Why I love Pilates!
Lesley Powell, director of Movements Afoot
I appreciate Pilates more today than 20 years ago. My body is changing with menopause. As a dancer, I was hypermobile. My sacrum goes out of whack and my body compensates for this. Dancers typically overstretch which creates ligament laxity. Once a ligament is stretched, it will not return to its original length. That is why people with sprained ankles are proned to hurting their ankles again.
Hitting my 40′s and perimenopause, my flexibility is changing. One side feels very flexible and the other, very tight. Pilates has given me back the stability my spine needs with working on flexiblity as I strengthen. I feel balance after my Pilates workout.
Some of my other clients have problems when they overstretch without any stability training. Pilates uniquely works on stability/mobility at the same time. For the hypermobile, it creates a foundation. For the tight client, it brings the joints back to a normal range of motion.
I regularly take reformer classes at my studio. It is a beginner/intermediate class taught by Molly Wilson. Even a beginner Pilates Class is a great workout. I feel absolutely great after the class.
I still do a yoga practice. Sometimes the overstretching in a yoga class puts my muscles in spasm. I have learn to bring the Pilates principles of stability in my yoga practice.
View Lesley Powell's profile
Well Lesley, as you know I too managed to overstretch my way through my teens and 20s and ended up coming to Pilates with thoracic outlet issues, as well as sacro-iliac and bilateral knee instability. Any class I take that focuses more on flexibility than stability throws me off and causes severe spasm. However, even after 8 hour days of Pilates in a PhysicalMind certifying studio course my back and neck are just fine
. Now that I’m the only certified Pilates teacher on my little island it’s tougher because I have no one to take class with or to correct my form (which often needs tweaking). Hello from Turks & Caicos!
Lynda
Pilates & Reiki In Paradise Website
Pilates & Reiki In Paradise Blog
I am very lucky to have many options to take classes. Even as a Pilates expert, taking sessions with other teachers takes your workout to a new place. Running a business, I easily get distracted and my taking care of me diminishes. When I take a class/session, it forces me to concentrate and my workout deepens.I also get new ideas when working with other teachers. I really encourage everyone to find a movement mentor.
This is really interesting. I found that one style of yoga – Anusara – is great b/c it focuses on balanced action and creates stability with muscular energy while stretching in the poses. I am a Certified Yoga Teacher and I found that in a pratice without that stability my sacrum would get out of wack- now I am training in the Anusara method and it has made a huge difference. Check it out when you can. I have learned that it is so important to have that stability before going into poses that require stretching or flexibility. Shanti.
-Lesley Castle
First and foremost, one movement practice is a personal decision and like. I have a pilates and yoga practice. I love yoga and I have done many styles such as Anusara. For me, Pilates and smaller movements of strengthening are key for me when my sacrum is out. I just took an incredible workshop with Karen Clippenger at Pilates on Tour. Addressing weaknesses of abductors, psoas and rotators has made such a difference. Doing these small movements of strengthening before doing a full movement practive whether it be pilates, yoga or dance has sent me to sacrum heaven.