Tag: Pilates

Five Reasons To Do Pilates

We all have so much choice now when it comes to deciding what activities or sports to take up. I’d like to share 5 reasons why I think Pilates is an excellent choice. 

The Shoulder Roll Down (also called ‘The Sari’) on the Cadillac

1: Pilates is a wonderful compliment to every other activity and is performance-enhancing.

Whether it’s walking, running, swimming, gardening, rowing, playing golf or football, or playing musical instruments, bringing your mind into every part of your body gives you awareness and control over how you move, which rapidly enhances your performance in anything you do. Many hobbies and sports favour one side of the body, or particular muscle groups, more than others. Bodies are clever and make compensations so that we don’t notice the unevenness, often for years, before issues start to arise. Pilates immediately brings these imbalances to our attention and addresses them effectively. 

2: Pilates counteracts the constant pulling down of our everyday lives by lifting and lengthening the spine. 

Our lifestyles and culture often involve sitting for long periods of time, carrying heavy bags around, driving or sitting in cramped spaces on public transport, and using our eyes in short-range for prolonged periods when reading or staring at screens. 

Pilates does the opposite. You learn to lift your whole body and lengthen your spine, giving you a stronger back and abdominals. Your waist becomes leaner and longer, your chest more open, and your mobility improves so that everything becomes easier to do.

3: Pilates gives the body what it needs by breaking the habitual patterns that we develop from our early years, and everything starts to feel easier.

Romana summarised Pilates as “Stretch and strength with control” and it’s exactly that! Whatever body type you have, and whatever issues you have, Pilates aligns and balances the body. If you are tight, it gives you stretch and strength in the right places to improve flexibility and mobility. If you’re hyper-mobile or over-flexible, Pilates ‘reigns you in’ and strengthens you so that you feel more centred and put together. Much like Alexander Technique, Pilates addresses the habits we’ve developed over a lifetime and trains us to become aware enough that we can change these patterns of movement from the inside out. It takes vigilance and commitment, but these changes often bring with them a more positive outlook and much more efficient over-all body function.

4: Pilates can be treated as a meditation. 

Anything can be a meditation when done in the right way. Rather than sitting in a chair without moving, the meditative element of Pilates is the deep concentration needed when doing the exercises to work precisely and consciously, and with flow, just as Joseph Pilates insisted on. When Pilates is practised in this way, there isn’t room for minds to wonder or be distracted, and automatic pilot never happens. Romana’s Pilates is practised without background music in order to keep our attention on our own body. A session can feel as refreshing as having rested for an hour, but instead the body has moved, the mind-body connection strengthened, and blood has circulated around the body.

5: Pilates strengthens the connection of the mind to the body which, as a result, strengthens our connection to the world around us. 

Joseph Pilates created a method that demands full integration of the mind and body. It’s far too easy to live in our heads, to the point where we don’t notice our bodies change, or habits develop that can cause issues later in life. Pilates addresses this by demanding that every movement is made consciously and with complete awareness. This takes time to develop, but the result is an awakening of muscles and joints that haven’t been thought about or used properly in a long time. Proprioception improves and this awareness extends to beyond ourselves and to how we interact with others. In a world where technology does a lot to remove our need to interact with each other, we need all the help we can get to re-establish these important connections. 

There are many more reasons why Pilates is a fantastic form of exercise but, most importantly, enjoying it is what makes it a life-long pleasure. Doing something we love that takes us outside of our everyday activities is important for our wellbeing, but doing something we love that also makes our body stronger, more flexible, more aligned and lifted, really does do us the world of good. 

14th November 2021

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Romana’s Pilates apprentice at Kinetic Pilates in London training with Rebecca Convey

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The Magic of the Pilates Mat

The purpose of this blog is to introduce the Pilates mat to people who are curious about it or would like to know a little more. When Pilates is considered as a form of exercise or new activity, most people think of exercises done on a mat and often compare it to Yoga. The mat, however, is only one part of a very comprehensive and integrated system of exercises that uses apparatus to help the body develop according to what it needs. I’ll be writing more about the full system in a future blog. Pilates is also a completely different discipline to Yoga so it’s not helpful to compare them but, again, more on this another time. 

For now, back to the mat. In a nutshell, the mat is a series of 34 exercises that Joseph Pilates created to be practised routinely and precisely, with flow. It takes time and patience to be able to do the whole mat and benefit from it, so Romana’s Pilates uses the Basic Mat, a selection of 7 exercises from the full routine, as a starting point and an introduction to this wonderful series. As you become stronger and more flexible, and your body begins to change, more exercises are added to develop and ultimately challenge the strong foundation that you’ve built. 

Many people assume the mat to be the simplest and easiest way to practise Pilates because, rather than navigate springs, straps, pedals, bars and handles, all you have is a mat on the floor. Sounds simple, but with only the floor as a reference point, the mat demands the greatest physical awareness in order to maximise its potential. What the mat lacks in ease, it makes up for in practicality. If you can find a space of floor the size of a large beach towel to work on and have a mat or flooring that cushions your spine, you’re all set.

The purpose of Pilates, or Contrology as Joseph Pilates called it, is to change the body using the six fundamental principles that he founded the method on. These are; Concentration, Centring, Control, Precision, Flow and Breathing. Pilates developed his sequence of 34 mat exercises to flow from one to the next in a particular order, and he demanded that every exercise be done using his six principles. This quote by Pilates gives you an idea of the scope of his philosophy and the importance and value he placed on his method. 

“Concentrate on the correct movements EACH TIME YOU EXERCISE, lest you do them improperly and thus lose all the vital benefits of their value. Correctly executed and mastered to the point of subconscious reaction, these exercises will reflect grace and balance in your routine activities. Contrology exercises build a sturdy body and sound mind fitted to perform every daily task with ease and perfection as well as to provide tremendous reserve energy for sports, recreation, emergencies… Be certain that you have your entire body under complete mental control… Good posture can be successfully acquired only when the entire mechanism of the body is under perfect control.” Joseph Pilates (Return to Life Through Contrology)

The secret to a lifelong love of Pilates is to enjoy the process and not concern yourself with end goals. Unlike other forms of fitness and exercise, nothing is measured. Reps aren’t increased the stronger you get, and no position is held for any length of time to intensify an exercise, and stats aren’t recorded and monitored. Instead, more exercises are added, and the work becomes internally deeper the more you progress. Also, Pilates insisted that his exercises be done in silence so that concentration can be completely on the body and not elsewhere. 

Becoming aware of our body, feeling our alignment and integrating every part of us so that day to day life is easier is a true joy. Why is the mat magic? Because when the Pilates method is practiced with guidance, knowledge of the system and in full concentration, magic happens!

The ‘Rocker’ at Kinetic Pilates, London during my apprenticeship

I am a Romana’s Pilates trained instructor having completed over 1000 hours of apprenticeship with Rebecca Convey at Kinetic Pilates, London, and teach one to one sessions in Ewell, Surrey. I incorporate mat work into my sessions and teach my clients how to practise the mat at home in between sessions. This gives the body the chance to learn a good technique and develop a working memory of Pilates in order to maximise the benefit from private sessions.

If you would like to book a private 1:1 session with me, email me at nadine@pianoandpilatesstudio.com for details of when and where sessions are held. No experience or fitness level required and I provide all equipment.

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1st November 2021