Anywhere Pilates

“A Year to Remember”. I think that might have been the theme of one of my high school year books.  Sounds a little cheesy doesn’t it? The phrase once had a different meaning for me. I once thought about it as a  simple way to describe isolated events that all occurred in a year and would then be able to fondly reminisce about said isolated events.  But now, NOW, I have an entirely different perspective. My one year old daughter is irrevocably to blame. Now I think ” a year to remember”…. and then “shoot! A year has passed already??? I need to remember everything! Where has the time gone??”

In a year I have:

Ran a half marathon. Loved it.

Gotten fully certified to teach what I love: Pilates.

Turned the big 3-0.

Voraciously consumed all info I could get my hands on about organic products and sustainable living.

Gone down 4 dress sizes (mwahahahaha!!)

Found a fabulous group of girlfriends.

Fallen in love all over again with my husband.

Fallen in love like never before with my daughter.

Not blogged like I planned to. At all. Not even close!

BUT I would like to start again and try to keep it on a semi-regular basis  ( I am a realist) and I hope you will have me  : )

I had the most amazing Pilates workout the other day. My lower abdominal ( ladies, you know EXACTLY the trouble spot I refer to…right underneath your bellybutton and above your pelvic bone) were sore in a way that I hadn’t felt since before I had my baby. I was telling my husband about the craziness of  a chair workout; telling him about the one legged pull up with my foot in releve….. when I paused, realizing that he hadn’t a clue as to what I was talking about.

Continue reading A Wunda Wha..????

There is no need to point out the obvious (but I can’t help myself) that it has been A LONG time since my last post. To be honest, I have had difficulty finding the time to write in the midst of all the responsibilities motherhood has brought. I stopped writing in my third trimester because all I could thing about was “pregnancy, pregnancy, pregnancy” and the last thing I wanted to do was to turn this into another “look at me, I’m pregnant” blog.  And now, of course, I find myself wanting to write a  ” look at me, I have a baby!” blog. Yes, I’m a mom. Okay, so what? We all have mom’s, many of us are moms… this is not a new thing.  New to me, yes. But to the world? Um, no. Don’t get me wrong- it’s beautiful, rewarding, and difficult but there has to be a balance  So, the challenge I have in front of me now is how to balance being a mom with being a teacher and student of Traditional Authentic Pilates.

I took about 4 months off from teaching and taking Pilates at the studio where I am completing my apprenticeship. I was nervous and intimidated when I walked back through the doors in September. I immediately wanted to start where I left off and GET MY BODY BACK.  But my body had changed- my pelvis was unstable, my abdominal muscles were…well, let’s face it. What abs?  My core had disappeared! My instructor, Mary Ann,  and I had to start at the beginning. To start at the beginning we had to do the most basic and important: neutral spine exercises. Before I could move on with my Pilates workouts, I had to find my neutral spine again!

After having a baby, finding my neutral spine was incredibly difficult! I had a “duck butt” (thank you, Mary Anne, for such a descriptive and sexy phrase) from holding my daughter 24/7. A duck butt, fyi, is when you stand and press your lower back out, causing your behind to stick out. This causes a ton of lower back pain. It was such a humbling experience to start over. I realized how much I had taken for granted before. Starting at the beginning forced me to reconnect to my body- something I had taught before but had not fully appreciated.

Continue reading Finding Your Neutral Spine

One of my oldest and dearest friends is a marathoner and soon to be triathlete.  I saw her for the first time in about a year when she came to Atlanta to host my baby shower and to visit for a few days. While spending time with me she mentioned her frustration with some of the movements she does in her Pilates class. “I can’t keep my legs straight during the single straight leg kick!” she complained. She chalked her inability to perform the exercise up to not being strong enough- and I told her that was a common misconception many students of Pilates make. Many times a student can not perform a movement correctly because they lack  flexibility; not because they lack strength. The key to successful single straight leg kicks, also known as scissors, is found not only by anchoring one’s powerhouse, but also in flexible hamstrings. Anyone that runs can attest to this: the more you run the tighter your hamstrings and quads become; especially if you aren’t stretching properly. Not being flexible in your hamstrings will hinder your Pilates movements in exercises like Roll- up, Teaser, Single Leg Stretch, Open Leg Rocker…the list goes on and on. I think that not only is it important to stretch, but it is key to find an effective and safe method.

My favorite method of stretching is called “Active-Isolated Stretching”, a technique developed by Jim and Phil Wharton. This involves the stretching of one isolated muscle at a time, by actively contracting the muscle opposite the muscle you are trying to stretch. Confusing? Let me break it down.

Continue reading Stretching and Flexibility

A wonderful side effect of practicing Pilates is a hyper sense of bodily awareness. I stand taller than I used to. I sit straighter. I am conscience of my shoulders; are they hunched over while I type? I believe that because of the roll over affect Pilate’s has on my daily life I feel better and am less stressed. I was once a victim of nagging tension headaches for which I had a medical prescription. I don’t need the medicine anymore because the headaches have all but gone away. I credit this to the attention I pay to my posture. With the desire to alleviate these headaches from my life, I took inventory of my body. I found that I am particularly tight in my shoulders, which causes my neck to tighten. I keep all stress tension locked in my shoulders and constantly remind myself to relax. Locking your muscles by holding them tight does to your blood flow what standing on a water hose does to water flow. I believe that by making an effort to pull my shoulders down I release tension from my neck, therefore increasing the blood flow to my head. Also, I try to give myself a mini massage, focusing on the trapezius muscle.

So, to get back on point, I credit Pilates with my overall well being. In Joe Pilates book  “Return to Life Through Contrology” he talks about the importance of good posture. For those of you new to Pilates,  Contrology is what Joe Pilates called his method. After his death, the name Pilates became the term to describe his revolutionary method of exercise. He writes ” Good posture can be succesfully aquired only when the enitire mechanism of the body is under perfect control…. the proper functioning of your own body is the direct result of the assembled Contrology exercises that produce a harmonious structure we term physical fitness reflecting itself in a coordinated and balanced tripart of body, mind, and spirit.” Whew! What a mouthful!  To translate ( this was first published in 1948, after all ):  By training your muscles in the body to act as a unified entity rather than separate parts, you can achieve overall well being. You might even compare this theory with the metaphor of your body as a machine; each part compliments the other and when one stops working the machine breaks down.

Continue reading Pilates and Posture: Pilates in your daily life