Chain if you've got that or a yoga strap will do a similar thing and if you don't have a yoga strap like a not too stretchy like scarf will work too. Yeah perfect. Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah they um it's just because your brain knows this won't deform. So elasticity is technically the ability to return after input is put into it to return back to its original state quickest. Right?
If you think of that. So, I mean, a chain is more elastic, but it's not more elastic, if that makes sense. But your brain knows this can't deform. no matter how much force you put into it this is what you get kind of thing and so it does something different to our muscles and joints whereas a yoga strap or something there's some give to it and so the the brain knows that and so it's just a slightly different input but you can do the exact same thing with the yoga strap the other thing is this has a bit of weight to it medium gauge or heavier gauge so there's that benefit too but yeah. Okay so we are just going to need a chain.
We're going to work again with this sense of like cueing from cueing things from a compressed side and an expanded side so just a quick review of that. If you Tighten up a bottle you're going to have a side when you go to open it that both hands grip it but a side that twists and even if that hand isn't on the lid you'll feel how there's a side that wants to twist it might get it started and then you because your brain knows well that's the lid but really kind of cue into feeling which hand wants to provide the twist or the torque. That is our compressed side or for today's class our twist side and our other side is our expanded side or a side that wants to reach rather than twist when we're talking about cueing for today. Okay, so we're gonna start seated That could be a chair, that could be just on the ground.
I'm going to set up on some yoga blocks here. Okay so we're going to take the chain and you want it draped across our back kind of like a pageant sash but we want the lower tail end on the side that is our compress or twist side and we want the other we'll call it head in, up above the expanded shoulder. Okay so this is how we're going to work with the the chain today and just take a couple of breaths you can let the arms just relax and just take a couple of breaths here and with the yoga strap and or the chain across your back just feel what moves and expands into that.
as you inhale and as you exhale. Okay now we're gonna work with Side bending but I want us to think that side that is lower, the lower part of the chain, it let it that hand twist a little bit as you bend over to that side and then to come out think of reaching or trying to straighten that other arm. And then we're going to bend to the other side and again we're going to think of reaching or trying to straighten that arm as we bend over and to come out you're going to use your twist side to put a little twist into that yoga strap or that chain and also move the back into it.
So one more time we're going to twist to side bend to that compressed side to come out reach with your reach side to go in the other way we're going to reach with that reach side and then to come out we're going to twist. with our twist side. Now what I'm saying twist you might not see it on the video it's like to side bend that way I'm I am putting a little twist into that arm whereas on the reach side it's like I'm reaching and trying to straighten that arm but to come out of that side bend I'm going to twist help twist with that other side okay. Do it one more time each side just get a feel for it and just find that Goldilocks amount of uh twist and reach to put into the prop you're using. Okay so we're not over over working.
Same idea but this time we're going to rotate. So I'm going to work my twist side to twist me that way and then I'm going to rework my reach side to bring me back. I'm going to keep twisting my twist arm but I'm going to reach my other arm to twist me the other way. So we're still twisting and reaching but that's what is going to help us twist and then we let go of it to untwist.
Okay a couple times each side. Is that making sense? Karen you finding it?
Okay cool yeah yeah and we still want to be like the back moves into that prop as we go whichever way we're going. So we don't want to be moving away from the prop or having the prop come off of us as we're working the arms. We want to keep the arms working and the props staying on us as we side bend or as we have that sense of twist.
Just let the arms drape and rest for a second and again just take a couple of in breaths out breaths and notice what you notice you might notice a change. subtle or more obvious in the one of the qualities of your breath. Okay, we're gonna let that go and then we're going to work again this sense of twist and straighten okay but we're going to change the pitch of our torso so from that seated position we're going to pitch the torso forward and again twist and straighten to turn yourself one way and then twist and straighten to turn yourself the other way and back to center. Now we're going to come to center where we're upright but now we're going to pitch the torso back from that. So we're leaning back in space again work the twist arm your straightening arm to turn you one bring yourself back center and to turn you the other way and bring yourself back to center.
