okay, welcome everybody. we are For Pilates Sake and today, we have these three lovely ladies to help us with a level one reformer class. so we're going to start with our footwork. so we're going to lay ourselves down in your pilates V to start. I want you guys to take about three fingers between your big toe mounds, heels are together. don't overextend at the ankle joint. so you're just kind of settled in a place where when you push into the foot bar you feel the feedback into your arches. we're going to take three big breaths before we get started and I want you to just settle yourself onto the reformer bed so feel the weight of your head. inhale expand the lungs to expand the ribs feel your bottom floating ribs on the reformer bed and one more, feel the weight of your leg settle into the pelvis. exhale expel all the air. on the inhale push into the feet, breathe into your ribs, stretch all the way up and then exhale as we return. inhale it out and then exhale as we pull it in. nice, now as we inhale find the push of the feet in opposition to the breath lifting into the lungs and into the ribs and feel the container from the feet to the shoulder blocks. we're going to do two more, stretch all the way through. exhale, we return on this next one use your exhale to contract so as to flex the hips to pick the feet up to switch to your bird on a perch. we inhale, to stretch it out, exhale and we return so on your bird on a perch you want your long bones of your foot going over the foot bar and your heel your calcaneus is going under. let the footbar actually feel like it's actually coming into your foot and the best way to experience that is as you inhale, stretch yourself all the way up, let the shoulder blocks push down on you so that your pelvis gently pushes down onto the feet and you experience probably a deeper bird on a perch. right, we're going to go one more. we inhale, stretch all the way through use your exhalation to pick your legs up to switch to your heels. and then we inhale, we stretch all the way out exhale as we return. nice. so find your heels here and perhaps you guys can think about pushing into the footbar just a moment before the reformer bed even thinks of moving. so as you push down into the heels, your breath lifts up into your lungs, into the rib cage, into the shoulder blocks and guess what? the shoulder blocks push back on you and you feel your container and within that container your spine gets to decompress through the shoulder blocks all the way up. not so much through the crown of your head but through the lengthening of your cervical . we go two more, this is so beautiful you guys, nice strong heels push rise up exhale pick your feet up. sorry. drop down to the balls of your feet and we go. we inhale, we stretch that all the way through and then we exhale we lower the heels for three, inhale, lift two, three. exhale lower, two, three. nice, and we're going to do that so we keep on pace and we lower, two, three. so nice soft knees, so when we're pushing, don't just think of picking the heels up but push the foot bar away with the balls of your feet. pull your breath up and oppose those two forces we're going to go one more. we inhale to rise all the way up, use your exhale bend your knees, flex your hips bring that all the way back in. keep your feet on the footbar until you find the springs in your handles bring your elbows down. just for a moment, push into your handles to feel the flexion at your T12. then use that to pick your knees up, bring the foot bar down and get ready for your 100. going to take a big breath in. as you exhale, find the springs push yourself back and away from the handles to find your 100. and then we inhale for a count of five and we exhale, 2, 3, 4, five. beautiful. from here you guys, very nice, right so everyone just look down. you're all looking down at your feet so check out your ankles. don't overdo the ankles flex, the ankles a little bit, soften the knees a little bit, pull the legs into you and then curl forward into your handles. yeah so that the legs are actually hooking into your T12. that a girl, that is beautiful and with a long leg it's even a little bit harder. so open your knees just a little bit, curl into it, nice ! and then we're going to go two more big breaths in here you guys. right, so soft knees, pull the legs in, last one and then on your exhale feel free to pull your knees in. bend your elbows, take your handles into one hand, swivel up to take two springs off for our frog and leg circles. we're going to keep our head rest up if you have extender straps you can pause now and place those on right now. otherwise you keep your short straps and you're going to bring your feet. is that too short Tracy? straps are so short. and then we're going to bring that all the way through. okay, arms down by your side find the weight of your pelvis, in your pilates V. you're just doing your footwork except for now the bed is, your legs are moving and the bed is going back. so we inhale keep your feet where they are in a sense and stretch your bed back and away. as you exhale crease the hip joint bring it in. inhale stand