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The Pilates Technique.
History
The name Pilates comes from it's founder, Joseph Pilates (pronounced Pi- LA -tees) born in Germany a century ago. A frail child, susceptible to rickets and asthma, Jo pilates went on to become an expert in exercise regimes in the pursuit of perfect health and fitness. He became an all round athlete - bodybuilder, boxer, gymnast and diver. During the period of WW1 however, he turned his attention towards reconditioning the wounded and disabled in hospitals.
Experimenting with springs on hospital beds, he started to devise a series of rehabilitative exercises that worked the whole body. These exercises were to become the fundamentals of the Pilates technique.
After the war he and his wife Clara, a nurse, moved to New York and the first studio was born. For a long time Pilates was kept as a relatively unknown exercise technique practiced only by a select few: dancers and athletes in particular.(George Balanchine and Martha Graham were both devotees)
Since then the technique has progressed and there are now hundreds of Pilates variations.
In the past twenty years Pilates has seen a strong revival, now making it more universally popular amongst everyone, as well as gaining much respect and .acceptance in the medical, physiotherapy and rehabilitative fraternity.
A. White
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Joseph H. Pilates at age 57
Joe Pilates demonstrates use of his Gymnastic Apparatus
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What is Pilates?
Principles
Pilates claimed his method has a philosophical and theoretical foundation. He claims that his system is not merely a collection of exercises, but a method developed and refined over more than eighty years of use and observation.
Mind over matter
According to practitioners, the central aim of Pilates is to create a fusion of mind and body, so that without thinking about it the body will move with economy, grace, and balance. The end goal is to produce an attention-free union of mind and body. Practitioners believe in using one's body to the greatest advantage, making the most of its strengths, counteracting its weaknesses, and correcting its imbalances. The method requires that one constantly pay attention to one's body while doing the movements. Paying attention to movement is seen as so vital that it is considered more important than any other single aspect of the movements.
Breathing
Joseph Pilates believed in circulating the blood so that it could awaken all the cells in the body and carry away the wastes related to fatigue. For the blood to do its work properly, he maintained, it has to be charged with oxygen and purged of waste gases through proper breathing. By this standard, if you stop breathing during exercise, there is an error in your practice. Full and thorough inhalation and exhalation are purportedly a part of every Pilates exercise. Pilates saw forced exhalation as the key to full inhalation. “Squeeze out the lungs as you would wring a wet towel dry,” he is reputed to have said. Pilates breathing should be done with concentration, control, and precision. Proper and effective breathing, practitioners assert, not only oxygenates the muscles, but also reduces tension in the upper neck and shoulders. Pilates breathing is described as a posterior lateral breathing, meaning that the practitioner is instructed to breathe deep into the back and sides of his or her rib cage. When practitioners exhale, they are instructed to note the engagement of their deep abdominal and pelvic floor muscles and maintain this engagement as they inhale. Pilates attempts to properly coordinate this breathing practice with movement, including breathing instructions with every exercise. Joseph Pilates stated, “Even if you follow no other instructions, learn to breathe correctly.”
Centering
Pilates called the very large group of muscles in the center of the body – encompassing the abdomen, lower back, hips, and buttocks – the “powerhouse.” All energy for Pilates exercises is said to begin from the powerhouse and flow outward to the limbs. In other words, the Pilates technique asserts that physical energy exerted from the center should coordinate movements of the extremities. Pilates felt that it was important to build a strong powerhouse in order to rely on it in daily living. Modern instructors call the powerhouse the “core”.
Concentration
Pilates demands intense focus. For instance, the inner thighs and pelvic floor may be assessed when doing a standing exercise that tones the triceps. Beginners are instructed to pay careful attention to their bodies, building on very small, delicate fundamental movements and controlled breathing. In 2006, at the Parkinson Center of the Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, Oregon, the concentration factor of the Pilates method was being studied in providing relief from the degenerative symptoms of Parkinson's Disease
Control
Joseph Pilates built his method on the idea of muscle control. To him, that meant no sloppy, uncontrolled movements. Practitioners are instructed to perform every exercise with the utmost control, including all body parts, to avoid injury and produce positive results. In Joseph Pilates' writings, he very frequently emphasizes not intensity or multiple repetitions of a movement, but proper form for safe, effective results.
