maybe open a little more. Find the tips of the shoulder blades hovering at the edge of your reformer. Take a breath where you are. Now start to curl back up. Let your arms assist you as they reach forward.

You pull your belly button back. If you find that your arms are lifting, your shoulders are lifting, or maybe you just can't get up there, you got stuck back there. Add a little more weight. Deep breath in. You wanna keep this smooth with the breath, with the movement, rolling bone by bone, low back, middle back, hover at the tips of the shoulder blades, deep breath in, sit bones, tail bones, reaching forward towards the heels.

Can we pull that low belly back back back to curl up versus relying on our hips or quads to do the work. Deep breathe in at the top, stack. That's fine up tall. Exhale rolling back down. If you have a healthy neck cervical spine, option to take a little hyper extension as you release the head back towards the springs carefully and then roll back up and over the chest belly scooping back and in, trying to keep those heels really, really firmly planted in the headrest.

Again, if they're lifting up, just like if the legs lift when you work on your roll up, maybe you add some weight here on the springs, maybe you do those exercises on the mat. Half roll up a roll up with a weighted bar or weights. It's gonna help you kind of propel you forward here. We wanna roll smoothly through the spine, taking care of the back. Joseph Pilates would say you're only as old as your spine. So let's keep it young and mobile.

Inhale sit up tall. This time we roll down to the tips of the shoulder blades to hold. Pull the waistline back. Try to keep sit bones, tailbone reaching forward neutral pelvic position. Finding that nice high crunch, right leg lifts in the diamond, right heel lowers to the headrest, left leg lifts inhale, exhale lower both legs together, lift the diamond, lower the diamond, start with the left lift, belly pulls down heel lowers right lower together both lift, lower to hover or tap both legs again for three.

Belly pulls a little deeper, maybe curl a little higher. Two. Last one. This time, lift the diamond to hold, breathe in. Lift the chest up. Let the springs assist you. Pull the belly button back as you lift your heart up, fink shoulders towards the thighs.

Squeeze your heels together, inhale. Roll just the upper body back down. Can you keep your shins parallel to the Laura, rolling bone by bone, hover inhale, curl the chest back up as we exhale, lifting the heart forward through the thighs, beautiful tall spine, pull that low belly back to roll back down bone by bone. One more inhale. Again, arms stay relaxed as much as you can shoulders away from the ears.

Deep breathe in. This time heels shoulder blades lower, finding a hover, moving upper and lower body together before releasing the heels, releasing the head, being cautious of our head and neck, deep breath in. Exhale chin over the chest, belly button pulls back still working from that core to roll up. Rounded shoulders over the hips, sit up tall, lengthen up tall once more deep breath in, exhale round and contract scoop from the waist. We hold at our hover, take a breath in, pull the belly a little deeper once again, chest legs, body lifts.

Slightly round shape of the spine, bent knees, lengthen through the chest, lengthen through the legs as much as you can. Find that gorgeous teaser. Bend your knees rolling to hover the shoulder blades and the heels from the mat. We do that again. We lift with bent knees inhale, lengthen through the spine through the toes as you exhale. We bend.

We curl back two more times gentle hold of the straps. Don't let them control you. Let your core support you. Bend and lower. Last time, lift.

We reach a little taller. We bend. We lower all the way down with control one more time, letting that head release, shoulders and chest open, deep breath in, exhale round and roll all the way up. Once you arrive here, sit up tall, place those straps back over their pegs. We're gonna move into a little side bending work.

So a lot of the pilates work works in deflection. We just squeezed in some extension. Now we're gonna take into some side bending and rotation twisting. So I'm gonna add my red back on and take my blue off just one spring here. It could be a red or a blue.

Footbar comes back up Make sure that is secure. And then my one shin is parallel to the front. My right shin is back against the blocks. Left hand to the bar. Right arm reaches wide.

Sholders down the back. Press on out as you reach up and over. Beautiful side stretch inhaling, exhale finding those sit bones back anchored to the mat, lengthening out through that side body, and lift. Tumor just like this. Reach lengthening out through the fingertips.

