Class #3613

Slow and Steady Mat

35 min - Class
586 likes

Description

If today is a day that makes you want to move slow and steady, then this Mat workout by Meredith Rogers is perfect for you. She teaches a basic class, playing with lightness in the body so you can create space. She encourages you to investigate the sensations you feel in each movement so you can become more aware of how you move.
What You'll Need: Mat

About This Video

Dec 05, 2018
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Hi everyone. Thanks for being here with me today. I feel like there are days when do we need to push and their ideas and we need to go slow and steady and that's one of those days for me. So we're going to do some basic mat work. I love the basic, so let's start sitting on our mat with the feet flat and about sit bones, distance apart, and the hands behind the thighs. And I want us to lift up and close our eyes. I'm going to close my eyes anyway because I feel that it's nice sometimes too investigates and stations without any visual stimulus.

Feeling the length of the spine, the heaviness of the bones of the pelvis, heaviness of the bones of the feet. Yeah, bringing some awareness to the arms and feeling that you can gently allow your arms to help you create a sense of lifting the spine. I know it's always bringing awareness to the breath. Inhaling and gently drawing the abdominals back towards the spine as we exhale and as we inhale again, let's open our eyes and this time as we exhale, we'll tip the pelvis under. Keep the shoulders over the pelvis where they are and just round through the lower spy. Inhale as we rise back up.

Pelvic Tilt w/ Spine Extension

Exhale as we extend lifting the chest up in forward. Inhale as we arrive back to just a tall spy. Exhale using the arms almost to hold the body or the shoulders in place as we round through the lower spine, deepening into the abdominals. Inhale as we lift, excuse me, and exhale as we extend the spine. So just doing a little rocking action XL as we roll back. Okay.

In LSV CITA. Okay. XL as we go up in back and in Hilda neutral this time, x around the spine just like before. And then just begin allowing the arms to straighten as the arms straight and they begin to slide down the outsides of the size or you roll down till we feel the lower spine. Come into contact with the mat. Exhale now roll Baca and build this spine back up.

Roll Back

Tall again in here and exhale around the spine. Keep the eyes just just forward rather than down into the push down into the center of the body. Just gaze out on the horizon and in here maybe there's somewhere in that horizon. You're here who wishing where you were at that moment and you could just imagine yourself there on the left right now for me, I don't know if there's anywhere. I'd rather be maybe on a beach somewhere with a Margarita. Roll back. Just kidding. This is number one and here and next. Hannah. We'll just do that one more time.

Lifting the body and I'm playing with lightness. Moving with ease. Movie with yes. Intention. Yes, correct. Muscular recruitment. All those things that we think about in polite ways but also with ease. Are you going to list the R, take them out to the sides and then forward in hill lists the arm.

Take them out to the sides and then forward and lift the arms. Yeah. Dominal they're helping the lower spine connect to the mat. They go forward. We're going to do one more up and open and fall and let's take the body all the way down. I'm going to scoot in towards my feet. You can do the same arms heavy up on the mat. Inhale, feeling the weight of the body eye equal on both feet. We're going to start to roll the pelvis up.

Bridge

So lifting the hips off the mat, standing equally over the sheet, feeling that nice straight alignment of the spine as we come up into that bridge and inhale. And then exhale, feeling that the bones in the body come down individually creating space and in here and lower signs flattens into the mat. Weight of the body, into the sheet. Roll at checking with the shoulder blades and see if they're just lying flat on the Mat. And inhale, not pinching together, not lifting up to the ears. Just dropped back softly and in here and exhale, lifting up. Okay.

And inhale, just feeling that at the front of the body can be used to manipulate or move or create space in the back of the body. We'll just go one more time. Inhale at the bottom and exhale to lift. Ah, okay. And in here and exhale as we lower ourselves down. Yeah. So once you arrived down onto your back, take your arms up over the shoulders, towards the ceiling, and then open them out to the sides, laying them down on the mat.

Supine Spine Twist

I'm going to reach around and hold my mat with my hands, but if you just have a floor, just keep the arms straight out. Lifting the legs up one at a time. We're going to take the legs to the left on the inhale into the center has we exhale. So as we're going across to the right, we're pulling in trying to keep the naval pulled back towards the sky and then we deepen that to come center. Inhale as we go over to the left rocking side to side across the pelvis. Exhale to come back in. How's we reach across?

