Grounding Myself in the Principles
With the start of a new year, many of us choose resolutions to strive for. I’ve never found resolutions to be helpful for me, rather I enjoy choosing a mantra or big idea to live by. This enables me to be dynamic throughout the year. Just as my year changes so can my idea, allowing me to turn it over and ponder it in different ways and different settings.
To this end, I have been reengaging with the five Pilates principals: Concentration, Control, Precision, Breath and Flow. My goal is to incorporate them more into my teaching, both in small subtle ways and as over arcing themes. Of course, I am better at some of these principles than others, yet they provide such a grounding foundation that leaves room for evolution throughout the year.
Breath is a principle I have spoken to many of you about. It’s the one that can be most taken for granted, yet also the one I most often find strength in. I can’t help but think back to the hazy, smoke filled days of this past summer and how grateful I was to have a practice that was built around intentional breath.
Flow has been a principle I have always struggled with. It requires patience and a slowing down of the world around us. Flow requires intentional pace and attention to the transitional details. All of these things are something I wish to improve, both in my personal life and my pilates practice. It’s also so intrinsically linked to concentration. A mental focus that can sharpen the mind and allow your movement the freedom to be open and explore.
Control and Precision don’t seem to exist with out each other. Control provides discipline and precision defines execution. Joesph Pilates originally named his work Contrology, a name which implies the study of control. When we learn to control we can dive deeper into our bodies. When we couple that with precision we can deeper into the Pilates repertoire to reveal movement that can feed our souls.
