Waking Energy 7 Timeless Practices Designed to Reboot Your Body and Unleash Your Potential

eaching forward slightly above shoulder height, inhale.
6. Exhale as you roll back down to the mat, keeping your legs strong and straight, moving
sequentially through the spine, one bone at a time, until you return to the starting position.
7. Keep the legs extended and do not rest between repetitions. As soon as you reach the starting
position, begin again. With your arms energized overhead, inhale to prepare, and then exhale,
peeling the body up and off the mat to come into the V position once again.
8. Repeat three times. Then rest before trying another set.
Swimming
Swimming—on dry land—strengthens the entire back body, encompassing the arms, shoulders,
buttocks, legs, and feet, as it enhances coordination and builds stamina. It reinforces muscular crosspatterning,
which can rehabilitate chronic back pain by strengthening the oppositional muscular
corridors in the back body (for example, by reaching away with the right arm as the left leg lifts). As
a bonus, like all the Pilates mat work exercises, it beautifully sculpts and tones your body, in this case
with a specific focus on the back, buttocks, and legs.
1. Lying on your stomach with your forehead resting on the mat, extend your arms as far in front of
you as possible, shoulder-width apart. Do the same with your legs, which should be hip-width
apart.
2. Inhale to prepare, and then lift the right arm off the floor as you lift the left leg, engaging your
abdominals and defying gravity. Exhale, pulling the navel up into the spine as you simultaneously
lift your eyes, chin, and chest off the mat.
3. Lift and lengthen beyond your capacity, really feeling the oppositional forces of isometric
resistance at work. Take pride in the strength you may feel vibrating or shaking in your body to
lift yourself off the mat in this extension.
4. Breathe naturally now and switch sides, lifting your left arm and right leg and again reaching as
far away from your core body as possible. Then lower those limbs and lift both arms and both
legs up off the mat as high as you can.
5. Gaze straight ahead and lengthen your neck, relaxing your shoulders down and back. Start to beat
the opposite arms and legs up and down in midair quickly and with great control and
determination. Continue to inhale and exhale naturally, but deeply.
6. Continue swimming powerfully for eight sets of eight counts as you breathe with your entire
body, maximizing the extension of your spine, working the arms and legs as you maintain your
strong core.
7. Then stop the action of arms and legs, and stretch all limbs as long and as high as you can. Then
rest, releasing your body to the floor. Pull back into the Child’s Pose for a few breaths.
Seal
The Seal is your reward for all your hard work up to this point. It massages the spine as it continues