Excellent to come back in. Inhale, Leslie, reach across. [inaudible] Xcel to come back. We'll do two more in each direction. [inaudible] [inaudible] breathing and with the breath deepening into the position and into your experience in the movement. [inaudible] last time. [inaudible] last time to the other side.

Okay. Placing the feet down. Now I want you to keep them all the way together. Reach back and put the hands behind the head, holding the back of the top of the skull and then making sure that shoulder blades are reaching around a little bit around the front of the body. Actually pressed the legs together and press the feet down and imagine they're glued to the mat. But as you lift up into your chest lift, attempt to try to lift those sticky feet. Inhale and pause and then exhale and lay the body back down so it's a creation of sensation. Keep the feet to the mat, tempt to lift them at the same time.

Chest Lift

Keep the head heavy in the hands as we come up into that nice high lifted position in the spine and exhale to lower down one more like that. Xcel till lift up and inhale and exhale to lay the body down. Working in both directions. Exhale to lift up. Yeah. Now grounding into the feet.

Lift the pelvis just off the mat. Pick it up just a little bit. As it's coming down, I want you to feel that it's bringing your chest up higher. We're trying again to lift the feet up off the mat at the same time as we're not allowing them to live and then we go down again. Inhale, exhale, head and chest. Come up, press down into the feet. Curl the pelvis. As the pelvis comes down, the chest follows the pelvis, the seat attempt to lift. Oh my goodness. It makes it so difficult in such an amazingly beautiful way.

Chest Lift w/ Pelvic Curl

Last one. Exhale to lift. Feet. Stay stuck, Paul. This comes up as the pelvis goes down the feet. Attempt to lift, lift, lift, lift, lift and take the body down. Lift the leg that's close to me. XL, lift the body up. Rotate towards that lane.

Chest Lift w/ Rotation

Take a hold of the leg with both hands. So what I want us to feel, I'm rotating to my right. Doesn't really matter which side you're rotating to, but the opposite rib comes across towards that hip and then the inside ribs slide in and that's where we find that nice high lifted position for the chest lift with rotation. I want us to take one hand back, memorize the position, place the leg back down. Come into the center and lower the body down. Lift the leg up on the opposite side of the body. Lift up in center. So as I'm rotating towards that leg, the opposite rib comes across and points down to that hip. This rib pulls in on the same side using our arms to help us find the knife.

High controlled connected position. One hand comes back, the other hand comes back. We place that leg down. Lifting even higher. We come into the center. I don't want to take it down again. Exhaling as we lift.

Yeah, press down with the feet. Tuck the tail, curl up a little higher in here and now extra. Try to find the same sensations you twist and in center. Lift up in a cross and center. Keeping the sides of the waist equally long. Center. Exhale, lifting up and over.

We're going two more times in both directions. Up in, over and center up in over. I know it's difficult. It's difficult for me to center. Love it and center layoff all the way down. Separate the feedback into the bridge position. Take the hands to the mat.

Bridge w/ Single Leg Lift

Take an inhale. As we exhale, we're pressing down into the feet or lifting the body. Lifting the body. Okay. Want us to hold the hips up high? Stand on the right, like and lift the left leg off the floor without dropping or shifting at all. Inhale, touch XL first in touch. Exhale, pull in. How? Touch.

Pull from the center of the body and down. One more time. Exhale left. Now take the body straight down and straight up. Straight down and straight up. Straight down and straight up here we could stand on the arms a little bit.

Single Leg Bridge

Last two, pressing into the palms of the hands. Last one. Stay lifted to place the left foot down and then whirl through the spine. Coming all the way down. All the way down. Dropping the pelvis. Breathing in. Exhale as you roll back, Huh? [inaudible] no. Lifting the hop. [inaudible] leg. Ah, keeping the hips up high as he reached to touch and left again.

Bridge w/Single Leg Lift

The intention or what I want you to try to do is to lift that leg from right underneath her ribbons. Last to touch and lift. Last time, touch and left. And now he take the body and theory of five pressing into the hands, pressing into the upper arms. I believe this is five. He left. Take the down in here.

