Session 26

Some of the exercises in Pilates are just plain fun. I must admit the first few times I did Rolling like a Ball and The Seal I felt a little silly. But now that I am more familiar with the order of the Pilates routine, I look forward to these exercises. Rolling like a Ball works the abdomen, improves balance and massages the spine. It seems easy enough, but the key is not using momentum to complete the roll and making sure each vertebra touches the mat. I start by sitting on the mat with my knees bent toward my chest and hands on my ankles. I lift my feet off the mat and balance and tuck my chin to my chest. My spine will be nice and rounded. As I inhale I pull my abs in and up and fall back and at the exhale I roll back up using my abs to pull me up and not momentum. When I come back up I balance on my tailbone again. There is another exercise that is very similar to this one, it is the Open-Leg Rocker and instead of being tucked into a ball, my legs are straight and I try to hold onto my ankles. The other rolling exercise is The Seal. This is often done in the cool down phase of the class. The purpose is to massage the spinal muscles, work the powerhouse and test balance and coordination. For this exercise I sit with my knees bent to my chest and heels together. I open my knees the width of my shoulder and dive my hands through my legs and hold onto the backs of my ankles. On the inhale I have roll back pulling my feet with me and roll to my shoulders. Then I clap my legs together like a seal clapping its flippers. On the exhale roll forward tucking my chin to my chest, when balancing on my tailbone I clap my feet together again. These exercises are usually repeated five – eight times.