One more time pitch the torso forward and again work the twist arm, straightener, keep the prop on you to turn yourself one way and to turn yourself the other way. Okay. Take that off for a second. The chain's got some weight to it plus I was figuring stuff out before we got on video and working through everything one more time. So that thing's got some weight.
Okay we're gonna come up to standing. And work something similar. So we're going to come to Tadasana. And just in standing we're going to work the twist in the reach to sway us or bring us more over one leg.
So we want more weight in one leg and then more over the other leg. So you might lift a foot off, you might keep both of them on, you could work with that sense of the fourth and fifth that we worked with last month, but the sense we don't want pressure in the toes and just the sense of the weight shifting from side to side. With you doing as little kind of side to side with the upper body as you can that we're feeling I get weight in through that leg and weight in through that leg. Either it would be a slight bend in the knee. Okay let that sway go and we're gonna work just like we did in seated but in standing.
So we're not trying to keep our feet locked, we're not trying to keep our legs locked, we're not trying to keep our hips locked okay. We don't want to start the movement with them but we want them to come along with the movement as they need to. So we're going to twist and reach turning one way Back through center, twist and reach. Turning us the other way, just like we're trying to look over that shoulder. Okay, one more time each direction.
Okay and come back through center. We're gonna do the same thing but this time we're working that side bend. So I'm going to twist to bring myself side bend to the one side and then I'm going to reach to bring myself out and I'm going to reach to bring myself in and I'm going to twist and reach one more time.
each side. Okay from there just like we did in seated and we were working with this sense of pitching the torso think of that scene in the Matrix you know where Nemo like, Neo like gets out of the way of the bullet. So now we're combining the sense of turning, side bending, still initiating with this sense of a twist and a reach.
So moving through this sense of Kind of that matrix style move on our feet in Tadasana in whatever range you can connect to but have the sense of a twist arm and a reach arm. Good and then set that prop down to shake up the arms. Stand for a second in Tadasana. So we'll move through a couple of things without the chain on us but still have that eye towards okay I've got a side that wants to reach and a side that likes to twist and so we're going to come into Tadasana and I want you to use that sense of reach and twist as you fold in.
So if you twist up that compressed side you might find you fold up a little more and then use that reach side to bring yourself up to just a jackknife. And then twist yourself down to that full forward fold and again use that reach side or that play between the reach and the twist to bring you up to jackknife. One more time twist down. Good, this time use the reach, lower the pelvis, kind of find yourself in a low squat and come all the way back up.
Okay we are going to grab that prop again. And I want you to play as we move through with like how little twist and reach you can kind of put into yourself to get the desired response. So from Tadasana we're just going to step a foot forward.
So we're in this kickstand kind of stance. The back heel doesn't have to be on the ground but it can be on the ground. As we change where our torso is, that back heel can come off and likely will come off the ground. Okay so don't try to keep it stuck to the ground. So we're going to work with our twist side.
is forward and we're going to twist ourselves down and over that front leg. Okay and then reach to come back up. Keep that same foot forward and this time reach to bring yourself down over the leg and twist.
to bring yourself back up. Okay now if there was sort of like at the eye doctor one of those kind of felt more connected to the lower body you felt like you had more control and coordination through it we're going to do it one more time and you'll pick that option to use if it was kind of like they were the same thing there was no difference then just pick one twist or reach to come in. and then use the opposite to come out but we want to keep that prop and our back connected that whole time. Okay one more time we're going to come in again using the twist or the reach that works best for you and then from here we're going to shift the weight into that front leg and we're going to work a twist to bring that back leg up into standing splits.
And then you're going to work a reach and a twist probably to bring yourself into tree pose. And then come back to Tadasana. We kind of linked, added two shapes on there.
Okay we're going to stay with that side after we reach and come into tree pose. We're going to twist and find warrior three. Keep twisting as we move into half moon and then we'll take that foot down and bring yourself back to the front of the mat. Okay so we're going to keep that compressed side forward.
Okay we're going to twist to bring ourselves down or reach. Okay then you're going to shift your weight into that front leg, twist, bring that back leg up into standing splits and then reach. And you'll probably twist a little bit too, find yourself into tree pose. and then work the twist, put a little bit more to find warrior three and then twist twist twist work the twist work the twist with the reach to find your half moon drop that back leg and then step back up into Tadasana Okay we're going to switch the other side before we do.
