What is Pilates?
Pilates is a seven-day a week lifestyle. Joseph Pilates developed his program to create a healthy body, a healthy mind and a healthy life with balance.
Pilates is much more than an exercise method. Joseph Pilates blended many disciplines together to restore harmony and balance on three levels; physically, mentally, and spiritually. Originally, he referred to his work as “Contrology,” because he believed that the mind controls the body and the spirit builds the body.
The following is an excerpt from his book, “Return to Life Through Contrology.”
“The ancient Greeks probably knew better than anyone else: the true meaning of balance of body and mind, as tangibly expressed in terms of supreme physical health, is supreme mental happiness combined with supreme achievements along the highway of human progress. They even believed that the soul itself is inextricably bound to the physical functions and mental manifestations of the human body. They fully understood that the nearer one’s physique approached the state of physical perfection, the nearer one’s mind approached the state of mental perfection.”
Joseph Pilates’ methods are borrowed from eastern disciplines with contemporary western fitness methods. Pilates emphasizes balancing strength with flexibility for more efficient movement to enhance performance from simple daily activities to sports. He dedicated his life’s work to helping others achieve their full potential in life; he passed his methods on to his students and disciples to be carried into the 21st century impacting the lives of people all over the world.
Benefits
- Unites the mind with the body
- Enhances mental acuity
- Restores proper functioning of the internal organs
- Replaces muscular imbalance with youthful posture
- Replaces faulty movement patterns with bio-mechanically correct movement
- Boosts the immune system
- Lengthens tight muscles; strengthens weak muscles
- Improves the performance of any sport
- Eliminates or reduces aches and pains and reduces the risk of injury
- Enhances sexual fulfillment
- Changes how others perceive you
- Raises self-esteem
- Improves balance, stability, and agility
- Streamlines the body
- Easy on the joints – low stress exercise
- Can be enjoyed by all populations and complements other methods of exercise
- Is never boring