Precision
Practitioners assert that every movement in the Pilates method has a purpose. Every instruction is considered vitally important to the success of the whole. To leave out any detail is believed to forsake the intrinsic value of the exercise. The focus is on doing one precise and perfect movement, rather than many halfhearted ones. The goal is for this precision to eventually become second nature, and carry over into everyday life as grace and economy of movement.
All this being said, a qualified Pilates instructor is expected to understand the technique well enough to adapt it to the real-world capabilities of his or her students. Students with physical disabilities, for example, should be given a Pilates regimen intended to improve their methods of physically compensating for their ailment.
Flow or efficiency of movement
Movement is expected to be kept continuous between exercises through the use of appropriate transitions. Once precision has been achieved, the exercises are intended to flow within and into each other in order to build strength and stamina.
Flexibility
A controlled experiment gives some support to claims that Pilates enhances flexibility.
Precautions
Pilates during pregnancy can be a highly valuable and beneficial form of exercise, but the use of Pilates in pregnancy should only be undertaken under guidance of a fully trained expert.
(Wikipedia, 2008)
Yoga
Ashtanga Yoga
"Work it out with Ashtanga."
Article by Monica Gauci, Ashtanga Yoga Instructor
www.8limbs.com
It's been called ‘Power Yoga’, ‘Aerobics with a meditative flair’, for those who like it hot’ and ‘the work-out that can change your life’. The real reasons this ancient, yet relatively new to the West, traditional style of yoga has taken the work-out and yoga scenes by storm are very logical and extremely profound.
Dating back several thousand years, Ashtanga Yoga carries the pure wisdom of ancient Yoga Masters and is still taught in its traditional form. The  Ashtanga system is unique and distinctly different to other yoga styles. Focus is on full, directed breath and synchronising it with an uninterrupted flow of yoga postures. The series of postures (asana) is intelligently and logically choreographed, each posture opening and strengthening to prepare the body for the next pose. The sequence is progressive and balanced, strong and challenging. The breath system is mindful and absorbing, empowering and invigorating. Internal holds (bandhas) give centred and integrated movement and build inner strength. Gazing points (drishti) enhance focus, concentration, direction and inner reflection. Together these techniques form Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga. This Movement Breath System addresses the whole of our being. It makes the body strong and lithe and able to support the incredible flexibility gained, whilst building cardiovascular fitness. It trains the mind to observe, to focus, to be clear and able to reflect. The balance it brings increases vitality and inspires a happiness of spirit.
Purification through heat is fundamental to many indigenous cultures. Using the breath, the internal holds, the continuous flow of postures together with mindfulness builds internal heat. This increased heat and circulation rapidly improves flexibility, restores function to injured areas, facilitates realignment and removes toxins, enabling physical therapy to take place. Psychologically, this ‘internal fire’ burns through ignorance and illusion. The result is a powerful cleansing, detoxifying and purifying of body and mind.
Breath is the intimate link between the body and the mind - carrying an intelligence of it’s own. To follow the breath is to do Yoga from the inside out, making it an internal experience, a meditative practice. The tempo of the practice is beautifully personalised - in tune to the rhythm of the individual’s breath, one follows their own melody and remains in harmony.
In our lives there is no way to remain the way we are - we either become more rigid or we break out of old patterns and transform. At its core Yoga is a process that involves confronting your limits and transcending them. It is a psycho-physical approach to life. Yoga transforms you by opening the physical, mental and emotional binds that block your potential and limit your life. The art lies in learning how to focus and generate energy on the one hand and to let go and surrender on the other... down to the last pose, Savasana, the corpse posture, our last and final let go!
The success of this practice does not depend upon being able to do the perfect pose, but on understanding what is necessary to do the postures - 'faith, courage and a sense of adventure’.
Yoga teaches us about life, as the exact same principles apply.
You will work it out with Ashtanga Yoga, physically, emotionally and mentally . The series will take you through specific memories, emotions and physical sensations, allowing you to examine them objectively and to let them go. Yoga brings opening and movement deep within the fibre of our being, giving spaciousness and expanding our consciousness. This transformation opens us to the extraordinary wisdom and well-being that is our potential and to a more profound relationship with life. The purpose is to become the observer, the witness of our body and mind, to merge consciously with our breath, to find the truth within us and to experience the oneness of life.
Monica Gauci
All quotes from Sri K. Pattabhi Jois (Master of Ashtanga Yoga, Mysore, India)
© Copyright 2001 8limbs Ashtanga Yoga. All rights reserved,
including reproduction, in whole or in part in any form
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