What goes better with Pilates than Tea I mean Tea is practically in the name Pilates right?! Recently Brad Crowell and I joined Angie McCartney for her Tea-Flix Tuesday! And, well, the moments were all captured live! You can see what happens with a fabulous lady, with a great accent tries to steal my husband and partner in crime and we share all the new things happening with Pilates, retreats, tea and more here.
What goes better with Pilates than Tea I mean Tea is practically in the name Pilates right?! Recently Brad Crowell and I joined Angie McCartney for her Tea-Flix Tuesday! And, well, the moments were all captured live! You can see what happens with a fabulous lady, with a great accent tries to steal my husband and partner in crime and we share all the new things happening with Pilates, retreats, tea and more here.
Teaser is probably one of the most photographed exercises in Pilates. Which makes people think it's a "peak pose." But, it's anything but! It's simply another layer to your Pilates practice. This week we will acknowledge how each exercise contributes to your ability to do Teaser (someday) and then how Teaser teaches you where to get curious in your practice.
On the Mat we will use light weights for one round of Teaser as they can be helpful for those still adding into their practice.
No props on the Reformer.
See you in class,
xx~LL
MAT EQUIPMENT NEEDED: Your awesome self, light weights and a Mat!
>> Wondering what mat I’m using? You can find out more here.
REFORMER EQUIPMENT NEEDED: Your awesome self and a Reformer!
>> Wondering what reformer I’m using? You can find out more here.
We are all going to feel like Super Humans after this month!!
Whenever I’m in a hard exercise (for me) where I’m holding myself up with my arms and reaching my legs away I picture myself with super human strength!!! I can do ANYTHING! It makes me smile and helps me stay STRONG.
This month our exercise is Up Stretch and when you think about it - reaching your legs away and staying strong over the carriage may feel a lot like flying!
We’ll be focusing on stabilizing our strong cores while staying equally balanced in our arms and legs. We are giving you some amazing building blocks by merging strength and stretch in all directions. You are going to get a little bit of everything that you can use to connect to your Up Stretch (and even your Roll Up and Knee Stretches Off).
Chair: Please have a foam roller and a balance pad available. We are going to challenge your balance safely.
xx-LL
It’s time to rock around the clock…literally!!!
The Around the Clock exercise has been called a “stunt” and “A Commando Exercise” - one that Mr. Pilates advertised would help us develop muscles and tissues that regular physical activities could not. He stressed that we couldn’t just read about it, but that it must be done! And done twice daily. I imagine him pointing his finger at me and trying to get me to agree to this daily regime!
This week we’ll be exploring everything that makes up this Commando Exercise. I like to think of this exercise as a mash up of Double Leg Stretch, Teaser, The Hundred, and Rolling Like a Ball. It starts by igniting a fire in our center and continues to warm us up as we rock and stretch, rock and stretch, rock and stretch until we’ve made a full circle (clock)…and then we get to go back. It’s fun and challenging!
Let’s ROCK ON (or around) all week long!!
See you in class,
Rachel
MAT EQUIPMENT NEEDED: Your awesome self and a mat!
>> Wondering what mat I’m using? You can find out more here.
REFORMER EQUIPMENT NEEDED: Your awesome self and a reformer!
>> Wondering what reformer I’m using? You can find out more here.
The funny thing about Pilates is that some exercises can instantly get more possible or less possible depending on where we put our head! If you over-tuck your chin or over-extend your neck you can disconnect from the strength of your center.
On the Mat and Reformer, we'll start with some Magic Circle exercises to help us strengthen our neck. Then we'll pay attention to where our head (or eyes are) in space to see how that might help us with some of the exercises we struggle with.
Grab a magic circle for the beginning. Don't have one? It's possible to do the series with your own hands or a squishy ball.
See ya in class,
xx-LL 💋
MAT EQUIPMENT NEEDED: Your awesome self, a Magic Circle and a mat!
>> Wondering what mat I’m using? You can find out more here.
REFORMER EQUIPMENT NEEDED: Your awesome self, a Magic Circle and a reformer!
>> Wondering what reformer I’m using? You can find out more here.
Pilates is equal part strength plus equal part stretch to give us better mobility, better movement, a spine that's more pliable, and a fluidity to our everyday life.
