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WINGSPAN VIDEO LIBRARY
What's that? Free classes you say? For folks unable to attend my live classes I am happy to offer virtual class recordings to stream from home on demand. Join me from my cozy movement space for an hour (or many!) of Pilates-based self-care. Scroll down or click the links below.
Want to contribute to the cause of free Pilates for all? You can find me on Venmo @wingspanmovement or on PayPal at jessica@wingspanmovement.com. Donations are greatly appreciated.
All Bodies Pilates
All Bodies Pilates
These classes are appropriate for all levels of mostly healthy bodies. Props are occasionally used and can generally be found around the house. Yoga mat, comfortable clothes and a commitment to self-care recommended.
Tending the Fire
This slower-paced all levels class is designed as a moving medicine practice - with careful attention to our breath and alignment we will mobilize and strengthen in various planes of movement, keeping the waters of our tissues flowing and the heat of our inner fire burning...
Classical Sandwich
Sometimes it's fun to return to the more traditional Pilates material designed by Joe Pilates in the mid-20th century. In this class you'll get a good dose of the classical material, sandwiched by some foot and leg activation and more creative lunging/planking variations. Prop required: slider (hand towel on wood, paper plate or tupperware lid on carpet)
Sensational Movement
For a lot of people, regardless of movement background, group classes present some level of anxiety. We might worry that we're not doing it "right", we might be afraid to look foolish, we might believe ourselves to be clumsy or uncoordinated or somehow not good enough. In this class we re-orient to our inner experience... how does it feel? What do you notice? Experience movement from the inside out in this all-levels class.
Start From a Strong Foundation
Sometimes we need to start slow, figure out where we are, and connect to our supports before diving into a challenging movement practice. In this class we'll take time to tend to our feet and knees, awaken our pelvic floor, and mobilize our spine before moving into deep core strengthening and full-bodied movement. All levels and great for newbies.
Organize & Activate
This slower paced class starts with a series of somatic movements to help us ground, increase awareness, and decrease habitual muscle tension. Our abdominal sequence emphasizes pelvic floor activation as a central aspect of core strength before flowing into a full-bodied, stability oriented workout.
Finding Our Feet
This all-levels class starts where we stand - with our hardworking and often under-appreciated feet. Grab a picture of the bones of the feet to follow along during the first section of class. Tending to the quality of our feet positively impacts our entire movement practice - foot care is self care. Optional prop: a blanket.
Walking the Plank
Plank pose - love it or hate it, I bet someone has advised you to try this ubiquitous pose for strengthening your core. In some ways it is the ultimate core-builder, and done well it's a full-body endeavor... but it's hard to do well! Join me as I lead you through a class that methodically awakens and activates the muscles you need for a rockin' plank. Props required: blanket, strap, and slider (hand towel if you're on wood, plastic lid or magazine or paper plate or socks if you're on carpet)
Rotation Station
It's true - I do love me some rotation. Activating the spiral line creates integrity in our structure, helps make sense of our musculo-skeletal-fascial continuities, and just feels good. Join me for an all-levels, rotation-focused class. No props required.
Antidote to Slumping
In this gentle class we tend to the areas that get chronically tight with sitting, driving, working on a computer, looking at a phone, or generally feeling anxious or down. If you do any of these things, this class is for you! Open your heart, relieve your cranky back, tight neck and tense shoulders with this Pilates-based Rx for slumping. Prop required: a strap.
My Roots Go Down
Get grounded with me in this all-levels class. Through emphasizing our connection to the support of the floor and the quality with which we contact it, we can create a sense of ease, openness and rootedness in both mind and body.
Pandemic-Proof Pilates
Joseph Pilates strongly believed in the potential of his work to heal what ails us. The lore even goes that his routine kept his barracks of foreign nationals on the Isle of Man healthy during the Spanish influenza epidemic. These days it's hard to tell truth from fiction, but one thing's for sure: a little of Joe's classic Pilates repertoire certainly can't hurt.
Re-opening (the Heart)
As the world slowly re-opens there is still plenty of stress and anxiety cycling through our bodies and our communities. Even as we go back to in person activities we may find it's not so easy to open our hearts. This class tends to the heart's home - our thoracic space - with lots of gentle opening and mobilizing. A sweet support for your heart's re-emergence.
Re-envisioning Posture
Join me for an All Bodies Pilates class recorded in-person at Shawl Anderson Dance Center. This is a gentle yet challenging class in which we open the structures that contribute to healthy posture and address some of the misconceptions around what it means to stand up straight.
It All Hinges on Our Joints
Tend to the freedom of motion in your joints. Well-oiled and consciously articulate joints are happy joints! This is a well-rounded All Bodies class with specific attention to healthy joint movement. No props required.