Single Leg Bridge

Excess he rolled down. And as you roll your spine down, I want you to reach your head and chest up. Lift your arms at, place your hands behind your head. Inhale now exhale, lift one Lang and down. See my idea coming from the center of the body, pressing the chest to the file. We'll do three more. And to pressing the chest. If you need to put your head down, you should. Now as that leg goes down, this is where it's difficult for me.

Single Leg Lift

Can we put that foot down without noticing any other shifts? Pick up the other leg and uh, keeping the chin lifted away from the chest, the chest and the pressing actively towards each other. Actually all the time. So even as that leg goes down, the chest is still trying to chase it. One more time. Place that leg down. Place your head down in here. Exhale, roll through the spine.

Alternating Toe Taps

So alternating that flexed position with little bit of hip extension. Now as you go back down, curling the spine down, you know, lift the head and chest up in hand cause I'll lift one leg on your next exhale, change and Shay and change holding the chest high. We'll do three fury two just hinges from the hair. Last one and one. One foot goes down, the other foot goes down, the spine goes down, the pelvis comes up. Good. I'm keeping my Elvis just a little bit away from the floor. Inhale. Exhale.

Double Toe Taps

As we roll the spine down, we start feeling the head lighten up. Coming up into flection. Let's walk the feet together. Inhale, exhale, lift both things and reached a touch. Okay. And reach sets out to keep the heights in the body three more and keeping the stability of the spine. And uh, one more take hands behind the thighs. Remember the arm position we did earlier to look for all obliques while we're gonna do it again.

Rotation w/ Alternating Toe Taps

So rotate using the arms to help us really get a good clean position there. And what I do is I think of listing my thigh up out of my hip as I press my hip down. So the uplift helps me keep my spine lifted. But the down press keeps me grounded. We're going to do this one and then last time to eat. Sigh.

Come into the center, hands on the thighs, curl up a little deeper, curl up a little deeper, curl up a little deeper and come up. Bringing the feet in, balancing and keeping this shape rocking back. Inhale and coming up to balance and rocking back in here. Coming up to balance and series. So using the abdominals to, to back.

Rolling Like A Ball

Keeping the shape last too. Yeah. Last one. Facing the feet down and stretching the legs out long. So we're going to sit up tall and if that means if sitting up tall means you need to bend your knees to be right up over the sitting bones, you should, we couldn't bring the hands of the head and the head.

Spine Twist

I want you to press your head into your hands and pull up on the back of the skull. Allow the shoulder blades to reach in both directions, so outwards in hand, and we do a double pull, pull, pull, find center and pull pull fund center. As we're doing this rotational movement, what I also want us to think about is where are the feet? Are the feet connected together? Are they sliding back and forth on one another or are they still, and hopefully we can feel that they're still [inaudible]. We'll do two more to each side when more to eat side.

Yeah, center. Take the hands from behind and the head separate the legs. Reach the arms forward. Imagine there's a wall behind our back. We inhale pressing into that imaginary wall. We exhale, bringing the chin down into the chest and then we just begin to titillate the spine out and through the legs. Inhale and then exhale.

Spine Stretch Forward

Here's another place we are, we can think about if we so desire to really moving the body with ease XL to go forward. Again, reaching through legs are pass the legs and then healing and pressing the feed away. That can happen whether or not the legs are bent or straight. It's an energetic idea. Yeah, we'll do CIM where India and exhale rounding down. Maybe you'll notice that you go a little further each time.

I do or I notice that I do sort of requirement. It's just a, I bet it's happening so maybe we just knew that yes and the no one us to roll down and this time I want to send the hands out towards the ankles and then use the arms lift the body meat. Your hands need to be on the shins. Maybe they need to be closer to the knees. We're going to look for a nice flat back position from that place. We're going to take the arms forward out to the sides.

Spine Stretch Forward w/ Spine Extension

We're going to press back five, four, three, two, one and then we just make it easy to sit up tall two more times such around the spine. Forward hands come down using the arms against the legs to get nice and flat. Maybe we'll go a little lower. I feel that I might have just then let go. Reaching forward. Allow the spine to feel as though it's reaching forward as the arms reach. Arms kind of add to the side and we place or press back. Five, four, three, two, one and then he sit up and take the arms forward.