All of our internal connections give us the longest shape and bends we can make, whether the bend is in our round shape, extended shape, a side bend, and a rotation/twist. Though there's no bend in the tall shape, think of it as we're unbending all the bends to find the tall shape.
All the bends in our practice will give us better stability so there are less breaks in our life, like injuries, aches and pains, stresses, so we can all do life better! The breaks in our Pilates practice represent something that’s not connected. Are you falling to bend? Sinking to bend? Collapsing to bend? Find the lift as part of the bend.
On the mat, grab a squishy ball.
No prop for the reformer - just your lovely self!
See you in class,
Christine
MAT EQUIPMENT NEEDED: Your awesome self, a squishy ball and a mat!
>> Wondering what mat I’m using? You can find out more here.
REFORMER EQUIPMENT NEEDED: Your awesome self and a reformer!
>> Wondering what reformer I’m using? You can find out more here.
Alright loves, we all know the epic song from TLC. And we all know we don't want no scrub. Someone who sits passenger side hollering at us.
But, often times we are our own scrub. Hanging off to the side judging ourselves. Or, hanging out in our over dominant muscles because it feels better than working from the muscles that make an exercise harder.
This week it's our quarterly check in! We'll flow from exercise to exercise. And, we'll see which exercises we turn into a scrub getting all judgy. We'll write down exercises we tend to "hang out" in and ones that we slay!
Then you'll take the class at least 1 or 2 more times so that you can compare yourself to yourself.
No props needed unless you have props you use to access an exercise.
See ya in class,
xx-LL 💋
MAT EQUIPMENT NEEDED: Your awesome self and a mat!
>> Wondering what mat I’m using? You can find out more here.
REFORMER EQUIPMENT NEEDED: Your awesome self and a reformer!
>> Wondering what reformer I’m using? You can find out more here.
If you are a lover of the Reformer chances are you have little love for the Horseback. I don't blame you. It's not that fun. If you're on the Mat you probably have no idea what this means…
And that's ok! Horseback is like a seated Teaser but harder!
On both the Mat and Reformer we will be playing with how to connect to this exercise, prepare for it and find a Horse that works for us!
Props: Mat, have light weights nearby
See ya in class,
xx-LL 💋
MAT EQUIPMENT NEEDED: Your awesome self, have light weights nearby and a mat!
>> Wondering what mat I’m using? You can find out more here.
REFORMER EQUIPMENT NEEDED: Your awesome self and a reformer!
>> Wondering what reformer I’m using? You can find out more here.
We are all going to feel like Super Humans after this month!!
Whenever I’m in a hard exercise (for me) where I’m holding myself up with my arms and reaching my legs away I picture myself with super human strength!!! I can do ANYTHING! It makes me smile and helps me stay STRONG.
This month our exercise is Up Stretch and when you think about it - reaching your legs away and staying strong over the carriage may feel a lot like flying!
We’ll be focusing on stabilizing our strong cores while staying equally balanced in our arms and legs. We are giving you some amazing building blocks by merging strength and stretch in all directions. You are going to get a little bit of everything that you can use to connect to your Up Stretch (and even your Roll Up and Knee Stretches Off).
Chair: Please have a foam roller and a balance pad available. We are going to challenge your balance safely.
See ya in class,
xx-LL 💋
Tops ‘N Tails (or Tops & Tails) is a wonderful expression I grew up with! It means being ready-to-go…from top to bottom, front to back, end to end! Isn’t that exactly what Pilates does for our minds and bodies? It encourages us to ready for any adventure that comes our way because our workouts use variety to engage the whole body, and to focus our minds.
This month’s Reformer workout will have us exploring Tops ‘N Tails by working from the ends of The Order. We’ll alternate exercises from the beginning and from the end of our usual routine for a challenging time! You’ll need your reformer box and pole.
On the Wunda Chair and Mat we'll be focusing on working from the top half or the tail half of our bodies! While every exercise requires the whole body. Setting ourselves up for success from the Top to the Tail makes the most difference!
On the Cadillac/Tower we will work on how the top half of the body helps to support the bottom half and vice versa! Pilates allows us to use the whole body to help with strength from Top to Tail! Let's explore how the springs on the Cadillac/Tower make us connect to the whole body in each exercise.
See ya in class,
xx-LL 💋