through the feet, so really powering through the strength of your hips and not through the strength of your feet and your shins, let's say. right, as you go out, let's go say three more, I want you to feel and experience maybe the difference between hip extension and knee extension. so wherever your feet are when they're all the way in as you exhale, right. so say your feet are here they actually stay there, they stay, they stay, they stay, they stay. then you know it's hip extension the foot stays as if it were on the footbar, right, and then you bring that back in. we're going to keep the legs out on this next one. so keep the feet low don't let them rise up higher than they started. legs rise up to about a ninety at the hip joint. we're going to inhale to open the legs out, circle them all the way around and down. now as you exhale don't bring the feet up, crease the hip joint and allow the legs to rise. inhale out, around and down. exhale, we bring it up. we're going to go three more. as you open the hips imagine, right, as you open the legs, imagine you're splitting the inner thighs out and around. and then they come back together but there's a rotation. a slight rotation of the leg in the hip joint, right. and then we're going to switch direction here, so we inhale straight down . exhale, let the springs take you here, you guys, let the springs support the legs. your job inhale, down you go, right, I want you to feel when you start to come down, don't push from your back. when you push into the feet you should already feel it in your booty, nice and strong in your hips. your low back should actually never touch down on the mat. we're going to go two more. just play with that soft knee so that the shins or the calves, I should say, don't initiate the movement. it's all in the hip joint it's in your booty. right. and then we circle that all the way around and then back in. again, we're going to take the straps off your feet, hang your handles up. you guys are going to rise up we're going to do our stomach massage so foot bar comes up four springs or three, whatever it works for you. you're going to put your pads one or two on the end of the reformer bed. and you're going to start today with your bum off of the pads, behind the pads. find your feet first and really feel, okay here's my rolling like a ball, that we've broke up quite well. find your feet, they maintain their place, you're going to push into your hands and feet bring your bum all the way forward. take your hands to the front of the reformer bed. now don't change your feet, we inhale drive your hips back, lower, lift and we exhale, bring it in. right so, as you guys are pushing in and out your heels only lower when you allow them to lower once you're stretched all the way out. a really nice way of thinking about stomach massage is don't push the foot bar like zero. zero push of the foot bar. that'll drive right into your hips and then last one here let's go one more we inhale it and then bring it in. take a spring off and we're going to take our hands onto the shoulder blocks. or not if you're too small, all right, so gently push into the heels of the hands get your blades down and lift your ribs with your shoulder blocks. and then you guys go ahead and do your moving now. as you inhale and press yourself out, if there's too much spring you'll start to buckle in your shoulder girdle, because there's not enough strength there. the other thing I want to see a little bit more of, is you guys are going to... miss flexy here, I love it, I'm going to come and fix her. it's true though, right? she just, cuz she can do it. so I want you to feel you're going to soften your elbows a little bit you're going t.o pull them apart, pull your elbows apart. even more, V. because you're, yeah, you know, what I'd like to see you do, is, yeah, move back. a little bit more, you're too far. so you're here and pull apart even more and now lift your back of your ribs up. yes, rather than your sternum come from your back line for your extension. nice, and then bring that all the way back in. beautiful. step on down. you guys, go ahead and put your foot bar down, put your pads away. grab your short box and then come on back for our round-back and flat- back. you want to place your short box either in front of the shoulder blocks, behind the shoulder blocks, behind the post. it really depends on where you are. then going to be sitting on the short box you want to have about a hand width behind your pelvis, when you're sitting. so here we are, at hip joint distance apart, at flex, strap is at the ankle joint. not the long bones of the foot. find whatever works best for your hands. blades down, ribs up and forward. inhale, initiate from the pelvis, not the rib cage. rotate the hips over the femur bones to kind of like flat-neutral back and then exhale. bring that back up, we go two more. inhale open the hips, rotate the pelvis, keep this strap taut the whole time. right. pull the strap up with your psoas into your T12, especially right here when you exhale, pull the strap in bend up and over it feel free to do an extension if you want or not. if