We'll just do that one more time. Rolling down, finding something to hang on to rippling through the spine until we arrive at that nice flat position. Arms reach forward. Take the spine forward to take the arms out, press five lifting the chest, three, two, one. And this time as you come up, reach all the way overhead and then all the way back down in a rounded spine. And then all the way back up. And from there we'll just turn. So we're lying on our side, lying straight out onto the arm.

Double Leg Lower Lift

The legs are reaching straight out to the opposite side, placing the hand on the mat in front of the body. Feel the legs begin. Hurry teaching away from us. And as they reach away, they lift up and then they stay lifted as we take them down and reaching them away. And notice if you're doing a lot of digging into the hand or lifting the shoulder on that side up into the ear. If feel the shoulder blade reaching down towards the ankles as the ankles reach away from the body. I'm gonna go ahead and form or okay and three [inaudible] too and one. Now holding the legs up. Take the top like a little higher. Lift the bottom like to meet the top leg for a five, four, three, two, one.

Bottom Leg Lower Lift

Take the legs down and bend the knees so that the heels come towards the back of the hips and the knees point for open the knee and on and open. Now we're getting a big rotation in the hip. Imagine pushing against something solid and out and up. Keeping the torso stable. Last four and three soft on the arm, two and one.

Clam

We're going to take that top leg straight out. It's going to go forward, point the foot and reach back forward. Point the foot and reach back. So full range again, looking to try to keep a pretty steady back here and we'll do four. Okay. Theory, feeling the back of the leg working as it goes behind us.

Front and Back

Here's one. Now we're going to come from the back of the body, lift the leg around to the front and press back. Take the leg back, lifted up to bring it around the front. And three if [inaudible] around and two I've been around and one I've been around, we're going to take that in the other direction. So lift up, reach away from you as a light, goes back and then through a down around the back end, forward up, down around the back. Last two, one more. Take it behind you, let it reach behind you. And as it reaches behind you, take your top arm and reach in the opposite direction.

Leg Circles

And then then that need to take ahold of the foot, pull the side back, enjoy. Bring the leg across the other leg. Help yourself up to sitting. Hug the knee into the chest, drop the hip into the mat, lift the spine into the thigh breeze and then bring the legs around to the other side. Lying all the way down. Legs aligned or miss, soft on the mat in front interview taking the legs [inaudible] and Dan [inaudible] and then soft in the shoulder blade, pulling the abdominals deep, deep back towards the spine. Last for and three, then two and a one. Take the leg up and up.

Double Leg Lower Lift

Bring the bottom like didn't meet it. Bring the bottom like didn't meet the top like three more up two more, uh, holding onto the balance in the center of the body. Then that bottom knee, bend the top knee. Take the top Nate. Open and down here is again where we're looking for trunk stability as we work into those deep rotators of the hip breathing last four and three and two and what that talk like, it's no to go straight out. We're going to flex as it comes forward. Point two, reach back, pull and feeling the tour. So staying and I am, I go a little forward and back, but it's not rounding and arking. It's just staying nice and steady.

Bottom Leg Lower Lift

Oh, last four and three. Last two and one from the back. We go to full rotation, bringing the like around and then in to the back. Okay. Around in forward, maybe it makes sense to hold the hand on the head to actually feel what the pelvis is doing as the leg moves through space last two times around and forward. Last time flew around in Ford.

Clam

Here's the reverse of that goat. I take it around back, reach away, take it forward and AH, around to the back and three. Okay. And too, yeah. And one and let it stay behind you. Reach the opposite arm.

Front and Back

Find somewhere to lis to stretch. And then then journey. Bring the knee, just sat underneath the hip, pull the heel to the back of the thigh. Press the whole thigh backwards. Free. Well then bring the leg around the front of the body. Come up to find the way.

Leg Circles

I feel like I left something out, but I'm pretty sure I didn't lifting up man, if I did. Sorry. Okay. Lifting the spine, getting lighter in the spine and heavier in the pelvis. Just the way we started and now we're going to just turn around and laid down on the mat. Face down, taking the arms forwards, legs back. Want us to put a little bit of weight to stay on the bottom of the ribs, which means the chest is going to lift off and the head will be off. Pull the dominoes and reach the left arm up in the right leg all away and then change one arm less.

