What is Pilates

Pilates makes you feel alive!

People often ask me "What Is Pilates?" They are surprised to hear that Pilates has been around for quite a long time over 100 years and was created by a man, which is ironic since it is a female-dominated sport.

If you were to come up to me and ask me what Pilates was, I would tell you that Pilates is a type of sport that is great for your back, gives you a strong core, makes you stronger than you ever were before, and gives you better posture and really does energise you.

The most noticeable things when I first started doing Pilates was how my body shape changed for the better. I became more toned and my bad posture that I had always had gradually improved.

I was always one the tallest in my class at school, and as a result, got into the habit of slumping over a lot and for years my body was out of alignment. But I didn’t really take any notice of this until I did Pilates.

Childbirth can also cause many changes to your body and habits of lifting up children and holding them on one hip which I was guilty of, also puts your body out of alignment.

My lower back hurt and my yoga classes made my back worse. Not that I am saying that yoga has this effect for everyone because I like yoga and think it is great for a lot of people, but for me, my back only started getting better when I did Pilates.

Today, we spend a lot of time sitting either at our desk at work, or watching t.v in the evening, we also spend a lot of time bending over looking at our phone and our iPads causing sore necks, tension through the shoulder and back.

In my classes we do a lot of exercises to address this, strengthening the whole of the back with plenty of core focus exercises.

The other thing you will notice when you do Pilates is how much easier it is to stretch and bend down, depending on how flexible you were before of course. But often the noises that you once made when you bent over to pick something on the floor have suddenly gone.

People often ask me how often they should do Pilates. I would tell them as often as you can, and as often as you would like to do it. Any exercise should be about enjoyment, and I think the majority of people feel great after a Pilates session. Concentrating on the breath not thinking about what went on at work,  thinking about your movement,  and not thinking about how much housework you have to do when you get home, gives you a sense of mindfulness in the moment.

So if you were to ask me today what is Pilates, I would tell you, it’s one of the most important things you can do for both your physical and mental health, to increase longevity and make you feel whole again.

Natasha Rushton

BSc (Hons) Dip NT, Dip Mat Pilates (L3), Dip FJ, m(FNTP)

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