A pink taxi

A pink taxi

September 23, 2010

Think Pilates





I should have written about pilates long ago, given how passionate I feel about this "sport". Nothing comes between me and my pilates mat! Originally, I began my classes with a characteristic nonchalance. I thought pilates would be a fitness program, a simple activity. At the eleventh hour, about to quit, something clicked and.....I was hooked.


At first, the passion was compulsive. I had to go daily, blindly, religiously. My body did the work but the mind was somewhere else. I thought the activity was relaxing so I allowed my mind to wander. I returned to that happy childhood daydreaming trance.


I am not sure when I began to change. Perhaps I have forgotten the sessions of sermoning, the exasperation of the instructor, even the anger. I certainly remember his patience, effort, dedication and skill. I was told to "listen", to "concentrate". I tried, yet I didn't understand the level of mental involvement. I fine tuned my "listening" and I shut off the world. I concentrated. That is when I "understood" pilates (and I relaxed even more). Pilates is about serenity. Breathing properly and NEVER showing the strain on our faces. That just consumes unnecessary energy.

When I began to understand the various exercices, I moved away from the misconception that I was just there "to work my abs and improve my posture". I could work on my arms, my hamstrings, my abductors. I was performing a full body work out and exercising in an extremely safe way. In fact, the "work out" in the studio (which is the base of my sports routine) facilitates any other sport I want to do: golf, bikram yoga, swimming, stair-climbing and occasional skiing (and for those who know me well, dancing the night away!). The stretch is best described as a "self massage". Bring your tired or sore muscles to a pilates class and they will be all released....till you wake up with sore muscles because you worked areas of your body you never knew existed.

Gathering all my humour and lack of modesty,I must confess that I didn't know I had sit bones till I was thirty eight and I was asked to sit on them in order to align my posture! Best of all, I "transfer" that posture outside the studio, the pilates part of my brain switches on and demands that I sit adequatly, insuring that my chest and shoulders are positioned in the proper range.

Much of pilates is performed while lying on your back. The beginner's sessions involve a lot of "pelvis tilts" that properly align the spine. The beginner will also learn to "stalk the spine one vertebrae at a time", or peel it off the mat. These motions have entered my subconscious and when I am laying in bed, even sleeping (I suppose), I am actually also adjusting to the correct tilts and movements to insure a restful pose for my spine. Tilting the chin by a few centimeters allows you to straighten your spine from the neck down and makes for a much comfortable position.


And this is how I have integrated the movements into my daily life and activities. I stand with my body weight balanced on both legs, avoiding the tilt of the hips to one side. While driving, I scoop in my stomach. I also reach above with my arm and not with my shoulder. My children solicit me while they sit in the back of the car and I send water bottles, or kleenex boxes, or a simple affectionate hand squeeze, with a gentle movement of the arm behind that reminds me of a certain position in "stomack massage" on the reformer!


A good posture gives me the extra centimeters to stand tall, walk and sit with a certain confident stride. The feelings of nimbleness and energy that accompany the practice of pilates can only be translated in well being and self confidence.


Just recently, my children were climbing a very tall beautiful tree, with ropesof rubber tied into ingenious bridges and ladders. One of them lost confidence, and complained of vertigo. Despite my parents reminding me that I was almost 40 and that I shouldn't try, I took up the challenge to teach my kids by example. Without hesitating, I climbed that  tree, remembering that pilates had an exercice by that name, also admitting to how frequently I have hung from the cadillac without fear.

In the pilates studio there is no such thing as "I can't do it".




3 comments:

  1. For the benefit of mortals who have never practised Pilates,Wikipedia defines it as:""a physical fitness system developed in the early 20th C by Joseph Pilates in Germany.As of 2005,there are 11 million people who practice the discpline regularly and 14,000 instructors in the US alone."
    Note the usage of "practice" and "discpline" in the definition,which hints at "cult",especially that the system just flared up in California,after being dormant for almost a century!

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  2. As much as I love pilates (and I am the one who got you into it mme blogger, even if you deny me that), I am now addicted to Physique 57, which is hands down more effective to change your body, than anything else....I am trying to stir some controversy on this blog :)
    I had sent you the DVDs of it to share with your favorite instructor, and you were too afraid, so now I challenge you to show it to him...I am positive he will like it, and he should bring it to Dubai. Come on Brian! It's a cult here....And it's much harder in person than on the DVD.

    I look forward to working out with you next time I am in Dubai!
    xo Amira

    Here is an article about Physique 57 in the NY Times of today:
    http://travel.nytimes.com/2010/09/24/travel/24urbathlete.html

    Urban Athlete
    At the Barre, but Not to Dance

    Ruby Washington/The New York Times
    Lauren Decierdo, an instructor at Physique 57, leads a class that uses a ballet barre.

    By SHIVANI VORA
    Published: September 23, 2010


    IN a light-filled studio in Midtown Manhattan, the class wasn’t even half over, but the students were already grimacing in pain. The dozen women stood in front of a ballet barre, feet in a V position, heels lifted and a soft ball between their thighs. They bent their knees and pulsed and pulsed, as if performing nonstop pliés. After almost 60 repetitions, the cheerful instructor declared the set over, and the group sighed with relief.

    This was the scene at Physique 57, one of several New York City studios with classes that use the barre as a base and help replicate the enviable dancer’s body: long and lean, svelte but not bulky.

