Spine Corrector Basics

Hi, I'm Diane Severino and I'd like to thank Christy Cooper, the visionary who started this website. She brought all of us teachers from different techniques under her umbrella. Thank you. Chris de Bravo. Hi, I'm Diane Severino and I'll be teaching you the spine corrector. Isn't that a hopeful word? They will. It will correct just fine. Now, my teacher was Ron Fletcher, who as you know, studied with Joe Polities. And uh, what you might not know is that Ron studied a lot with Clara.

Joe's wife, Clara [inaudible] studied with Joe of course. But when Joe passed away, it was he and Clara. In fact, this, uh, spine corrector we're working on is called the Clara. It has little designs here though if you at home, if you have the, a foam roller or the little arch, everything can be done on that. But I just wanted you to know that the origins of this, and uh, Clara and Ron really broke down the work on the barrel, which I will, uh, be teaching you. It's a progression.

It's a start. I'll show you the terminology. This is the lip. There's a line here that's the crevice. Here's the arc of the barrel and this is the good old floor. We're going to be utilizing all of this in different stages.

So this is Clara's barrel. She clarified it. Oh, how clever. She clarified it and we'll start now and to start, and again, this is Ron's influenced too with his own flavoring of the work, but yeah, I have to honor Ron with the way we set it up. We have everything divinely lined up with everything touching and we're just going to take a big inhale through the nose and exhale out and inhale, lift. We setting up the body, press the air and the neath, the arms, a big breath girl, shoulders down and in one more gurus and in a little bend to the knee. You all remember this and and press and one more press. Here's that contraction, right?

And we sit on the lip and we extend the legs a little further. All right, on the lip, everything pressing together. We're just going to contract a little bit back and rule forward track. This is all stomach work. This is going to be a lot of Babs. This grip, the stomach, shoulders down. Nice. Easy breath in and out.

Lift the heels to extend the lace scoop and small contraction. Small contraction. Yeah, baby and small and and keep that stomach in. As the legs change. We're going to roll back to your thorax, thorax. Keep that squeeze small. See, now we're feeling the change of just the angle. So now the other one we just did was low belly.

This is more mudras and halfway. And of course with all these contractions, they really crunches. You're elegant. He trying to lift up and over yourself. Toes point to stretch. Same thing. That's it. Let the breath flow.

Ooh. Yeah. And one more step. Now we're going from this contraction to a little thorax and crunch. My arms are just held on the back. It's my body that's making it appear. My arms and moving first.

Now we're going to call this head position. Tabletop. Yeah, that's going to work. Your neck muscles. Let's do that with the leg straight and this, that tabletop head look, I'm peering through the eyes, arms, so it's still my midriff stand, my low belly that's bring me up. We're never forgetting that the limbs is secondary to the torso and and one more hole, right? I'm going to go do an expansion of the chest again. In progression we go to that tabletop head. Keep that head there.

You open, expand the chest, bring the arms forward. Now we peer through the arms again and tabletop had was setting the shoulders that expand the chest. Yeah, so the head is set, then the arms, then the arms, then crunch. Oh, I live that way. That feels like a big [inaudible] and up and crunch heels to extend like same thing up, expand up, curl up and open and up. I'm going to change the leg position up and open contract.

Feel that and expand. Lift, low belly tabletop expansion and up tabletop. And one more expansion and up table top. We're going to bring the knees in. Lift and low, low belly contract up, all controlled lip. Again, we're still on the lip seekers. See how this has to be held solid and the low belly is controlling the legs, not the other way around.

Hope abdominals breathing in on two boys that noisy. Yeah. Just to remind you that's it. Sounds really suck it in. Now we're going to extend the legs up to the ceiling. Keep that scoop of the stomach. Keep reaching forward and out and up with the upper body. Lower a little bit. Okay.

The legs, I mean, which nice long, straight fingers. That's it. Stomach in a little bit lower. Concentrate on yourself. Stallings, little bit low. [inaudible] and lip height. [inaudible] Nice. Ran Up a body.

Nice free neck. Now set of these developing ways. [inaudible] oh, this is coordination. Pulse for two outside in for two out for two. Tabletop and tabletop head and it'll quicker in to insight to outside to tabletop and out and void and crunch or contract at conch.

