Last week, we talked about what happens when your mind becomes fully involved in moving your body.
But Joseph Pilates didn't stop at body and mind.
He included one more aspect.
Spirit.
He wrote that Contrology:
“...invigorates the mind and elevates the spirit.”
But what does it mean to elevate the spirit?
Here is what I have observed through years of teaching and what I experience in my own practice.
A client may arrive for a lesson distracted, possibly upset about something that happened earlier in the day.
Sometimes they even tell me they don't think they will be able to focus on the lesson that day. They worry that they will waste their time because they can't stop thinking about whatever is upsetting them.
When that happens, I tell them to give themselves time.
They don't have to walk into the studio already calm and focused.
They just have to begin moving.
And then I see the shift.
Sometimes it happens within 15 minutes. Sometimes it takes 45.
But I have watched it happen many times. :)
As the lesson progresses and Pilates gradually demands their attention, little by little, the outside distractions begin to lose their hold.
The client becomes absorbed in the work, and by the end of the lesson, something in their overall state has changed.
And then I hear: “I feel better.”
Of course, they may mean just physically, because their muscles may feel looser, their joints may feel more mobile, and their posture more organized.
But I know that is not always all they mean.
They often seem more centered and mentally refreshed.
Their body feels different. Their mind feels different. And they feel different.
That, to me, is where the spirit part of practicing Pilates begins to make sense.
And I don't only observe this change in my clients. I experience it myself. :)
When I begin my own Pilates workout, I don't always begin in an ideal state either.
I may be thinking about work, something I need to accomplish, or a problem I have not solved.
But once I start moving, the same process begins to happen.
The movements require my attention.
After a while, I am no longer occupied by everything that was on my mind before I began.
I am simply involved in the practice.
And when I finish, my body feels different. My mind feels different. And I feel different.
More centered and mentally refreshed.
Perhaps that is one way to understand what Joseph Pilates meant when he wrote that the method “elevates the spirit.”
He also described physical fitness as:
“...a coordinated and balanced tripart unity of body, mind, and spirit.”
I think those three parts work together.
The body is challenged through movement.
The mind participates in the movement through awareness and concentration.
And the spirit, as I experience it, is reflected in the change that can happen to our overall state when the two work together.
So the next time you practice Pilates, notice how you feel and what state of mind you are bringing into the workout.
Because when your mind becomes fully occupied with how your body is moving, something interesting can happen:
For a while, the outside world fades into the background. The noise you brought into the workout begins to quiet down. Everything else has to wait. And perhaps that is the transformation Joseph Pilates was describing. :)
Your body feels different. Your mind feels different.
And very possibly, you feel different.
To Your Health!
Joanna
Keep Moving
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Experience the rhythm of the practice.
There is another part of Pilates that I believe can help settle us: its order and rhythm.
When you practice a familiar sequence, you begin to know what comes next. The exercises and transitions become predictable, a cadence develops, and you can become more fully absorbed in the movement.
That experience may be another way Pilates helps quiet the outside noise, and ultimately, “elevate the spirit.”
My free How I Teach Reformer series takes you through the first 15 Reformer exercises in sequence so you can begin to experience that rhythm for yourself.
Practice the Reformer series here
Keep Exploring
- Browse my past newsletters for more Pilates goodness.
- Follow-along these videos if you are in need of a stretch.
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