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I’m Christy Cooper, and today’s class is gonna be fun. It’s gonna be quick, and we’re using what we call the over ball. It’s about a 7 to 9 inch ball at full diameter. I’ve got mine a little bit deflated on purpose, and the point really for using it is the tactile feedback. It allows us to push into something in order to feel other things. So with that in mind, have a little fun.
Let’s get started. We’re going to the floor starting seated. So we are seated here. And for now, we’re just gonna use the ball in our hands. Again, we’re there’s no need to ever really well, not yet. We’re not gonna put so much pressure on the ball.
We’re just holding it for spacing for the moment. I have it straight out almost in front of my face. Maybe a little bit lower in the idea right now with our knees bent feet flat is is to think about almost using your breath as a way of connecting to your abdominals. So we inhale And as you exhale, imagine you’re gonna just blow the ball right out of your hands and notice what it does to your abdominals. Don’t expect to see anything. Just feel for it. Okay? So we inhale, and we exhale, like, almost a sometimes it’s a hot breath, like, as if you could enough air could pop it away from your hands.
That’s just an idea, really. It’s it’s it’s the sense of connecting to abdominals first, inhale, and exhale. And just one more like that. Exceo. Now then put the ball between your knees.
Okay. So, again, we’re not trying to pop the ball right now. It’s a little more of a spacer. There’s some energy there, though. From here, you can hold on to the shins or the knees, sit up really tall, situate yourself so you feel like you’re right on your sits bones, Here we go. We’re inhaling as if you’re doing that hot breath still, you you’ll this time allow the pelvis to roll back a little. Okay. And then just come right back up in here at exhale. Maybe you’ll notice my arms or elbows are pointed out to the side.
There’s no problem actually using your arms so long as you resist against it. And that will be a theme in this class. We’re we’re nice and tall. And exhale, those hip bones pull away. It’s not a huge movement right now.
Just getting this sense of how the abdominals are making happen, and then we’re not just letting gravity take over. Exhale back. Just a little curve with his spine. That’s it. No big deal. And inhale.
And back up. Lovely. We’re gonna keep going down this time. So roll back. You can slide your hands behind your thighs. Just go to the small of your back or the low back. So you’re looking at that ball.
You can bring your feet closer, but be careful. It’ll be hard to get back up. Take an inhale. A light squeeze on the ball from the inner thigh. Start that breath and exhale to curl yourself forward until your shoulders are over your hips. And straighten back up.
Inhale. Nice, long spine, nice proud stance, start the x l light squeeze on the ball, you can even gently press your feet into the ground and, you know, use what you got. That’s the way I look at it. It’s not cheating. It’s just finding these oppositional forces inhale.
Start the exhale and roll yourself back up. Ending with a straight spine. Inhale. Exhale, light, squeeze them all very light, maybe a little downward pressure of the heels, roll back. Hold on to your lights if you want. There’s no problem there. I don’t know why I’m saying that as if I think people think they’re cheating all the time, but they’re not.
Take an inhale. Your back is down, upper body’s up, exhale, sink, to curl forward and straighten up. If you wanna challenge, join me on this next part of it, you don’t want to do the challenge, you’ll just hang out a little longer. It goes, exhale roll back. I’m still holding the back of my legs at the moment. Now I’m down where my mid to low back is down.
I’m gonna let go of one arm and reach it up. Inhale. Bring it back and hold on. Switch arm. Inhale. Other arm floats up. Notice your body is not moving at all.
It’s just the arm, making you heavier. Hold ear, inhale. You’re gonna wanna squeeze that ball a little. Try to do it from above where the ball is. Not right at the knees where it’s being held.
Exhale and come forward. Oh, that’s a lot to say. It’s worth it, though. So while I’m holding, well, I’m not pinching it with the knees. If anything, I’m trying to lightly contract just above where the ball is.
It’ll make a difference. See if it means anything to you as you try again. Inhale or tall. We exhale. We roll the pelvis back, back back until the low back is down. Let go of one arm in him.
