How Pilates can keep you sane during the holiday period

This time of year is just plain busy. Lots of frantically rushing around to those extra social and work-related functions, dealing with busy shopping centres, clogged roads, family functions, eating, drinking and various other forms of seasonal merriment.

Pilates can be a truly grounding and centreing practice that really brings us back in tune with our bodies. As we bring awareness to our breath, our posture and our inner core we feel a renewed connection with ourselves. This can translate into reduced overwhelm, better connections with others and a sense of calm at an otherwise disconnected time of year.

My best tips for using Pilates to survive the silly season are:

1. Continue with your regular practice of Pilates as much as possible. Try to schedule it in and if you need to miss a practice session, make it up as soon as practical.
2. Practice your Pilates breathing throughout the day - in the shower, while doing the washing up or even first thing in the morning (before your check your email). Use red lights as a reminder to engage your deep core muscles. Squeeze your glutes when you're brushing your teeth. Align your posture and roll your shoulders open when sitting in your car seat or office chair.
3. Use breath as a mindfulness tool. If tempted by another luscious dessert or exotic holiday beverage, take a couple deep breaths and connect with whether you really want to indulge or are simply unconsciously reacting to an offer.
4. Don't wait for the New Year to practice healthy habits. The time is now, the present, to gift yourself the joy of feeling truly connected to your body.
5. Help yourself survive exhaustion by staying organised and planning ahead - calmly. Minimise last minute rushing to the shops by keep a few simple generic gifts and entertaining supplies on hand. Plan you meals and utilise leftovers for weekly lunches and simple dinners. Utilise the plethora of resources on the internet to help you have a grounded and relaxing time with family and friends. Ask for help when you need it - especially from your immediate family. Let go of time-consuming traditions that no longer serve you and create new ones that are relaxing and inclusive for your whole family.

I wish you and your family all the best for this upcoming season, whether you celebrate it or not. It is a wonderful time to connect with those important to you and reflect on the past year and the one to come.

Until next time

Natasha

"But why?" Wednesdays - the importance of breath

Breath is a fundamental principle of Pilates. Through breath we enhance each exercise, activating dep abdominal function, supporting lengthened muscle contraction and adding dynamic energy to movements.

I have heard some Pilates instructors who don't cue breathing...at all...

Without breathing, linked to each movement, it isn't really Pilates.

On the flip side, new participants often get consumed worrying whether they're breathing correctly. They put so much emphasis on when to inhale and when to exhale they feel completely overwhelmed by their efforts to correctly execute the exercise.

Here are my general rules for breath:

1) Generally, we exhale with the effort. This is not always the case, but a good rule to revert to if you are one of those people who find yourself holding your breath.

2) Breathe as deeply as possible. If you have a large lung capacity, don't feel pressured into breathing more shallowly to keep time with the rest of the class. I find this particularly applies for men who can often breath much more deeply.

3) Connect your exhale breath with your deep corset activation. Each exhale is an opportunity to reconnect with your pelvic floor, to engage your transverse abdominus and feel your waistline narrowing. This will give you stability and also a better abdominal workout.

4) Spend some time opening up the thoracic  area of the spine, especially the space between the ribcage. We spend most of our day breathing shallowly - it might take some very conscious efforts and some good stretching to really open up the space to engage a good, deep lung breathing pattern.

5) Use breath to help you go a bit further with your range of movement. If you're still breathing in, try to reach that little bit further. If you're still exhaling, really release into that stretch. Tie movement and breath together and keep challenging yourself.  Deeper, longer, flowing.

Above all, keep breathing. Don't hold your breath. If you find yourself holding your breath you are missing an opportunity to get the most out of your Pilates practice.

I hope this post has inspired you to pay attention to you breath as you practice.

Until next time...

Wednesday's "but why"? - the benefit of Pilates over other types of exercise

There is a lot of research out there promoting the "ideal" type of exercise for health, well being and fat-loss. Current trends promote things like high intensity interval training, walking, cross fit, yoga and strength training as the most valuable investment of your time.

I believe you know best what activities work best for you to improve your health, manage your weight and leave you feeling good about yourself. Our modern world is full of distractions, stresses and chaos. Each one of us is looking for a personal state of peace and tranquillity to help us make sense of everything that is going on in our lives. When searching for inner balance we might first think of popular self improvement techniques like meditation, simplifying, affirmations, etc, but we rarely consider exercise as a viable tool to help us balance our lives

It depends what your goals are, but have you thought about what Pilates might offer for your mental and emotional well-being? This post is all about "why" we might choose Pilates over or before other types of activities.

Pilates, like other mind-body regimes integrates conscious control of the physical self. If you are doing Pilates correctly, you cannot be planning what you're making for dinner or something that happened last weekend. You are required to focus, be present "in the moment" and execute a physical movement with control, breath and inner core control.