Again, up and over and lift. We add a twist. Reach over. Now think I hate to say like you got punched in the gut. Pull your left oblique in your belly back round towards the springs, square it back off and lift. We do that again. We reach.

We exhale twist pulling back in the waist. Square and up. Twice more reach over. Twist it down. Center and lift.

Last time, reach. Twist stay Keep that twist right hand to the corner. Left hand opens to the other corner. Press the carriage out. Let the chest release over that left thigh.

Open up through your back. Lift your heart forward and up. Think of kind of like a push of that left palm, a little pull with the right to pull your heart forward and your shoulders back breathe in, exhale press the carriage away. And he'll lift the heart forward and up, exhale pull the belly up as you press it back down. Feeling the length through that whole right side of the hip, the waist, opening across the chest and collar bones.

One more time lifting all the way up up up. Find the stopper, and then take the opposite twist, grabbing hold again a little push pull of those shoulder blocks, taking your spine, your cervical spine, your neck, your gaze with you as you look over that back shoulder. And then we'll twist over onto the other side. Left shin against our blocks. Right shin is square with the front edge of your reformer here.

Right palm down. Left arm open. Beautiful tall lift of the spine. Reach up and over. Simple side bend to start inhaling.

And exhaling. Try not to collapse into that right waist, really lengthening up and over. Think of rooting your left hip down as much as you can. If it lifts, it's okay. Mine is. But I'm not purposely lifting it.

I'm gonna feel the difference. Really lengthen out through that outer hip. We add on. We reach inhale. Twist as you exhale. Pull back in that right waistline.

Back to the side and lift. Inhale reach, exhale twist towards the springs. For me, back to the beautiful ocean and back up. Two more. Reach and twist. To the side.

And up last time, reach up and over. Twist down to the floor. Hold your twist. Left hand to the corner. Right hand slides a little wider.

Press out a little further. Her lips forward and up, shoulder blades slide down the back, shine that heart forward deep breath in, exhale press the carriage away, saying connected in those abdominals. So again, we don't just collapse over that right thigh. We pull the ribs together. We pull the belly up and away from that bottom leg.

Increasing that twist through the back, opening up through the spine with each repetition. Once more lifting up, up, up, and all the way back down. From there, coming all the way up. Hold this lift. And then reach for the blocks behind you, giving yourself one extra little pull and twist. And then we'll continue over that left shoulder.

Staying on that one red spring, we'll meet kneeling with our thighs up against our blocks. From here, palms come to the edges. We'll take a moment to again, open up the back a little more, find a cat shape, gaze between your thighs, give that head a little shake, open up through the spine, inhale draw your heart and chest forward, stick your kale back, lift your heart and your gaze up. Once more, we round to that cat shape. We hold this cat.

Take a breath in. Now, pull the belly up so much that your knees pull forward. I'm not moving from my shoulders. I'm lift in my abs to pull my thighs towards my chest. X. I'll pull the knees in. Again, I kind of think of my abdominal pull up from the chair work here, pulling the belly in to pull the knees in, keeping that head released and heavy. Opening up through the upper back so our traps don't over engage here.

Last two. Last one. Release the carriage back. Left hand stays where it is. Maybe slides back a little further, so right hand can come on top of it or in front of it.

Round through that back. Keep that head heavy again. Deep breathe in. We pull up from that left oblique to pull the thighs forward. Release a little. Pull it in.

Release and Paul lifting so much in the waist, trying to keep the rounded shape of the spine for two. And one. Release right hand back to the frame. Left hand in front of it round up and in, lifting your abdominals, deep breath to prepare, open up through the spine and the scapula, exhale right oblique pulls the thighs forward, release, lift as you pull. Inhale. Exhale for three. Two.

Last one. Release. Both hands back to the frame. We take one more beautiful cow stretch. Tailbone, sit bones back, chest up, give your tail a little wiggle around up and in, and then sit all the way back for a moment, adjust what you need for a child's pose. Arms reach forward hips to the thighs, opening up through that spine. And then rolling all the way up to a seat.

From there, we'll slide back on around. Our foot bar is up. I'm gonna add on an additional yellow. So I'm working on a red and a yellow here a little bit lighter as we move into our up stretch, Hanlon, hand here, and then feet up against the shoulder blocks. We're on a relevant position.