Crunch seeds, abs. Now which straight waves outside to inside to en out and outside. Inside to out. It's too out. I changed because my body wants to do that.

And Ah, and you can extend one leg out more contractions that legs up, you're gonna crunch to the straight leg. That's it. Scoop the stomach. Nice lift, nice air on the chin, seven and eight for relax. Now bring the leg back, back, back, back and through the foot to the point in develop and to and out t n and I said an elegant torso in whole flex the foot pack, pack pack. When a stretch the hamstrings a little bit here for the next week through the foot, I can actually do that once more. Inhale, bend the leg, scissor. So y'all can do the mat work on the little barrel, real name, spine corrector and a little quicker hand crap and crap.

And this is really good with people would need problems that maybe wouldn't be able to do a lot of stuff on the reformer and single leg pull. So you can, and it's easier than doing the mat on the floor, not as much because you elevate, elevated a little bit here outside of hand to the outside ankle. And I have a series of five in a segment where I take this down. You can always look at those scoop Nelo faster. One [inaudible] double lake pool poor elbows high. You want those elbows to match too.

Just like on the mat work so you don't knock your up a body off to one side pool. If this lower leg doesn't suit you, you can lift your legs high. See it takes a lot of neck to do this. All that tabletop, right? So don't get discouraged and don't muscle through it. If you feel like it's too much and and low and subtle, it'll really develop your neck muscles. Trust me cause I got 12 pounds a bun on my head. My next like a bull.

Alright we were going to transition to the crevice then put your hands here, scoot back a little bit. It's like a tricep press. It's not like it is. You stretch up as you can traction. You could track under, oh, open that chest. Like chest expansion, neck. Again, as long you tell bone is going to aim for the crease and you really do want to stretch that low back, that sacred all right there. It's nice and lifted. Now here's that contraction to left.

Ah, suspend like you're hanging from the ceiling so you stretch that waistline. This is gonna get rid of my middle age. Spread middle-age, right? If I live to be 140 awesome. We, Orrin, the crevice. Same thing. It changes though, so it's a bit repetition is good for you. Alright, we're gonna pause back the changes now cause some in that crevice, that crease.

And so that's how we started the class. And one more. And I can imagine Ryan working with Clara and all this. Oh, wish I was a fly there. You got a lot of flies in New York. That's it. Good. See, same thing, but it changes because of the angle of our spine.

Now on this barrel, stomach in scoop. Now we're going to go to that tabletop head table. Yeah, get it right. I don't mind being redundant, but see how it changes the lower back. Now when you're sitting there, it exp lengthens that love back a little bit and it [inaudible] things and hold exten. Just do a few of these it. Now we're going to go to that expansion, but we're going to deep in it. So the head goes back, arms. He crunched through that opening. And again, shoulders placed, headed arms.

In a perfect world, the back of your head would touch a and corn again. You just see that it's my body that's unfold back and front. One more. Expect back. Crunch. Sit Up. Alright, tailbone in. All right, we'll do the switch. Straight legs. I'm gonna lift the legs in the air as you roll back when it bring the arms back.

But I want you to think of poor. So we're going to, and they would bring the arms down. So yeah, from here we're going to press this pubic bone back. It is an arch, arms and crunch. So there's a reason for this barrel to support you, but that is an arch from the tailbone all the way to the crown. Of the head and roll and circle the arms and hope. Now I am going to take the Dow little why do the new shoulders again contract.

Now we're gonna release tall contract and here's that tailbone pulling back into that crevice and, and exhale in and exhale legs that look, we're gonna roll. See I'm rolling. See on to the arching. Then I'm going to slide this bar like a big rolling pin all the way up back. Yeah. Hang that tailbone. Even if your legs have to lift, that's cool. And arms and head.

And I put myself through that arm. Let's take a little pulse here. If feels good. You tell them can come up now and again. We start rolling back. Look, I'm dropping that rolling. [inaudible] oh, peer through that bar and bring the legs together. Hold it there.

Now we're going to have the the bar over the top of the head. We're just twisting. Yeah. Nice straight arms with the shoulders down. It comes in the torso, the turn of the back and you can see my other segments where I broke it this down. That's it. Right? And you do want that nice broad back.

