Practice: Partner Pilates

Marimba Gold-Watts

Hi. My name is Marimba, and this is my partner Steve. And today, we're gonna do a short Pilates based practice that has a few moves that you can do with or without a partner. So let's get started. So come have a seat on the floor. 1st, we're gonna start with a little massage because everybody needs a little massage. So and person sit on the floor, the other person's gonna just place their hands on their shoulders. Now, start to press down into one hand, and now, Steve, tilt your head to your opposite side. 

Just feel pretty good. He's getting a little stretch on his neck. And then switch and transition to the other side. Now, I'm pressing on my opposite hand. Just a little assisted neck massage, and then switch again. And now for the person who's standing, think of using your body weight to press down as opposed to arm strength. And then switch to your other side. How's this feel, Steve? Good. 

And then come on up and let's switch. So now I get my massage. So I get to come sit down and feel free to sit in a position that's comfortable to you. And then he's gonna place his hands on my shoulders, and I'm gonna tilt to one side. Oh, this feels great. And then switch to the other side. Just really breathing into the side of your body, side of your neck, and then switch again, and then switch. And if there's a particularly tight spot, feel free to just take a few extra seconds in that spot, and then bring your head all the way upright. 

And now, let's come on down do little Cat cow. So come down onto all fours, and come right over here. And then from here, just plant your hands down. We'll come on our hands and knees. Press your hands into the floor, and now start to curl your spine rounding your back. And then arch your back. See if you can think of each Patient, finding a little space. And then, again, curl round your back. 

Press the floor way with your hands, creating a nice arc through your body, and then arch. 

Now feel free to play around with your breath here. So if it feels good to curl and inhale, go for that. Try that out. And then exhale and arch. Think of sending your breath out almost like you're fogging up a window. Curl again. Find as much space in your lower back, middle back, shoulders, upper back, and then arch. 

And let's do one more like this. Press the floor away, start to curl. That sounds good. And then arch. 

Now we're gonna do a little assisted and curl. So and if you have a seat on the mat, and then Steve - come and lie down on your back just in front of me. He's gonna place his head in my hands here. Now from here, we're just gonna work on the mechanics of nod and curl. So the first thing I'm doing is giving him a little bit of length in the back of his neck. Now start to bring your chin towards your throat, Steve, and then curl up just partway. Flow your hands off the mat, and then come back down and relax and just rest in my hands for a moment. Let's do that again. 

Start to curl up, and I'm just giving him a little bit of length in the back of his neck. I'm not putting him there. I'm not manhandling him. I'm just helping him find length and space in his back as he goes into his knot and curl. Let's do this one more time. And then come all the way down. This is great if you feel a lot of neck tension when you're doing Pilates. Okay. 

So now let's switch. So you come up. I'm gonna lie down. So I'm gonna just put my head in his and, and then I'll nod and curl, and I'm floating my hands off the mat. I'm thinking of really finding length in the back of my neck and having his hands there really helps me find that. And then let's come back down. And again, nod and curl. Send your breath out. 

Let your hands just float off the mat and then let's come back down. And we'll do this one more time. Taking a big strong exhale. And then all the way back down. Okay. So now, let's come on up, and we're gonna do a little twist. So, twist is a very classical Pilates exercise, but we're gonna play with it a little. So, have a seat facing me, bend your knees, plant your feet on your on the mat, and we'll go sort of staggered so that we have one foot and, one foot out. 

Okay. So, now from here, sit up in a tall, comfortable position. So if you need to shimmy around and adjust, go for it. Maybe extend your feet a little bit if you want to. Now, reach your arms forward and we're gonna go hand to hand. It's like we're giving each other a high five. So now or maybe a low 5. So now we're gonna press into one another, and we're not trying to do arm wrestling here. 

We're just giving each other a little pressure. And then from here, start to rotate away, and I'm still giving him pressure. So I'm using his hand as my anchor, and then come back to the center. Let's do that again. So press hand to hand, and then start to twist away. And then come back to the center and more time like this. Hand to hand, press away. And then come back to the center, and let's switch sides. 

So now we'll come just to the other way, and then hand to hand. Find a little pressure and now start to twist away, thinking of reaching up through the crown of your head as much as you can and then come back to the center. Try and keep even weight on both hips as you twist. We'll go from there and then come back down. Let's do this one more time. Rotate, finding pressure. There's always one side that feels a little harder. And then come back to the center. 

Now we're gonna take this into some roll downs, so we'll switch again. And now this time, we'll go just sort of side to side. Again, we'll go hand to hand, but start to roll down just to the point where you feel like you might almost lose contact. Now from here, we're gonna keep the same kind of pressure we did in twist and twist away. Oh. And then come back to the center and then roll back up. Let's do this again. Start to roll down. 

We're finding pressure. Scoop your abdominals in. Twist away from your partner, And then come back into your partner. Come back up and more time on this side. Start to roll down, finding pressure. Twist away. And then come back, and then come all the way up, and let's switch. So I'll go to the other side. 

Again, hand to hand. We're pressing into one another. Start to roll down, scooping your abdominals. Now pause here. Twist away from your partner, and then come back to your partner. Come all the way back up. Let's do this again. Start to roll back. 