Try not to fall back, exhale. You can grab onto the leg again. Other arm, inhale. Exale. Grab on. Hold for an inhale a little bit more of a squeeze, but not so much at the knees.
The whole inner seam of the leg helps you back up. So the ball is an assist in a lot of ways here. Inhale. Exhale back. We’re gonna do 2 more, so hang on tight. And I mean, with your abs, pick an arm, inhale up. Take it way back if you’re feeling strong.
Exhale. Bring it back. Inhale. Reach it back. Spine isn’t moving. Hold both legs. Inhale. Start that exhale. Remember the hot breath.
To bring you back up, I promised you one more. You are so welcome. Inhale. Tilt the pelvis. Roll back. Your spine is actually getting longer, even though we’re curling it to get down to the ground.
Pick an arm, inhale up. Ex, he’ll bring it back. Other side. Bring it back. Oh, should we make it really fun? Try both arms.
Oh my goodness. Why would I do that? Hold on to those legs, inhale, inner thighs, exhale. Bring yourself back up. Having fun yet? Alright. Scoop yourself a little bit forward.
You’re gonna roll all the way down to do some pelvic curls. So help yourself down Once you’re here, your arms are long by your side. Most likely, you’ll have to bring your feet a little closer to you. Make those adjustments, but you wanna feel evenly weighted on your feet goes like this. We inhale. Again, a subtle squeeze on the ball.
Start to tilt the pelvis up to roll up to a nice, long, slant board like position. Hang out here for a second. I know it’s a lot of word, but here’s the thing. Check your collar bones first. Spread them out so they’re open but then also we don’t wanna thrust the ribs up.
We wanna keep this nice long line so that we actually feel maybe a stretch right in front of the hips. For a lot of us, that doesn’t happen right away. So I’m gonna encourage you to do this with me this this one time. Drop your ribs down a little. Retuck the pelvis or bring the pubic bone closer to your sternum. So you it feels like you’re trying to round your back. Your feet are still evenly weighted.
Now step on those feet in that position and raise the position if you can. It’s not critical that you go high. It’s critical that you feel the back of the legs and the glutes. You with me? Yes. I hope inhale.
Exhale, we’re melting our spine all the way back down to the ground. One bone at a time until you’re back to the starting position. Adjust your shoulders if you need to. They’re just sort of down. Inhale. Start that exhale.
We roll up. Bone by bone, if you can. Start reaching those knees out over the feet, or it’s a sensation of that anyway. Inhale. Hold.
Start the exhale in. Bring it back down. Oh, I just cut myself going side to side. That’s alright. That’s just my state of mind today. Inhale.
Exhale, but I’ll control for it. And sometimes that means doing a little less action and just allowing the body to move as it’s meant to be. Able to hold at the top. Exhale. Roll down. Do you notice at the top? You you almost wanna drop the ball? Don’t.
That’s kinda the point. If you have to widen your feet a little, that’d be alright. XL roll up. Alright. Let’s just hang here for a second. My upper arms are into the ground, so I’m I’m actually feeling a little bit like I’m standing on them, you can stay right here and just breathe, or you can inhale.
And on your exhale without the hips moving, float your right shin out to a straight leg, bring it back down, switching sides, to your best to keep the hips still. And bring it down one more each way. If you have to re tuck the pelvis, do. Right? It’s not meant to be in your low back, and it’s okay if you’re not all the way to the top. Just something to work for. It’s the last time.
And down, inhale. And from your throat or the chest, or your upper back start melting your way down to the bottom. Take both arms up straight above your chest. Turn your arms out. So your hands are gonna face each other, but it’s not just the hands. It’s the whole arm. So the inner elbows are facing each other too.
We stretch the arms out to a tee position almost to the ground, see if you can make a larger wing span Exale, bring them back up, right to where you started. So they’re just right over your shoulders. Inhale, expanding your chest. Open. Open. Open. Exhale. Bring you back up. Again, inhale and up.
