Fitness, Pilates
Easy mistake to make with all the build up to Christmas and attempts to get the turkey ordered in time…and so 2012 came and went along with an exciting if not challenging year for many of us. Resolutions are being made as fast as unwanted Christmas gifts are being returned to the sales. For some, waistlines are rounder, livers a little more challenged and bodies a little more neglected.
Often we use the beginning of a new year to breathe in fresh air, new ideas and make promises to ourselves we plan to keep. So take a minute to think about what your plans are for the year ahead…but more importantly how are you going to achieve them? Gyms are currently bursting with people declaring ‘I want to get fit!’ but most people are unable to qualify what exactly they mean….often, what they actually mean is ‘I don’t want to feel exhausted all the time’, ‘I want to be attractive to my partner/ I want to find a partner’, ‘I want to escape depression’ or simply ‘I just want to be less invisible in the world!’ These are all moments of honesty that people have shared with me as their teacher and they are the key reasons to achieving results, regardless of what your particular objective is. Our mind not the body we have is the most important factor in what will determine our future ability to make permanent changes in our lives.
Joseph Pilates wrote the most poignant letter to his clients in 1939, he saw there was a seismic shift about to happen across humanity, within it he wrote ‘The mind when housed within a healthful body, possesses a glorious sense of power’ He also saw that when people ignored their bodies, health and inner well being the results were not just physical deterioration but also psychological. Our physical, mental and spiritual well being is all inter dependant and reliant, one without the other is merely a beautiful house without adequate foundations to sustain it through the inevitable challenges it will face. So as you make your resolutions or decide on things you might like to change or try in 2013, take a moment to see those changes in the bigger picture of your life.
I am constantly amazed by the changes I see in the people I teach, none of which I am responsible for but hopefully I help facilitate. A client that had been struggling to get to class sent me an email recently after getting a new job which read ‘apologies for my irregular attendance but I think my new role will enable me to have a better work/life balance. (PS: Since starting your class this has been a goal of mine which I now hope to address going forward)’ This is one of the most important emails I have ever received, this clients health was suffering and discovering Pilates and an off the cuff comment from me was the tipping point he needed.
