|
|
|
|
Pilates In today’s world everything has to happen fast. Deadlines, appointments, errands and so forth. Often we find ‘ourselves’ on the end of the priority list, or it just happens to turn out that way once we have accomplished what we think has been asked of us. The result is stress, physical and mental stress, tension, and all sorts of unpleasant consequences most of us are very familiar with. Then we start “gyming”… running, pumping iron, high intensity workouts, which actually just reflect the pace of our day to day life. Aren’t we forgetting something? Isn’t there more to a healthy life we should take care of? Indeed there is! A healthy mind and a healthy body… the hen or the egg? Doesn’t matter, one doesn’t work without the other. Balance is the keyword, but how can we attain strong and flexible muscles and a calm, peaceful mind at the same time? Yes I agree, it is a fulltime job to take care of oneself on every level, especially since time is a luxury many of us simply don’t have, but time is also precious! We are granted one life and just one lifetime to life it to the fullest. For some reason, most people still follow the “no-pain-no-gain” philosophy, but ultimately that leads just to long hours of our precious time in the gym and eventually aches and pain that we don’t know how to release by ourselves. And most of all, we risk getting utterly bored. Through Pilates mat work exercises we found a way to minimize the time invested into workout and to maximize the achieved results. The great thing about it is that the only tool necessary for it is your own body! Pilates was invented about a hundred years ago by Robert Pilates. He had a rather frail health and developed this method to help himself to a better, healthier and happier life. He called his method “The Art of Contrology”, or muscle control. This already highlights the unique approach of using the mind to master the muscles. Ideally, our muscles should obey our will. Reasonably, our will should not be dominated by the reflex actions of our muscles. Through years of study the Pilates Method proved exactly that; the mind is master of the body and full control can be achieve when the mind is involved and given the right imaginations to integrate the creative part of our minds. Another reason why the Pilates Method is so effective and successful is that it works with the body as one. Other training programs are based on isolating muscles and working each area of the body individually, which can create an imbalance because other body parts have been neglected. Breathing is a core issue in Pilates; I guess that is why some people like to compare it to Yoga or Tai Chi. In Pilates though, we breathe into the diaphragm, right in between the two arches of the ribs. In this way, the so-called “Powerhouse” can be constantly “contracted”, or, I prefer to say, controlled. Most of us go through the day with our abdominal muscles relaxed, then come into the gym and do a hundred crunches, complaining we still haven’t achieved our desired goals. The basic crunch is a very effective exercise if perfectly performed and if we don’t forget to keep our body posture throughout the day, and therefore we need to keep our abdominals ever slightly contracted. Pilates works the core muscles, the deep muscles. Those, which support our organs, those who hold every thing into place. I’m sure every woman who had a child knows too well what I’m talking about and how it feels when there is no control around trunk and pelvic what so ever. Well, unfortunately we don’t have to get pregnant and have babies before we can identify with the feeling of not being in control of our bodies, because a child is worth the loss of control. The engagement of all the muscle around the trunk and pelvic are most essential in Pilates. Each exercise has to be performed with total control over the whole body, so that the whole range of motion becomes one flow of movement, which is synchronized with the breath. In each single exercise the whole body is involved, sometimes moving, sometimes stabilizing, allowing the movement of another body part to be happening without loss of balance and control. The beauty about Pilates is that once you understand the core philosophy, its movement can be translated into any format; each exercise is an important movement in and of itself and can be used to stretch and move correctly in the course of one’s day. Not to forget that Pilates can be practiced by anybody; rather you’re an athlete, couch potato, young or old, limber or inflexible! Pilates will simply change the way you relate to your body, give you long and strong muscles and full body awareness. The power each of us holds over our own well-being is startling. It begins by becoming aware of our bodies as an integrated part of our creative minds. We were all born with that power. We
were all children with active imaginations that continue to live inside us. Sometimes we only need reminding. People around the world have found that Pilates is the perfect reminder and have adopted the Pilates Philosophy as a way of life.
Pilates Class Details |
