Unraveling The Spine

Unraveling the Spine is a slow, mindful yoga practice designed to release tension and restore fluid movement throughout the back body. Through gentle stretches, spinal waves, rotations, and breath-led movement, you’ll explore ways to create more space, mobility, and ease through the spine.

Transcript

Hello everybody, Today we're going to be doing a spine twisting series. So we're going to work through your rounded spine, Your rotation, And then also your saw. So these are classic Pilates mat exercises and we're just going to be working through a few today. Let's get started in all fours. Okay and before we start, I'm going to have you plant your hands into the floor keeping the arms straight. Now eyes of the elbows here are facing forward, Pushing the palms heavily into the mat. Come to find a flat back. So from the tailbone, From this pelvis here, All the way to the crown of the head. Try to keep it flat as much as you can. Now on the inhale, Start to arch the back. Send your sit bones here up to the ceiling. Push the chest forward in between your hands. Chin follows, Collarbones broad. As you exhale, Tuck the pelvis underneath. Scoop the pelvis under and start to round from the lower spine, Middle spine, Upper spine, Crown of the head comes down. And again, Leaning from the pelvis, Start to arch the back, Pressing the chest through the upper arms. Can you slide your wrists back so you feel more stretch into the thoracic spine, The middle and upper back. Exhale to round. So these are very slow, Just starting to get a little bit of spinal articulation. Inhale to arch and exhale to round. Inhale to arch. So the front body is stretching, Back body is engaged. And as you round, The front body starts to shorten, The back body lengthens. Two more like this. Nice and slow, Nice and controlled. Last one here. Okay, And once you're done, Let's push the palms into the mat. Keep the back rounded, Tuck your toes and hover your knees off the floor. Push the arms straight, Hold here for five, Hold for four, Three, Two, One. Push the thighs back, Come into your up stretch, You can walk the hands forward if you need to. Hips come up towards the ceiling, Getting a nice stretch in the hamstrings and the calf muscles. Try to ground the heels towards the floor. Okay, Take your knees to the floor. Cross your legs and stretch the legs out in front of you. We're going to go for your spine stretch series. Now I like to have my heels at the edge of the mat here, So you can really check the alignment. When we twist later and when we add the stop, It's very common for the heels to want to shift and we don't want movement in the lower body. So let's bring the heels just right at the edge of your mat, So you can check the alignment. Feet are flexed, Thighs pushing into the floor. Now take your hands into a crossed, So crossing the hands into the elbows, Sitting up tall. This is your starting position. Now from here, Lead with the chin, Drawing the chin into the chest. Start to soften the sternum, The chest bone, As you round the back, Stretching the elbows forward. Lengthening your back body, Hollowing the belly, So you're wanting to round over something. Slowly stack the pelvis back up, Spine straight, Sitting up tall. Again, Leading with the chin, Soften the front body, Stretch the spine forward. Keep the legs active and reach the elbows towards your toes. And stacking back up. Again, Three, Reaching the elbows forward, Belly draws back. And stacking back up. Two more like this. Last one here. And coming all the way up. Now take one more, And we're going to hold at the bottom. Now stay at your deepest spine straight. Can we keep everything, But just stretch the arms out in front of you. So the upper arms are still hugging in, Palms are facing each other, And you're lengthening the arms forward. Keep this, Slowly stack the pelvis up, Sitting up tall. Spine stretched from here, Chin tucks in, Soften the chest, Rounding forward. Stretch forward. And coming back up. Four more like this. And coming back. Last three. Good, Last two. So nice and controlled, Nice and slow. Think about rounding more from your lower back. And coming back up. Let's go one more here. And all the way back. Release the hands, Roll the shoulders back, And forward. Now come to find a nice and tall spine, Take the arms across the elbows again. Now here, I want you to keep the arms active, So have the thumbs inside the elbow crease, And I want you to push the elbows wide. You should feel a little bit of the shoulders start to widen, Keeping this. Keep the push in the elbows, Inhale, Spine tall, Exhale, Rotate towards the right. Now stay. Notice if you're leaning back or leaning forward, Can we find centre? Now look at your heels, Did they shift? Make sure the heels stay in one line. Come back to centre. Inhale, Tall spine, Straight, Exhale, Twist and rotate to your left. Legs stay active, We're rotating from the ribcage, And return. Again, To the right. And centre, To the left. Good, And centre. Again, To the right. And centre, Good, To the left. And centre. One more to the right. Now stay. Open your arms out into a T. In your T hip, Can you deepen your twist? And back to centre. Inhale, Exhale, To your left. And centre. Inhale, Exhale, To your right. And centre. Inhale, Exhale, To your left. And centre. One more time to the right. Stay in your twist. Now, Can you deepen the twist, Sending the right arm back? Coming in for your saw, Tuck the chin into your chest as you round the back, Stretch the left hand across the right foot, And reach and round forward. Legs active, Twist is still there. Don't lose the rotation. Release, Come back up. And turn to face the front. To the left, Chin tucks in and you reach and lengthen forward. Come back up, And face the front. Inhale, Tall to the right. Reaching forward to your saw. Come back up, And face the front. To the left, Rounding forward. Lengthening, Reaching in opposite directions, Hollowing the belly. And back. Centre to the right, Last one. Round and reach. Come back up, And centre to the left. Rounding, Reaching forward. Stack back up, Face the front. Good, Release the arms. Now, Let's take your feet almost mat width apart, Slightly wider than hip width apart. Sitting up tall, Flex your feet, And then bring your arms into a cross shape. So, Same as just now. We're going to try the whole thing again with the legs apart. So, Inhale tall, Exhale, Rotate towards the right. Come back to centre. Rotate to your left. Come back to centre. To the right, Stay. Now, Stretch the arms out into a T. Back to centre. Keep your T. Inhale, Exhale, Twist to the left. Notice your heels. Back to centre. Inhale, Exhale to the right. Stay here. Now, Saw, Chin tucks in, And you lengthen the arm outside the foot. Round the body, Reach forward. So, You might actually find this one a little bit harder, Because the legs are wider. This deepens the twist, Gets more to the shoulders. Stack the spine back up, And face the front. Inhale, Exhale to your left. Round the back, Stretch forward. Saw. Stack back up, Face the front. One more each side. Inhale, Exhale to the right. Round and reach. Don't lose the rotation. Keep the legs active. Reaching forward. Coming back, Face the front. Inhale, Exhale to the left. Round and reach. Back to centre. And release. Take your feet together, Cross your legs. Sitting up nice and tall, In any comfortable seat of your choice. Inhale, Arms up. And exhale, Release. Two more. Inhale, Arms up. And exhale, Release. Last one. Inhale, Arms up. Stay here. Inhale again. Exhale, Hinge forward. Walk forward. We'll end with three rounds of breath. Slowly crawl back up. And that's it for today. Thank you for joining me on the mat.