if you want to bring yours tomorrow uh bring them but I I took my bricks and like altered them so I for each foot put kind of the where I want to kick my MTP joints into so this is the first the second third fourth and the fifth okay neat um and it really then it's kind of like how we used the chain last week to get our foot to set up so you see when I get that part of my foot kicked into it it's like that the foot really locks in um and then it's easier to find it on the ground so And each brick isn't identical because I got to do it based on the foot yes um and this is just little rubber but actually I did a set of bricks where I just left the glue gun and the glue gun stuff works just as well okay so um if you bring your your um bricks tomorrow we can set them up but that that's a a way to really get locked in on the power pads of your feet which we'll utilize today and the power pads of our hands so remember the power pads of the feet you can go back and look at the March 11th class i talk about it as well as the March 13th class but the power pads are really like the sesmoid bones which is the foot side of the MTP joint okay it's that foot side and it doesn't matter whether the foot is on the floor or the foot is in the air i you can work that into that power pad of the feet which is what we're going to do today and the hands whether it's in contact with something or not in contact with something on the hands it's the same idea but it can be useful too to use a pen to mark them again it isn't where the finger ends it's the hand side of that joint so it's below the finger the part that if I lift the fingers up I can push those things and like play piano keys with these points not the tips of the fingers so you start to which um you'll get to experience a little tomorrow because I modified some gloves Debbie that put these marks inside the glove so when you use the glove it like connects things up differently so again it's like that part of the hand is what we're going to work onto the yoga brick whereas so often we go heel of the hand and push but it's a totally different setup when you get and kick that power pad of the hand into whatever all of a sudden feet to hands is connected and you get the lift from the ground and propriception just becomes a lot more tuned in so that's what we're going to work with today so we're going to just start um with uh positional breathing if you've got a bolster you can use the bolster if you don't have a bolster you can use a couple of yoga blocks um but we're going to get into this kind of squatted position so again you can find the power pads of your feet now even when I come off of them and onto my knees I can still work into those power pads even though they're in the air or not in contact with the ground and my toes are in contact with the ground i'm going to put the bolster andor yoga blocks marry them up right to my knees and then come down onto the forearms now coming down onto the forearms if you didn't use the yoga bricks as the bolster you can set the yoga bricks up so that you work that power pad of the hand into the yoga blocks and that'll help kind of put you into this child's pose shell stretch position think about spreading the shoulder blades wide reaching the power pads into the bricks and then behind you so you compress yourself into this tight little package and we're just going to take some slow easy breaths here okay as things start to loosen up you might invite the elbows to come back onto that bolster or the yoga blocks and get a little bit more flexed play with if you've got the blocks under your hands how you work that power pad into the the blocks okay and then I'm going to do one more kind of iteration if you have like a Pilates ball or a soft ball you can use it if you don't fine you're just going to stay with the same setup if you have the uh Pilates ball uh deflate it a bit so it's kind of squishy or use a smaller squishy ball and you're just gonna tuck it in right like at the pubic bone or if you know you have a hip that's like feels a little tighter than the other you'll move it off to the side of the pubic bone and into the uh oh what's that ligament called angle ligament kind of off to the side of the pubis where you've got that crease line okay and same thing get rocked back get set up in the power pads of the feet you're going to nestle that ball in come down onto the elbows power pads of the hands and then you might work on your exhale to kind of engage the low abs and scoop up a little bit and then inhale nice and [Music] slow try to keep that scoop taunt low belly three more breaths okay you're going to untuck the feet so you're going to come down onto the tops of the feet sit the hips back still kind of find the power pads of the feet even though you're resting on the tops of the feet power pads of the hands we're going to take a couple breaths here okay you're going to take one yoga brick and bring it in between the power pads of the two hands you can go long ways like this or you can hold it this way okay nestle it in between the power pads of the hands and then you're going to lower the head and bring that brick to just tap at the base of the neck top of the thoracic spine lower it down and hopefully the tissues kind of from your armpit to your elbow the back of the arm stuff lengthens and slides and glides as you do that and it doesn't feel like your elbows want to slide out away from one another and out to the sides if they do and you've got the yoga block on the narrowest setting you could change that keep some pressure into those power [Music] pads good one more time okay let that go if you've got a bolster we're just going to scoot that to the side those of you on the call how is that movement of the block overhead okay awesome that's a thumbs up okay i was like I just saw the hand i was like is that down or up i can't tell the smile gave it away though okay so we're