Weekly wrap up. Week 25. 2024. What actually IS Pilates? part 1.

What is Pilates. Joseph who? Why do I do it? 34 what? Part 1

If someone asks you why you do Pilates, what do you say? If they ask you what it is, how do you answer? Let’s be fair - how many of us actually know much about it? We know it is good for us but do we actually know what it really is? I mean obviously I do but you get my point!

When I used to teach the Level 3 Pilates qualification, one of my very first questions was “what is Pilates?” To be met frequently with total silence… how do you put into words what it is all about and I ask you now, before you carry on reading - What is Pilates? Do you truly KNOW what is is and why you do it? Do you actually know about the namesake at all?

There are a lot of variations and opinions on Pilates and there are a lot of Pilates classes that are not Pilates!

There is a saying that “80% of people doing Pilates are not doing Pilates”. There are plenty of options to work slowly and sequence moves but that does not mean it is Pilates. IMHO, in order to fully immerse, you need to know about the creator, it’s history and the thinking behind it to fully understand why Pilates is the unique form of exercise that it is. By the way - yes, it absolutely can be an intensive, high powered work out - just check out the moves here before you think it is all slow and stretchy - CLICK HERE

There are lots of classes that adapt Pilates moves and I myself very much enjoy some "fusion" or "power" work and why not - if it is safe, effective and appropriate it can be a fun way to adapt but let's talk pure Pilates here.

So who was he?

Joseph Hubertus Pilates was born in 1883 near Dusseldorf, Germany. Now here already I wade into controversy as the famous story is that he was a sickly child, suffering from rickets, asthma and “ rheumatoid fever”. However I was fortunate enough to attend a talk with German author and historian Eva Rincke who wrote his biography in 2015 after exhaustive research (and interestingly when speaking to his remaining family, they declined to be involved).

So the alternative thinking is that Joseph’s mother was a naturopath and it suited her very well to display his “healing” as a result of her remedies that saw her sales grow considerably and that perhaps his ailments were not all totally genuine. Something we will never know.

What is not in question is that he was bullied at school and his damaged eye was a result of being hit by a stone from a catapult. What is also known is that he used to spend hours hiding in the woods and so on, observing wild animals and became fascinated with their movement and from here, ideas grew as he recognised that they did not present mobility restrictions that humans did. Here too was the basis for some of his moves - think of all the animal names such as Crab, Seal, Swan Dive, Grasshopper, Dolphin and more.

Joe started training to build strength and confidence and took up boxing, bodybuilding and gymnastics. As a mere teenager, he was so well developed that he was used as a live model for anatomy education. Can you imagine the work and dedication back in a time when this was not recognised at all as it is today?

He studied Eastern and Western exercise methods and was very much invested in Greek and Roman philosophy. There is a definite divide in opinion on the influence of Yoga in his work but while some moves definitely appear similar, Contrology (to give it the original name) was always based in functional rather than spiritual foundation.

In 1912, JP travelled to England (and a lesser known belief is that he abandoned a wife and children on the docks)

When WW1 broke out, along with other German nationals, Joe was interned in a POW camp on the Isle of Man. It was here that he started really developing his work, rehabilitating injured soldiers. Can you believe the famous Reformer and some other studio equipment ideas were created here - JP created apparatus from metal hospital beds and used springs for resistance and the success in rehabilitation work widely reported. (Further down the line it was also noted that no-one who was practising his breathing and exercise methods succumbed to the Spanish Flu epidemic)

After the war, Joe returned to Germany but on being invited to train the New German Army, decided that raised certain implications and moved on again. Possibly, he was invited by World boxing Champion Max Schmelling but either way, he found himself sailing to New York and on board, met Clara who would become his wife (again, a famous belief although Eva states that they never married).

In 1926, Pilates and Clara set up a studio on Eight Avenue, NYC. The clientele was very mixed with dancers, gymnasts and circus performers. It was the dancers particularly who were drawn to him and his deep understanding of how the human body moved and he famously went on to work with the New York Ballet.