you don't want to, right? just know that you're keeping connected in the strap and that you're trying to bend your spine from flexion into extension. stay inside don't hang on your joints, use the musculature to create the extension and the flexion. beautiful. up you get. nice you guys. grab hold of your bar, bring that up and over. now don't let the bar reach up to the ceiling take the bar and slide it down and pick your rib cage up. don't lean back with your ribs. on the inhale, open the hips to tip you back. now don't bring your ribs back, let the pelvis rotate to bring you back. nice. use your breath, suspend, reach back exhale, rise that back up again, nice. soft in the knees, there you go, that a girl, right so you want to have a nice soft knee. just so that you know, you're pulling that strap in, right. when you come back you want to get those sit bones directly under you way up, to tall, tall, tall. we go one more, inhale up, open, exhale first, and bring that all the way back in again, nice. you guys are going to take your box, put your poles away, put your boxes back. and then we're going to come up and do our elephant. so on the way back, headrest comes up, foot bar comes up and you've got your springs on already. so we'll just keep the two springs on. nice. now as you get on, I want you to pour the weight of your ribs, pours forward onto your hands, the weight of the pelvis down onto your feet, and then you are flexing your spine, from your front line. try not to move where your ribs are. on the inhale drive your heels down with the soft knee. open the hips on the way out and then flex the spine on the way back in. again, as you push the carriage out don't let your spine drop. push down with your heels, to allow your flexion to stay quite suspended. yeah, let's go three more. keep those heels down, try not to move the carriage with your feet. the feet are there to kind of grab onto the equipment, and then done. nice. you're going to come right down onto your knees for knee stretches. flex those toes forward like crazy, reach those heels back. again, keep the weight of your ribs forward and a nice strong hand and then just ever so gently, I'm just going to quickly, just say one thing, to help you guys. all you so we're not into our tuck. we're going to stick our butts way back for a moment, feel the length of your hamstring. feel the placement of your femur bones now, don't change that take your sacrum slide it under find your psoas and contract to open the lumbar. see if we can't maintain that on the inhale. use the strength of your hip, use the strength of your glutes, your hamstrings to open the spring. then try, when those knees come in, try and keep your sits bones wide, but your tail curled. I know it's a toughy thing to do, but you don't want to flex the the lumbar. you want to flex the hip joint. beautiful. last one and we're going to go into our arch. so from here the ribs are pushing forward, the pelvis way back and we inhale and exhale. so every time the knees come forward the sit bones trying and shoot further back. yeah, and maybe the weight of your ribs does not get to move. can you imagine, that from the bottom of the ribs forward there's no movement except for maybe a little bit more extension. yeah. two more, beautiful you guys. and then bring that all the way back in. from here, put two more springs on, we're going to lay ourselves down for a little bit of running. so feet all the way together, on your big toe mounts, but in parallel. arms by your sides, settling yourself down. inhale, big breath in and then exhale. and then you guys are just going to run. and from here I want you to feel that you are more suspended than maybe we kind of feel so you don't want to feel like your calves are dropping down and under. I want you to feel that you're running, more up in the hip joint, then you are running down in the ankle and in the feet. use your breath. allow the reformer bed to really move too. it's not a small movement, get that ankle way, way. yeah, Tracy, way under. so even though you feel there's up, there's still lots, yeah, lots of mobility in the ankle joint. big breath to straighten the legs all the way up. exhale bring yourself in. bottom lift, rotate use the exhale use the external rotation of the femur bones drive them in to pick your hips up. inhale, push your shins down, use your breath. suspend you up, exhale as we return. as you inhale to stretch out, don't externally rotate more. allow the legs to almost kind of, slightly, release. your muscular support and rotation of the femur bones happens more on the return. so dig into it then. and then use your breath, stretch all the way through dig into the external rotation on the way back in, again. and feel, again, here's your container. and then last one, you guys, so beautiful. we stretch all the way through and then we bring that all the way back in. roll through your spine pull your knees in toward your chest stretch that all the way and just pat yourself, on the back), good job and wave to the camera. thank you guys for joining us. like and subscribe and I hope you enjoyed it today. thank you!