Pilates can uplift the mind and soul through

• Increasing your sense of mastery, which can help if you don't feel in control of your life or mood 
• Releasing muscle tension through stretching and mobilising 
• Boosting feel-good endorphins. 
• Helping you sleep better at night having expended energy 
• Providing a distraction from your worries. 
• Getting rid of built-up stress and frustration. 
• Improving your health and body, which can help lift your mood 

Research has also found that Pilates might event make you smarter. A group of researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign reported in the Journal of Physical Activity & Health that people have significantly superior brain function after a mindful movement practice like Pilates or Yoga compared to aerobic exercise.

Pilates could even help you train your nervous system. Every time we move we use several specific areas of our brain, sending impulses through the spinal cord to muscle fibres.

When you learn to voluntary engage certain muscles (like deep core activation in Pilates) you fire a movement chain that might have been asleep for a long time. A healthy nervous system means better communication between your brain and other parts of your body as well as the release of stress-fighting and mood-boosting hormones.

Pilates is great for relieving stress tension in the body. In a stressful situation our body is ready to move at its peak performance, but in most modern-day scenarios we can’t run away when stuck in a traffic jam and can’t pick a fight with our boss.

Pilates relieves tension built up in the muscles through gentle stretching and gradual conditioning. Fascial release techniques that many Pilates instructors use today will help you loosen tight muscles that are not responsive to passive stretching. When you get stress out of your body, you also get it out of your mind.

A body free from nervous tension and fatigue is the ideal shelter provided by nature for housing a well balanced mind, fully capable of successfully meeting all the complex problems of modern living. - Joseph Pilates

Pilates helps you control your emotions. As you learn to control your breath you can feel empowered to use that conscious breathing into stressful times in your daily life.

If you enjoy Pilates you are improving your happiness which has a massive carry-over to other aspects of your life. Joseph Pilates believed that "physical fitness is the first requisite of happiness".

Through Pilates you may also become more confident, as you learn new skills while working with the unique limitations of your own body. You will learn to accept you may not have the longest hamstrings,allowing you to stretch your legs further than your peers, but you might find yourself appreciating your shoulder stability as you plough through a plank sequence. Posture has also been linked to confidence levels and you can give yourself a quick self-esteem boost just by sitting up straight.

I hope these thoughts have encouraged you to consider Pilates a valuable use of your time, investing in yourself and your well-being. I hope this also motivates you in class to give each movement your 100% effort, knowing you are reaping the benefits through body, mind and soul.


Until next time,


-Natasha

Wednesday's "But why?" post - Pilates thread the needle

Twisting and rotating is one of the most common movements that can put your neck or back out. Our modern sedentary lifestyle doesn't require a large range of rotation as it once did. When we find ourselves having to twist a little further than normal it can lead to uncomfortable muscle strains.

The Pilates thread the needle exercise, performed in the all fours position, is a wonderful rotational stretch that I like to include in almost every Pilates session. Most people find it quite challenging as they consider their mobility restricted through a tight chest and immobile neck. With correct execution, including focus on breath, this exercise can do wonders to release tension and enhance range of movement. 

There are lots of ways to "cheat" through this exercise, so pay attention to your form. Here are some tips:

• Balance your bodyweight equally over your hands and knees throughout the exercise. 
• Engage your core and keep your hips over your knees. 
• Follow your hand with your gaze and truly turn your head to complete a full twist of the spine.
• Try not to hold your breath at any point and make sure you exhale fully.

Here is my version of Pilates "thread the needle"

Prepare: Start in all fours position (hands and knees). If you have sensitive wrists you can use a fist position or slightly elevate the palms (I like to use the edge of the mat, slightly rolled up). Make sure you align your hands directly under your shoulders and your knees under your hips. Ensure your pelvis is neutral (natural curve through the lower back) and maintain a slight engagement of your pelvic floor/inner corset.

Inhale as you reach one arm up to the ceiling (or beyond). Spiral the whole torso, but drill your knees into the floor to keep your pelvis from shifting over one knee.

Exhale as you "thread" the same arm between the opposite arm and knee.

Come right down to the floor, resting the back of the shoulder on the ground and reaching the arm through as far as possible. Rotate your head to look past your shoulder to the ceiling. The supporting arm is bent and the palm is pressing into the floor to add additional rotation.

Inhale as you reach the same arm back up towards the ceiling.

Exhale as you return to your all fours starting position. Don't use this as a rest, consider it an opportunity to reset your excellent posture: stable shoulders, neutral pelvic, lengthened neck and engaged deep corset muscles.

Repeat with the other arm.

Do at least three full sets, trying to increase your range of movement with each set.