Any questions? It's not a big twist, it's not a big reach, we're just subtly putting input into that prop to communicate with our torso. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
So is your floor quite squishy? Matt, yeah, you might wanna try just being on the rug. It just might give you a little bit more. kind of feedback and less that you squish through. The other thing is to notice like where you've got pressure in your feet.
The whole time I'm light in my heel and more pressure through my transverse arch so that my heel can kind of act if you will like a bit of a rudder. to help balance me. Does that make sense? So often we try to kind of stay locked down through like the tripod but it's it doesn't give us it's going to shorten our range and everything else. If I try to stay anchored through this tripod I won't I won't get into shapes or positions that I could if I worked on loading the metatarsals.
and that transverse arch and worked the the heel so if you think of the heel almost like a joystick it it can pitch it can yaw it can roll and we want to start kind of working this architecture because there's so much um muscle and fascia that attaches to this bone that then i can get tension up The leg, the other thing you could think of is that standing leg is either think of like spreading the sole of that foot can be a cue that can help. For others of us or depending on the side of what we're doing, sometimes it's a sense of twisting and lifting it up, like twisting and sucking the stuff on the sole of the foot up to the bones, kind of like we've done with the t's and p's before. when we thought about stuff. So those are some things that if balance on the single leg stuff, you're like, whoa, it's really unbalanced, then I would add in those kind of touch points. Okay, so we'll work through this kind of sequence one more time on this side.
So Move to the middle of the mat and you're going to take a step forward. Okay, so we're in that pyramid shape and we're going to twist and or reach to bring yourself down over that front leg. Okay, and we're going to shift the hips forward so the weight comes into that leg and out of the back leg. Twist, twist, twist, twist, twist, twist to bring that back leg up and then reach and twist a little to bring yourself into tree pose. Okay then twist, find warrior three, keep twisting and move with it.
to find half moon drop that back leg back we're in a warrior two type shape and then you're gonna step back to the front of the mat. Did that were you able to find kind of something to to anchor find a bit better okay cool yeah just play with it also I'm moving slower than you maybe need to also okay because balance isn't about you know feel for when it you start to need to move to the next shape it might not be at the same time as I move to the next shape also right so okay so in the middle of the mat prop stays where it is we're going to step forward now to the expanded side okay So this first time coming in work a reach to bring yourself over that leg and work a twist to bring yourself back up. Work a reach to come over that leg and work a twist as you come back up. Good.
This time work a twist to go over that leg and work a reach to come back up. One more time work a twist to come over that leg and work a reach to come back up. Okay so and one of those reach or twist again is going to help you feel more balanced.
So we're going to add on the other shapes now. So from pyramid we'll go to standing splits, to tree, warrior three, half moon. Work through at your pace and work the twist or the reach and this first couple times through where if we pick wrong It's okay because our system is going to be like whoa that didn't work. So the next time try the other one. Make sense?
So I'm going to reach to bring myself down on this one. Shift my weight into that leg and I'm going to work the twist. Nope. I'm going to work the reach to come into standing splits and I'm going to work my twist to bring myself into tree on this side.
And I'm going to work my reach. to find warrior three and I'm going to keep working that reach and a little bit of a twist on this side to find half moon and that back leg's going to come down into our warrior two okay and then we step back to the front of the mat so on this expanded side I find working the opposite of what I worked on the other side has me stay more anchored in the shapes. That might not be the case for you. Okay so I'm going to say in my head what I'm doing but I'm not going to say out loud whether I'm twisting or reaching. You start to feel for on this side with this sequence and it might be that you need a twist and a twist again or you need to reach and reach again Not that they necessarily go back and forth.
Okay so starting in the middle of that mat, stick a step forward with that expanded side. Okay and then bring yourself over that leg, shift that weight to that front leg, work whatever action you're going to work. to find your standing splits. It might be a little of both. Okay find the action you're going to work to bring you through to tree.