gonna stay working with that you could use a couple of blocks i'm just going to use a chair you could use the edge of a couch you could use a coffee table just in the space that you're in have that yoga block handy again so elevating the elbows up onto that surface i sink the hips back again i can get a little bit my chest through the arms a little bit more here and again bringing that yoga block pressed between the power pads to the base of the neck to tap and then coming back up okay one two more times don't be afraid i'm on the bottom edge of my yoga block some of us might work better to be on like the top edge of the yoga block with the power pads it is different so don't just follow exactly what I'm doing feel for what helps connect things and coordinate things for you okay good we're going to let that go we're going to bring our forearms onto that chair okay press the power pads into that block you could be on the tops of your feet but again if it helps connect you better you can get down onto the knees or knees onto a couple of foam yoga blocks or bricks if that helps you get the power pads of the feet okay so you can have the tops of the feet down or you can have the toes tucked under you can elevate the knees so from here now I'm going to take my hips back i got to walk my knees back a bit further find the spacing forearms on the chair i'm going to take my hips back towards my heels and then bring my chest back over the edge of the chair i'm going to take my hips back towards my heels and then bring my chest back over the edge of the chair this next time when I take my hips back towards my heels I'm going to bring the yoga brick up with my hands and tap that spot between the tops of the shoulders base of the neck and then I'm going to shift back weight over the forearms so you can do part A part B all three [Music] parts toes can be tucked under knees can be on the ground or up on bricks or a couple of yoga blocks okay good so we're gonna Any questions about any of that so far good okay awesome we're going to come back to the shoulders in a sec just scoot the chair out of the way okay we're going to take our two yoga bricks or blocks one i'm gonna set up underneath a knee my foot again is tucked under so I'm not on the top of my foot i'm so I can work that power pad and then I'm going to take that leg out brick is going to go in whatever hand okay but again it's not that I'm squeezing it with my fingers you want to find that edge so you can work the power pad of your hand into it and we're going to bring it down to the ground work that power pad of the hand and of the foot into the ground when you get that half of the body connected then you're going to work those power pads to lift the kneeling side and that reaching over top how if you don't connect through the power pad on that bottom arm bottom hand it there's no lift for the top half can you feel that if you let unplug those the bottom half kind of collapses and then the top half has a harder time sort of figuring out where to be so find those power pads work into them and let the work into those dictate what that top half of the body so that kneeling leg and that reaching arm do then we're going to come back up through center switch that block still working power pads here but now I'm working the lift off the power pads on my kneeling leg and of the block that's in my hand find the work into these power pads create the lift supports the length through that top half good really just keep working into the power pads to find the little shifts and changes but have this feel really lengthened grounded for you okay let's go one more time each side and then we'll switch how we've got the block set up you could bend that leg to kind of come in and then start to work and kick that power pad in and straighten that leg to whatever degree work the power pad of the block but you feel how that power pad on that bottom or one half of your body mine's my right lifts this left side of my body and lengthens it yeah okay switch find and connect through the one half of the body and then find the length okay then we're going to come out come on just to tall kneeling both knees on the ground for a second just going to stand on your knees relax the arms just notice what you notice there and then you're going to set up on that other side i could just stay on the ground i find for me getting up on the yoga block helps me work the power pad on that kneeling leg but that might not be the case for you so don't be afraid to explore on this side if being on the ground or the next time you do the video if being on the ground works better okay let the extended out leg let it bend it a little find the ground with that block start to work into those power pads let that side of the body lift the other side of the body up and open up into that gate pose kind of let yourself niggle and wiggle press into those power pads to find the shape on this side then we're going to take that block to the other hand if I didn't have two yoga blocks I could use the edge of a chair coffee table again still power pad i don't have to necessarily use two blocks the height of the block too might need to be different for this side okay set the hips back one more time each side how's that working any questions before we as we finish up yeah nice okay and one more time to the side starting with a butt cramp got to go up there we go okay and then we're gonna come out find a seat on your butt keep um yoga block handy okay so yeah we start to feel how the connecting from a foot and a hand kind of can plug into one another and create a real sense of grounding and connectedness so sitting on your bottom um try it on your yoga mat to start you're just going to slide one leg up i can't slide up very far um without this hip going I don't want to be there but what's interesting is that if I get off of the yoga mat oh my gosh there's like so much debris