Joe was approached many times to expand and open more branches of his gym but he flat out refused as he was fiercely protective of his work and wanted total control so while he undoubtedly restricted his income, did it display some control issues or was he just very possessive of his work?

The studio was full of all the equipment you would find in any Pilates studio today and he had a rule that you needed to attend a minimum of 3 times a week and failing that, you would not be welcome. There was no routine - you went in and just started working on a piece of equipment you fancied and he or Clara would wander by to observe.

Elders is the name given to “first generation teachers” - anyone who trained directly with Pilates and Clara and I attended a convention with Jay Grimes who is a retired dancer and Elder, training with Joe in the 60’s until his death and then for a following 10 years with Clara and he gave us a fascinating insight into the studio regime. (It was he that told us that he was Joe and not Jospeh). He told us that Clara was called “The Ghost” as she would silently appear as if from nowhere and with minimal direction, would just prod you here or there and say “this - this” as suggestion of what to work on.

All pictures of Clara show her wearing her nurse’s uniform. The fact is that she was not a nurse and had no nursing training but believed it offered her a more authoritative look.

I follow a hilarious Indian comedian/Yoga teacher who does this skit on why people are "rushing, rushing, rushing, rushing, rushing" to get to Yoga and therefor, this is not Yoga.

Pilates has the same theory. It is SO much more than just turning up once a week to attend a class. It is learning about your body, how you move, how to balance and build strength all these lessons into your everyday life. It is a lifestyle and an appreciation of how to appreciate and protect your body - read some of the quotes to help you better understand this. I say over and over that I want you to learn more about yourself and how you move and to use this in your other activities and sports so that you can always be the best possible version of yourself and look towards a long and healthy senior life!

Remember - Look after your body. It's the only place you have to live in.

Of course we cannot all have a fully fitted studio and in addition to the studio equimpment, there is archive footage of Joe teaching on the mat where he believed you practised the moves you perfected on the large studio equipment.

There are countless ways that we recreate some studio equipment using bands, balls, poles and ore. Did you know that the Magic circle was created when Joe and his brother were knocking back a few beers and he was looking at the metal rings around the beer barrels and thought about how else they may be utilised. Fact.

In 1945, Pilates published his most notable book “Return to life through Contrology” Here, he presented his beliefs for a healthy mind and body as well as documenting the original 34 moves that we practise today. Every Pilates teacher worth their weight should have read this book from cover to cover!

His work was renamed Pilates after his death.

Pilates was famously quoted as saying he was 50 years ahead of his time, and to read his work now and see how current it is, that was clearly an understatement.

It is no doubt that Joe was a genius . His reference to breath, mind body connection, the need for relaxation, fresh air, and functional movement are all things we see being preached now 100 years later. He really understood the need for better breathing and as recently as our fight against Covid, there was so much reference to how to breath - the Radio 2 DJ Jo Wiley wrote about her sister who was hospitalised with Covid during lockdown. She has Downs Syndrome and tends to really shout when she is talking and Jo stated that she truly beleived it was that heavey exahling through her shouting that saved her.

Pilates put it a different way - “The human lungs are a graveyard of toxicity” - food for thought indeed.

According to the Elders, (including Carola Trier, Bruce King, Mary Bowen), Clara played a pivotal role in developing a program for apprenticeships and it was believed that she was the driving force behind making sure the the method was kept abreast of scientific development and was adapted to cater for individual needs. Possibly his most famout protegè was Romana Kryzanowska who trained with both Pilates and Clara and only she was allowed by him to add some of her own adaptations and additions to his original method.

Romana contined to run the studio with Clara after Joe's death.

Pilates died at 83 from emphysema. This might have been exacerbated after a fire not long before, when he repeatedly returned to the building to try and save items from his studio. Photos from his 80’s show his very impressive physique but what a shame he was unable to stop his smoking.

Some of Pilates' quotes

Breathing is the first act of life and the very last. Our lives depend on it.

