Pilates - A Way of Life

At PATS PILATES we love to educate our clients which is one of the reasons we work with specific aims each month in class. It allows us to pass on our knowledge about your amazing bodies in order for you to incorporate Pilates in your day to day living.

We believe Pilates is a way of life, a way to enhance your lifestyle and support your daily activities. Therefore it is important that you take what you have learnt on the mat, off the mat.

One of the benefits of Pilates is improved posture. When good alignment is achieved, breathing is easier, blood flow is better, muscles don’t overstretch or overwork, and movement is easier.

Pilates is much more than an exercise method, it allows us to connect the mind and body by following the 8 Principles of Pilates:

Concentration

With so many distractions in this modern world it is difficult to maintain conscious concentration. Pilates makes you think about the way you move, each movement is a conscious act controlled by the mind. Concentrating on how your body moves helps you to engage correct muscles to support the action taking place.

Breathe

Breathing the Pilates way is to be able to breathe wide, deep and full into your back front and sides of the lungs. The breath nourishes the body with fresh oxygen and gets rid of stale toxic air. Each Pilates exercise, movement is propelled by breath. The breath leads the way.

Utilising the breath in all situations can help you to centre, concentrate, calm the nervous system and manage stress.

Centring

A strong centre is important to maintaining good control and balance in the body as a whole. It provides protection for the lower back and assists in supporting slow and fast movements of the body. Therefore being conscious of your centre sets you in good stead for everyday activities from sitting at your desk, to picking up heavy shopping bags or lifting weights at the gym.

Control

Slow, smooth and controlled movements are the key to Pilates. This develops physical and mental control. The Pilates Method teaches you to be in control of your body.

Precision

Each movement and the whole sequence of movements are performed precisely. For safe and effective results, the goal is for this precision to become second nature in your daily life. The idea of precision in your daily life helps to increase awareness of making adjustments or improvements - this is always a work in progress so be patient and don’t give up.

Flowing Movements

Pilates is about natural, fluid stable, movements and these goals applied to all exercises. Pilates is a continuous cycle of movements each flowing smoothly and unhurriedly into the next. No energy is wasted because movements are performed with efficiency. There is no stopping to rest, so you do have to pace yourself without losing attention to detail. Think about how well your day flows. How well do your transitions between different parts of your day go? How could you pace yourself as if your day was one big Pilates session?

Isolation

Isolation is the mental exercise of identifying the feel of all your muscles. Isolation can help to increase flexibility, mobility, strengthen weaker muscles, release overworked muscles.

Routine

Pilates can improve physical and mental well-being, the more you practice the more improvement you see. Pilates can improve quality of movement which can lead to an improved quality of life.

By applying these principles to your daily life Pilates can help to prevent you from injuries, allow you to move with ease and breathe easily.

Pilates is for life!

Want to try it for yourself take a look at our Pilates Beginner Courses starting in January, more info here