Mat for Spinal Extension

Hi. I'm Ashley Francis Hoffman. Today, we're gonna be doing a mat workout using the ball to help facilitate spinal extension. Let's start standing on your mat. Ball is in the inner thighs for a nice strong foundation, connection into the legs, interlace your hands behind your head and feel that nice pressure of your head into your hands. Make sure you're not locked or sinking. So lifting up out of the low back, Everything's stacked and take an inhale as you start to lift your gaze towards the ceiling, leaning your head into your hands.

On your exhale, come back to that nice straight standing tall position, hugging into the legs feeling the tailbone drops slightly just to create nice, even hips, inhale as you go to the ceiling with your eyes, and exhale come back. Do that one more time. So we're finding where your extension is. It doesn't have to be big, but if that lift of the chin, extending through the upper back, while the low back stays strong and firm, exhale come back to standing. Inhale as you start to extend, leaning your head into your hands, exhale stay here.

Feel how the abs kick in. Inhale again. Into your back. Exhale brings you back up to center. Inhale as you start to lift through the chin and the chest, think of going up, not just back, exhale to stay connecting to the abs, inhale, get more length, tailbone drops down towards the heels as you exhale and come back.

One more like that. Inhale eyes gaze up to take the chin up to take the head leaning into the hands as the tailbone lengthens to keep the low back long, exhale. Inhale here, and exhale back. To that nice straight spine. We're going down to the ground with the ball, and we can place it off to the side for a moment and lie on your back for a little, what I call TV stretch, not because you'd be doing it while watching TV necessarily, though. You could. But taking your legs to a v and your arms to a t.

Start by reaching your right palm to your left rolling onto that left hip, the right leg stays behind you, and that can either be relaxed here, or you can keep a little of that upper back extension. Open back out to that t arm v legs. So the legs don't come closer together. You reach the arm to the opposite arm rolling onto that hip, maybe a little lift or relaxed neck, if that feels better in your body, leg stretches to pull you back. We're gonna do this three more times.

So as you're moving, just feel the reach from right fingertips to right toes, and then rolling back to a nice anchored spine, reaching across left fingertips reach as the right the left toes stretch back and open. Just finding rotation, which is gonna help us find extension. Reaching across while the legs stay apart so that leg pulls you over. One more. Right fingertips reach past the left fingertips.

Right leg pulls you back out of that twist. And now left, and the left toes pull you out of the twist. Flipping over to our stomach for another rotation soup pine. So onto the belly, the legs can be just about hip distance and arms to a t forehead to the mat. Press into the left palm as the left leg reaches. I like to turn my head And we're just feeling this nice chest stretch and, again, spinal rotation.

I'm using my opposite hand to push as the leg goes across the body, abs pull tight to protect that low back. Which is a lot of how we find extension, making sure we're moving from that safe place of strong, low abs, lengthening out of the low back so we can get our upper back to move in a way that it doesn't naturally always want to go. One more each way. Reaching that leg across, rotating through the spine, and then coming back. Lifting the chest through this one can help a little bit if it's too much of a shoulder stretch for you, pec stretch, and coming back down.

Push up to hands and knees and grab your ball again for some neck exercises. So I'm lying on my left side with the ball under my creating a little shelf here. I'm holding the ball to keep it stable and just finding length through the waist. All I'm doing is lifting to a side lateral flexion of the neck and down. Five times, lift and then rest or even push into the ball. Three, small action, but to intentionally strengthen our neck, two, and down.

One, nothing else is lifting just that neck. Gonna go to the other side up and over. So I'm lying on my side. Fall is like a little pillow. I'm cradling it with this bottom arm, so it doesn't go anywhere. And I'm just active, but not overly active in that body.

