Cueing Differentiation

Hi. I'm Misty Lynn Cauthen, and I wanna talk to you about one of the biggest issues I think in Pilates, and that is understanding what moves in movement and what stays in movement. How are we going to be able to move more efficiently without preloading or overloading or gripping or doing the things that we think we need to do to execute and exercise? But do we really? That's my question. The exercise that I really wanna focus on today is Swan because in my opinion, it's one of the most challenging exercises to teach, and it's very, very challenging for the movers to actually figure out where does it come from in the body? I'm gonna take you through a few thoughts of mine and realize these are just my thoughts and opinions, but then I'm also gonna bring a friend of mine in and show you what it looks like in real life. So we're gonna start well, I'm gonna start with a question and that is where do you feel most comfortable when lying prone?

This is important because in Swan, we are in a prone position. The body is elongated, and we have a few things to consider here. When I'm laying down my shoulders naturally creep up around my ears, can I alleviate that? Can I widen my collar bones while allowing my head to relax? So this is where I would start my swan position because, again, I need to be able to access the important parts of this exercise starting from the head, of course. The next thing I wanna consider, and I'm gonna keep my head up here just so that I can talk and breathe, what's happening at my lower half of my body?

There's so many considerations that go on go into this, including the size of one's thighs, the width of their pelvis, the natural pelvic rotations, etcetera, swan is fraught with peril, it seems. But If we can think about some of the basic pointers when thinking about where the lower half goes, what I want to find is a place where my front body and my back body are free of tension. Now that doesn't mean my legs are all over the place. My legs are still reaching long in a way. But I'm not gripping anything to keep this position.

Now when I bring my head down, I wanna think of my spine being elongated and free, and I may play with a little bit of pelvic tilting just so I can accurately figure out where my balance is front to back. So I'm thinking of my last my lower rib rings staying neutral here, and then I'm curling my pubic bone toward my nose. And then I'm curling my pubic bone away from my nose. And as I'm doing this, what I'm thinking of is am I pressing down? Am I lifting to make that happen? And the answer to all of those questions should be no.

My legs are elongated. I'm thinking of length from my sits bone, my under butt, all the way down through the arch of my feet, and I'm thinking of my feet being at least in line with my sits bones. And now as I check-in with my checkpoints, I'm going to go into my swan prep, which means I'm going to look forward to lengthen my head up. This is just the beginning of this. And I'm coming back down.

Now it looks super basic, but it should, right, because it's a prep. And what I'm trying to find is that place where I'm lifting and lowering my head without bringing anything else in. Again, I don't want to over recruit. I don't want to brace. Now for my next trick, I'm thinking again, wide collarbones, armpits rotated to face the floor. That's important.

I'm going to find that look up into my eyebrows and straight ahead, and then I'm going to put a little bit of pressure into my forearms. That allows the bottom angle of my breastbone to come forward. But I haven't if you look at my rear, I'm not gripping anything. I'm not over engaging and tucking. I'm allowing all of that to be free because again, the work is concentrated at the upper body.

To come down, I'm thinking of bringing my lowest point even lower. I'm rolling not just down, but down in a way so that I maintain the length of my spine throughout. Now I'm going to change the arm position because I wanna explore this a little bit deeper. Again, checking in with my pelvis, finding that place where there's no tension. Rotating my armpits forward, my first step Again, I look into my eyebrows and allow that to lengthen my head and neck upward. I'm going to lift as far as I can without bringing anything else to the party.

And now I have a choice. I can stay here because maybe I don't feel like I'm in the right position, but I'm not gonna do that. Instead, I'm going to continue up. As if I have a yoga block on the top of my head, I'm going to start to levitate not straight up, but forward and up. So the bottom of my breastbone is reaching forward, straight ahead of me, and my head is staying lifted. I'm maintaining the rotation of my armpits forward.

To come back down, I think of my palms being suctioned to the floor, and I'm dragging my spine forward to release down. Then if I wanna add more interest, and pursue the full swan, I bring my hands a little bit closer. I rotate my armpits forward, and that rotation allows me to freely move my head and neck without feeling like I have to shrug my shoulders. Now I'm adding my arms here, and here's the most important part. I'm still not into my glutes.

