Pilates: you’re worth it.
I’m noticing more people are now being told to do Pilates by health professionals. Which is fantastic as quite frankly I think everyone should be practising Pilates. In an age where self care is all the rage, Pilates is the epitome of this. It is a way to look after your body in a loving way. Yes you will work and maybe even “glow” but the emphasis is on quality of movement and connecting with how your body works.
Now you don’t need an anatomy degree to come to a class but having an awareness about your movement will be beneficial. If you don’t have one yet then after a few classes you certainly will be starting to.
Taking time out of your week to lie down, breath, focus on your muscles and then move is the perfect antidote to a hectic lifestyle. It can calm your nervous system whilst working the whole body. People come into a class stressed out and leave in the opposite mood.
We only have one body and it’s key to keep it functioning as well as possible. Pilates can help lubricate stiff joints, stretch the body out after a days work or a bad nights sleep and works muscle groups to keep them healthy. With parts of our body it is certainly “use it or lose it”. Some of the best Pilates moments I have with people is when they can do movements they had not been able to do for some time, such as touch their toes or get down to the mat and up again unaided.
Then as you delve deeper Pilates just keeps giving. 10 years on and I still feel like I’m learning and re-learning the exercises and technique. Now that either means I was awful to start with (quite possibly) or my body has changed over the years (3 babies and 10 years of ageing) so I have to keep adapting and learning. I’ll let you decide which!
So I see Pilates as part of the way I keep taking care of my body. What are you doing for your body this week?