Pilates - Knee Drops

Dori Markakos: Hi! I am Dori, your personal Pilates instructor and I am showing you some of the most basic and popular Pilates exercises. Right now, I am going to show you how to do knee drops, it is one of my favorite. So, go ahead and sit yourself right here in the middle of the mat, hands resting right underneath your hamstrings, take a big, deep breathe in, sitting up nice and tall. As you inhale, I want you to exhale, unrolling your spine one at a time, sitting nice and comfortable on the mat. Go ahead and look straight up at the ceiling to keep your spine in neutral. Open up your chest and your shoulders and arms are going to reach out in a T-position. Go ahead and do your pelvic tilt. So, do the pelvic tilt, just in case you dont remember, rotate those hips under pulling your navel into your spine and your spine into the floor, hands are going to be extend out towards the side and knees are pulled up right on top of your hips. So, your knees are connected and your ankles are connected. Chest is open, big, deep breathe in and as you exhale, I want you to drop those knees over to the right, keeping the left shoulder completely in ground to the floor. Once you start to feel that left shoulder start to pop up, engage those obliques, and bring you right back to the center. Realign yourself, big, deep breathe in and exhale, knees dropped to the left and right shoulder stays anchored. Big, deep breathe in and exhale, engage those obliques to bring you right back to the center. Take it again, inhale and exhale, knees dropped to the right, make sure that ankles are still connected and exhale, bring you right back to the center and one more time inhale and exhale, knees dropped to the left, right shoulder stays connected with the floor or the mat, inhale and exhale. Come right back to the center. Let's take it for one more time for side. Knees dropped to the right, really engage those obliques, keep the shoulder engaged, both are square on the floor, come right back to the center. Last time to the left, inhale and exhale, knees dropped to the right. Inhale and exhale, use those obliques to bring you right back to the center. Go ahead and hold on to those hamstrings, round up your spine one vertebrate at a time, sitting upwise nice and tall. Let's go ahead and move on.