It's really just about how much can my neck move and lowering down. If this feels like too much, you could just turn it into pushing down and then releasing until you feel you have the strength to lift the neck, to lift the ear off the ball. Five times so much so many of us have neck pain, and this is the kind of thing that can really help create strength intentionally to take us out of that neck pain. Now, we'll strengthen the front of the neck by putting the ball behind our head and doing just that neck flexion. This is a nice place to be and feel a little traction with the ball just supporting our head and neck. All you're gonna do is lift your chin, not your upper back, and lower. Five times. Again, if this doesn't feel good in the front of your neck because you've had neck issues before, just focus on pushing down into the ball and then releasing, working those opposing muscles.

And you can even lift where you don't lift your head all the way off the ball. So you're fi feeling support the entire time. But chin to chest without lifting the upper back, one more, chin to chest and down. Ball is gonna go behind the shoulder blades now more upper back. So we can get into full flexion and extension of the spine. I'm using my hands to cradle my head, and knees are bent hip distance apart.

Reach your back up and over the ball, supporting your head in your hands, letting your tailbone drop down, and then curl your tailbone towards the top of your head as you round your spine. So for these first five, we're gonna go into this full extension supported by the ball, gravity putting us there, and then abdominals pulling us back. Up and out of it. Inhale as you go back and exhale. So finding extension in different planes where gravity can help us get that upper back to move. And curl and round.

One more time. And as you curl up and forward, find a nice straight back. It's not exactly straight, but we're not in a deep flexion or extension. So the pelvis is remaining neutral and arch up and back without changing the pelvis and lift back to that quote unquote straight spine. Inhale as you go back, don't let the blow back arch, exhale come back to straight, inhale, and exhale lifting through the chest. Start to feel a little shaking the abs. I always do in this. One more, and then we'll hold.

If, again, this doesn't feel great in your neck, you can always use a towel to give you a little more support if you have really tight neck and shoulders to support the head. This time, we're keeping the spine nice and straight head heavy into the hands and pulsing up with that straight back, like you're gonna lift off the ball, exhale. Five more, five, four, lift, three, two, one, and let yourself take a full stretch backwards. Lift your head from your hands and rock up all the way to go into side lying with the ball under the waist. Lying on your left side Ball is wedging into that waistline.

Left hip is on the ground. Left shoulder's on the ground. Right hand can be there for support. And just two breaths holding this position. I like to put the hand for the breaths up on the rib cage.

So you're breathing into your top hand and breathing into the ball, finding that lateral breath. One more time, breathe in. And keeping the breath flowing, hand in front of you legs to 90 degrees, lift the top leg and lower. And two eight times using the ball to create the length in our top waist that we're typically trying to find inside leg work. So it's giving us that space instead of us having to really reach but using that awareness to deepen the breath and the space between the ribs and the hips to facilitate more extension. Keep the leg up on eight and straighten it. Use your hand, top hand for balance and stretch that leg back front and back kicks eight times. Don't be afraid to rotate a little.

Keep your hip on the ground, the bottom hip, and let your ribs lie along that ball. Feel how it's creating a little traction. In that side body and back. We've got three, lengthen the leg. Two, trying to keep the neck relaxed as we're in this deep stretch.

One, and the leg reaches long, just reach that top arm and grab the top wrist with the bottom palm, breathe into the ball full side body stretch, and then use the hands to help you come up and over. To the other side. So ball is going under the waistline. Right hip is on the ground. Right shoulders on the ground, and the ball is creating all this length.

This little wedge in here. To create the length on the top side. Breathe into your ribcage from front to back side to side. And one more breath in, place that hand in front of you for balance and lift the top leg, keeping that 90 degree bend eight times, relaxing through the neck, and just feeling that as your leg moves, you continue to support the top side from the bottom side ball giving you that space. And two, and one, kicking front and back extend the leg.

As the leg goes back, maybe your shoulders shift a little forward. Rotation is part of the equation here. We want mobility in all directions. But supported muscularly. Breathing into the ball, it feels really good in my body.

Hopefully, it feels great in yours as well. We sometimes kind of neglect that mobility in the side. So we're really taking this moment to focus on upper back extension and the rotation that we need to facilitate it. Let that leg lower, reach the top arm, grab that top wrist with the bottom palm, and just feel this nice stretch through the side body. And then we're coming up to all fours.