Spirals & Waves
This gentle All Bodies class explores moving our spine and pelvis through various spirals and waves as a way to thoroughly warm the body. Spend some time releasing your hips and feet in service of a freer, better supported core. Prop suggested: a strap
Slowing Down
This class chronologically followed our "Ramping Up" flow, and was designed as a gentler response to the week's early, more intense class. Seated in a chair we release the bones of our feet and lower leg before working our way up to the spine and shoulders. A handful of downward dogs, planks and hip stretches are followed by simple core work before a restful integration. An excellent full-bodied workout and release with a softer edge. Optional prop: chair.
Body Reset
This class includes all my favorite moves for those days when I'm just a little off, physically or energetically, and could use a movement boost. We'll start on our backs with a brief somatic warmup before progressing through simple all fours mobility and strength work, a short standing flow, a progressive series of rollups and backline activations, some gentle stretching, and a brief integration. No props required.
Foot Fetish
Join me for this fun, foot-focused class. We will attend to the strength, mobility, and receptivity of the feet before moving into some strength-oriented mini-flows on all fours, finishing with attention to our shoulders and hips in this well-rounded class. Props required: tightly rolled yoga mat and strap
Spiral Line
If you've ever taken class with me you know how I love a good spiral. This twisty turny class has a theoretical base in the work of fascia expert Thomas Myers' and is partially inspired by my studies with master Pilates teacher Elizabeth Larkam. Through our movement practice we'll loosely explore the spiral line, a myofascial pathway or connected set of muscles and fascia that work as a continuous system to transmit load. In everyday terms, these are systems that allow us to move as a whole integrated body, rather than just one muscle or part at a time. Let's spiral together!
The Heart's House
Our thoracic cavity is the space inside the protective structure of our ribs - in it lie our heart and our lungs. Let's explore opening and mobilizing the thorax and ribs while allowing the heart to rest within. Start with a sitting sequence to open and mobilize this space before activating core supports with the goal of increasing fluidity and range. Prop required: a strap
Body Breathing
Explore breath from the inside out - accessing and releasing the muscles of inspiration and addressing the complimentary parts of ourselves that allow us to breathe more fully. This feel-good, enlivening class examines the how of breathing within the Pilates exercises.
Going the Distance
They weren't kidding when they said this would be a marathon and not a sprint! Thirteen plus months into the pandemic our bodies are needing just as much care as ever, perhaps more. This class tends to our endurance, addressing all those areas that get tight and cranky when life's stresses overwhelm us. We can do this friends.
Back to Basics
In this all-levels class we slow down to engage with some of the basic Pilates concepts and exercises more in-depth. We explore deep TVA activation and how our pelvic floor interacts with our abdominals, we focus on lining up our bones for efficiency and ease of movement, we practice differentiating our legs from our pelvis for happy hips and back, and we think about how to lift our head with minimal stress on the neck. Join me for this great review of the basics that will leave you feeling long, strong, and centered.
Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes
Pilates excels at supporting healthy joints, through both stability and mobility exercises, and through helping us understand proper function and use. Journey through the joints with me as we wake up our feet, knees, hips, shoulders, spines, and everything in between. Prop recommended: chairback or balance support.
Happy Hips
This gentle class is designed especially for those of us suffering from tight, grabby hip flexors and achy, weak glutes. We'll release through these structures while finding appropriate support for more ease and freedom in our movement. Prop suggested: thick pillow, bolster, or foam roller.
All Bodies Flow
All Bodies Flow
A little more vigorous than my All Bodies Pilates classes, these classes are still appropriate for most able-bodied, non-injured movers. Flow classes incorporate continuously moving sequences, inspired by yoga vinyasa, and provide a full-bodied workout. You might break a sweat!
The Long Haul
I created this class on a day when I was feeling especially sensitive to the weight of this long period of Covid isolation and the societal heaviness that has accompanied it. With the intention of deep self-care and nourishment and a desire for a strong flowing movement practice, this class feels just right in trying times.
Move Like a Monkey
I just got back from the jungle and am thinking about monkeys... their strong articulate feet, the springiness of their legs, the readiness and ease of their spinal alignment. In this class we flow like monkeys, attending to an athleticism and grace inspired by our primate cousins.
Supple Support (for a Happy Back)
It's flow day and we are thinking about movement practices to support a healthy spine. Grab a blanket and some blocks for this briskly-paced, twisty, turny, bendy, flexy, full-bodied flow. Props: blanket and 2 blocks
Warm on the Inside
When it's cold outside we can generate heat with flowing, core-focused movement. In this class we warm-up our joints, starting with the feet then working our way up the legs and spine, in preparation for some full-bodied flows that will chase the chillies away.
Happy Knees Flow
This flowing class starts low and slow as we tend to the health and longevity of our knees. We move quickly into a series of strength building flows, especially focused on the supporting roles of our legs, hips and core in knee health. Prop required: rolled up yoga mat
Ground & Flow
In this vigorous flowing class we tend to the mobility, strength, and awareness in our feet, rooting our connection to the floor before progressing to a long, grounded flow. Challenge your endurance with a long-form sequence that moves seamlessly from quadruped to standing to prone to supine and back again.
