 josie.mckenlay
Josie is a Pilates specialist, yogi and personal trainer with over 25 years experience. She has a portfolio of clients, runs several classes and produces videos for her website, vitalflow.tv, a blog dedicated to helping people maintain a healthy lifestyl
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These will differ depending on which books you read, which teachers you have, the websites you have looked at. The following are the principles which govern my practice and make it safe and effective:-
Relaxation
I know it sounds odd to start any exercise class with relaxation, but you need to let go of tension in the body. One of the key benefits of Pilates is that it addresses muscle imbalances: you need to relax your shoulders, your neck, your face; you need to release the pelvic floor and abdomen. We don't want tension and we don't want some muscles doing more that their fair share of the work. Classes may begin in any position - standing, supine, seated - but you can still relax the muscles that are tense. The mind needs to become still and focused.
Concentration
So with the mind still and focused, we can start to concentrate on our bodies. Pilates is a mind/body form of exercise and you must be present with the mind. Think about how your body feels, be aware of areas of stiffness and tension, focus on every movement you make and how that affects the rest of the body. This will lead to quality and precision of movement, increase your body-awareness, keep the practice safe and effective - all important, especially when you are working by yourself.
Alignment
Alignment, neutral position, posture, core, centring: all part of the same thing. You've relaxed your body and released any tension, you've cleared your mind and your focus is on your body, now you need to check your alignment, depending on what position you are in: if you are supine with legs extended, you will be more or less in neutral. If you are standing, you need to pay a little more attention to your posture. If you are seated or in box position, think about the alignment of the pelvis and the spine.
Breathing
Breathe fully and wide. This serves several purposes:
- it will remove any toxins from the lungs
the exhalations will relax you, the inhalations energise you
- it will help focus the mind
- it will help you engage the core muscles
- it will dictate the speed of the exercise, leading to flowing movements.
Pilates uses thoracic/lateral breathing, enabling you to breathe fully, but still maintain that all important core contraction to stabilise the pelvis, support the lower back and keep the neutral position.
Co-ordination
Trying to co-ordinate movement with breath and remember all the principles will seem like an impossibility at first, but it does come with practice. Beginners courses can sometimes appear slow and boring, but it enables you to gradually build, layer on layer, until you can do everything all at once.
Precision
Every movement has a purpose, every instruction vital to the success of the exercise. Perfect, precise movement is what you are trying to achieve rather than many poor, inadequate repetitions. This is important for you to attain the results you are hoping for safely, efficiently and relatively quickly.
Fluidity
The human body is perfectly formed for movement, therefore every exercise in Pilates is dynamic (some modifications may hold a position, but the final form involves movement). They flow with the breath like a perfectly executed waltz, lengthening away from your strong centre, controlled, free from tension and stress, and rhythmic.
Stamina
Your deep postural muscles need to be working gently, but constantly in order to keep your body correctly aligned. For this to be possible, they require stamina. All your supporting muscles need stamina so that your body can work as a whole: think of a car - a great gear box or new brakes are no good without the rest of the engine being in good condition. Some muscles will tire very quickly without the support of the others and with practise, an exercise that seemed difficult to perform one week will soon appear relatively easy. For example, everyone complains about their arm, shoulder and neck when they perform a side plank the first few times. As they progress, they learn to use the torso muscles which become stronger with practise, they learn to engage the muscles of the legs which also have a role to play.
Josie is an experienced and respected fitness instructor and personal trainer with 25 years experience, specialising mainly in Pilates and yoga. Her website http://vitalflow.tv provides advice on healthy lifestyle and video downloads.