Find the action you're going to work to bring you to warrior three and then find the action you're going to work or actions that are going to bring you to half moon. Drop that back leg. Find yourself into that warrior two. Half moon is a tricky transition right? It's uh and especially if we are used to uh using a chair, using a block with the hand, we're in a completely balancing half moon here today.
So give yourself lots of grace. Okay we're going to come through on the other side. And again just like we talked about with that other side, I can be incorporating any of the actions that we've done in the previous months with my feet.
I'm not cueing and focusing on them today but if you know rolling the fifth or yawing the heel that really works for you then make sure you bring you bring it in. So we're going to step forward with that expanded side one more time. Again, work the action, either twist or reach or a little combo of both.
Find yourself in the head to knee pyramid. Shift your weight to that front leg. Find the action that helps you find standing splits. The action that helps you find tree.
The action. that helps initiate work you into warrior three and into half moon drop that back leg warrior two and then bring it back up. Okay so we're gonna flow through one more time on each side. Any questions or is the sequence you're finding it workable? The other thing would be too is to note and that kind of happens with if we try to stay on the tripod is you'll see where then the shin The shin and the foot don't kind of work together the same way and so you'll see like a locking out of the knee.
So that leg whatever we're standing on it whether it splits warrior three we don't want to be pitched so that that shin is like pushed back and you're locked out through that knee and squishing the heel into the ground. We want to work to stay where we've got pressure through that transverse arch. The reason for that is the mechanical receptors in our feet are in that transverse arch but the other thing is as we age their ability to sense pressure decreases.
So we have to be good at Getting ourselves there and getting pressure into it early on because as we get older it will get harder and harder okay and then they end up putting us in bigger and bigger shoes which make it harder and harder to get pressure there. Okay so starting in the middle of the mat we're going to step forward with our compressed side. Okay, use a twist or a reach to bring yourself down over that leg. Shift your weight into that leg.
Use a twist or a reach or a combo of them on that prop to find your standing splits. Use a twist or a reach or a combo to find that tree. Okay, warrior three, half moon.
Drop that back foot down. We're in warrior two. Step to the front of that mat. Find yourself back to the middle.
Walk or hop. Okay we're going to step that expanded side forward. Okay get on this side. Twist or reach to bring yourself in.
Shift your weight so you're on the toes of that back foot. Twist reach or combo to find yourself standing splits. Tree pose.
Warrior three. Work that twist or that reach. Work the twist or the reach.
Find yourself in a half moon. Okay and then put that back leg down. Step to the front of the mat.
Good take that. Pop off for a sec. Stand, take a few breaths, notice what you notice. How are you doing? You starting to find the balance point as you're getting familiar with the sequence?
Yeah, yeah good. Yes! Perfect.
Because, well do one and switch it but the reason we're not switching is because our sides don't switch. This side will always Want to It'll it'll twist even without it It'll and the collarbone Does a more down and back action? Whereas on this side the collarbone does a more forward and up action and it wants to reach and it has to do with that with this half that compresses Things and this half that expands together.
They're a dance partner together they make a whole. So I don't want both sides to because then I if I if I try to make both sides do it both ways I dampen my reflexes and again as I get older I want the innate reflex. I want the system to know this is the most efficient way to do it versus I could do it this way or I could do it that way. That makes us slower.
So in terms of like fall preparedness, in terms of balance being if I'm here and I know I'm gonna, I can't stay here, I know I can get to the next place, we stay more agile. So that's why I'm not going to switch. We can, we can try it but you'll find you still want to you'll still find let's let's do it you'll find you will still want to twist and you'll still want to reach doesn't matter if it's up or down okay so let's we've switched it now but that side that wants to twist is still twisting even though it's up here the side that wants to reach even though it's down here is still going to want to reach.
Okay so we haven't switched our twist or our reach we've just switched our um chain and sorry if you meant this for doing the other side yes we are but if you meant twisting this side and reaching this side no. Does that make sense? Okay yeah yeah.
Perfect. Okay. Yes, this is where we're going, but we're still twisting our compressed side, reaching our expand side.