‘Physical fitness is the first requisite of happiness.’

‘Physical fitness can neither be achieved by wishful thinking, nor outright purchase.’

In 10 sessions you'll feel the difference, in 20 you'll see the difference, and in 30 you'll have a new body

Change happens through movement and movement heals.’

The mind, when housed within a healthful body, possesses a glorious sense of power.

The Pilates Method teaches you to be in control of your body and not at its mercy.

If your spine is inflexibly stiff at 30, you are old. If it is completely flexible at 60, you are young.

Pilates is gaining the mastery of your mind over the complete control over your body.

Patience and persistence are vital qualities in the ultimate successful accomplishment of any worthwhile endeavor.

Physical fitness is the first requisite of happiness.

Everyone is the architect of their own happiness

It’s the mind itself which shapes the body.

A few well-designed movements, properly performed in a balanced sequence, are worth hours of doing sloppy calisthenics or forced contortion.

Contrology is complete coordination of body, mind, and spirit.

Above all, learn to breathe correctly.

And one from Romana

"Pilates can be described in 3 words. Strength and stretch with control but the control is the most important as you are using your mind. “

Next week - What are the 34 Moves?

What we have been up to. What is coming up.

It has been a fun week, trying to teach in the garden with slightly wonky wifi and very enthusiastic dogs but we always find a way! I never take for granted how amazing it is to be able to connect to so many locations and join together. I had a busy day last week with the amazing 'Becky takes Photos' to give my website a facelift and a refresh. Bertie and Gretl were very involved in that too and Becky did a wonderful job as I am a totally hopeless muse. My ex husband is a professional photographer who told me I was more wooden than Pinocchio so I knew what she was up against but I think we will find some good pics for both website and new flyers etc.

Please cast an eye over the new homepage and do give me your thoughts. ...it is a work in progress and will continue to develop. I hope you are enjoying the new content in the library and also the new layout which I think you will agree, is easier to navigate.

Congratulations and counselling available to Lou and Clare who successfully not only ran up and down various mountains in Wales last Saturday but also encountered orienteering and actual mountain climbing. Please now rest a bit you too!

What is everyone else up to? I am very jealous of one online member rocking it out to Taylor Swift last week at Wembley and some others are Glastonbury bound, not least our own Frome resident being escorted in a double decker bus!

And to the beach!

At last, the sun is shining and we have managed to get to the beach.

In awnser to questions this last week -

no, it is not sandy,

yes it might be windy,

I have no idea, I am not a weather expert,

No of course there is nowhere to change,

it's a beach,

I don't know the tide times, why don't you look?

No, you don't have to swim, I am not the swimming police

Maybe it will be chilly? dont come then

To those of you online - thank you for your patience as I know the quality is not the same and there are distractions but it is so lovely to be outside and love where we live.

To those of you more local - you are so welcome to join us and being outside by the sea is an absolute joy and such a treat.

N.b. If you are not on mute, I can hear you on my headphones regardless of whether I am in front of or behind the screen!!

Do come and join us if you can. Updates on instagram and the what's app group x

How have you got on with the June challenge? The July challenge will be going up in the library in the next few days and coming soon - The 34 moves. I am writing about this next week and we will be hitting this hard in the Autumn!

I can highly recommend the Federer documentary on Netflix and I also really enjoyed the James Blunt documentary - he is a very funny guy but do prepare for some fruity language. I will always remember my dear, then 12 year old daughter, sitting in the back of the car with my Mother in the passenger seat and as we drove past some very grafitti'd bill boards, saying "Oh I think you should look away Grandma, there is some very inappropriate language"....

Have a great weekend all xx

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Weekly Wrap up. Week 18. 2025.