on this thing is if I get off my yolk mat and sit on the floor and slide my leg up I can very easily get a lot more flexion in this hip but it's like my brain knows there's an escape route being I can slide on my sticky mat it's like my brain's like h it's like it doesn't want to be trapped in between that stuck hip and the power pad of that foot so play with the surface that you're on because maybe that pinchy you're feeling in your hip isn't actually anything to do with your hip it's your nervous system going I can't protect us here i want you to be on a different surface so I can protect us okay so going to fold up the one leg take a yoga brick okay again working the power pad of that hand so that block's going to come back somewhere and I'm going to work the power pad of that hand with the power pads of my feet to start to twist me to turn me you might have to play with the height of the brick you just keep working into it you may need to reposition when you feel like your spine has stopped moving you're just going to hang there and breathe maybe you get a little bit more twist with your inhale and your exhale okay okay and then we're going to come out off of that side keep that leg folded up we're going to take the block behind us on this other side again find that power pad start to work into that power pad of the hand to start to create the twist i like this way because I could get really up into my thoracic spine don't be afraid to lean back away from the legs a little bit and again as you work into the power pad of the hand when you feel like the twist has stopped then just take a couple breaths and we're going to come back to center but what the hand does highly influences what the spine does which I hope you're starting to feel a little bit yeah cool and it's not the fingers it's the hand end of those metatarsils take both legs out longer you might be like "Oh one's longer than the other now." Not to worry we'll even ourselves out so you're going to slide up that other leg and then with whatever direction you want to start with okay you're going to place that hand work into the power pad adjust as you need to just keep working into the power pad of the hands little bit of [Music] feet and that twist is done when you feel like you're like the spine stops moving there's there's and the power pad of the hand almost imagine like that part of your hand is playing piano keys you know what happens if you push into the pinky versus the pointer versus the middle versus the ring as you play those power pads you might get more rotation you might get a different lift through the sternum okay and then come out get that brick in the other hand come around work into playing the piano keys with the power pads okay take some breaths we're going to come out take both legs long lovely any questions we're going to move back to having some work in the shoulders and weight through our forearms we good awesome okay so we're We're all warmed up we're going to do about 10 minutes of some pretty good work and then we're going to do restorative posture and shabbasa so you're going to need a chair or you could also use the wall okay so you've got a couple of options i'm going to put that stuff under my yoga mat be vacuuming my studio space tonight like Okay so we're going to take a yoga block um I'm going to I'm going to set up and use the wall some of us are going to like some of us this will feel too scary and so having a chair totally on the yoga mat and then setting up facing the wall will be less scary okay or if you're in a space where you've got a couch and you can have your upper back facing the couch that might be less scary than facing away from any surface i'm going to face away simply because then it's easier for you to see what's happening when you're watching the video and following along um but I will demonstrate towards the wall too so again some of us this is going to be you know the width of the block some of us this is going to work better that's too wide for me some of us might find that we want to actually try this with like a water bottle or a ball of some sort as you're playing with it because you can again anything that lets us get into the power pads of the hands really clearly so like my water bottle is a little on the bigger side so it works quite nice i'm going to use a yoga brick so just watch for a second get the power pads on i'm going to bring my head down and I'm going to get up onto the power pads of my feet so like in a dolphin pose I'm not worried about my legs being straight okay here I'm going to shrug my shoulders so my head taps the floor and I'm going to reach into the ground so the tops of my shoulders comes to my earlobes and so I'm working the power pads and I'm just shrugging the shoulders towards the earlobes away from the earlobes with weight up on my forearms and that's a fair bit of work okay so give that a try yeah that's it let's do three four five kind of those shrugs that looks good okay does anybody Carrie looked like you had enough space um is anybody kind like their humorous length versus their neck length isn't a match and so they have a very small range where their head doesn't touch the floor i don't have that issue i've got nice long humorouses so when I bring my arm up next to my head I've it's my elbow is past my head but some of us this will be an issue where we're like here i guess perfect yeah if you need more uh room getting like on a felt pad right um or folding up the yoga mat under the forearms can be helpful to give you like a little bit more space this next thing that we do though will get you some more space so I couldn't put my feet on the wall i'm going to use the chair just because I find this edge of the chair and this edge of the chair works really good for connecting to the power pads of my feet so same thing we're just going to increase the load that we're putting through those shoulders if