Pilates Connections
Pierce, Rod. (7 Feb 2020). “Asymptote”. Math Is Fun. Retrieved 22 Jan 2022 from http://www.mathsisfun.com/algebra/asymptote.html
Anyone notice I didn’t start with a quote in this blog? Here’s why. I hear from clients how it’s been X years they’ve been practicing Pilates, and they haven’t perfected an exercise, and when is it going to happen. Honest answer? Never. Let me remind you that Pilates is something you practice, not perfect. As a teacher, I’m not looking for perfection, I’m looking for “Is there an improvement?”, “Is there progress?”, “Are all the connections on?”.
I learned asymptotes in geometry class many moons ago. Let’s look at the image above. Don’t worry, it’s not a math lesson. I won’t bore you. I want to point out that the distance between the asymptote and the curve from any side goes to infinity. This is the Pilates practice, and this is why there is no perfect in Pilates. You just get closer and closer to the ideal, but the ideal will not be attained. And while we’re at it, let’s forget about ideal because that sounds scary to me (you too?), and think about the exercises in terms of the full expression.
Whew – isn’t that just a load off your mind, right? Let’s just leave perfect behind and forget about it. When you think about the human body, and slice and dice it in halves in a number of ways, the two halves will never be equal. The upper body and the lower body. The left side and the right side. And quite possibly the hardest is the front of you and the back of you. What’s going on back there anyway? Besides, who’s to say something is perfect? And who’s to say they’re right?
Let’s just make sure we’re connected when we practice Pilates. Trust me; this is way more fun to talk about. Start with the pieces that connect to the trunk of the body – the arms, the legs, and the head. The arms connect to your back. The legs connect to your center. The head is the top part of your spine.
Let’s start with the arms. Easy to move your arms from your shoulders. Harder to move your arms from your back. Grab a Magic Circle, a squishy ball, or a cushion and give this a try. Sit comfortably, and press into the prop of your choice through the heel of your hand with a long wrist. Elbows will have a small bend so you can’t do it from your elbows or wrists. Place your other hand in your armpit. Now press into the prop. Do you feel the muscle in the back of your armpit turn on and off? If you don’t, stay here and keep practicing. If you do, move your hand to the middle of your ribcage, around the side and back. Do you feel your arm connect to this point in your ribcage as you press into the prop and release? If you answered no, stay here and keep practicing. If you do, move your hand down to the lowest rib around the side and back of your ribcage. Do you feel connected here as you press into the prop and release? The challenge is to feel your back muscles turn on and off from the lowest rib on your back. Switch sides and repeat.
Moving on to the legs. Let’s start with what I mean when I say center, which is all the muscles from your armpits to your abdominals to your thutts (“the butt below the butt”), including inner thighs. That’s a lot of muscles working to move your legs either lifting or lowering, or holding them still before moving them again. Easy to move your legs from your primary muscles (quads and hip flexors) and joints (knees and ankles). Harder to move your legs from your center – deep abdominal muscles, and thutts, where your thighs meet your butt to come up with thutts. FYI – for me, thutts was inspired by Bennifer 1.0. Who here remembers that time? Grab a Magic Circle, a squishy ball, or a cushion and give this a try before practicing your mat exercises. The back of the heel will be on your prop. You can sit or lay on your back. Knees will have a small bend. Place your hand at your thutt. It’s from this place that your leg presses into the prop. You’ll feel wrinkles in your leggings. Hopefully, you can feel this connection in your thutts, and deep abdominal muscles in the lowest part of your belly. Switch sides and repeat.
Finally, the head is at the top of your spine. And let’s just get the word out now. Hear ye, hear ye! Your neck is part of your spine. Your neck is part of your spine. One more time for the back row – Your neck is part of your spine. What do I mean by this? To lift your head up off the mat whether it’s a round shape like the hundred (or an arch shape like swan), you have curl up (or bend up) from the middle of your ribcage TO lift the head, chest, and shoulders off the mat (or up from the mat). This is important – so important – you have to move from the middle of your ribcage to lift the head, which means your upper abdominal muscles have to connect. Easy to be a bobble head. Harder to bend forward or backwards from the middle of the ribcage TO lift and lower the head, chest, and shoulders. The safest way to move the head is by engaging the upper abdominals so you don’t experience neck strain/stress/tenseness. Grab a Magic Circle, or a squishy ball, and give this a try in some of your mat exercises. Start laying down. With a Magic Circle, place your head through the circle, and have one pad behind the bump of your head. Two hands to the pad above your forehead. Push your hands into the Circle, and push your head back. Keep that tension in the Circle, and now curl up. The only way that will happen is in your upper abs which are located in your lowest ribs. You’ll notice no neck tension in this curl up. Don’t have a Magic Circle? If you have a squishy ball, place it behind your head. You’ll notice you’re probably chin to throat, which doesn’t feel great. Now place the squishy ball between the shoulder blades. You’ll notice you’re curled up from the right spot. No fatigue in the neck. The head is at the top of the spine, and the spine has to bend closer to your center so you can find the 5 spine shapes: round, arch, side bend, twist, and tall.
If you don’t feel these connections, don’t be discouraged. It takes time and practice to make progress. Join any of my Wed night classes where we incorporate any of these props I mentioned, and more, to our mat practice. It can be a tool to help you feel connections, or it can be a challenge to your mat practice. You won’t know until you try!