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Pilates: The Internal Shower
Written By: Ashby Underwood - Yoga Highlands | Issue: April - 2022
The careful application of the principles of Pilates can rejuvenate the body and refocus the mind.
Ashby Underwood Garner
Pulleys, springs, carriage and bumper – this is the anatomy of a pilates reformer.
Partly a system of endurance, partly a system of refinement, in Pilates Whole Body Movement we learn to use just the amount of effort needed to complete the exercise correctly – no more, no less. Knowing when to relax and when to engage is the balanced body approach.
Pilates has become a household word thanks to the work of first generation teachers who kept the work of Joseph Pilates (1883-1967) alive.
The movement he started began during World War I and his successful physical training system was born out of a need for therapeutic restoration of function. As a child who was very ill, he held fast to a belief that a healthy body and mind was an ideal to pursue. According to stories by Mr. Pilates, when the Influenza Epidemic of 1918 broke out, none who followed his regimen got sick. The vitality that was released through his exercises he called “the internal shower” – a glow of good health.
Pilates is a low impact form of muscular exercise and is easy on the joints. It’s “core-centric,” teaching a person to be acquainted with their abdomen, back, hips and ribs, and internal 3-dimensional self-support.
In private sessions and classes, we teach centering and precision combined with rhythm and flow to sync new neural pathways in achieving lasting change. Similar to Dr. Rolf’s Structural Integration, in Pilates we are reshaping the body from the feet up.
Establishing a personal sense of core can feel like home-base. Once you take a deep core breath, you know the wellspring of renewal. This is activated again and again in a Pilates session, until vitality is your new normal.
The body conversation goes beyond what you believe are your inherited limitations. Yes, your physical body can be molded by your life experiences. These experiences may define you for a time, however they do not have to define you for your entire life. You can train to become stronger than you ever thought possible.
Schedule Pilates therapeutic sessions at our studio- 460 Carolina Way in Highlands. Visit yogahighlands.com for updates on classes/ apparatus.