The bar is there to help you to keep your arms equal distance from your ears. That's when you get a true sense of how your range of motion is, right? And we couldn't bring the bar down and send a line with your chest. And sure. Simple, simple is not easy though, right? It's in line with my chest that might think you make you think you're moving more. If I keep that center in the center of my chest, I know how much range of motion. That's it. Good. And we're going, I feel so good.

And we go to open it into a wide second. Arms up over the head. We're going to tilt to the side. Endless. That extra accent. Oh No. Long fingers. Reach away. Keep that opposite but down again. So it's pure waste and keep the breast filling and and and all. One love for good.

Measure out and lift legs together Dao. Keep my Perrier in there. All right, we're going to have our hands here. Now let's do a time when you go over in the diamond to the side. Well that feels good. Just lift your hip a minute. Press it down and press that other arm away. Oh, open.

Try not to bring that hip. You lifting knee up too much. Try to keep it open. So we work the hip up. It'll lift slightly, but get that nice long life from that middle finger to that hip and the waistline lifts you to go over hips down. Now that hip lifts and Preuss Oh yeah, and shoulders down away from the ears. Stretch that hip. Oh Open. And I'm going to tilt over to the side.

Now we're gonna round the body to the diamond. You can see Ron's influence in this. Now we release the spine to come to the other side. Nice open chest. Here we can tract and here the body releases chest and a little faster contract to release and ah, pull in that low and control release. I know you like this one. Yeah, it makes me happy to add Dan and Lyft and oh little press here.

Stretch six, eight. Here's tailbone release. It's easier when you elevated like that. Stick your butt up all the way through. The nice long line from the top of the head to the tailbone, the arms just like well, holding the imaginary ball and press forward. Press. That's it. Good, good live. Press Nice together. Here's a side lift with the hip.

Knees together over. Now we're going to lift the cheek with the arm that's over the head. Lift. Poorest. Same thing. Just changed it with the knees together. Lift, stretch both sides. Waistline lifts you up and [inaudible] and cheek lips pull and opposition. Finger to hip. Keep that lack down. That your shoulder blade.

Pull it down one more. And we're going to go over that. That endless shot. Oh, that ad over out to the side. Angles together and live. Seven movements. Just make me smile to more of, or I'd be serious. Ah, ah, and and notice the pointed toes at all times. Take a little air in separate.

Ah, oh. Open the second. We're gonna transition now to the side. Alright, but how do I get there? I get there because the hip is going to turn me. All right, putting the leg in. Now we're going to do side extensions. He's a classic. You want to extend the leg sitting up tall.

You're about halfway. And again, we're still in the crevice Siri, right? But to get again acquainted with that hip, put that sheet down, then turn it over. Pull up out of that ways then place now what we're doing as you hold that turnover, it's gonna help you not put that cheek down because we're gonna do all waistline. All right? Yeah. See if you pulled back here. Yeah, here, that hips up. Now press and pulse over that straight leg. Notice the arms are equal. Distance from my ears again, like the Dow. Now we press oh over the bell just to about the armpit.

Now it's like the vertebras are on the side of my waistline. Stretch, stretch, oh, stretch and laced and ah, to go over. Nice simple hands. Really pull out of that nice long straight leg. My foot notice is called on the walk. The one that's bent, it's braced in. Ron said it was allowed six, seven, eight. Who would've been the leg? Yeah, we're gonna turn the back again. Churn. And now we're gonna round over and you're going to hover your whole chest with you ribs, pull away or mimicking the barrel and now we're going to lift that chest to the ceiling. Now again, it's the change of the torso that brings me down and it's the body.

Keep that hip pressed reach and change and keep the breath ch hover. Pull away from the barrel or this is who feels the lash pool that's really good for your back will. All of this is hold this one center float and we changed size back to the wide. Second. Second position we turn the hip foot is braced. Arms Out, send to your hips, extend the legs.

Oh it's so pretty out and lower the hip and twist away. See that hip is aiming for the floor, but look as I pull it forward, see that sheex in the air at Herrick Diane. I won't do it. And now that cheeks in the air, now we lift up and over and pulse lave match straight like out. Ah, three Ah, breath six. Here we go. Rolling over the side. Vertebra is.