So as we move through, we're going to step forward with that compressed side. Okay. Again, reach and or twist to fold you over that front leg, shift the weight into that front leg, reach or twist to bring you into standing splits reach or twist or a combo to find yourself in tree okay reach or twist or combo oh it's interesting to bring you into warrior three and then into half moon and then drop that back leg okay step it to the front and find the middle of the knot.
yeah that's super interesting because i thought i would stay with what i did twist or reach when the chain was this way but i didn't it switched Even though the actions are the same. Does that make sense? So instead of twisting in some of them, I wanted the feedback of the reach more with this setup. So that's cool.
Okay, step it forward with that expand side. So I'm going to flip it automatically on this side. Okay, and then go ahead and use a reach or twist or combo to bring you over that front leg.
Okay and then shift the weight, standing splits, reach twister combo, find tree, warrior three, half moon. Drop that back leg, it's in the air. I know I sprang out of it.
And then step to the front of the mat. Okay, back to the middle. We'll go through one more time each side.
Okay. Yeah, it's interesting. What becomes kind of fascinating is... I'm just kind of letting my system decide and paying attention to how much twist and how much reach it needs versus me dictating what to do, if that makes sense. Like five years ago, I would have been like, do this ahead of moving.
It's much more now like as I'm moving, these fine calibrations kind of happen, which is cool. As a recovering bosser of myself around. Okay, perfectionist.
Okay, so step forward with that compressed side. Okay, twist or reach or some combo to bring yourself over that leg. Okay, shift your weight. Shift your pelvis forward so that back leg is light. Twist reach or some combo to find standing splits.
Twist reach some combo to find tree. Okay warrior three, half moon. Put that back leg down, okay step it to the front, walk, hop, step back to the middle and then we're going to step forward with that expanded side. So some form of reach or twist, bring over that leg. Shift the weight, shift the hips forward, shift the torso forward.
Some combo of reach or twist to find standing splits. Three. Warrior three.
And half moon. Boop, boop, boop, boop. There we go.
And then drop that back leg down. One or two. And step at the front. Take that prop off.
Just stand in Tadasana for a second. Notice your inhale and exhale. We're going to come down to the floor.
Okay, so down on the floor, place the chain so it's the same way it just was where we've got the uh, it's all right. The twisting side is up top over the shoulder and the reach side is down low. And we're going to bring our legs into a 90-90 kind of shape.
Feet can be in closer to the pelvis. Okay shins further feet further from the pelvis will be a little more you know if your hips are more restrictive is that it won't work as well. So don't be afraid to bring the feet closer into the pelvis. Okay we're going to use a reach and or twist and bring ourselves over that front leg and then bring ourselves back up.
Legs are going to windshield wiper over to the other side. be a little close to the wall here and again twist and a reach or a combo of them to bring yourself over that leg coming up windshield wiper the feet over to the other side again twist reach to bring you over that front leg This time pause, no we'll go through the other side, windshield wiper the other side, twist reach, some combo to bring yourself over that leg. Okay then you're going to switch the chain, we'll stay on this leg okay so the twisting hand is down low, the reaching hand is up high.
Twist and reach, some combo to bring you over that front leg. And then windshield wiper your way to the other side. And again, some combo, twist and reach to bring you over that leg. One more time each side.
Windshield wiper, twist and reach. And then we're going to windshield wiper, twist and reach. Okay, come have a seat in the middle and we're going to bring the soles of the feet together.
Again to bring yourself forward work a twist and a reach and then work a twist and a reach to bring yourself back up. Twist and a reach and then the opposite to bring yourself back up. One more time. Bring yourself back up.
Okay we're going to take the legs out long, you can take that top off of our back. And now that we have gotten that expansion at the back we're going to use it here. Come on to hands and knees. You can have the tops of the feet down or you can tuck the feet under. Okay, up to you.
And let's just work through some cat cows. And those of us that tend to be kind of more neck or maybe more lumbar spine, maybe we feel like we get a little bit more Kind of thoracic and rib cage movement here. Okay, the next time you come through center, sit your hips back on the heels.
