What does embodiment have to do with Pilates? Pilates is about reclaiming your health and your body, and rediscovering the joy of movement again.  The freedom of movement and being pain free is everyone's right. Many of us have lost touch with our bodies, either because of our busy lifestyles or because of the pain, trauma or disconnect we may feel in our bodies. It is this act of embodiment, to become whole again, which is why Pilates really works.  It is a system when taught by a trained professional, that enables you, the client, to truly heal yourself. It is a movement system that allows one to find new pathways of movement, out of pain, and into a body standing within it's own strength and balance from within.

Pilates is a system designed to enhance, and create more dynamic and freer movement in your body.  It is about core strength, breath, focus, fluidity of movement, spaciousness, and the connection between mind and body.  It's about opening and releasing, and discovering the realization of the endless possibilities in movement.  Pilates is about balance on many levels. It is about finding the continuous balance of ease and effort, muscle and joint, stability and mobility, movement and stillness, doing and undoing.

That being said, what is Pilates? Pilates is a movement system that puts emphasis on breathing and alignment, while developing a strong core or center, while improving coordination and balance.  The system includes thousands of exercises, which can be modified in range of difficulty from beginning to advanced.  The intensity of one's individual Pilates work, will gradually increase over time, and the workout is forever changing, so one never gets bored, and one's body is consistently growing and developing a bigger movement vocabulary.  This work supports all walks of life, some people get into Pilates from a back injury, and continue doing Pilates because of all the great benefits of the sessions.  Others come into Pilates just to age more gracefully, and Pilates is a great way to move and exercise your joints without injuring oneself. However one enters into the work of Pilates, the rewards are endless, and many if not all of Pilates clients talk about their sessions in a way that is so much more and beyond just "exercise".  It is an hour developing a strong mind body connection, and getting a full body tune-up.

Pilates work includes many things, strength training on the Pilates equipment is a big part of the work.  The equipment allows one to do things that one's body could not yet do on it's own.  In this way, one's body really can learn new things, even things that may scare us or things we thought we could never do.  The Pilates equipment uses springs, which adds resistance or can add support or ease as well.  The resistance or springs allow one's body to feel ease in movement in things that maybe feel hard to us, they also allow ones body to feel the fluidity in one's joints and movement, which allows our bodies to stay supple and strong at the same time.

The work also includes matwork, where just the body itself is used, and many added balance props can be used, like physioballs, foam rollers, yoga blocks, and so on. Pilates also includes, deep stretching, body rolling and myofascial release work.  

While doing Pilates, you will be asked to bring awareness to various parts of your body while focussing on movement in that area with precision and control. While doing that this part of your body becomes alive and awakened, and you will learn the proper mechanics and muscles needed to work in order to keep this area working as it should. One way that we do this in Pilates is balancing out the work between the deeper more intrinsic muscles of the body with the  sometimes overpowering strength of the bigger superficial muscles. We look to find a way to strengthen without gripping in the muscles. We are trying to not aggravate the nerves, muscles and joints, but we are trying to find a way to move with a very grounded awareness and sense of what is going on with our bodies. As we begin to be more present with our bodies, we really make the exercises and the work our very own.

All of this together makes up a session of Pilates, as the hour session is custom designed for you, the client. As you start to unwind and release old habits, and movement patterns that no longer are serving you, you will be delighted to find the joy of movement again!

Pilates can be designed for any and every body, from the professional athlete, to the injured or rehabilitating.  Pilates not just brings your system back into wholeness, but treats your body as a whole.  Pilates is great for back pain, strength conditioning, joint and nerve pain, disc issues, instability issues, pre and post surgery, knee pain, frozen shoulder, rotator cuff tears, pre and postnatal, stress, fibromyalgia, headaches, scoliosis, sciatica, spondylosis, spinal stenosis, hip and knee replacements....The list goes on and on.  Pilates is good for everything.  Call today to set up a private session, and start moving again.