The Perfection that is Pilates

Alright, get comfortable, because this is going to be a long one.

For almost a year now, I've been taking Pilates classes twice a week. I LOVE IT! I think its the best thing I've done for myself in years. So in the hopes of gaining more converts to Pilates, here goes . . .

Joseph Hubertus Pilates (1880 – 1967) invented and promoted the Pilates method of physical fitness.

Joseph H. Pilates was born in Mönchengladbach in Germany, in 1880. A sickly child who suffered from asthma, rickets and rheumatic fever, he dedicated his entire life to becoming physically stronger. Joe began studying body-building and gymnastics, and by the age of 14 was fit enough to pose for anatomical charts. He came to believe that the "modern" life-style, bad posture, and inefficient breathing lay at the roots of poor health. He ultimately devised a series of exercises and training-techniques and engineered all the equipment, specifications and tuning required to teach his methods properly.

During World War I the British authorities interned him with other German citizens in a camp in Lancaster, where he trained other inmates in fitness and exercises. Here the beginnings of the Pilates Method began to take shape.

His method, which he and his wife Clara originally called "Contrology", related to encouraging the use of the mind to control muscles. It focuses attention on core postural muscles that help keep the human body balanced and provide support for the spine. In particular, Pilates exercises teach awareness of breath and of alignment of the spine, and strengthen the deep torso and abdominal muscles.

Joseph and Clara Pilates soon established a devout following in the local dance and the performing-arts community of New York. Well-known dancers such as George Balanchine and Martha Graham became devotees and regularly sent their students to the Pilates for training and rehabilitation.

According to practitioners, the central aim of Pilates is to create a fusion of mind and body, so that without thinking about it the body will move with economy, grace, and balance. The end goal is to produce an attention-free union of mind and body. Practitioners believe in using one's body to the greatest advantage, making the most of its strengths, counteracting its weaknesses, and correcting its imbalances. The method requires that one constantly pay attention to one's body while doing the movements. Paying attention to movement is so vital that it is more important than any other single aspect of the movements.

Joseph Pilates believed in circulating the blood so that it could awaken all the cells in the body and carry away the wastes related to fatigue. For the blood to do its work properly, he maintained, it has to be charged with oxygen and purged of waste gases through proper breathing. Full and thorough inhalation and exhalation are part of every Pilates exercise. Pilates saw forced exhalation as the key to full inhalation. “Squeeze out the lungs as you would wring a wet towel dry,” he is reputed to have said. Breathing, too, should be done with concentration, control, and precision. It should be properly coordinated with movement. Each exercise is accompanied by breathing instructions. Joseph Pilates stated, “Even if you follow no other instructions, learn to breathe correctly.”