The 6 pilates principles
Pilates is a body-mind-spirit training that has similar qualities as any other body-mind-spirit system such as yoga, gyrotonics and Alexander Technique.
The Pilates method is unique in that it constantly applies the six original principles: concentration, centering, control, respiration, precision and flow, together with five parts of the mind: intelligence, intuition, imagination, memory and willpower.
Without intelligence it's not possible to understand and apply all aspects of an exercise. Using your intuition helps to listen to your body and to allow for with the limitations and possibilities of each exercise at that specific moment in time. Using your imagination helps to improve your understanding of the exercises and supports the memory. The memory is challenged and trained by learning to remember the sequence of the exercises, their details and the position of the body.
Willpower assures that you stay alert and attentive during a pilates training and that you will try as hard as you can to perform each exercise in accordance with the 6 principles.
As we use our mind to command our body it is important to be extremely focused on performing the movements correctly. Thanks to this inward focus we will learn to move in a composed way by which in time moving correctly will be done spontaneously out of our muscle memory (we don't need to think about it anymore). We become aware of our body posture and how we move in space (body proprioception). As little or no exercise is demonstrated by the pilates instructor - one mainly works via verbal orders - we have to stay concentrated very well without wandering off.
'Pull in your belly button and scoop!' is the most frequent order called out during a Pilates training. All exercises are done while the inmost belly muscles are distended to make sure that you are in full concentration. The 'powerhouse' (our internal corset) is the focus of all Pilates exercises. With each movement of the body the powerhouse is activated first and from that stable centre each move starts outwards from within by which the backbone is well supported by deep lying stabilization muscles. With it the diameter of the body serves as a reference point so that we regain balance between the right and left body half. Most pilates exercises directly and indirectly aim at strengthening the inner corset. Even by performing exercises that focus on strengthening the arm muscles the powerhouse has got to be active, by which the stomach muscles are distended, the shoulder blades are kept down towards the back and even the buttocks are squeezed together.
One fundamental rule of the Pilates method is: perform each exercise in control. Each movement is important and is coordinated efficiently and smoothly. To attain full command one has to have control of each part of the body at all times. This rule not only includes the performing of the exercise itself but also the transition from one exercise to the next, how you step up and down the appliances and how you keep your mind on all details during a workout. Arms and legs are directed and not thrown and/or subjected to the influence of gravity! This way you train the muscles in control by which they are lengthened while working them. Through so called eccentric contractions the muscles become long and supple. Learning to move in control boosts up your (self)confidence.
Most people only use 50% of their lung capacity when breathing. Unfortunately superficial breathing is a side effect of our sedentary and stressful way of life. A lot of people hold their breath when they perform a new and difficult task. Persons who start a Pilates training often forget to breathe out when they learn a difficult exercise. When you hold your breath you distend your muscles so that a current wrong posture gets worse and that the existing muscle tensions deteriorate. Yet a natural breathing pulse supports fluent movements and determines the rhythm of the exercise. Jozeph Pilates understood the relation between breathing in and out well and how one can breathe in completely only if one also breathes out fully and deeply. Through this all cells get more oxygen and it also stimulates a better transport of waste products. Mind, breathing while moving is not always that easy but once you manage it you will be able to do so much more. A purposeful correct breathing technique helps to stretch the body and by releasing all tensiond you will get an optimal body control. Besides breathing in deeply and breathing out completely trains the lungs and increases the lung capacity. As a side effect you will feel profoundly relaxed.
Precision builds on concentration and control but adds the element of spacial awareness. When you begin an exercise you need to know where the exercise starts and ends. With each Pilates exercise the body has a definite position in space: the angle at which the legs move, the position of the elbows, the way the head is held, even what fingers and wrists do, etc. In standard Pilates little is repeated, but there is a big variety of movements so that you can practise without getting exhausted. We aim at quality not at quantity! You will feel this kind of accuracy in your daily work. Working with precision helps to reprogram wrong moving patterns which results in a better body posture and alignment and as such also helps to prevent injuries.
A lot of the Pilates movements look like yoga, but in contrast we don't keep on positions. In a Pilates training one movement smoothly flows over into a next one. In this respect Pilates is a kind of dance in which flow is essential to perform pilates correctly. During a pilates workout the moving phase of the exercise is performed in a smooth and gentle way and is ended accurately and in control, by which the exercises smoothly flow over into each other. This way of moving increases the suppleness of the joints and muscles while the body is trained in lengthening and in moving in an even rhythm. In order to move smoothly the nervous system as well s the muscles and joints are drawn on and so the body learns to move gently and evenly.