I recently taught a client at Vintage Pilates who asked what had initially brought me to Pilates. After telling him my story he agreed it is the same reason many of us come to Pilates: pain and embarrassment.
Spot on.
My formal education is in the theatre and I also grew up studying dance and gymnastics. Movement has always been a big part of my life. And I feel very fortunate to have witnessed, studied and performed in the magnificent art form that is the theatre.
Coming from dance classes, the traditional gym workout never appealed to me. Machines and free weights felt so piecemeal and, choreographically fitness classes were dull.
Body Alignment
While in acting school we had a movement class every morning called Body Alignment. I cannot tell you how nuts we all were about this class. We could not get enough of it. Our instructor would make audio cassettes for us so we could do it at home too. Guess what?
It was nearly all Pilates.
Ach mein Gott!
So Body Alignment was my very first taste of Pilates and I didn’t even know it.
Once I had finished my education and began to work in the theatre my personal workout disappeared. I attended the occasional yoga class, but I began to notice that my neck and back were stiff. This was a new sensation to me as a lifelong mover. What was happening? A friend recommended her chiropractor which helped a little. Although I felt better after adjustments, always in the back of my mind I felt it was only a temporary relief of symptoms and not something that ultimately addressed the issue. Surely there was something I could do maintain myself. I just didn’t know what that was…yet!
At some point before formal Pilates class my husband and I happened on Jennifer Kries’ Precision toning video series. She dusted us soundly but I think we still didn’t know it was Pilates.
So that’s the pain part – now for the embarrassment. I was in a new play that sensationalized the end of Shakespeare’s life. In the play Shakespeare becomes obsessed with orchestrating his legacy. In lucid dreams his Muse appears to him. I was cast as the Muse and I was told the metaphor for the production was “Art is a cruel Mistress.”
Hello, black vinyl pants and corset…
Did you know if you spray your skin-tight vinyl pants with hairspray they don’t squeak when you walk? Oh, the things I learned from this production…
After consulting with a friend I immediately enrolled in my first Pilates Mat class. I didn’t know what Pilates was, but my friend looked fantastic. I was desperate and my Tae-bo video was kicking my butt and boring me to tears. I could not watch Billy Blanks rip his T-shirt off one more time.
To Roll Up or Not to Roll Up
My first Mat class was very memorable. I had always considered myself reasonably fit. The teacher was very specific about what we should be using to do the exercises. She talked about actual muscles. Imagine that.
After we did the Hundred we started to learn the Roll Up. It sounded so simple. Just roll up off the mat and then roll back down again. How hard could that be? The 2nd exercise in the class and I simply could not do it.
This was very humbling for my twenty-something ego.
Perhaps the very fact that I could not do the Roll Up is the reason I continued Pilates to this day. I am stubborn and there was no way that the 2nd exercise in the class was going to finish me. I didn’t know that the exercises that are so difficult are the ones you will eventually grow to love because they are so good for you. I now love the Roll Up. It’s only been a decade…
Pilates has always felt like an elegant workout to me. One can aspire to finer technique, control and execution in every exercise especially the ones you have been doing for years. Familiar exercises change and become new challenges for your increasing proficiency. Infinite new challenges appear on the horizon. And you must pay attention.
Focus.
The concentration that Pilates requires may be my favorite aspect of the method. When do we otherwise focus our mind to a task for an entire hour. Present and in the moment of the NOW. I love that part of the craft of acting and I love it about the practice and teaching of Pilates. As a teacher, the ability to pay attention and focus on your client for the length of their session is huge.
Never underestimate the power of paying attention.
Today, my Pilates training is considered classical. Personally I have been thrilled with the exercises, repertoire and philosophy that I learned in my first Pilates classes at Excel Pilates. Then I chose to deepen my understanding of the same body of work when I went to study with Romana, Sari and Daria. And Jay Grimes is helping me to dive even deeper into the work of Joe Pilates, the man himself, who has always fascinated me. I think I would have been afraid of him, but it amazes me everyday how he created all these exercises that are so deep, beneficial, intricate and simple all at the same time.
I am in particular awe of the Semi-Circle on the Reformer. RIght? That’s an amazing one…
Pilates is hard and sweaty work, but just the attempt, the physical act of moving through the exercises has such immense benefit. Even for those that consider themselves to be not good at it. It’s okay. Just do it, it works. Pilates is not pretty, it’s gut-wrenching. And that’s okay 🙂
Obsessed with the Blog
I created my website initially in my own voice. There are many Pilates studio websites that are very professional and clinical in nature. I wanted to cultivate the personal relationship that one develops with clients from the moment they found me online.
Working out is not always fun for people even though they may know it is good for them. If someone can workout for an hour and have a good time, maybe they will enjoy taking care of themselves just a little bit more. And Pilates is positive! Yes, it is exercise but it should also include some nice things that are fun and feel good. In addition to all those hard exercises that are good for you, you get a few nice ones.
A few.
I first learned it was necessary to have a blog to increase web traffic. Then I discovered that the skills necessary to make a blog were creatively satisfying to me. I have always had a love of writing and the theatre educated me in the art of humor. I love the rhythm of comedy and often in Pilates I find it helpful to have a sense of humor.
The rolling exercises…Swan dive…anything upside down. You’ve gotta have a laugh about it.
I laughed about the Roll Up because I was so bad at it. I would practice at home in heavy Dr. Marten’s boots and my feet still wouldn’t stay on the mat. But I did giggle. And persevere.
I happily devote myself and my work to the study of these wonderful exercises and the blog grew out of my own love, nerdiness, and fascination with how better to do the work. I wanted to share some of my adventures through the endless journey that is the Pilates method.
Most importantly Pilates has taught me that we have the power to care for ourselves. We can learn, execute and perfect Joe’s exercises and then go out and live our lives “fully capable of naturally, easily, and satisfactorily performing our many and varied daily tasks with spontaneous zest and pleasure.
Physical fitness can neither be acquired by wishful thinking nor by outright purchase. However, it can be gained through performing the daily exercises conceived for this purpose by the founder of Contrology whose unique methods accomplish this desirable result by successfully counteracting the harmful inherent conditions associated with modern civilization.”
Joe Pilates, Return to Life, 1945.
You can find Andrea’s blog at www.pilatesandrea.com