Improving My Posture With Pilates

 PILATES

Twice a week I go to my Pilates class. It's held at a local gym, on the second floor in a room lined with mirrors from floor to ceiling. Weather permitting, I ride my bike, which only takes 13-14 minutes. If I stop to pet a stray cat on the bike path, it might take longer.

For several years, my daughter, Erica, kept urging me to go with her to a Pilates class. I always seem to find excuses of some sort. Judging by what I knew about Pilates, which was zero, I just kept putting it off. Then one day, I caught a glimpse of my poor posture in the mirror of a dress shop. It was time to join a class.

I tell my friends that going to a Pilates class is like going to a chiropractor. It helps to realign all your bones and muscles. It's a really good overall stretch and strengthening for the whole body. My teacher, Julie, is so precise in her instructions of each position, that I am able do the exercises with my eyes closed, if I so choose.   

CURE FOR A SICK BODY

The Pilates method of exercise was founded by Joseph H. Pilates. He was born in 1883 in Germany . His father was a prize-winning gymnast and his mother, a naturopath. Pilates was a sickly child and as a result began to study exercise to improve his health. During his lifetime, he was a diver, bodybuilder, gymnast, boxer, and a self-defense trainer.

In World War I, German citizens living in Great Britain were placed in interment camps. Pilates efficiently used his time there  to improve his concepts of physical exercises. He focused on methods that built flexibility, strength, stamina and posture. He trained his fellow inmates and upon leaving the camps, they all were in great shape. Eventually he migrated to New York City where he and his wife, Clara, opened a studio and both taught Pilates exercises into the 1960's. Many ballet dancers are among devotees of the Pilates methods.

On the mat next to mine, is  a petite woman who just amazes me. Dede is in her early 70's. Sometimes I glance over at her and her little body is doing the advanced Jack-Knife-Rollover position perfectly. I asked her how long has she been doing Pilates. She told me it has been about ten years and that she will continue until her dying day! She had been an orthopedic nurse and after seeing what all the damage of non-exercise can do to a body, it scared her into not going down that road.  

Are you finding it uncomfortable to sit in a chair? Take a Pilates class

I have been going to my Pilates class faithfully for two years now, with the exception of when we travel. When we are on the road, I bring along an index card listing some of the Pilates movements which amounts to about 20 minutes of exercises (about one-third of a class hour). It's easy to do a short workout on a clean large hotel bathroom towel spread on the floor.

Traveling can cause back pain from sleeping on different beds or carting around excess luggage (in our case, camera equipment). I'm grateful to have a convenient and portable form of exercise to engage in. So like Dede, I too, diligently grab my pink exercise mat and with good posture, attend a Pilates class.