What do you really know about Pilates?
Pilates isn’t just for dancers or women. It isn’t “just stretching” and no, it isn’t the same as yoga, other than the fact that you’re breathing and moving your body, but that would make it similar to most types of exercise, right? I’ve been a Pilates instructor for almost 6 years now, so I’ve become accustomed to friends and family asking me “how’s the yoga going?” While I do practice yoga regularly and treasure the immeasurable mental and physical benefits of it, I do not teach it. I am student of yoga and an instructor of Pilates. To that point, despite having been around since the early 1900’s, most people aren’t very familiar with Pilates. Here are a few things to get you started!
- Pilates was, in fact, a man. Yes, Joseph Hubertus Pilates, born a sickly child in Germany, dedicated his whole life to improving his physical health. By age 14, he was fit enough to pose for anatomical charts!
- Originally, his work was known as Contrology–the theory that one could unify the strength of the body and mind by diligently practicing a series of concise, focused exercises that he designed based on his study of the movement of animals and children, principles of yoga, kung fu and body-building.
- The Pilates reformer apparatus (like the one we have at Balans) is meant to create full body movement, a sensation of lengthening and lifting the deep internal muscles of the core and to teach “opposition” (aka active stretching and resistance which creates flexibility and strength simultaneously)
- In Pilates, you’ll learn that your “core” isn’t just the muscles of the rectus abdominus (the 6-pack muscles), but also the shoulders and chest, the back, the glutes and hips. This practice will transform the way you move and how you think about movement itself. In the words of Joseph Pilates: “In 10 sessions, you’ll feel the difference. In 20 sessions, you’ll see the difference. In 30 sessions, you’ll have a whole new body”.
Contact me to learn how Pilates can help bring you back to life!
Eliza Nimon