Okay and lowering those elbows down to the floor you can straighten the arms up again. This time we want to work cat cow just through that mid kind of below the bra strap below that breastbone up to the head so we've taken the lumbar spine out of it and we're just working Cat-cow with that thoracic upper spine. Good, one more time. As the elbows come to the floor this time, you're going to place your expanded side elbow in between your knees and you're going to squeeze that elbow with the knees.
Okay, other hand's going to come actually twist it, that's your compressed side, twist it behind your back, turn to that side. And then come back to center, place that compressed elbow side between the knees. Okay, place the hand behind the head and you're going to turn to that other side.
And then back to center. Good, one more time each side. So that expanded side forearm comes between the knees.
Take that hand behind the back, twist, to turn you and then bring that compressed side elbow between the knees and behind the head. Come on back up we're going to use that prop that you have one one more time before we come down to the ground. So it's going to come behind the back. I've got mine over my expanded side shoulder and down on the compressed side. So my compressed arm is down low, my expanded arm is up high.
I'm going to use the reach of my top arm to bring me in and I'm going to let myself twist with that bottom arm to bring the hand up towards the bottom edge of the opposite shoulder blade. Then I'm going to let the twist win. I'm twisting, twisting, twisting.
Now I'm going to bring that top hand down to the top of the opposite shoulder blade. Okay one more time the other way. So reach, let the twist hand twist. Working up towards the bottom edge of that opposite shoulder blade. Okay and then twist that other arm.
Twist, twist, twist, twist, twist. You're trying to twist it the other way and you're going to bring that opposite hand. down towards the top of the opposite shoulder. You let that go, switch which hand you got up top and which hand you got on the bottom. Okay so I'm going to try to straighten that bottom arm and let my top arm twist up as it comes to the top of that opposite shoulder.
Okay then I'm gonna untwist that untwist it untwist it as I bring my expanded hand towards the bottom of the opposite shoulder blade just twist try to straighten that bottom arm okay untwist and twist the other way that top arm so the bottom hand comes up good and then let that go Drop to the side. Come back down onto our back. So as you come down to the floor, knees can be bent, feet on the floor, the legs can be straight right off the bat, but just kind of notice over the next couple of breaths.
and how much of you is in contact with the ground and again the amount of kind of in-breath that moves back towards the floor versus just filling us towards the ceiling. And then if you've got a pillow or a block handy, you also could just go without anything. We're going to place that between the knees and just toe heel out the feet.
So the feet are wider than the knees, wider than the hips. And there's a sense of the thighs and knees resting towards that midline on that pillow, on each other, around the edges of that block. And we just want to take the feet out to the side wide enough that the the whole of the foot kind of can find the ground that we're not fighting to keep that outside edge in contact with the floor.
Maybe for the next few moments you, even if it's just a matter of imagining, visualize, imagine, conceptualize the inhale, going all the way down to the block, and the exhale emptying from the block up to the head. With your next exhale toe heel the feet back under the knees. You'll take that prop if there is one out from between the legs.
And then we're just going to stretch the legs out long. If you want to slip a blanket over you or underneath your head. Go ahead, just take a few moments to wiggle and waggle, place any props so that you're, you know, five to ten percent more. Settled. If you wanted something to anchor your attention for the next few minutes, it could be noticing again the movement of the inhale, the ribcage, the collarbones, the shoulder blades, and the movement of the exhale up in that thoracic cavity.
The sense of feeling how the breath now fills behind the space of the heart maybe, moves towards the floor as well as rising the chest. Let your attention rest on this sense of feeling back to front and front to back. Thank you. Thank you. Become aware of the sounds in the room that you're in, of my voice, of the contact between you and the surface that you rest on, any sensations of pressure or numbness, tingling, warmth or coolness.
You're going to start to bring movement back to the body. Whatever way feels good for you today. That might be when wiggling fingers and toes. Might be rocking a body part side to side or stretching out long or curling up into a ball.
Take a few moments to bring movement back in whatever way feels good and make your way onto a side. And then take a second once you're on your side just to feel the rise and fall of your halves. The half resting on the ground and the half resting on top of the half resting on the ground.
Then using the hand and arm to press yourself up. Come up to a seated position. As you find a seat, just become aware of the sense of steadiness, grounding, support.