It's not like you are thinking to yourself: “Thank goodness I practiced The Hundred,” every time you are carrying your groceries home and putting them away. :)
But you may notice that carrying the bags feels easier, that reaching up to put something on a shelf takes less effort, or that bending down and getting back up doesn't require quite as much thought as it once did.
That is where the benefits of the method often reveal themselves.
After all, the purpose of practicing Pilates is not simply to become better at Pilates exercises. We practice these exercises to develop better movement habits and the strength, mobility, balance, coordination, and control that help us move well through everyday life.
So how do you know if your Pilates practice is helping you?
Because some of the best evidence that Pilates is working actually shows up outside the studio.
I love when my Pilates enthusiast comes in and tells me about something they did over the weekend, something they hadn't done in years, or perhaps had never done before,and then adds, almost surprised, “And it was easy!”
That is one of my favorite things to hear.
Pilates has a way of sneaking up on you like that, doesn't it?
You practice for a while, and somewhere along the way you realize that reaching for something on the top shelf is easier. Turning to look behind you doesn't require quite as much effort as it did in the past. You can carry something while walking without your back complaining. You travel and realize you walked all day, carried your bags, climbed stairs, and put your suitcase into the overhead compartment. And your body handled it. :)
None of those physical activities requires one particular Pilates exercise.
Reaching overhead demands of you to have mobile, well-organized shoulders, lengthen through the trunk, spinal mobility, and balance.
Turning to look behind you requires rotation through the spine, mobility in the neck and hips, and the ability to adjust your balance.
Carrying something while walking asks for coordination, balance, leg strength, mobile hips, knees, and ankles, and enough abdominal and back strength to support your trunk while the whole body is in motion.
And traveling? Well, traveling has a way of asking for all of it at once.
This is why Pilates exercises include bending the spine forward, backward, to the side, and into rotation. Sometimes we even combine these movements, as in Saw or Short Box Twist and Reach. We move the hips in their sockets, bend and straighten the knees and ankles, and work the feet, legs, abdominals, back, shoulders, arms, wrists, and hands.
No single Pilates exercise prepares you for life. The method does.
Over time, all those individual movement skills begin to work together more naturally.
That is the gift of Pilates.
It is why I often describe Pilates as a base layer for life. You put in the work during your practice, but the real benefit often reveals itself later, when life asks something of your body and, without much "to do", your body says:
Okay. I can do that. :)
Pilates begins to affect how well you move through life.
So when I say that Pilates is a way of life, I don't mean that we should spend our lives thinking about Pilates exercises. Quite the opposite. :)
Practicing the method gives us physical tools we can carry forward: the strength, mobility, balance, coordination, and control that help us remain capable as we get older. In that way, Pilates can change the trajectory of how we age, helping us hold on to some of the physical freedom and youthfulness we so easily take for granted when we are younger.
We don't practice Pilates so that we can spend our lives doing Pilates. We practice Pilates so that we can keep doing everything else we want to do.
To Your Health!
Joanna
P.S. Perhaps what I’ve written here gives you a new way of thinking about Pilates. Or perhaps you already know this because you practice Pilates and experience its benefits in your everyday life.
If so, think of someone else you know who might benefit from this perspective on movement. Maybe it’s someone you’ve been encouraging to try Pilates, but it just hasn’t clicked for them yet.
Forward them this newsletter. Perhaps this will be the explanation that does...
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What have you always wanted to ask a Pilates teacher? Hit reply and ask me. There are no questions too basic. I may use yours as the starting point for a future newsletter.:)
Keep exploring
We have expanded our website with a new Exercise Library. There, you will find detailed guidance on some of the most misunderstood, misinterpreted, and difficult-to-learn—and teach—Pilates exercises.
You can read my past newsletters here.
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