From the Ground Up
This integrative flow class starts with the feet - awakening and activating the muscles that support our upright selves - then progresses through legs, pelvis, spine, and core supports. The second half builds on this strong foundation with a series of invigorating flows, finishing with a short integration.
Crosslateral Flow
It's flow day, and today's class will focus on crosslateral movement. These movements feel great for our spines and also work to connect the two sides of our bodies and thus, our brains. Notice how winding yourself up in this way can result in a delicious of unwinding of tension throughout the body. Recommended prop: a blanket
Many Mini-Flows
Methodically warm up your feet, major joints, and spine in preparation for multiple small flows in this all levels class. You'll need a little space on either side of your mat. Props: blanket and yoga blocks.
Strong & Steady
This class contains many of my favorite movements, whether I'm just starting the day, preparing for a bigger athletic endeavor, or re-tuning achey joints and muscles. A little bit of everything and a whole lot of self-care, this steady-paced is class is great for beginners and movers of all levels.
Mobilize to Stabilize
This energetic flowing class emphasizes joint mobility as a preparation for strength building. We know that tightness is correlated with weakness- conversely movement is correlated with wellbeing! So let's move together - by the end of this fun sequence we will feel fluid in our joints and strong in our bodies.
Core-Distal Flow
Irmgard Bartenieff's concept of Core-Distal initiation is the inspiration for this flowing class. We will begin each movement at our center and extend it out through our limbs - a yummy, somatically attuned class that will leave you feeling centered and connected.
Hands & Feet Flow
Spend the first 45 minutes of this class on your feet and hands, exploring core strengthening through your supports. This is a vigorous, full-bodied flow. Props suggested: one or two yoga blocks.
Joint-Focused Flow
A flow class with props - we will build to our flow today with a methodical focus on warming up the joints. Suggested props: 2 yoga blocks, rolled up mat, and a blanket.
Sea Star Flows
Inspired by movements from Bartenieff Fundamentals, this all levels class begins slowly with focus on the breath, then progresses through gentle spinal awareness and deep core integration through all the planes of movement. Get ready to roll on and off your mat in a series of sea star/sea anemone flows. Prop recommended: a blanket.
Ramping Up
In this vigorous flow class we start slowly and build in intensity throughout the class, moving from a foot warm-up to deep core activation and finally a long standing flow. No props required.
Slow Flow
In this flowing class we take our time, moving continuously but at a deliberate pace that allows us to feel the clarity of our movements. We methodically flex, extend, rotate, and side bend our spines, warming the body from the inside out. A relaxing but challenging flow.
Standing Strong
This is a challenging flow class focused primarily on standing and quadruped postures. We will spend a good 50 minutes flowing between feet to hand supports before arriving on our backs for some deeper core work and a stretch. Watch out, you might break a sweat!
Crossing Midline Flow
This all-levels flowing class includes a healthy dose of cross-lateral movement - good for our brains, our balance, our coordination, agile aging, and balanced spinal stability.
Articulating the Body
Undulate, articulate, rotate, flex and extend your way into a supple, expressive spine and body in this flowing mat class. No props required.
The In-Between
What if, instead of focusing on the fancy shapes we make in our Pilates practice, we instead paid attention to how we arrive in those shapes? This class is all about the transitions, practicing how we maintain our cool when the ground beneath us is shifting. We'll play with movements that takes us from all fours to our backs to our sides to standing and back again. A slow but steady, slightly acrobatic flow.
Easy on the Arms
Sometimes you want to flow but your wrists or shoulders just aren't having it. This class was designed to give you that wrung-out experience of a good steady flow with minimal weight bearing in the arms (think legs and abs!) Give those tired upper limbs a break while still treating yourself to a full-bodied movement practice.
Double Helix
Taking our cue from human DNA we will spend this hour exploring spirals. Be ready to roll right off your mat in this twisty, turny, topsy, turvy, spiraling, undulating movement class. No props required.
Slow Train
It's flow day! But we're taking the slow train... starting on our backs we'll slowly warm the body with somatic retuning, warming the spine and hips and awakening our pelvic stability. Next we progress to mini-flows on hands, knees, and bellies, finally building to a vigorous quadruped flow filled with planks, lunges, undulations, and twists. Join me for a smooth and well-rounded ride on the Slow Train!
Lower Body Love
With a methodical focus on our lower extremities - feet, ankles, knees, calves, thighs, and hips - we give our supports some well-deserved attention and love. Class starts seated with an extensive foot releasing sequence, gradually builds to deeper strengthening and refinement in the legs and feet, and ends with a series of simple flows to balance out our structure. Focus on your lower half and find how your whole self will thrive! Props suggested: high backed chair, strap, and rolled up yoga mat.
Pilates on the Roll