Our hips are reaching up and back. Our chest is towards the thighs. Think of that v kinda downward dog shape with a lift in the core. Press the carriage out with control. Lower the hips. Find that plank slightly rounded in the upper back.

We've done this before. We pull that carriage all the way forward. Find the stopper. Pull the belly up. To pike the hips up.

We do that two more times pressing out inhale. Long line through the spine. All the way forward. Use that low belly. We just worked so nicely in those abdominal pull ups to pull the hips up. Again, press out.

Rolling through the back, squeezing into the seat continuing to articulate bone by bone. Now we reverse it. We start by shifting shoulders forward, squeeze your buttons to press the carriage out. You know, of keeping your arms your back where it is. But pike your hips up pulling the belly up. Can you pull your thighs towards you finding that stopper?

We shift forward. Press out deep breath in. XL hips pike up using that waist. One more time. Shift forward. Press on out, exhale pike the hips up, reverse of that up stretch, and then step your feet down flat.

Bring your hands to the mat. Take a breath where you are. Find a forward fold, shake out the wrist, shake out the head neck and shoulders, carefully step off to one side. Anytime you're moving up and down from your reformer, don't stand up, flip your head up like I did too quickly. We are gonna face the box, stay on one red and one yellow for some long back stretch.

So same way to get into this. Hanlon, hand, foot foot. Hands are once again on the bar and feet are up against those shoulder blocks. Really try and get your heels, the whole sole of the foot up there. Pull your shoulder blades down in your back, lift your heart up. More spinal articulation, more core work. Scoop out from your low belly.

We're gonna go, I think the harder direction first. Press the carriage up by lifting your pelvis up, tricep dip down. Those hips just hover off the mat. Don't collapse into it. Use your arms to press right back out.

Scoop through your waist. Deep breathe in, exhale take it down in and up. Two more scoop. Press lift through your heart. I like to think of a string pulling my pubic bone, my heart up, lift as you press, lower in.

Drive those palms down. We reverse. Tricep dip down. Make sure those hips don't collapse. Now squeeze your seat up. Pull the carriage in, zipping up tight through that waist, sit it back down, inhale, exhale.

Last two elbows straight back press the palms down, lift the chest up engaged in the back is gonna save those wrists. One more down, out up, pull the carriage all the way in, find your stopper, and then carefully step one and the other foot off. Give your wrists a little shake. They should feel pretty good after that. Yeah. Again, the stronger we get in our back, the less we really sink into those joints. From here, we're lowering our foot bar down.

We're gonna change to two red springs and lengthen our straps. So do what you need. If you have an extension strap or loop, you'll want that. I am going to change these as we move into some long spine stretch, long spine massage. So give them a little yank, a little pull, make sure you adjust accordingly for your reformer. I like to kind of pull them. It's good that everyone sees this.

So they're right at the edge of where the headrest would be, and then I sit on them. Yeah. My mother taught me to do this. It's the right way. The weight of your body is gonna hold them secure. So then when you press them back down, if you do have ropes like this, they're gonna be solid.

It's a good trick. Hook them back on, and then spin your body around. We'll make our way all the way back down onto our back, always moving with caring control. Again, we're gonna be rolling up on the neck, cervical spine, make sure your headrest is flat. And then feet come into the loops.

It's a little easier to get into them when they're long, but if you need to press out foot on the ledge, you can always do so. Pull those heels in, arms are long, legs are long and parallel to start. Now find that neutral pelvic position. Again, we're gonna take this slow to begin with that beautiful stretch just like we did in short spine stretch. Now for long spine stretch, letting the legs go, maybe further back with that extra length in the straps. Once you arrive their deep breath in, pull the belly down, squeeze those legs together and begin to curl up.

Make sure those straps stay taught, pressing your feet into them. Once you get up there, separate about shoulder width, deep breath in, begin to roll down through your spine. So we're continuing to kind of reach those legs up keeping the straps taut by keeping the legs lifted and really articulating bone by bone, then pressing the straps, lower the legs, squeeze them together. We'll do that again. Leggs begin to float back first.

