Do Pilates anywhere but, the Pilates studio is where the work is!
One thing that has always been a part of Pilates is the ability to do it wherever and whenever you want. Your Pilates workout can be done at home, in your office, and even in a hotel room. Joseph Pilates wanted everyone to be doing Pilates every day and even wrote a book “Return to Life” that was Pilates homework for clients to take the mat home. Pilates clients could do their Pilates every day at home if they wanted.
Pilates is in gyms, online, and for many after the Pandemic at their own home with apparatus in the garage or an extra room. Pilates can now be done very literally anywhere and that is one of the beauties of the work.
So, why go into a Pilates studio? Why take a private? Why use the apparatus with a teacher?
Pilates can be done anywhere and on your own or in a Pilates class but, the real work is in the studio. That one-on-one session with you and your teacher. This is where the real work begins.
Pilates is one of those workouts that the more you do, the more challenging it becomes. You may do the Hundred every single session but, each time it is different and more challenging or maybe easier than the time before. The angle of the legs, the curl of the body, the pumps of the arms, or the breath may be the focus one day and something else the other.
Pilates is all about moving your body to the full range of movement you are able to do for yourself. When practicing Pilates on your own it is difficult to know and see your own range and movement pattern. We can’t see where we are in space and having someone that can look at our full-body, all angles help us find the engagement we need to get there safely and to learn what that feels like in your body.
That is where your session with your Pilates teacher is the key to it all. Think of it as the time to zero in on getting your full range in a movement pattern that will soon be muscle memory pattern for you. That when you are not in the studio you will know what it feels like in your body to have both hips even, legs pushing or reaching evenly, moving your arms from that back connection, and all the things that keep us injury free, doing the sports and activities we want to do for as long as we can.
When 2020 hit and everyone was stuck at home, not able to get into the gym or Pilates studio for those Pilates clients already doing Pilates workouts it was an easy transition. Pull out the mat, hit the floor, and go! The mat work is the WORK. It is why the apparatus was invented.
Joseph Pilates invented all that Pilates apparatus to give the client the feedback of that spring to work into, support and guide. To make that mat work and outside world activity safer and keep the ability of the movement to the full range of that body!
When the world opened back up and those that had been practicing their mat on their own or virtually with their teacher it was stunning to see how much they had kept up their strength and mobility. Just by hitting the mat.
Back in the studio they took that strength and mobility and laser-focused on it with their private sessions and saw how much things had changed for them. New patterns to work with, new exercises to engage and challenge themselves.
Joseph Pilates believed the apparatus worked by giving feedback to the client’s body on what needed to happen for the body to do what it could and was needing to do.
Just remember every time you step into the studio and onto the apparatus and mat with your teacher it is the time for you to be guided and challenged in a safe and supportive way. To take your workout to another level each time in movement, knowledge, and connections so that in the outside world you can recall that “feeling” of what it felt like to have your body moving in a dynamic alignment and using stability to keep your body safe and injury-free, strong and mobile.
Yes, Pilates can be done anywhere but, in the studio is where the work is!