Prop Time: Go to your dining room!
Ready to enhance/improve/challenge your Pilates mat practice with something from your dining room? Grab a chair. A dining room chair, or a folding chair. No wheels, and no arm rests. Also, grab a yoga mat or a Silpat (nonstick baking mat) to place your chair on top of so it doesn’t move. I want you to move, not the chair!
I’ve recently introduced a Chair, like one you have sitting in your dining room, or a folding chair. Good if you have limited mobility. It can help challenge your core balance, and improve your posture and strength.
Yes, believe it or not, you can do quite a bit of the Pilates mat repertoire on the chair. Even rolling like a ball, sit squats, elevated push-ups, how about elevated shoulder bridges. So many party tricks! Dazzle friends and family on your next Zoom call!
Now, here’s the thing about props. They can be tools to teach, or crutches to be dependent on. Of course, we only want these as tools. So, try a couple of reps with props, and then a couple more reps without, and see if you can do the exercises with the right connections that you learned from the prop.
These props give your body and mind feedback to see where you are connected or disconnected. I mean, let’s be real – our body parts may not fully know how to engage and stay engaged during an exercise. So, let’s take some help until our body learns how to do this without props. On the flip side of this, if you tell me you’ve got this, then these props can also add a challenge (read: get you stronger!) to your Pilates mat practice.
A final word on props in general. The props allow you to explore, discover, investigate what is missing in your practice, what you need more of or less of in your practice, and to help you find that connection when you don’t have a prop.
No chair; no problem! I’ve come up with a home substitute. Home substitute: You can make do with a mix of a couch/sofa and an ottoman/coffee table.
Don’t wait for IRL workouts. Come out of lockdown/quarantine stronger than ever! Besides, online is so much fun! And it’s so nice we still get to see each other. Remember what you can from our classes together, and you can practice on your own during the rest of the week.
Join me in a Wed mat + prop class. Check the schedule for the next one with a chair. Come with yours!