Sept 20, 2017
OUT OF ORDER: Battling My Internal Pilates Police – Part 1
by Sabrina Ellen Svard
“Lie down on the carriage with your arches on the bar a fist distance apart. Headrest is down. Roll your shoulders back and widen your collar bones. Take a couple of breaths and let your spine settle down onto the mat. When you are ready, peel your spine up off the mat, one bone at a time like a strip of Velcro, into a bridge.”
Joe didn’t start with any sort of bridging.
“Keep your hips as high as you can, as long as you can, and roll back down one bone at a time.”
I LOVE bridging. It feels good since most people sit in spinal flexion all day. It is a great, feel good way to say hello to your spine and start the session.
“OK. Pilates stance on the bar, heels together, toes apart and press the carriage out for 10.”
Hmmm … footwork. What do I want to do today?
“Arches. Feet together.”
The original order has only four footwork exercises.
“Heels.”
I absolutely love a particular contemporary footwork series. Yes, I love all 11 exercises. Well, there are actually 12 exercises, but I’m not in the mood to teach develope’ today. Let’s see. Maybe I will. And add in one leg circle. Suddenly I hear sirens.…
“Let’s do high-half toe today. All 10 toes on the bar, heels lifted and press out.”
I guess I’m breaking the law.
“Pilates stance for tendon stretch.”
The sirens stop. I still have time to revert to the order.
“Heels on the bar parallel. Push through your heels as you press the carriage out.”
Just like in the Monopoly game: Go directly to jail. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200.
“Wait one second. I’m going to put this spongy ball between your knees for alignment.”
We continue through all of the contemporary footwork exercises which include three single-leg exercises. I find those particularly useful if someone has had an injury and I need to assess if there is an imbalance in the hip, knee, ankle and/or general leg strength from one side to the other. I did add in one-leg circle as well as another single-leg exercise. This is just for today’s session. Every day is different.
“Footbar down. Two standard springs. The Hundred.”
I can still redeem myself. Well, I can sort of redeem myself. The Hundred is done on heavy footwork springs. Some of my clients just can’t do it on those heavy springs.
“Reach and pull series. Five of each.”
If Joe didn’t do this series (also called supine arms), why has it been included in every training that I have taken, both contemporary and classical? You can surely tell if the abdominals are (or aren’t) firing and/or if the hip flexors are ruling the roost like they love to do. It is great to open the chest. When I took a workshop from Lolita she said: “If they can’t keep the back down, have them bring their knees in closer to the chest. It is about the arms.” To me, it is about many things. It is a great series for beginners. I like it. I’m using it. Go ahead and cuff me Pilates Police.
Handcuffs. They are going to throw away the key.
THE WAR IS REAL
I have these internal wars with myself all the time when I teach. My Internal Pilates Police are always there, whispering and breathing down the back of my neck saying things like: “THAT’S NOT THE ORDER!” And I usually say back: “BUT I LOVE THIS EXERCISE!” They also screech in my ear: “JOE DID NOT DO THAT!” And I groan and come back with: “BUT ROMANA DID!”
From what I understand (keep in mind I never met Joseph Pilates, which is quite unfortunate), he taught to the body in front of him. He also used different exercises and variations, teaching each Elder depending on what the individual needed at that time. But he had a very specific order of exercises and progressions which he used most of the time. And as the exercises were passed down, each Elder developed their own take on it. And some added exercises that Joe did not do (blasphemy!!!). I think that is fantastic! I am always fascinated by another person’s perspective, especially when it comes to Pilates exercises.
My most favorite series of Pilates exercises apparently didn’t even come from Joe. It is the side-kick series that is Romana-based. I have never in my life watched something so simple, yet so elegant, that is also one of the most effective things in reshaping the hips. It is magic. I even add side-lying exercises to this series from contemporary Pilates trainings. I LOVE IT. And I’m going to Pilates hell for it I am sure.
Why do I keep saying that? So, what is with my Internal Pilates police? I’m not sure if it is because I have taken too many comprehensive trainings or I have not taken enough. When I first took a Pilates mat training in 1999, I didn’t know anything. I left that training still not knowing anything. Except that I hated Pilates (grin).
I moved on a couple of years later to take a comprehensive (contemporary) training. I took it because I didn’t understand “the breathing.” (What a damn fool I was. I didn’t understand anything!!!) I got completely hooked on the apparatus. I remember briefly being told that this Pilates training was a more “biomechanically correct way” of doing Pilates as opposed to the original way. And that the original way was done with a flat back (I assure you that my back is anything but FLAT unless I try to flex my lumbar spine! Then it only goes from lordosis to stick straight. So that made sense to me.). Not much else was discussed regarding the man behind the method. I didn’t think too much about it at the time.
Since I am ever the student, I inquired about another comprehensive training. I wanted more, but wanted to move in a different direction. I met with the instructor and I adored her! She will tell you that I “interviewed” her (and she had a few choice names for me), and we laugh about it to this day. In 2007, I set out to bridge into the classical arena. My Pilates world was rocked forever.
(THE SIRENS ARE GOING OFF AGAIN. Classical/authentic/traditional/original – whatever you want to call it, these are the easiest words for me to distinguish between the two training methods. This training was Romana-based and classical from what I knew then. AND I LOVED IT! So, when I say classical in this article, I mean the work closest to what Joseph Pilates taught with few or no variations. Except, of course, for the variations that came from certain Elders included in the training!)
Next Week: Part 2 – Where we learn if Sabrina can escape her handcuffs …
Please join my new Facebook Group UNPOLICED PILATES PERSPECTIVES
Sabrina Ellen Svard, BS, CSCS, RYT lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA.www.topnotchpilates.com