Skip to main content

Pilates key principles: Flow

 This is the point where we take everything we have learned over the past 5 months and combine it together. 

Breath: The fuel for your power house Pilates key principles: Breathing

Concentration: Connecting your mind and your body Pilates key principles: Concentration

Centre: Your core, connecting to it and letting it power your movement Pilates key principles: Centre

Control: Using the exact alignment, avoiding excess tension, isolating muscles and Pilates key principles: Control

Precision: The exact way the action is executed. Pilates key principles: Precision

We then add Flow so that the movement can flow smoothly and gracefully. 

Combining all these essential elements into my Pilates practice is something that I am still working on.  I'm not sure I will ever hit the perfection target.  It is really important that everyone knows that their best is good enough.  However Pilates is bigger than turning up and waving your limbs around by copying the person next to you.  If you can, try in your next lesson to focus on one of the key principles.  Really build it into every movement.   In each lesson add another element, until you feel the deep connection from your core into every movement you make in a class. 

By adding these principles into your practice you will find that a simple exercise increases in difficulty.  Your core will strengthen, improving your ability to bring flow into your practice. 

See you in class

Katie 


 


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Pilates key principles: Concentration

 In a world of attention grabbing, Pilates is a 55 minute window of calm.  As a teacher of small group and solo Pilates I can tell if my clients are having a busy mind day. When the mind is elsewhere, movements are not as exact and clients ability to complete a challenging move is compromised.  It is OK to have a busy mind, we are not robots, however letting go of your thoughts and concentrating on the movements your body is making will help your Pilate practice to develop.  These are my top tips for concentration: 1) Be present, use the repetitive nature of the warm up to connect with every part of your body.  Try to visualize each part of your body, be selfish and only focus on yourself.  2) Pay attention to the alignment of your body.  The beautiful line from your toe, through your ankle, knee and then into your hip.  Maintaining correct alignment will increase the difficulty of an exercise.  Why not challenge yourself to completing level ...

Pilates key principles: Centre

In Pilates your Centre refers to the core of you body and the body's Centre of gravity. For anyone who may have forgotten what exactly makes up the core, please read  Your core muscles are like a tin can .  When thinking about the body's Centre of gravity.  This is an imaginary point where the body's weight is equally balanced, and around this point the body may rotate freely.  As we are all individually built, our Centre of gravity is unique to us.   You will find the the Centre of gravity for a man is slightly higher than for a woman.  Lets think about completing the perfect roll down:  Starting sat up, knees bent to ceiling, legs and feet hip width apart on the floor. You squeeze your core, roll your pubic bone towards the ceiling and your back pockets start to come closer to the mat.  You place your back pockets, then your waist band, each of your ribs and finally your shoulders and head onto the mat in a controlled sequence, keeping your...

My Pilates Body 2022

Throughout 2022 I will be spending a few moments each week and in every Pilates class I teach focusing on a particular part of the body.  Teaching exercises to strengthen, discussing functional aspects and why its good to exercise that particular part. My hope is that once clients understand how a particular part of the body works, they can enhance their Pilates practice.  Less copying an instructor and more really connecting and feeling your muscles work.  Taking the time to focus on yourself and how you feel today. The plan as it stands today look like: January  - Really find your core muscles (and exclude your bottom) February - Care for your feet and ankles (don't undervalue them) March - Hip and hip flexors (fun with rollers and other small equipment) April - Glutes, min, med and max (could one of your bum muscles be weak?) May - Abs (oh, no!) June - Obliques (oh, yes!) July - Spin, rotate, articulate and extend your spine August - Quads and knees (how do they c...