Oh, it's like very relaxing there with that ball. Into the inner thighs again. Hands are under shoulders, knees are under hips, and flex the feet curling the toes. On your inhale, press through your feet and find an elephant position. Squeezing into that ball, exhale lower it back down.

Four more times. Inhale pressing up. Lakes do not have to straighten all the way. Think more about lengthening through every part of your spine and slow and controlled movement. Push the ground away as the hips lift.

And as you bend the knees, you can feel that low back that's staying long, not rounding. Two. And bend and lower. One more. Now we're gonna stay here and add some little inverted push ups. Five times, head going to the mat between your hands, two hips, up and back, one, and lowering the knees down.

We'll go into some single leg work with the ball behind one leg staying on all fours. Ball's gonna wedge behind that knee, shoulders over wrists. And if the ball shifts at all, you can always just get it right back in there. So we're lifting this left leg while we keep the ball and lower. It's like an isometric hamstring curl while we recruit that glute to find some hip extension. To support what we're gonna ask our upper back to do.

After five, take that leg to the side. Open and close. Squeeze that ball. Keeping it nice and secure and up. And two pushing the ground away through those arms. One, take the ball back into that hip extension.

Keep squeezing that thigh. That heal to see and flex and point 10 times while you keep that isometric contraction of the hamstring and point flex and point maybe lift that thigh a little higher, but tighten the abs a little more and two, and one, and bring the knee down. Grab the ball, come down to the elbows just to release the wrist as you straighten that back leg. Give your body a little moment after it did that nice deep extended hamstring contraction, and we'll even it out. Straighten that leg back, opposite side, wedge the ball in.

Shoulders over wrists and keeping the ball nice and tight, lift your thigh and lower, either pointed or flexed foot, whatever helps you really keep the ball secure between the heel and the seat. Five times without sinking into the low back, and then we take it to the side, really feeling those opposite obliques, having to stabilize as that leg goes to the side. And after five, bring the leg back up. Flex in point for 10. Nine eight.

Seven, keep pushing the ground away, six, five, maybe lift that knee a little higher four. Pull the abs a little tighter three. You got it, two. One, bring the knee down. Grab the ball, elbows to the mat to release the wrists and leg straightens to release the hamstring and calf.

Place the ball back into the inner thighs for one more set of those elephants into the inverted push ups. Hands under shoulders, knees under hips, feet flexed. Take a deep inhale as you stretch the hips up, This will be very satisfying for our hamstrings after that work feels different this time around. Inhale as you lift, stretch those heels towards the ground, exhale. If you feel like your heels to the ground makes your back round, then don't let your heels touch the ground.

Keep that back nice and flat and long. And two, wherever your hamstring stretches listen to your body. Stay up here and bend just letting the head hang, letting gravity stretch that neck, but actively reaching your head as you bend your elbows towards the mat between the hands. Five times, and kneel down. Taking the ball out for a moment just to let the blood come back out of your head.

Mermaid kneeling, place this ball back in the inner thighs using the inner thighs to support the hips to support the low back for our extension. Enter lace the hands behind the head again, and we'll start our first set of alternating mermaid with that ball, with the elbows bent, feeling the side body contraction. Going up and over as if there's a giant beach ball on one end of the mat and your elbows reaching towards it and the opposite side. One more time, inhale as you go over, breathing into the ribcage, exhale. Inhale.

Or I should say expanding the ribs as you breathe in and exhale. The ball's coming out of the inner thighs. Imagine it's still there. Still working that inner thigh. And you can take the ball to the ceiling with both hands.

Keep the ball in the right hand. The left arm comes down. And mermaid stretch over reaching your fingers towards the ground outside your knee, switch at the top. So keeping the top arm straight, leveraging it towards your ear. To again help open the side body.

Up it over, trying to keep the head on top of the shoulders on top of the ribs, on top of the hips, on top of the knees, So those hamstrings are pushing you right up on top. One more each way, side bend, exhale come back up. Inhale side bend, and exhale come back up. Keep the ball in both hands and curl the toes under just to give you a little more action leverage for this. We're gonna do a full contraction of the spine with the ball.