Inhale, take it out to about an inch off the ground, you still gotta light squeeze on the ball, reach a little further, and sometimes reaching means don’t try so hard. So you’re not pulling those shoulders inward. You’re just letting them get that long neural stretch and finally set the arms down. Now if that’s too big of a stretch, please lower your arms to say a low v and just monitor your shoulders so they don’t pop up off the ground. A nice modification for a lot of people when they’re on the backs is to take a small towel and elevate the head an inch or so.
That might just be all you need to let the shoulders relax, which is pretty important here. Okay. Draw the feet in a little closer. Pick up the feet. To about a tabletop or ninety ninety degree position. And we are going for knees side to side. Take it to the front towards me, you’re gonna lift that opposite tip and you rotate one direction.
Start your exhale and drag the lower body back to center. Go the other way. Inhale. Now here’s the thing. Look at the ball. Look at the knees.
They should be all lined up. Right? You don’t have one need a lot further than the other. Keep it together. Exhale back to center. Here’s a statement I need to tell myself more often, inhale over opposite it lifts and exhale. It’s like you’re trying to almost just separate the upper body from lower body, which It’s a little bit of a strange cube, but it’s the disassociation. It’s allowing the shoulders to stay down.
So it doesn’t need to be a huge range of motion to the back. Now while you’re here at the back, press the lower leg into the ball a little bit just before you bring it back to center. It’s just a little subtle nuance to the front. The lower leg, the leg closest to the ground, pushes into the ball first. Nothing you’ll see.
It’s just something hopefully you’ll feel again. I’m getting all sorts of good cracks today. Hopefully, you’re feeling good too. Okay. From here, it’s gonna a little more fun, maybe. Hold on to the back of your legs wherever you comfortably can.
I’ve still got that inner thigh light connection. Pick your head, neck, and shoulders up. And now here, I’m pushing my thighs into my hands. So I create this, like, boat shape, And then I wanna keep that and start a little rocking action. So by that the keeping the shape, I’m not bringing the thighs closer to mean flattening out and then yanking to get back up.
It just what can you do to keep a rocking motion? We’re gonna sit up in 3 keep the round back to and up we come. Easy peasy. No big deal. Right? Take the ball now. And this that we’re we’re switching the ball from a spacing situation to a little bit more of a tactile Like, if I push into the ball, I’m gonna notice things elsewhere. So thinking on that, the ball goes it’s hard to be precise about this one.
So just where you need to the ball goes basically at your low back, and you can lean into it. You can see the the spine is round. So I’m not starting up right. We’ll just go ahead and come back. I’m holding behind the legs.
And just so you get the sense of what I’m going for here, you inhale. Exhale and try to pop the ball just by exhaling. Literally by pushing into it, not with your feet so much, but just, can you press the back of your spine into the ball more? Do a couple breaths like that. You can hold on as much as you want.
It’s a it’s a good thing, actually. And notice if you really blow out your air and you are are literally trying to push into that ball, does it not almost propel you forward? Almost think about that in him. Let go of the arms. Reach forward.
As you exhale push backwards into the ball, but don’t be surprised if your body goes forward, like a pulsing, if you were doing a chest lift on the ground, inhale. You can release it a little. Start that exhale. Press into the ball, and it will maybe curl you just a little bit more, but you’ll feel it if you’re doing it. You know what? Inhale. And exhale. You could imagine you had a ball between your knees, but let’s not get crazy there. Inhale.
And exhale. Like, you’re gonna get up, but you gotta stay touching the ball. Keep that thought in mind for actually 2 more. Inhale. I’m gonna get up, but I’m actually not allowed to leave the ball. Does that help find that abdominal contraction? I hope so. I like this because it doesn’t hurt your neck, you’re not on the ground lifting, although we’ll be there soon.
Alright. Let’s because we did it earlier, let’s do it here too. We start an exhale, and we’re gonna lift the right arm up. Reach it way back, way back, way back, bring it down on that inhale. Switch sides. Start the exhale, push into the ball.
That’s all you care about right now. The arm just becomes, like, a more weight. Both arms, inhale, up, up, up, do not flatten out your back. Act like you’re gonna get up right now. Literally think I’m gonna get up, but don’t. And come down.
