Pilates mind + body

HOW THE METHOD HARMONISES THE TWO.

As we already know, the Pilates method is a discipline that makes us work the whole body. Joseph Pilates dedicated his life to developing this method in order to improve his own health, creating exercises that would allow him to strengthen himself at all levels. He discovered that by exercising the musculature of his core, which he called “the core of the body", he was able to improve his health.“Powerhouse”In a controlled manner, the whole organism is strengthened, as it is involved in all the movements we make. By working from this energy centre we make the body move more freely.

 The exercises are performed with an exhaustive control that leads us, with our concentration, to obtain very precise movements, becoming aware of every millimetre of our body. This will not only help us to improve our physical condition, but also our mental control. This is why the method was also called “Contrology”The term "Pilates" focuses on the control of the mind over the body. This term underpins the 6 fundamental principles of the Pilates method: Control, Concentration, Focus, Centre, Breathing, Accuracy and Fluency. All these principles are related to our state of mind.

In addition, there is a work of coordination of movement with breathing that helps us even more to obtain that precision in the execution of the movement, connecting the body and mind, which makes the method go much further than simple gymnastic exercises. Joseph Pilates intended, in this way, to bring full attention and achieve a much more intelligent way of working on movement, making it conscious, so that it can then be applied to the rest of the day's activities.

It is a great proprioceptive method, achieving a great sensory capacity, something that improves our brain function. We make all our movement and position receptors work, because everything is controlled, there is no random movement.

Thus, the Pilates method reveals a series of benefits not only for the body, but also for the mind:

• Improving concentrationn: By having to work on the coordination of controlled and precise movements with our breathing. The practice of the method focuses more on quality, focusing our attention on knowing and self-controlling the body, than on the quantity of repetitions, which will work more on our concentration, which will be favoured in our daily life.

• Reducing stressBreathing exercises will help our body remove tension where it is not needed and act directly on physical and emotional stress. Knowing how to control our breathing will help us to reduce anxiety levels and thus also improve our quality of sleep, and even our mood.

• Improving self-esteemPilates practice will produce a series of physical changes in our body that will be reflected in balancing our tensions and improving our posture and thus improve our pain or injuries and, ultimately, our quality of life. We will look and feel better and, with this, we will get more motivation, more confidence and more self-confidence. 

Good physical health and a balanced mind will enable us to achieve what we set out to do. We need to take care of our body to keep our mind healthy, and the same is true the other way around. Physical and mental wellbeing will change the way we perceive other areas or aspects of life that worry us or influence us negatively, transforming it into a more positive way of thinking and personal growth.

With the Pilates method we will become aware of our physical condition and, in this way, we will obtain a higher performance with a lower expenditure of physical and mental energy.