1 00:00:09,420 --> 00:00:12,980 Kathy DeWet: So I want to share with you an exercise known as 2 00:00:12,980 --> 00:00:16,730 the "opposition pose," and sometimes called the "bird 3 00:00:16,730 --> 00:00:20,180 dog," is typically performed on the mat, and I will 4 00:00:20,180 --> 00:00:23,000 demonstrate that first. And then I'm going to 5 00:00:23,000 --> 00:00:25,970 follow that up with a simple variation that you 6 00:00:25,970 --> 00:00:30,260 can do integrating the use of your computer chair 7 00:00:30,290 --> 00:00:32,300 or other chair that you may have at your 8 00:00:32,300 --> 00:00:37,130 workstation. So the value of this exercise is 9 00:00:38,030 --> 00:00:42,380 focusing on the alignment of the core. Now we're 10 00:00:42,380 --> 00:00:46,400 going to also get some hip extension and shoulder 11 00:00:46,400 --> 00:00:50,690 extension into this exercise. So when I perform it 12 00:00:50,780 --> 00:00:55,070 on all fours, my goal here is to find neutral 13 00:00:55,070 --> 00:00:58,610 spine and alignment of my pelvis, chest, and head. 14 00:01:00,670 --> 00:01:03,140 I'm going to establish a nice relaxed breathing 15 00:01:03,140 --> 00:01:03,680 pattern. 16 00:01:06,230 --> 00:01:09,600 And then doing my very best to keep the core of my 17 00:01:09,600 --> 00:01:12,630 body nice and still center body strong. I'm 18 00:01:12,630 --> 00:01:16,980 going to push one leg back so that my hip is now 19 00:01:17,010 --> 00:01:20,280 in an extended position and then I'm going to 20 00:01:20,280 --> 00:01:24,000 bring that leg back in. And then I push the other leg 21 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:27,450 back. Just finding the hip extension position 22 00:01:27,450 --> 00:01:30,690 without moving the center body. And then I 23 00:01:30,710 --> 00:01:35,850 establish the same pattern. Reaching out without 24 00:01:35,850 --> 00:01:38,000 changing the shape of my spine. 25 00:01:40,150 --> 00:01:43,000 And you could alternate just doing legs and 26 00:01:43,000 --> 00:01:48,430 shoulders and get a lot of nice movement. But when 27 00:01:48,430 --> 00:01:51,040 we work with opposition what we want to do is to 28 00:01:51,040 --> 00:01:54,640 use the opposite hand and the opposite leg. So the 29 00:01:54,640 --> 00:01:56,830 first thing I would do is just make sure I can 30 00:01:56,830 --> 00:01:59,650 balance. It's going to hover one hand off the 31 00:01:59,650 --> 00:02:02,020 ground in the opposite knee and make sure I can 32 00:02:02,020 --> 00:02:05,320 sustain balance here. And then I'm going to keep 33 00:02:05,320 --> 00:02:07,300 the fingers and the toes low and I'm going to 34 00:02:07,300 --> 00:02:10,510 reach out into a low position and again make sure 35 00:02:10,510 --> 00:02:14,140 that I can keep the core nice and still. And then 36 00:02:14,140 --> 00:02:18,460 slowly, I elevate into extension doing my best not to 37 00:02:18,460 --> 00:02:22,210 change the shape of my spine or my core. And so 38 00:02:22,210 --> 00:02:25,030 the elevation doesn't need to come up real high. 39 00:02:25,060 --> 00:02:27,190 It's about finding that position that you can 40 00:02:27,190 --> 00:02:28,180 stabilize it. 41 00:02:31,900 --> 00:02:35,980 To reverse, brushing down low and coming back to an all- 42 00:02:35,990 --> 00:02:39,160 fours position and then again the opposite knee and 43 00:02:39,160 --> 00:02:41,860 hand. Hover, checking in, finding your stable 44 00:02:41,860 --> 00:02:46,330 position, reaching out palm before elevating and 45 00:02:46,330 --> 00:02:49,750 then slow and controlled, we elevate into extension 46 00:02:49,750 --> 00:02:53,020 reaching toes and fingertips away from each other 47 00:02:53,380 --> 00:02:55,190 and taking some nice relaxed breath. 