Fitness, Pilates, Workout
It’s been about classes, workshops, blogs, Pilates Retreats and being part of this year’s Vitality Show as well as running my regular classes and keeping my clients happy, life has suddenly got very busy. My administrator keeps remarking that she has never been so busy, life post 60 for her it would seem has become a lot more time challenged, slowing down after redundancy?, now where would be the fun in that I reply. Pausing momentarily I decided to take a look through my website, discovering that a link that previously displayed a magazine article was now taking visitors through to a German bondage site! now it has to be said, I’m ok with alternative lifestyles but Pilates and Bondage is a whole new career path, reassuringly my administrator remarked that I was ‘not to worry, people will know it’s not you, the shoes aren’t high enough! ’Oh well that’s OK then I mused just a slight shade of crimson.
Now I know many teachers that would have been mortified, in truth however, it made me laugh. Sometimes no matter how much I think I have all things covered events still take another path. So as this got me thinking about how others see us and how we see ourselves. I remembered the wonderful photograph of Joseph Pilates literally standing on one of his female students stomachs (And yes I appreciate this is not very P.C teaching and might bring us back to German bondage sites) however, as an image, for me it works, it was his, albeit, extreme way of demonstrating just how strong his students bodies were but also gives the viewer the sense of just how strong his technique ‘Contrology’ now ‘Pilates’ can make us, it also serves to remind us just how strong our bodies intrinsically are :
Joseph Pilates Says..
“Contrology is not “medicine” or even “physical therapy.” For its aim is not specifically corrective but generally body-building and co-ordinating. Hence, its users are neither “patients” nor “treated.”
Each student is given as nearly as possible the same regimen, and in kinds and amounts equal to his or her requirements under careful supervision.”
I love the power and intention in the message of this quote, great Pilates teachers (and I’m not including Physiotherapists here etc) do not fix you, broken bones need fixing, muscles need re-educating. Did you ever consider that your body is already pretty smart, intuitive and brilliantly efficient? If you run up the stairs the likelihood is you will have to increase your breathing rate as you do so, you’re very clever body does that without you having to consciously instruct it. My point is Pilates empowers you with exercises that balance you, strengthen and lengthen you, it moves your body and mind and challenges it. People often comment on the fact that they have to concentrate when they do the exercises as if this were a bad thing, ‘yes’ I respond because your mind and body are trying to work things out together, a healthy mind literally results in a healthier body. So if you’re not already doing Pilates, consider taking up a class, join a workshop, go on a retreat and really immerse yourself in the benefits of Pilates but most importantly move your body more every day, we owe ourselves that much because life is not black and white, fit/unfit, slow/fast, young/old but various colours and yes shades of grey too (but that’s a whole other article) and I might just need my high heels for that one….