where you were a minute ago is plenty of load stick with it if you want to play with putting a bit more load through the shoulders you're going to come here you could get the power pads up onto the bottom rung you could get the power pads up onto the edge of the chair you could reach one power pad up as you kick one down into the chair all of these are going to put different load through the [Music] shoulders and that connection okay good yeah for me I really like one foot on the chair kicking down and the other leg going up that kind of scissor action feeds really nicely into my thoracic spine i get a sense of being able to really lift out of there how'd that work so I just kind of came in yes once you're in you can add the shrugs but again scale but also now come in and don't add the shrugs and it will actually feel easier work the power pads of the feet and the hands nice so now without the shrugs yeah yeah so the more load we have going through the shoulders the harder controlling those you know shrugs are going to be the more of us that is kind of uh cast back off the shoulders the the there's kind of a sweet spot where it becomes really clear that shrug action and like a little bit of load and then there becomes a point where it's like too too much and I can't get that work happening okay but I want you to try one thing and that is roll your yoga mat so that it hits underneath your elbows you're going to get your block okay so the rolled yoga mat is underneath the forearm end the elbow end of our forearm i'm going to get into the power pads of my hand here and I'm going to come up put some more weight through and then shrug the elevated elbows will help you find that line of push a lot clearer than when the forearms are flat okay that said yeah go ahead Carrie yeah yeah um that said some of us might actually that [Music] roll to be under the wrist end of the forearms so I still find the power pad of my hands i do everything the same but some of us are going to find that shrug easier and clearer with a bit of a roll of the yoga mat under the wrist end of the forearm i find it better with the elbow end of the forearm i have more range it's like smoother very very clear but some of you are going to find it's going to work better yeah uh some Yeah some some people that will be easier so you know try try both and then you're going to do one more set potentially if you wanted to which wherever it works better and then we're going to do one more kind of setup with this but for those people I've had a few people in the last week that have been like I'm worried about the hump up here this is the work you want to be doing if you want to uh get a bit less of a flexion curve in that upper back if you are somebody that notices when you find the bottom of your spine you're like "Oh there's a bit of a ledge there." This work can help get some length through the muscles of that part to support us structurally better there okay okay one more iteration of this that we're going to work with this is where the wall is really [Music] necessary and one block is going to go this way and one block maybe you might need the block up the way I've put it here where it's on the skinny side some of us might need the block just this way it's going to depend kind of the length of your spine i'm quite long so this way works better so my one block is away from the wall my bottom block my top block is resting on the wall okay then I'm going to put my chair on my yoga mat i'm gonna do everything we've been doing oh actually no i'm I've I've got to set mine up because of my power pad i've got to set mine up like this because if I set it up like this this brick is too wide for how it works for my power pad so some of you yours might be like this but it also works to set it up like this it would also work if I had two blocks and I set two blocks on top of my bottom one okay so then I'm going to come in get my power pads working sorry about the muffled voice get my hair out of the way get my power pads working and Then I'm going to come up onto the chair and I want to roll that part of my back into the the block then I can play with do I want to come off the chair and up and use the wall and I want to lean that part of my back into the brick to help me figure out the push into the ground and the length up my head's not on the ground at all okay the work is all through my upper back and shoulders i just take as much towards the wall as I'm comfortable that might be one foot stays here might be one foot comes up it might be both feet stay here okay if you have a ladder I could work instead of the chair I could work up each rung of the ladder to get my feet higher and higher if I wanted nice yeah work the power pad yes and some of us just working the power pads of the feet into the chair and getting weight into that part of our back kind of creates a different connection through the arms and that upper back which can be super lovely awesome how's that working and again you could always roll the yoga mat up so you get it underneath the elbow end of the the forearm or the wrist end of the [Music] forearm with that block set up debbie did you want to say something carrie had that worked for you perfect yeah and definitely if you have extra blocks like this between like on the upper part of your back is different than if I go this way and I've got an extra foam one that then I I place here th this is different than like the the single so also play with that configuration and orientation because where it hits you in the upper back you'll feel when you've got it right because they'll be like an impetus to actually want to go vertical the legs will get light try one here yeah like my back likes this configuration better it like sets up my shoulder blades better my head's not on the ground even though that's headstand but yeah yeah so play play around with it one secular had a math test today so