Find Your Balance: 5 Minutes Of Standing Pilates

Life can get busy, but Pilates can still be part of everyday life. In this short standing practice, we explore the Side Kick series from the Mat in an upright position. With no mat or equipment needed, this class helps you find balance, stability, and connection through the whole body. All you need is a little space and five focused minutes to move.

Transcript

Hi everyone! Life can get real busy and sometimes we only have five minutes before we have to leave the house, Before the next meeting. But one thing that Joe Pilates really wanted to teach the world is that Pilates can be part of everyday life. Anytime, Anywhere, Even when time is short So today I'm going to show you the sidekick series, Which we actually know from the mat sequence, But in standing position. So no mat needed, No equipment needed, Just you, Your body and a little space to move. So let's get started. Stand tall with your feet hip width apart parallel. To start with, Simply shift your weight onto your left leg and onto your right leg. Just a couple of times shifting the weight left and right and try to maintain a very tall, Long line. So when you shift the weight onto one side, Try not to collapse in the hips. Then keep the weight on your left leg. Find your balance and lift your right foot just slightly above the floor. Now lift the right leg forward and up. Down and back. Forward and up. Down and back. 10 repetitions. And even though the right leg is the leg that's moving, The left side is actually the side that works the hardest here to maintain the balance and the control. You can always hold on to something if the balance is not quite there yet. But try to keep the left side working and lifting. Two more repetitions. And then try to maintain the balance. Now lift the right leg out and up. And back to center. Out and up. Back to center also here 10 repetitions. And here it's really challenging to keep both waistlines really tall and long. Try to maintain the hips fairly stable as good as possible. Three more repetitions. And after that, Little circles slightly in front of your body line. Eight repetitions in both directions. And notice how challenging it is to maintain the balance when we do these circles. Even though I'm struggling here, Left side is getting really tired already. And after that, Cross the center line. So the right leg is going to the left. And eight circles. Little bit smaller than the others, Also in both directions. Change direction for age. Seven. Five, To one, Both legs back onto the floor. And now everything on the other side. So first, Find again your lengthening, The balance on your right leg and then move the left leg forward and up. Down and back. Forward and up. Down and back, Also here 10 repetitions. And maybe you notice already in the very beginning a difference between left and right. And that's very normal. One side usually is always a bit stronger than the other. You can also open the arms to the side. It's usually also helping with the balance. Two more repetitions. And then lift the leg out to the side. 10 repetitions. And you can always use your hands as well to give your hips a bit of direction that it's not. Tilting or collapsing on one side. Try to explore different arm positions. What helps your balance? What helps you to find or keep the alignment? And after 10 repetitions, We go here as well to the circles. So slightly in front of the body, Keep the circles fairly small, But with energy. Also keep the right side really tall and long. After eight, Circles change direction. And then from here, Cross your center line, Move the left heel across your center line and eight circles here in this one. And from here, Change direction for another eight. The last four. You. One, Bring both legs back to center. Thanks for tuning me.