Can we do one more? Oh my gosh. Kick an arm. If you can think about which one you started with, reverse it inhale up, and down, blow out the air, pop that ball, other side. If you got it in, you do both arms, but sync. I’m popping the ball. I’m still popping the ball. It’s not because of my feet.
And you could see I’m getting it’s getting harder to actually speak. Hold it there. Inhale. Push backwards to go forward and come up off the ball. Hold your knees. Stretch your spine, your abs, really.
You can look up and enjoy that. Alright. Similar position. I’m gonna just roll the ball back to about my shoulder blades. And this one, again, it’s one you know, anytime you’re working with a moving entity below you, you may have to adjust.
So please don’t hesitate there. So I have a basically wrestling I’m almost able to chill and watch TV here. Not quite, though. I’m gonna put my hands behind my head. Same idea.
So my head is dropped into my hands as best I can. And from here, wherever the ball is touching, that is where you are putting your attention to try to pop the ball again. We’re not lifting off it, but we are trying to curl forward. And he’ll just back a little, just a little release And now that exhale starts pressing the rib cage into the ball so you end up kinda curling forward looking maybe between the inner thighs. Inhale one more like that just for this 3.
I’m not changing my pelvis as best I can. Okay. Now here’s the fun part. You’re gonna like me for this one. Inhale archback over the ball. If you can touch your head, do you know what’s coming next? Right? You could have put the pressure on the back side, just pop the ball to curl up into a normal chest abdominal crunch.
Yep. Do it again. Get a little extension there. That’s what’s so nice about this one. And then start the exhale thing. I’m popping the ball.
I’m just popping the ball. I’m gonna push backwards to go forward. Again. Coming up. Just one more like that. Now then this is a little trickier in terms of balance, but let’s take it back again.
As we come up, we’ll go to one side. So I’m taking my left shoulder to my right hip bone as I curl up, but not to not trying to roll the ball away. Still trying to pop it on maybe a little more on one side. Take it back, arch back, come up, go the other way. Your knees are right where they were when we started all this. And back, Presting of the ball, pressing of the ball, rotate, and back.
Do it again. Do it again. Isn’t it interesting? Like, it’s so normal to go, well, I’ve gotta use my abs, so I’m keep going. I’m just gonna talk for a second. So normal to go. I’m gonna use my app, so I have to focus on the apps. But, really, in this case, what I’m trying to get out of us is the sensation of the reason our abs get us up is because we’re pushing backwards, and it allows the spine to actually flex like it’s supposed to. One more each way.
Rather than everything in the front of the body gripping to get you up. And it’s it’s it’s, like, surprisingly challenging, even though it doesn’t hurt your net. Something like that. Alright. We’re back. Come up in the center.
Take the hands behind your legs or or not. Challenge yourself. You don’t want that. Push into the ball and roll yourself up. Take the ball between your knees.
We’re getting there. Draw those toes in closer to you as close as you can. Heels together. Squeeze that ball, not at the knees, but above that space. It’s just trying to connect you to your middle.
We’re gonna roll back and up just back and forth. Here we go. Don’t worry if you don’t land it. Come up us. The ball does help. It might make you go faster too. So think about that.
We tip back. We exhale up, hold. Elbows are wide just like they have been everywhere else. Nice smooth ride. The ball, the consistency of pressure on the ball really, really helps.
So play with that and just kinda learn where your edge is, and and it’ll change tomorrow. So just it’s gotta happen every day. You pay attention to you. And back. I’ll give you about 3 more in to to pause.
3 more being mindful not to bring the legs in and out. Do your best to keep the shape. It is more challenging the closer you are. So if you’re fine and this is no big deal, do that. Or you can spread it out, right, and and do it that way. Here we go. 3 more.
One in The breath helps. I’m inhaling to take me back. I exhale to get me up, and last one. Having fun? Alright. We’re gonna roll down.
Just put the ball near your ankles. We’re gonna roll down onto our backs, and these will be bent. Let’s take the ball under your right foot. So a moment ago, we were doing the pelvic curl, right, with the ball between the knees. It’s the same position, essentially, but we’re gonna put one foot on the ball.