48 00:02:59,290 --> 00:03:02,150 And then you could add all kinds of rhythmic 49 00:03:02,150 --> 00:03:05,000 variations once you're sure you can stabilize and 50 00:03:05,000 --> 00:03:08,720 balance. You can go out in multiple times on the 51 00:03:08,720 --> 00:03:12,350 same side. You can challenge yourself to go from 52 00:03:12,350 --> 00:03:17,420 one side to the other. All sorts of little different 53 00:03:17,420 --> 00:03:21,500 variations you can do. What if you don't have time 54 00:03:21,500 --> 00:03:25,550 to get out a mat and exercise that way? You can 55 00:03:25,550 --> 00:03:29,470 use a modification of this with the integration of 56 00:03:29,470 --> 00:03:35,030 a chair. You bring my trusty chair prop into view 57 00:03:35,030 --> 00:03:37,810 here and I'm going to stand at a little bit of an angle so 58 00:03:37,910 --> 00:03:40,280 you can see. So I could just put my fingertips on 59 00:03:40,280 --> 00:03:43,170 the back of the chair. And the first one is going 60 00:03:43,170 --> 00:03:46,400 to activate my hips by cutting my leg into 61 00:03:46,400 --> 00:03:48,680 extension. I don't even have to pick it up off the 62 00:03:48,680 --> 00:03:52,610 floor but if I wish to I can. But the idea here is 63 00:03:52,610 --> 00:03:55,160 also to keep a nice stable core as you go into 64 00:03:55,160 --> 00:03:58,220 extension. So I don't want to arch the back or 65 00:03:58,220 --> 00:04:00,740 force the leg to go back and let the chest come 66 00:04:00,740 --> 00:04:02,840 forward. That actually is what we'll call 67 00:04:02,840 --> 00:04:05,630 hyperextension. And all I'm seeking for is 68 00:04:05,630 --> 00:04:09,080 activation and extension. So it's a small range of 69 00:04:09,110 --> 00:04:13,550 motion reaching back, keeping the core stable. And 70 00:04:13,560 --> 00:04:16,370 I again practice that with each foot just as I did 71 00:04:16,820 --> 00:04:23,840 when I was on the mat and then elevating one arm 72 00:04:23,840 --> 00:04:26,330 and then the other with the goal on this is to 73 00:04:26,330 --> 00:04:30,350 keep the shoulder blades down against the back of 74 00:04:30,350 --> 00:04:32,900 the body and just get some nice shoulder joint 75 00:04:33,290 --> 00:04:36,800 mobility. Sometimes people have to play with the 76 00:04:36,890 --> 00:04:39,050 angle of their arm. We all have different 77 00:04:39,740 --> 00:04:42,320 histories and different shapes in our ball and 78 00:04:42,320 --> 00:04:45,620 socket joint. For me having the thumb pointing up 79 00:04:45,800 --> 00:04:49,940 works really nicely. I get a nice smooth glide. So 80 00:04:49,940 --> 00:04:52,430 now I just step a little bit away from the chair 81 00:04:52,460 --> 00:04:55,400 make sure I can stand nice and tall. My fingertips 82 00:04:55,400 --> 00:04:58,040 are just there for balance and I can do that 83 00:04:58,070 --> 00:05:01,820 opposition pause lengthening opposite arm and leg 84 00:05:02,210 --> 00:05:04,850 away from each other, and I've got some good 85 00:05:05,420 --> 00:05:09,640 activation in my glutes. Can take a breath or two 86 00:05:09,650 --> 00:05:10,130 here. 87 00:05:16,730 --> 00:05:18,600 And the nice thing on this one you don't have to 88 00:05:18,600 --> 00:05:21,650 go through all those balance checks you know hover, 89 00:05:22,090 --> 00:05:24,870 extend, and then elevate. We can go right into the 90 00:05:24,930 --> 00:05:28,950 long extended position, standing tall and take a 91 00:05:28,950 --> 00:05:29,330 breath. 92 00:05:34,170 --> 00:05:38,550 This is a variation of standing opposition pose, a 93 00:05:38,580 --> 00:05:41,300 really nice opening across the front of the body. 94 00:05:41,810 --> 00:05:44,270 I do have abdominal activation so I'm not letting 95 00:05:44,270 --> 00:05:47,060 the ribs flare out. So I have some tone and 96 00:05:47,060 --> 00:05:50,420 tension in my abs. I'm getting shoulder 97 00:05:50,430 --> 00:05:56,210 mobilization and hip activation in the standing 98 00:05:57,830 --> 00:06:06,570 position pose, also known as a bird dog pose. So 99 00:06:06,570 --> 00:06:08,870 if you have an opportunity to get on the mat 100 00:06:08,910 --> 00:06:12,330 that's great. If you don't don't let it stop you 101 00:06:12,330 --> 00:06:15,750 from giving yourself some exercise and a little 102 00:06:15,750 --> 00:06:19,990 movement break. Move often and feel well!