Pilates is often referred to as a mind body exercise system, I’m often asked this by people who haven’t experienced Pilates as they assume it’s an exercises system purely to strengthen the core!
Well, Joseph Pilates, the founder of Pilates, first called Pilates “Contrology”. He was so far ahead of his times in the development of Pilates as an exercises system, and one of his fundamental principles is that if you are not being mindful whilst exercising, then you simply won’t get the benefits. He called this Contrology.
Mindfulness is being aware of the ‘here and now’, being in the present moment. When you are doing your Pilates, or any other form of exercise for that matter, then focusing on HOW your body feels, WHERE your body is in space, WHERE one part of your body is in relation to another part, HOW that muscle feels when you engage it, HOW that muscle feels when you release it, enhances the benefits of the exercises.
We can copy the moves, but it is NOT Pilates unless you are being mindful!
This term at Balance Studio, as we usually do, we have started back slowly, going over the basics and being really ‘mindful’ as we do the exercises, on top of that I’ve added light hand weight into the mix. The comments that I keep getting back is firstly how quickly the hour has passed as they have been concentrating so hard and secondly how much harder the exercises are when you really focus on all the elements, breathing, centring, alignment, core control – we need to engage our minds to get the best out of our exercise!
This is your hour for yourself when you do not have to worry about anything or anyone else, take that hour, cherish it, be mindful and the true benefits of Pilates will shine through 🙂