Now this is tricky. There’s no doubt about it. You can do this without the ball. So please don’t get too constricted on that. With light pressure on on the feet.
I’m drawing the abdominals in to roll myself up. And if you’re up for it, stand on that ball and lift the other leg. And touch down. So hips are still level. Right? If you cramp, come right out of it. That might be me any second.
Just two more. And one more. Yes. Roll yourself down. Oh, were you gripping in your shoulders? I am talking to myself on that one.
I’m walking the ball over to the other leg, re relax, getting in that long, position with knees bent, exhale roll yourself up, you’re standing more on the leg on the ground, but you’re trying to get level, If you’re up for it, you’re gonna pick up that standing leg. 1, and down. Oh, look how stable you are. 2, and down. 4. 3. And here’s 4. Oh my goodness. Wasn’t that fun. You can take your foot off the ball, and if you can grab it between your ankles, just so we still have it and roll ourselves down. Pick your knees up.
Hold on behind the legs and rock yourself up for a little sidekick. Back to spacing. And it’s just tactile feedback. It’s like, where are we in space? And that’s what I love about these balls. We’re coming down onto our elbow just below our shoulder.
The bottom knee will be about 90 degrees. And if you notice you’re hanging out on the ball, don’t just lift off it. That that’s all it’s here for for today. List the top leg. It’s straight. It’s reaching right off your hip, and we’re gonna kick the leg forward, kick the leg back, keeping the rest of the body still.
So you’re not gonna be rolling on the ball. Ready? We go. Kick kick. Take it back. Kick. Kick. Take it back. I’m flexing my foot forward, but not critical.
It’s just what I’m used to. Yeah. It’s like the the leg and the hip joint just swing it almost. Trying to keep the rest of you stable. I’m gonna give us 3 more. Pull and back.
Kick. Kick. And back last time. Kick. Kick. Now it’s behind you. Yeah? If you if your ball is big enough that you can actually feel it, that’s cool. What I’m asking for is that you roll the rib cage forward on the ball. A little bit forward.
You can push into it a little if if it makes it you’re crowded around your shoulder, move your elbow out a little. And then with the leg still behind you, reach that top arm. Nothing else happens here except we’re gonna press the leg in the air backwards. 2, 3, 4, 5. Hold it back on 6.
Can you rotate? Like, roll the ball backwards even more. So you’re almost putting your chest up towards the floor. Like, it’s still where it was, and that’s it. Set yourself up. You can either stack your knees, or maybe you wanna spread it out like a figure 4. We’re doing what’s called a mermaid.
Forget about the ball for a moment. One hand up right by ear ear if you can. Reach it up and all and holding on to the shin on the other legs. I’m helping myself stay up. Right? We’re just gonna side bend, flare the ribs. Imagine there’s a big ball over here and you’re trying to pop it or just do it this.
Okay. If we did it on one side, you know, we’re gonna do it on the other. Switch around. Coming down to your elbow. It’s probably worth noticing, noting that my wrist is just off my elbow straight ahead. I mean, So we’re not chilling.
We’re like, proud. Bottom me at 90. Top leg is stretched out. The ball is just under the ribs to remind us not to slouch. Tough leg up, and we kick forward. We go kick, kick, and back. Kick, kick, and back.
Kick, kick, And, like, just as far as you can on that first one, giving yourself 5 more, way back, trying to stay stable, 2 to go. I love this one. I never get tired of this one. Hold it back. Hold it back. Worth checking. Have you leaned back on it? Leg is behind you as best you can.
Not far. It it does have its limits. Right? Maybe roll the hip forward. Go ahead and roll onto the ball a little or push the ball back with the, ribs, top farm out, and we just pressed back for 6. 5, 4 straight back. Good. Right. This one feels good if you let it. Can you keep the leg pressed back and rotate even more? The ball really isn’t critical, but I do like that tactile feedback.