nice Debbie did you play with the orientation of the blocks Carrie yeah totally when you're gassed you're gassed uh Debbie how'd it work that time i saw your leg like the power pad just like weep yeah that's what I did yeah the only thing I find is my head is still resting a little bit on the floor i don't feel my neck so uh well it's it could be strength but also like limb limb neck length okay like I have a very long spine so when I get reaching in length through that thoracic spine I get a lot of length plus I've got a pretty long humorous so my head is like totally freewheeling in it but your head the crown of your head is meant to graze the floor and have some connection through it um the thing you could play with is um when you get set up the next time is work the beak at the back of the head because that can also get that upper back stuff spreading out and reaching in all directions so the go you're gonna you're going to work the beak back yeah kind of almost towards the block and you might find you've got to knot it up or down and that you'll feel when you've got it right because you'll get that sense of reach out of that upper back yeah that's it um you can that's where again if you had like two yoga mats so you could have them like trifolded or quadfolded and them under the forearms but then nothing's between your elbows you're going to create a longer humorous yeah great question how'd that work Debbie that worked great it took even more pressure yeah yeah awesome okay cool like totally play with it the other thing is we we were quite staying quite linear like with what the legs were doing but also don't be um afraid to play a little bit and like maybe I'm going to put I'll put my chair this way because then it's off away from the camera so I'm here i'm going to get set up the way I've been setting up i'm going to get this foot on the chair i'm going to work this guy out and up ah now I find you know for some of us it's not a straight up it's like the yawing or pulling these two towards the midline that had like I didn't plan to do that that's just what happened right maybe I need to just work and kick down into the chair and play with what is where does this leg want to go and then but that it doesn't when you hit it right it doesn't feel like any work i'm not thinking to make something happen it's just like there's just instinct which at 50 is a lovely feeling to feel really connected to my instincts you know especially when I got teenagers telling me my instincts are all wrong no I'm just kidding challenging my instincts at every move um but I was one and the other one just Yeah yeah so there's no like this is the only way play with it carrie you have a ladder I think at home the the ladder works really cool for this but there is a bit of fear factor when you're away from the wall but the ladder works nice because you really can connect to the power pads of the feet at different places and the kick down into the ladder can be really helpful to feel the lift from the front line of the body which is lovely so have have some fun with it play with it i was like um yeah that was awesome okay let's come down into our restorative pose so we did some flexion at the beginning we just have done some work through that back so I'm gonna invite us to either roll your yoga mat or you could use your yoga blocks this I do prefer the foam block for compared to the cork block just a little softer if all you have is a cork is cork blocks um a towel over it or putting your yoga mat over it can kind of soften the edges but we're going to place one this way the other one we're going to adjust for our head but we're going to come down kind of bra strapish uh for that top actually it's going to need to be a little lower than bra strap otherwise you'll run into your neck potentially and then the other block I find it can kind of be on an angle but it's just there to catch the head you don't want to feel like your head's falling off you might toe heel out the feet this is where I could take a yoga brick between my thighs or let my knees rest on one another i could do the foam roller in between i'm still going to kind of kick into the power pad of my foot a little bit to get my legs set up and you'll feel how that changes things in the pelvis [Music] potentially and then we're going to bring our lips together kind of like we're playing a trumpet and we're going to keep that puff of air and the puffed up lips and cheeks while we breathe in and out the nose five times so keep that puff On your next exhale let go of the puff of the lips that breath with the puff you likely felt how much more movement of air there was and expansion in that upper back and on the block around the tops of the shoulders and the neck so you can stay on this setup if you want but if you want to go out flat to shavasana I'm going to invite you to make that transition as seamlessly and easily as you can and I find rolling off to one side off the props works really well and then just rolling back onto my back become aware of the sounds of the room you're in and of my voice become aware of sensations of the body where you make contact with the ground any sensations of numbness pressure or tingling start to bring movement back to the body whatever way feels intuitive and good for you right now again keep following your instincts and as you bring movement back to the body you'll make your way onto a side And just take a second on your side before you use your arm and your hand to press yourself up and then you'll find the seat and just feel the pelvis and the legs the stability and the grounding of them the length of the spine palms could stay in your lap or you might bring them together kind of pressing the power pads together separating the fingers thumbs just to the left of the breast bone breathing in with ease and out with a sense of gratitude gratitude for your instincts oh shant shanty peace