All I got is six pen and lift and o Stra I have a little battery pack on my waist, right? Lift and stretch. Boy, this'll make your bleak strong. Ah, and again, if this is too much, don't roll back so far over the barrel or just do this little pulse here. Don't let that straight leg but fall behind you. It wants to, you gotta make it stay. Oh yeah.

And we'd been the leg sitting up tall and we changed the torso. All right. Hover, hover, hover and ah, and here's that torso again. Pulling the roads away from the barrel spine corrector. Ah, to the ceiling. Change it. Let Freddy, Oh and do this one more time. Oh, it's getting a little more out of your body than you think he can get.

Hold Center. Here's that hip again and bring the knees together. Okay. Now disclaimer, danger. Danger. I am going to roll over the barrel. I suggest that you watch it if you've never done this because you will be having all your weight on your neck so you don't want to turn your head to look. All right, memorize it. Get it in your brain first and then try it. But don't look at me. Okay. So how do you get back? Well, of course we do our careful role extension and I'm going to Shimmy back. I'm gonna put one foot on the step. Now you, it's gonna be hold your hands and I'm trying to really get that waistline close enough. So here's where your handles, where you can put your hands here and uh, ah, you really got a nail. In fact, I'm gonna take a a nail and I'm gonna take a hammer. Bonk, boink, boink you're going to try to keep that flat for this, this movement. All right?

In the beginning we're going to bend where we take you one at a time. I'm gonna straighten the leg. This is sort of the beginning. So l legs are pretty much right up over our hips, but really use that nail image. You don't want that tailbone to start coming up unless I tell you, all right, you're going to bring your right leg back to your face. The other leg is stationary, and again, we're just warming up.

You're going to pulse that like back. Tee ahead. That's it. Three, four. Keep that nail down. Six and the other leg from moving a draw the legs together. So this ankle bones match of the leg back. He'd be breath going to you really gotta use that low belly, don't you?

Seven. Eight. Drop them together. Let's do that again. I wasn't my at time. Four, five, six, seven, eight, two touching. Two, three, four. Relax your neck, Seth. Then eight to tech. Now we're going to take the other leg down to what? Open up and warm up the front of the hip. Really stretch that leg away from your head.

Really Straight and hang it down to three. Try not to move that other leg that's in there. Seven, eight years. That little belly to bring the legs together. The other side. This feels so good on my hip. I hope it feels good on your help. Don't turn your head a m lip.

So that was a warmup for our classic scissor kick split to get it and together. So that preamble just set up the movement and split two and together. It's literally the floor. The ceiling is the floor and you're making a, yeah, like a real acrobatic split. Yeah. Feel the weight of the legs pulling away from it yet.

I hope my bottom leg isn't bending. Oh Wow. I'll know it if it, you know it. It wasn't good. All right, get it all right. We just did a split. Now we're going to take the legs and do that split again. Okay. This is called helicopter. You take that split we just worked on.

Then you open the legs to a big V, use that low belly. It rotates around, hence the helicopter, and then you line up the legs. Start again. It's excrutiatingly slow, but [inaudible] out in my world, this is called a wide second. We really rotate. Feel that ball socket of your hip changing and am going to do it a little faster and jam. Now, the hardest part for me is to remember which leg I started with that a little twisting in my head. So just remember to alternate. Oh, this will make you very good people if you do this everyday. Oh, now hold it out to that second. We're going to criss cross criss cross open.

Now remember which leg he just said, starting the movement. See what I mean? [inaudible] maybe verse it out and I'm going to crisscross as we get to second. Chris Cross often [inaudible] j and faster out and open. Chris Cross. Oh, Ben. Out and last out. Open glass out. Oh, you get to bend your knees.

[inaudible] just that feels good, doesn't it? Next advanced class. I do. I'm going to do the step work with your feet here, but not today. I think you work really hard. Now I'm gonna do a little shoulder scurry here to get me back carefully. I'm going to put your calves down here.

You're going to take a nice deep breath. Ah, and Oh yeah, Eh, Oh bin. And you're done. Kids every day now promise auntie dry. I'm going to rest here a minute.