Pause there. Give a little pressure. Rotate and then come back. Now the goal here is to match each other's strength, which is tricky, especially if one of you is stronger than the other and then start to curl back down and then rotate. It's not about arm wrestling, it's about meeting in the middle. And then come all the way back up and relax. Okay. Now we're gonna do a little hip work. 

So come and lie down on your side, Steve. Bring your head over there, your feet towards me. So now I'm gonna be his wall. So bend your bottom leg, extend your top leg out, and we're going just to hip height. Now from here, he's gonna push into my hand and really think of creating length in the side of his body, and then stack his hips right back up. And let's do this again. So reach, press into me as much as you can. Almost like he's trying to push me away, but in a good way, and then come stack back up. 

Let's do 2 more like this. Press into me. Keep thinking of lengthening his waist and really reaching through his foot, and then come back. One last one. Press away, and then relax. And then I'm gonna come over to his other side. Steve, you're gonna switch sides and that way we can give each other make each other even. So come on to your other side, extend your top leg, reach towards me and that same thing. 

So start to push into me really finding reach through your spine and then come stack back up. So we're working our hips here, but we're also really working our back length and then reach, and there's always an easier side, and then come stack back up. Let's do 2 more. Press into me, And then come stack back up. This is gonna come in handy later. And more, reach, because we're gonna take this into a little balance exercise at the end. And then come stack back up and relax. Okay. 

So now it's my turn. So I'm gonna come and lie on my side. I'm just reaching my top leg long, trying to make sure it's hip height. Now from here, I'm gonna push into Steve almost like I'm trying to think of pushing him away from me, and then I'm gonna stack my hips back up. And again, press away. Think of finding as much length as you can in your top side. It's almost like you're trying to create space between your rib and your hip, and then stack up. Let's do that 2 more times. 

Reach away, and now each time, you might notice you have a little bit more reach through your torso. And stack. Last and. Reach away. I always feel kind of like I'm on a conveyor belt with this exercise. And then stack, and let's switch sides and come to the other side. K. So I'm gonna lie down on my other side and extend. 

Now from here, press into the floor, reach your top leg away. Think of creating as much space as you can in your top side, and then I'll stack back up. And again, having that contact point really helps me figure out where my hip is in space, and then I'll stack back up. See that 2 more times. Reach away. See if you can create even more space in your waist of time, and your partner's goal is to meet you there, but give you a little bit of pushback. And then come and stack back up. Let's do and more. 

Press away. Keep reaching, reach a little bit further. He's giving me just the right amount of pushback. And then go and stack back up. And the lift come on up, and we'll stand up. We'll do a little balance exercise. So now we're gonna take some of our arm work standing. So come and stand up, and let's just come hand to hand facing each other. 

Now from here, step back a little bit so that you have little bit of a diagonal. Feel your collarbones wide and your shoulder blades wide. Now from here, bend your elbows straight down towards floor. We're gonna come in towards one another, only as far as you can both move evenly and then press away. And again, come in. Now the goal here is not to let your body break in your hips. So your abdominals are active, your shoulders are working. Bend. 

Maybe you can come in a little further. Maybe you're just doing the slightest amount of bend. That is all fine. Let's do 2 more here, and then we'll take a little break. Now as we go, we're and of getting deeper into it. We're getting a little bit more secure. So that's the sensation and then we'll stand back up, shake your arms out. Just give yourself a moment. 

Okay. Let's come back up. Hand to hand, and then start to bend your elbows, letting them move towards the floor, and then press away. And again, let your Wellness sink straight down. And press away. 2 more like this. And then last one. Oh, I feel my triceps working. 

Grows on you in a sneaky way, and then relax. And now let's come into Pilates' version of running. So come stand, place your hands on your hips, and then rise up to the balls of your feet. It might be a little low, a little high. Lower just and heel down towards the floor, and then come up to the balls of your feet and switch. Now this is a balanced challenge, so come to the point where you feel stable. You want your transition from side to side to be as slow and as smooth as you can make it. So that might mean that you move a little bit slower or with a little bit more control. 

Doesn't really feel like running, but that's okay. And keep alternating your feet. See if you can find a little bit more articulation through the ball of your foot as you transition side to side. And then we'll just take a little quick balance at the top, so if you can just balance on the balls of your feet, and then lower your heels down. Okay. We'll stagger a little bit for this last one. So now from here, open your arms out to your and, and let's take a big side bend up and over to one side, really reaching your top arm, and then bend your elbows, bend your knees, roll down, and then stack your spine up and vertebra at a time. Roll your shoulders back at the top, reach your arms back out to your sides. 

Again, take a big side bend up and over to the other side, and then bend your knees, roll forward. Peel back up through your spine. Let's do this one more time each side. Bring your arms out, take a big side bend up and over, Make your movement as expansive as you can. Bend your knees. Let your head drop. Peel on up. And then other side, take your arms out, up and over, and then bend your knees. 

Peel up through your spine and vertebra at a time. Just let your shoulders roll back at the top, and we're just gonna stack ourselves up. So just take a moment to feel your feet really settled on your mat, and now think of stacking your head directly over your shoulders. And now bring your shoulders directly over your rib cage, your ribs over your hips, and your hips over your feet. Thank you so much for doing this movement practice with us. I hope it felt good on your body, and I hope you had fun with your partner. Take care.