And then an extension looking up towards the ball. It doesn't have to be a huge extension again. You wanna be lifted out of your low back. Lift round. Like top of the head is reaching to the ball.

Taylorbone's reaching to the ball. And then reaching that ball, maybe a little behind you as your eyes go up too. Feeling the space we've created in the spine. And last one, and sitting back down to the heels to lie onto your stomach. So onto the belly, right hand on the mat, ball is next to you, forehead rest to the hand. Lakes press heavy, but all we're doing is pressing into the ball to extend that left arm, feel the shoulder blade, glide up the rib cage, and pull back down.

Little pressure into the ball rolling along the forearm and pull back through the lap. Five times just to feel that glide of the shoulder blade, the extension of the shoulder, which helps facilitate our back extension. So passive in the upper back. Let's switch sides as we move. Forehead can just rest on that hand.

Paul is pressing into the ball. I'm pressing my pelvis into the mat to keep that low back length, to keep that work through the front of the pelvis, low abs deepening. And you should get that nice sticky sound from the ball because you're really pressing into it and letting it guide that movement of the shoulder. Almost like a lat pull down. One more.

And bend. Placing the ball under your chest. So we're really gonna use this to help bend at the upper back. Instead of sinking into our low back. Find a spot where you can bring your your chin might touch the ball, and that's fine.

Arms out to a tee. And just take a second. It's a pretty intense place to let the chest rest on the ball, tightening the abs, lift the arms, lift the eyes, reach the arms back like a t pole, finger, or pinky fingers towards each other. Back out to the sides and lower down. Lakes are actively kicking down into the ground, lift.

The eyes look a little up the wall in front of you as your shoulders reach back. Feel those shoulder blades gliding. And then heavy into the ball three more times. Inhale. I always feel like an inhale helps an extension and exhale. And the in exhale helps us find that work through the transverse abdominis, all the abdominals to just keep us lifted.

So we don't sink into the low back, which is our low back's happy to do that kind of curve because that's the curvature of the spine. One more. Hold here. Feel those shoulders, wrap down, legs kick down. The ball's holding you up so you can really bend at the tips of the shoulder blades and pulse the arms in. Two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, and lowering it back down.

Take a moment to just Realax your chest into the ball, maybe roll a little bit, peck to peck, if that feels nice. Type pecks can inhibit our upper back extension. Which is why the ball really helps us in that place to lift and not load into the low back. Let's go for a swan with the ball. Nice and slow and controlled.

Palms are on the ball palm over palm Forehead to the mat, elbows to the mat, legs are actively pressing down. Press into the ball to straighten the arms, lifting the elbows off the ground, lift the head and chest. And lift the eyes as you extend. Don't be afraid to add your low back into the extension if your upper back has extended and all the way down. Okay.

Lakes kicked down. Pressing into the ball. It starts to go away from you as your arms straight as your spine lifts, but maybe it starts to come a little bit towards you as your shoulder blades pull back and let your eyes guide you. Keeping the legs active now for three more. Inhale, exhale tightening the abs.

Inhale, and lower. I always find extensions to be very energizing for my own body. And two more. I'm pressing into the ball to straighten the arms. As I lift my chest, I keep the length of the spine, but the ball comes a little towards me because of that lift and length elbows soften. Last one, arms press the straight. Head hovers. I start to look past the fingers up the wall, lift shoulder blades maybe back a little down and lower piece by piece.

Till your head touches the mat carefully with your ball, press back towards the child's pose. But before we sit all the way into the child's pose, knees together, take your ball into your hips. And just relax over that. This creates a deep lumbar or low back stretch. And again, like I said, a lot of us have an easier time bending in our lumbar spine in extension, I should say.

So it's about finding the opportunity to move that thoracic spine. Now we can take the knees a little wide toes together, ball out to just take a full child's pose here, breathing. As if your ribs could touch each side of your thighs, and then slowly roll up. And thank you so much for joining me today. I hope you feel energized and that your back feels more open.