Feel better in the new year with Pilates.
Happy new year! The start of a new year always fills me with endless possibilities, new intentions for healthier habits and changes in routine. Unfortunately as January meanders on I am usually brought back to earth and the reality of what is actually possible sets in, but for now, let keep the momentum of the dreams becoming a reality! And Pilates is always one of those dream habits.
So how does this relate to Pilates? Often, movement goals are associated with this time of the year. For all of us in the Northern Hemisphere, we have less than ideal weather that keeps us inside, we are coming off a month of joyous celebrations centered around food that maybe good for our souls, but less ideal for our health, and the combo of the two makes us feel like a few things in our life need to be tweaked to feel like our best selves again. Personally I feel a little puffy and sluggish. That is where Pilates comes in. Feel better in the new year with Pilates.
Gone are my days of hard core resolutions, as I get older, the more realistic I like to be when it comes to movement. This approach has extended the momentum of keeping true to my intention of moving more at the beginning of the year and Pilates is central in that movement routine. It has the ability to adapt to whatever you need and meet you wherever you’re at in your movement journey. The thing I love about Pilates, is that it truly is for everybody. Woman, man, young, less-young, fit, or less fit. The guiding principles of Pilates can benefit you no matter where you are at.
Why Pilates?
What are the principles of Pilates? Just like every movement philosophy or modality, Pilates has a set of guiding principles. The main gist is to strengthen from the center out with a focus on breathing and alignment to help recruit the core to facilitate movement. To dive a little deeper, here are some principles broken down.
- Using your breath to facilitate movement, to quote Joseph Pilates “Breathing is the first act of life and the last. Our very life depends on it.”
- Axial elongation & core control: Which basically means putting the body in its optimal position to increase available degrees of freedom & efficiency of movement.
- Spine articulation: one of Joseph Pilates most famous quotes is “If your spine is inflexibly stiff at 30, you are old; if it is completely flexible at 60, you are young.”
- Organizing the head, neck & shoulder, which affects the quality and efficiency of movement.
- Alignment & weight bearing of the extremities.
- And then integrating all those principles into the many planes of movement.
So how does this all relate to new year’s intentions or habits you want to adopt in the new year. Pilates is a great way to ease into incorporating new habits little by little that can be introduced in the Pilates studio and trickle out into your everyday life, follow you around like a good habit all year long.
How my Pilates habit helps me throughout the year
Places where I see Pilates show up in my everyday life:
- How I breathe when I’m doing a hard or frustrating task.
- Using better form to pick up heavy things or move heavy object.
- Standing taller, with more confidence.
- Using my breath to help me when I’m hiking or biking up a steep hill.
- Calming my nerves with my breath when I’m in a frustrating or annoying situation.
- Less back and hip pain.
- The list is honestly endless
If any of this sounds like something you would like to explore, give me a shout to work with me in the Port Angeles studio or virtually around the world.
Have a wonderful day! Week! Year!
Ciao ciao for now.
Jonna