    Ballet is only one element in these classes, which can include Pilates and yoga and aim to engage the core in every exercise. Though the sequences follow one another quickly, increasing the heart rate, the movements are low-impact and usually interspersed with stretching.

    The workouts first popped up in the city in the 1970s when the Lotte Berk Studio opened on the Upper East Side with an exercise method created nearly 50 years ago by Ms. Berk, a German dancer. That center has closed, but others today are run by former Berk teachers and are inspired by her techniques, with each adding twists, like Physique’s “V” position, a variation on the first position in ballet.

    At the Body on the Upper East Side, for example, Shawn McCormack has devised exercises that work multiple body parts. In the dreaded “chair,” students hold the barre at arms’ length with legs hip-width apart and squat. As they pull up with their arms, they bring one knee to the chest for a core crunch and then alternate sides in quick succession.

    The moves might sound torturous, but adherents profess striking results. Ann Moore, 55, a fund-raising consultant, has taken four classes a week at the Body for the last year. “My body was a bit built before, and this has made my shape more feminine,” she said.

    While it might seem that a workout aimed at creating a dancer’s body would appeal only to women, instructors say men reap their own benefits: defined abs, a less bulky upper body and more movement throughout, which can improve performance in sports like golf and tennis.

    Bob Raskopf, 59, a lawyer, is a devotee of the barre-based Core Fusion at Exhale. He initially went at his wife’s insistence. “I couldn’t touch my toes, but I’m far more flexible now, and my back is much more limber, which helps my tennis game,” he said.

    The latest entrant in barre workouts is G.S.T., short for Grace Somatomorphic Technique, created by a former Pilates teacher, Anna Rahe, who didn’t study the Berk approach. She uses a metal barre and springs with handles attached to the wall for an extra burn.

    Stephanie Stanko, a hairstylist, said the sessions had helped straighten her shoulders, which were constantly bent over at work, and had tightened her body. Yoga and Pilates were “slightly boring,” she said. This workout, on the other hand, “makes me look and feel sexy.”

    ReplyDelete
  3. As much as I love pilates, and Mmme Bloggeuse, please give up and give me credit for telling you to try it!! I used to go religiously 3 times a week before I got pregnant. Then, I disovered 2 years ago Physique 57 which revolutionized body sculpting!!
    I sent you the DVD to share with your favorite pilates and yoga instructor, and you were TOO AFRAID! hahaaha! So now I challenge you in the open to go ahead and share them with him. Brian, you would love it, as it is an amazingly torturous set of exercises. And bring it to Dubai!

    I look forward to training with you next time I am in Dubai Brian! Best, Amira

    Here is an article written about Physique 57, today in the NY Times:

    http://travel.nytimes.com/2010/09/24/travel/24urbathlete.html


    Urban Athlete
    At the Barre, but Not to Dance

    Ruby Washington/The New York Times
    Lauren Decierdo, an instructor at Physique 57, leads a class that uses a ballet barre.

    By SHIVANI VORA
    Published: September 23, 2010

    IN a light-filled studio in Midtown Manhattan, the class wasn’t even half over, but the students were already grimacing in pain. The dozen women stood in front of a ballet barre, feet in a V position, heels lifted and a soft ball between their thighs. They bent their knees and pulsed and pulsed, as if performing nonstop pliés. After almost 60 repetitions, the cheerful instructor declared the set over, and the group sighed with relief.

    This was the scene at Physique 57, one of several New York City studios with classes that use the barre as a base and help replicate the enviable dancer’s body: long and lean, svelte but not bulky.

    Ballet is only one element in these classes, which can include Pilates and yoga and aim to engage the core in every exercise. Though the sequences follow one another quickly, increasing the heart rate, the movements are low-impact and usually interspersed with stretching.

    The workouts first popped up in the city in the 1970s when the Lotte Berk Studio opened on the Upper East Side with an exercise method created nearly 50 years ago by Ms. Berk, a German dancer. That center has closed, but others today are run by former Berk teachers and are inspired by her techniques, with each adding twists, like Physique’s “V” position, a variation on the first position in ballet.

    At the Body on the Upper East Side, for example, Shawn McCormack has devised exercises that work multiple body parts. In the dreaded “chair,” students hold the barre at arms’ length with legs hip-width apart and squat. As they pull up with their arms, they bring one knee to the chest for a core crunch and then alternate sides in quick succession.

    The moves might sound torturous, but adherents profess striking results. Ann Moore, 55, a fund-raising consultant, has taken four classes a week at the Body for the last year. “My body was a bit built before, and this has made my shape more feminine,” she said.

    While it might seem that a workout aimed at creating a dancer’s body would appeal only to women, instructors say men reap their own benefits: defined abs, a less bulky upper body and more movement throughout, which can improve performance in sports like golf and tennis.

    Bob Raskopf, 59, a lawyer, is a devotee of the barre-based Core Fusion at Exhale. He initially went at his wife’s insistence. “I couldn’t touch my toes, but I’m far more flexible now, and my back is much more limber, which helps my tennis game,” he said.

    The latest entrant in barre workouts is G.S.T., short for Grace Somatomorphic Technique, created by a former Pilates teacher, Anna Rahe, who didn’t study the Berk approach. She uses a metal barre and springs with handles attached to the wall for an extra burn.

    Stephanie Stanko, a hairstylist, said the sessions had helped straighten her shoulders, which were constantly bent over at work, and had tightened her body. Yoga and Pilates were “slightly boring,” she said. This workout, on the other hand, “makes me look and feel sexy.”

    ReplyDelete