The Pilates Method
The key principles of Pilates are control, concentration, centering, flow, precision and breath. Emphasizing proper breathing, alignment of the body, and mental focus, the controlled series of rhythmic, balanced movements uniformly develop the body. With a key emphasis on core conditioning, the exercises are designed to strengthen and elongate the muscles without adding bulk, increase flexibility and joint mobility, realign the skeletal system for better postural alignment, improve balance, coordination, and increase bone density.
Pilates exercises train several muscle groups at once, in smooth, continuous movements. The exercises are progressive, and become more complex and challenging as the client advances. It is a safe and effective system of exercise, that can be adapted to each individuals level of proficiency regardless of age, gender, or level of fitness.
By developing proper technique, Pilates retrains the entire body to work more efficiently, helping you to safely enjoy daily activities and sports with greater ease and less chance of injury. The effects are not just physical, but leave you feeling energized and with a profound sense of well being!
Joseph H. Pilates
The Pilates Method was developed in 1926 by Joseph Hubertus Pilates (pronounced Puh-LAH-tees). It combines the mental focus of Eastern disciplines such as Yoga and Tai Chi with Western emphasis on strength and stamina.
Born near Dusseldorf, Germany, in 1880, Joseph Pilates suffered from asthma, rickets and rheumatic fever as a child. Looking for a way to improve his health and condition, he studied various forms of exercise which led to the development of a special regimen which allows practitioners to strengthen and elongate their muscles. His father was a prize winning gymnast and his mother a naturopath - which likely influenced his pursuits in the fields of movement and well-being. He was greatly inspired by Eastern and Western forms of exercise, and in particular by the ancient Greek and Roman philosophies of attaining and maintaining physical and mental perfection.
Joseph Pilates was a gymnast and pugilist who had creative, indeed brilliant, ideas about physical fitness and rehabilitation following physical injury. In a British internment camp in World War I, taking springs from a hospital bed and rigging up exercise apparatuses for the bedridden, he devised his earliest rehabilitation equipment. That idea evolved into the Trapeze Table (Cadillac), one of the main components of what was to become a whole method of exercise, which Mr. Pilates called "Contrology". He also invented, for this purpose, the Universal Reformer, which is equipped with straps and springs to provide resistance. After the war, Joseph Pilates returned to Germany and worked with the Hamburg Military Police, training them in self-defense and physical conditioning. Throughout this period of his life, he also took an interest in Eastern European holistic therapies such as holistic medicine, meditation, modern dance, homeopathy, Trigger Point therapy, and breath work. In the early 1920's, he emigrated to America where he met and married a young nurse named Clara. She became an integral partner in helping develop and teach his method.
His method of exercise later became known as the "Pilates Method". For more than 70 years the Pilates Method has been utilized in studios and physical therapy centers around the world, becoming increasingly popular in the last 20 years. The primary focus of the Pilates Method is the process itself, experiencing movement from the inside out. It is a series of sequential and carefully performed core movements, each designed to stretch and strengthen the muscles involved. It increases tone, flexibility, postural alignment, coordination and endurance.
Joseph said, "To achieve the highest accomplishments within the scope of our capabilities in all walks of life, we must constantly strive to acquire strong, healthy bodies and develop our minds to the limit of our abilities."
Whole Body Health refers to the development of the body, the mind and the spirit in complete coordination with each other. Mr. Pilates wrote that Whole Body Health could be achieved through exercise, proper diet, good hygiene and sleeping habits, plenty of sunshine and fresh air, and a balance in life of work, recreation and relaxation.
"Whole Body Commitment is mental and physical discipline, a work ethic, an attitude toward one's self and assuming a lifestyle that is necessary to achieve Whole Body Health."
Joseph Pilates died in 1967 at the age of 87. He wrote two books: Your Health, in 1934; and Return To Life, in 1945 - a refined treatise of his philosophy.
"In 10 sessions you will feel the difference, in 20 sessions you will see a difference, in 30 sessions you will have a brand new body." Joseph H. Pilates (1881 - 1967)
