Whole Body Pilates

Working out some fun flows for next week's Pilates Mat classes!
Join me for these virtual adventures! Fridays 10:30a (Gentle Joints Pilates) + Mondays 10:30a & Wednesdays 6p (Pilates Mat)
Can't join live but want video access to do on your own time? You can sign up for that too!
For more info & to sign up: wholebodypilates.org/classes

It is important to have full range of motion in our hip sockets. For many of us, rotating internally is the most challenging. To work on creating balance, today we will look at some exercises that will increase the strength of the muscles that enable us to internally rotate our femur bones in our hip sockets.

Internal Rotation of Hips -- something we all need, but often lose as we go through life. These stretches and release movements will help to release the muscles that keep our legs from being able to move into internal rotation easily.

Deep Breathing Relaxation.
With all the pain expressing itself in the world today, I want to offer this deep breathing exercise as a recognition of that pain, but also as a moment of rest. This is not to say that we shouldn't be moving into action. So many of us have been too passive and too silent for too long. However, as a trauma specialist I know often says, "first, you have to know where your feet are". Join me in taking a moment to come into the present, find our feet, release our tension, and then move forward into action with hope.

Here's a movement sequence you can do to mobilize & strengthen your upper back and continue to build strength in your arms. It's great to do before and/or after a long day of sitting or working in a hunched over position.

Trying to maintain muscle tone in your arms while sheltering in place with no weights? Attempting to keep healthy posture while using the computer more and more? Give these exercises a try!

Another hamstring hack! Today we'll explore some resistance stretching to get those muscles to open up. You'll need a belt or yoga strap for this.

Continuing to release those hamstrings! Play around with this approach & see if it helps you; I'd be curious to hear!

Let's talk hamstrings! Those tight, stubborn guys in the back of our legs that just don't seem to want to give in to stretching. We're going to approach them a bit differently this week to see if we can't coax them into a bit more length.

Seated spiral release movement. Sometimes our hips & pelvis are in pain because somewhere farther up the spine chain is stuck. Or visa versa. Today's release will help unlock the hips through the head.

Another hip flexor release! Still targeting the psoas, we'll do a standing release today. You'll need a long strap (like a yoga strap) or a belt or not-so-stretchy scarf for this one.

Hip Flexors! They can often become tight or overused and therefore cause pain. Today we will build on the movement from yesterday to release the front of our hips.

Lower back & hip flexor release. Today's movement will set us up for a deeper hip flexor release we'll work on tomorrow.

This week's focus: hip, pelvic, and low back pain. Todays we'll work on balancing out the right & left sides of our pelvis, as well as creating space in our ribs and side body.

Day 5 of relieving knee pain. As our knees grow stronger, we will be ready to stand & work against gravity to continue to build more strength. We'll need that rolled up towel again for today's exercises.

Day 4 of relieving knee pain. Today we move into strengthening the muscles surrounding our knees--starting lying on our backs so we don't have to work against gravity as we build strength. We'll need a rolled up towel & belt for this one!

Day 3 of relieving knee pain. Today we'll do one more release movement that will also act as a gentle stretch for the muscles around the knee & into the hip and pelvis. As always, only move within your range of comfort & never into pain.

Day 2 of releasing knee tension to hopefully relieve knee pain. Today we will release the muscles that connect to the inside & outside of the knee.

Knee Pain--no fun! Let's kick it to the curb this week! Today we'll start with some simple release movements, and by the end of the week we'll start to work on strengthening the muscles around the knees to make everyday movements more enjoyable.

Releasing the forearm, wrist and hands through Hanna Somatic Education movement & pandiculation.

As promised, we'll move into some release & stretches for the hands & forearms today. This will help to counteract all that typing we've been doing lately!

Starting at our feet, today's move will wring out the entire body. We're building off of the moves from Days 19 & 20, so it may be helpful to visit those videos first before trying to sort this one out.

Release those feet! Let's look at inversion & eversion of the feet to release tight ankle muscles & find equilibrium from our feet up.

This week we will focus on hands and feet. Today we start with the feet -- and with discovering the alignment that we naturally fall into.

It's Friday. Let's end the week with some deep breathing & release, focusing on opening up the chest & bringing fresh oxygen to hydrate our spine.

Continuation of opening up the chest: Now that we have found & strengthened those upper back muscles, let's stretch out our chest to compliment that work. We'll be feeling real good & open after this! So grab a belt or scarf or thin long towel and let's get after it!

Today my model will demonstrate how to isolate our upper back, thus gaining more range of motion through the spine & more space in the chest.

This week we will focus on opening up the chest. However, in order to do that, we need to rediscover how to access & mobilize our upper back independent of our rib cage. Here we go!

Day 4 of iliosacral joint release. Extra benefit of today's move? It will wring out the entire spine and make walking & moving through every day life more efficient.