Inhale. Allow this to feel good, curl up as you exhale. Open for an inhale and roll down pressing palms into the mat, still working the triceps, the core, the glutes to control this movement, pressing through the legs. Small circle to squeeze. Now a little more quick challenging movement, squeeze from the seat, lift your hips up as the legs float back. A lot of control from the seat, from the core here.

Once you arrive at the stopper, we open that same small distance, and then begin to press the feet into the straps. We're trying to lower on a diagonal. So as you lower chest away from the chin, you're pressing feet into the straps, you're lowering your legs as you roll through your spine, working core working glutes, working every darn thing in your body. Again, like that, lift and reach those legs up, up, up, up, up, open, inhale, start to lower the legs, roll through your spine as you exhale. Legs begin to draw together at the bottom. We'll slow it back down for the reverse.

Open legs reach back creasing at the hips. I'm breathing in. Slowly roll up, breathing out. Lead squeeze tight. Roll down through your spine vertebra by vertebra.

Once your hips come down, as close as your body allows, you press from the back of the legs to lower. Again, like that, circling around and back inhale. Curling up and back as we exhale, legs squeeze together, rolling down vertebra by vertebra, really firing up those glutes and hamstrings, pressing those legs down to lower. A little bit quicker legs open, pelvis and legs left. Press your palms into the mat. Control the carriage to the stopper.

Make sure it doesn't slam. Squeeze the legs tight together. Now one long line. Think of pressing the back of the head. The palms down.

Reach your toes. Like they're gonna reach for that wall in front of you. As you roll down through your spine, can you find that diagonal? Work from the core, the legs, the seat. Again, open, reach up and back.

Last time here, squeeze everything together, inhale. Start to lower back down. Still rolling vertebra by vertebra reaching the legs longer, finding the bottom. From there, turn those legs out, bend your knees all the way in. We'll take our feet out of the straps today, bringing those straps all the way back.

Extend your legs long over the bar for a moment. Reach your arms up as you inhale. Exhale roll all the way up. Then we're gonna move into some semi circle today, and I'm gonna change my springs a little lighter. I'm gonna use one red, one yellow.

So make your way back down onto the mat. If you're petite, depending on what type of reformer you have, you might wanna lift your bar up. I'm keeping mine flat. My toes come to my first position, heels are together in that pilates stance. Palms to the blocks.

If you're sticky on your back, like I might be, you might find you stick on your mat, so make sure you can slide. You don't get a, like, Matt burn, wiggle your way into position. My arms are extended, but not locked through the elbows. Make sure you're pressing your palms into your blocks. You lift your hips up.

We're gonna start by pressing that carriage out. Squeeze heels and inner thighs together. Begin to drop the chest away from the chin, rolling through the spine, hips to the springs, drag them down there, and then scoop from the waist to curl the hips back up. And he'll lengthening out. Exhale chest away from the chin, think of wrapping the back of your ribs along the edge of your carriage, pulling the hips in, pulling the belly down to boost the pelvis up.

One more this direction, be really aware that those knees stay over the middle toes, We don't overly turn out to your scoop from the waist and lift. Reverse. Roll through the spine, taking your time trying to keep that carriage in as you roll, then press out. Hit to the springs, inner thighs squeeze tight, glutes squeeze tight to lift and pull it back in, lowering with control, then pressing out, still keeping it fluid, enjoying that movement, that semi circle, as it's called, last time. I love this exercise. It feels good. From here, feel that beautiful length in the front of the hips and thighs. Carefully, if you can, we finish with the quad stretch.

Reach your arms around. Grab for your ankles, maybe your heels, lift your pelvis a little higher, lift the chin off your chest, feel that glorious stretch in the front of the legs. Be very careful with your knees here, with your back, deep breath in. Deep breath out. Reach back for your blocks as gracefully as you can, slide yourself back in.

Once again, extend your legs over the bar. Reach your arms to the ceiling, zip those legs tight, deep breath in, and exhale to round and roll all the way up to a beautiful, tall seat. Lot of abdominal work, a lot of spinal articulation today. Hopefully, that last roll up felt as good or even better than your first. Thanks so much for joining me.