Swimming

The other leg reaches away and change. So we're alternating opposite arm and leg feeling as though we're trying to pull the body longer with that reach of the opposing limbs, make the body longer. It's never important how high the lake comes up in this exercise. In this version of this exercise and my idea of this version of this exercise, what I want us to try to focus on is the height of the arm and how it is related directly to the height of the torso and to the sensation in our upper back. We're doing one more to each side and then I want us to bend the elbows, lower the body maybe just to the tip of the nose.

Swan

And then imagine here that you're rolling a roller or a roller, a marble roll, a marble along the mat with the nose lifts the eyes, slide the shoulder blades and the upper arms backwards to send body out and forwards. Again, trying to find most of our attention in the upper back, maybe a little bit in the back of the arms and then take it back down. So tip the nose forward or roll the marble along the Mat. Slide the shoulder blades down, slide the elbows down towards the knees. Lift just to the place where you feel a lot of connection to your upper back, not too much sensation in the lower back and lower down. And again, this slide, the upper arms, the elbows backwards, reach out and forward with the spine.

Maybe you choose to come up a little higher and on ridges doing to slide the shoulder blades down or reach out through the spine and down. One more time, sliding the shoulder blades down. Now hold there just like we did when you're sitting. I want the arms to come out to the sides like wings and then just lift them. I've been back, I've been up in back up, been back when more I've been back. Ben, the arms, lower the body. Press into the elbow, come up onto the hands and knees. Take a breath in there. As we exhale, we're going to talk the tail under around the spine and drop the head.

Cat Cow

Yeah, come back into a long position in the body and now arch the spine is the same thing we did in the very beginning of class. Seated exercise. You tuck the tail under, allow the eyes to look between the thighs and allow the upper arms to feel like they're gliding back to the knees as the knees feel as though they're gliding forward into the hands and then come back into a straight body or a neutral spine. And how lift the chest up in through, let's do two more Xcel around the spy and rippling through the lower back. Pressing the mat away from us. Okay. And back and into an extended spine position.

And then Tra last time. Exhaling as you around seg mentally really trying to focus on the lower spine. And then as you bring the pelvis back into its natural orientation, then putting your focus into extending into the upper spine and then come all the way back round the spine. As much as you Ken dropping your head, we just sit back onto the feet, stretching our arms forward in a way. Let me just pause here and have a couple of deep breaths. Inhale and letting go of tension and let in the back of the body. Expand on the inhale and one more breath when silo breath out.

Child's Pose

Okay. And then just making her way slowly back up through us. Fine to sit onto our feet, keeping the gaze soft. Maybe keep the gay soft as you look straight ahead of you, or maybe you don't want to close your eyes instead. And just again, bringing awareness to sensation, to gratitude.

And thank you for playing with me today.

Comments

Dawn T
4 people like this.
Lovely
5 people like this.
Slow and steady, but still a lot of work! Deep movement for good strengthening and stretching. I love this one, Meredith! Thank you!
2 people like this.
Loved this, very good cueing, perfect start to a busy morning.
Thank you ladies!
1 person likes this.
Perfect for me today. Since dog bite, to left calf, 1 1/2 years ago, some muscles have a sense of neurological spasms, all the way up to mid left lumbar. Thank goodness you guided me to be able to 'move' this morning.
6 people like this.
Perfect for me today! I loved when you mentioned gratitude at the end as I was in a what could’ve been a serious car accident last night. I was told that since my body is so strong (thanks to Pilates)! my body was able to take the hit. Feeling very thankful and grateful today for so many things! Thank you Meredith!
3 people like this.
Thank you for this simple but effective class for today...After the breast cancer surgery i need to go step by step in pilates :beginning with the basics making me feel gaining my skills back in every single movement...perfect sesssion...thank you
2 people like this.
Lovely class to end the day, thank you x
Karen K
1 person likes this.
Great way to return to PilatesAnytime. Thank you.
Thank you for this class - it takes away the stiffness around the area of my hip replacement 5 years ago. Although I do cycling, hiking in the mountains and lots of walking, the stiffness comes back regularly, maybe because of some "wrong" moves, but this class (as well as other Pilates classes) definitely provides the "right" moves!
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