Alright. Bring yourself up to either the figure 4 position or stack the knees if you want a little more. I’m holding on to the far shin. Upper arm up. And this is a tricky one. Can you get your arms straight and right next to your ear? That’s still tough for me 40 years into this.
So you can have it wide, but do go for straight. And then it becomes the spine that takes you over. A little tip here. I’m actually pushing my shin into the floor a little bit to give me a greater sense of connection and curve. Alright. You got one more in you? Yes.
We’ve done some legs, some glutes, some abs, some side bending. We’re gonna do our back extension, almost the most important. Right? So we’re gonna come on to our bellies, the ball is gonna go right at your sternum, but you you’ll decide. It’s not meant to make you sick. So if it does move it probably forward higher towards your chest. And again, it’s a little more for tactile feedback. We’re essentially doing the reverse of the chest lift we did before. Remember, we went our our shoulder blades were on the ball.
We went over. We came up. It’s identical to that in reverse. Maybe not as big, but there we go. So I’ve got the ball comfortable. I might adjust it as I go. The elbows are a little bit in front of your shoulders.
And if you have to go wide, that’s cool. Like, I think you’ll figure it out, but basically what we’re gonna try to do is if we were resting on the ball, go ahead and rest on the ball. I’ll try to be clear. You’re going to start thinking about pushing the ball forward with your chest as you bring your shoulders downwards. Nothing you’re gonna see much but that’s the sensation. So we’re kinda resting on the ball.
My head is not on the floor, neither you don’t need to do that either. We draw the shoulders down as we attempt to roll the ball forward. Go ahead and look forward. Like, you’re following a little critter on the floor until you get your eyes maybe to the opposite wall. In your room and then come back down. Inhale. So, basically, rested.
My legs are straight. It’s okay if they’re together or apart, but don’t go, you know, don’t get lappy in your low body. It’s all one thing. Right? So here we go. We’re gonna roll the ball forward first as the shoulders draw down starting to look forward, and here’s where you can start rethinking about, can you pop the ball with your sternum? So don’t get off the ball. Stay on the ball. Yeah.
Kind of a lot of words for one little exercise come on down, but it just feels so good when you get it. Couple more. I’m I’m just heavily on the ball. My shoulders are still intact. I gently draw them down as I start to press the the chest forward.
And maybe if you think that it’s not about lifting off the ball, but I’m gonna pop it. I’m gonna get it this time without too much drain, I guess. Looking forward, and come on down. I’m gonna add something to it. Or if you’re just getting that play with it, it’s really, really worthwhile.
It can take a lot of tension out of your neck and shoulders, just from sitting Here we go. Shoulder is easily down. I’m not straining. I’m just rolling the ball forward. As as if the ball is pushing my chin out of my way, I start to look forward.
And he right about here, it’s like, that’s the place I wanna get even heavier on the ball. To get the arc of the upper back. If you’re up for it, slide your right arm forward along the floor. If you’re still up for it, turn that arm over, float it and list it up. Yes. I said it. Come on down and bring it home.
Stay here. Let’s go the other way. Left arm slides forward. You can keep it there. I like to then rotate from the shoulder so the whole arm turns upwards and then lift it. And I, I could be looking a little more forward, but I can’t get much higher.
That’s for sure. And bring it down. Everything down. Let’s do that one more time, and we will call it a day. We start to press down on the ball, roll the ball forward. The shoulders just easily get out of the way.
The chin gets out of the way. The legs are long. We take the right arm, slide it along the floor, turn it up and lift it up. If you really want more, you can lift that left leg too. I’m just getting crazy on the last one, aren’t they? Bring it home.
Switch sides, though. We’re still up on the ball. Left arm goes out. Still thinking about pushing the ball forward, float the arm up in the air. If you want to add the opposite leg, and down.
And from there, we take the hands by the shoulders. We press up. We round back And for a lot of us, what we really would like is to put that ball behind her knees so you kinda sit on it and protect the knees and round. Just rounding over taking a couple of deep breaths. And know that you tapped into pretty much everything, every angle of the body.
Roll yourself up. Take the ball out. Thank you for being your friend, and thank you for joining me today.