I'm still not into my low back, but my front body and my back body are working together to stretch and elongate my spine up. To return down, I'm pulling from those suction cup tans. My gaze stays on the horizon for as long as possible until I return to the floor. Now I'd like for my friend Kesh to come up and join us, and we'll see how this works on her body. Hello, Kesh. Hello.

So lay down prone for me. I spoke to Kesh before, and she told me that Swan is challenging for her for a number of reasons. We're going to explore this for her. And hopefully, make some changes for her that makes one something of joy and merriment for her. So, go ahead and stack your palms. Yes. And then relax your head weight down.

Does this feel okay so far? Perfect. Now all I wanna do is look at her and see if she is relaxed. I'm going to look to see if her pelvis is tipped forward toward the mat or tipped back toward the ceiling, and I may even, with her permission, give her a little bit of a rock. Just to remind her that there's no firing squad here.

This is just Swan. And she's nice and relaxed here. So we'll start with the head nod up and forward looking away and lifting up. Think of getting longer through your desk. There we go, and then coming back down.

Why didn't why didn't your collarbones will help? Yes. Good. Same idea. Looking out and away and then up. And then coming back down, One more like that. Look out and away and give me a little bit of pressure this time into the forearms.

Think of widening your collarbones here. And then as she lowers down, I want her to think of lowering down and away. Okay. Ready to move on. So Cash brought a towel out. She has a little bit of a scoliosis that sometimes I think feels better when we prop it.

So what I'd like for you to do is just roll your hips away from me just a little bit and come back down. I'm putting that out in as an at a small angle so that as she goes to lift up here, she feels the floor reaching up to her rather than her trying to reach down into the floor. So bring your arms to the goal post position. Yep. And release your forehead into the mat.

Retain this width and keep rotating your upper arm bones. Nope. The other way. The other way is still. Yes. There we go. Good. Now take a big breath in.

Exhale for nothing. Now inhale, I wanna see your eyeballs go up to your eyebrows. Yes. Keep going. Look away to the edge of the mat, to the far edge of the room, let your gaze climb the wall as you start to lift up. Feel as if these vertebrae are going forward and up with you. Now press your forearms into the mat, And what we're really watching for is that these legs continue to reach long and away, but she's not gripping anything to make that happen. Right? Continue to press up more.

So think of, again, the bottom angle of the breastbone is going up and forward. Like, the mast head on a ship, keep going. Yes. Now what she's doing beautifully is she's maintaining the balance between her right and left sides. Continue To reach up and forward, keep breathing. Yes. Good. Keep reaching up and forward. There we go. Good.

And this is enough for her for now. I'd like her for her to actually give me a little bit more right there. Good. Keep the shoulders level. Now to come down, remember your suction cupped palms, you're sliding your breastbone forward and away to lower down. And you have to breathe because breathing is fundamental.

Keep going down. Moving at the speed of life. Continue. Continue. Continue. Now you can release your gaze into the mat. Well done. Gaze goes to the mat and head goes down.

Can we do one more like that? So starting with the the eyeballs into the eyebrows to the forward edge of the mat looking away, rotating your armpits forward, feeling the width of your back and your chest. Yes. Now feel these two parts sides of your body working evenly. Think of bending up and over toward me. Keep pressing up.

More. More. Are you breathing? I don't believe you. Keep coming up. Keep coming up. Keep coming up.

Relax your cheeks. Free the cheeks. Yes. Thank you. Now inhale here. Give me another little bit of a lift here. Yes. Yes. Now as you exhale, Keep reaching your crown of your head into my hand as you start to descend.

Pulling back. Yes. Yes, ma'am. Yes. Well done. Keep going. Now stop here. Take a big breath in. Yeah. I didn't believe that big breath. Actually, I'm rolling down in a way, keeping the gaze up. Yes. And so, yes, I'm touching her just to remind her that each vertebra gets its flowers.

Each vertebra has a moment to release down and away and into the mat, widen here. Yes. Release. Press back. Take a child's pose and relax. The most important thing to think about in Swan is the opposition. So we're really thinking of legs going that way.

Crown of the head going that way, and nothing gets a chance to ball up. Instead, I want her to feel like she's six one at the end of this exercise. Thank you for watching.