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| Key Principles and Concepts of PilatesIt’s important that before you begin working with the Pilates exercises you familiarize yourself with some of the principles, what Joseph Pilates referred to as “the basic fundamentals of a natural physical education”.
Breathing
Most people today do not breathe well. We all understand on a fundamental level that our breathing is important as it keeps us alive! Yet most people pay little attention to it on a regular basis. When you inhale you take in oxygen. Our cells require oxygen for the chemical reactions that are essential for sustaining life. When you exhale your body rids itself of waste products. The more efficient your breathing, the more energy you will have, and the more effectively your body will perform. When doing the Pilates exercises, your breathing should always match the physical position and movements of your body. As a general rule, when your body is compressing you should be exhaling, when your body is expanding you should be inhaling. This ensures that your lungs are not forced to work against the movement of the rest of your body. Working with your breathing in this way; will help to increase your lung capacity, and increased lung capacity will help to improve circulation function.
Circulation
Good circulation is vital to good health. The circulatory system provides every cell in your body with the nutrients and oxygen needed to function effectively, and it carries away the waste products to be expelled from the body. If your circulation is sluggish you will lack energy and toxins will build up in your body.
Your heart pumps blood from the center of your body out to its extremities, but it is largely the contraction of your muscles that brings the blood back to the heart and lungs. Something else to keep in mind is that most Pilates’ exercises are performed sitting, lying down, or somewhere in between these two positions. Joseph Pilates states that “This is done to relieve your heart from undue strain…”The Spine
The position of your spine is fundamental in Pilates. As every exercise works your whole body, and everything hangs off your spine, it is very important to develop an awareness of the placement of your spine. In every exercise you should be aiming to lengthen your whole spine, from your tail bone right up through to the base of your skull.
As a general rule, Pilates’ exercises always position the spine so that the direction of movement is continuous from one end to the other. The whole spine is flexed, the whole spine is straight or the whole spine is extended.
One of the common areas this is often not applied well is with people's head and neck placement, so always make sure that your neck is following the line of movement of the rest of your spine.
The 6 Key Concepts
When working through the Pilates Mat, keep these six key concepts in mind ~Centering
In Pilates we focus on working the body from its center, we call this center the Powerhouse. The Powerhouse is the band of muscles around your middle. In the beginning, the most important muscles to think about are your abdominal muscles.
When you perform each exercise try to ensure that you are engaging your Powerhouse strongly and using those muscles to balance and to drive your movements. Always think about strongly pulling your abdominal muscles in towards your spine.Concentration
It is a vital aspect of Pilates that you concentrate on what you are doing. Take a deep breath and bring your focus into your body before you start moving and keep your focus on what you are doing throughout the whole session.
It is important that you keep your mind alert when you work your body. You will only be able to correct bad habits if you exercise "mindfully".
Control
To achieve quality results in your workouts you must exercise with control. Pay attention to ALL your movements. Bring your body into and out of each exercise with control. Working this way will build grace in your movements and engage the mind.
Precision
Be very particular about each movement. Ensure that during each exercise your body is in a position because you have DECIDED to place it there. The height and angle you hold your legs, the placements of your shoulders, arms and hands, and your head position are important and should all be precise.
Breath
Your breathing should compliment your movements. Make sure you take deep full breathes and feel how your breathing helps to move your body, control your heartbeat and improve your stamina.
Flow
When you start to become familiar enough with the exercises and can remember the sequence yourself, you should start moving from one exercise to the next without stopping.
The workout will take on a consistent pace as one exercise flows into the next. Working with flow will also help improve your co-ordination, timing and stamina. (Text Courtesy of PMA)
Most important ~ Relax and Enjoy! | |
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