April 2021
Often times when I am teaching clients who have done Pilates for a little while (5 years at least), I find myself explaining conceptually, and in the last year of Covid, I’ve even grabbed a pen to draw diagrams. It helps.
People learn differently, visually or aurally, with differing levels of each for each person and those percentages will change according to the day’s circumstances; the specific exercise (relationship to gravity, resistance), physical capabilities due to proportional relationships or elasticity of tissues, concentration ability on any particular day, consistency of practice, muscular development to a degree where internal connections can be perceived and capacity for imagination, or the ability to think creatively.
An ability to apply that creative understanding to a physical reality.
One of my once Teachers said to me “you’re Advanced in Pilates when you can think of 10 things at once” which DOES imply that improvement comes through mental agility & EXCLUDES any sort of natural physical ability. Any Teacher will tell you that they would rather work with a Beginner who is mentally present than an “Advanced” practitioner who is mentally checked out.
Joseph Pilates would bring a board to the Reformer with the Order of the work & would expect you to begin to take ownership of your routine. So does every Teacher secretly hope for this. Patiently, but this is the goal. Only when you are an active participant can a Teacher begin to light the way.
How well can you perceive your muscles & the chains that connect them? How well can you feel for shapes that contain your body weight? How well can you feel optimal positioning of your bones as they meet around & inside of your joints?
The real requirement therefore is an opening of the internal aperture.
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