By juliet • May 1, 2025

USE IT OR LOSE IT! I saw a post on instagram that I shared today. It is a video of a large family posing for a group photo, with many of them sat on the floor. Once the photo has been taken, they try to get up and that is where chaos happens (along with a lot of laughter) as they are clinging onto eachother, trying to get to their feet and getting into a total heap. Very funny... but also not... I was involved in a workshop today at Limewood and the phrase "Use it or Lose it" came up in the presentation. We all know the saying and can use it quite flippantly but how about acknowledging that if we no longer perform that particular activity, our body thinks it is no longer required and we find we CAN'T perform that movement. We need to condition our body and therefor when we first try a new exercise for example, we can feel quite unstable or uncoordinated and lacking in proprioception but as we repeat and practise, the move becomes more familiar and we grow in confidence and ability. Think of some of the sequences we do in Pilates or some of the more complex moves in our weights work - not for the faint of heart and performed only once we have built up the skills and have the coordination and understanding of what needs to go where. However as we stop doing those (or any other)moves they quickly become harder to reach. If you haven't seen it, do please watch "Secrets of The Blue Zones" on Netflix - about communities where people not only live beyond 100 but do so with good physical and mental health. It is a superb watch but the factors are the same in each community and one of them is of course, exercise, be it walking up a practically vertical hill to church or getting onto hands and knees to tend the garden daily. Whatever you do or don't do, please don't be the one rolling around because you cant get up from the floor!! Using it beyond all reason this weekend however are Lou and Clare - please join me in wishing them the very best of luck as they set off together at 6.45am on Saturday to run 100km around the Isle of Wight. If you recall, they did 50km last year and that achievement set them up for going the full distance this year. It also did something else as I went over to watch them and had a bad case of missing out, as I can no longer run and realised how much I missed the training and camaraderie of an endurance event and it was off the back of this experience that I came home and bought a new bike. So a year (and lots of cycling and joining a club) later, I am also off to the island on Sunday to cycle 100km on the IOW Randonnee. I respect that my challenge is nowhere near the scale of what Lou and Clare are undertaking but there are some big old hills over there... good job we have a Bank Holiday Monday to recover!!

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By juliet • April 24, 2025

Blink and you miss it. There went Easter. I hope you all had a lovely time doing whatever you got up to and we now enter the summer term. I mean we don't really have terms but if we did, this is it... exams, summer uniform, netball and cricket and dusting off the bbq's. Personally, none of that really applies to me... well perhaps the summer uniform as I drag my shorts blinking and yawning from the back of the drawer. As for netball - I used to absolutely love it. I was always in the school team, playing Centre or Goal defence and did briefly join Lymington as an adult. When my girls were at prep. school, they reinstated a teachers v parents netball match and we won by a country mile -none of us really knew how but me being me, I went full out to start a mum's netball club one evening a week. Before we knew it, "friends" had mentioned us to the Bournemouth and Southampton leagues. This was very, very scary as we were just running up and down shouting "is that allowed? what are we supposed to do here? did that count?" so clearly in our infancy and anyway, we didn't have any matching kit but we did have a lot of fun - well, until someone went over on her ankle which promptly broke and that was the end of that. I have been spared life as a cricket mum or widow but sitting in a deckchair for hours in the sunshine pretending to watch sounds wonderful to me. As I watch my nephews revving up for the start of GCSE's, I thank my lucky stars those hideous days are behind me. I have a vivid memory of sitting at the kitchen table trying to revise while my mother sat outside in the garden listening to Wimbledon on the radio and the two are forever linked for me. Wimbledon with exams not my mother. Apparantly we have wonderful weather next week so dig out your sunscreen and if you can make it, I will be teaching on the beach for Monday and Tuesday's classes. We went through the 34 Moves recently and the upside down/inversion moves are usually the ones that need the most practise. You can really get a deep dive into these moves on the studio equipment if you ever go to a studio but we have several in our mat work - Roll over, Rolling moves, High bridge, Control balance, High Scissors and Bicycle. Remember that Joseph Pilates' philosophy was to perfect on the studio equipment and practise on the mat, hence we use all sorts of equipment and creativity to recreate as close to the studio work as we can for the vast majority of us who do not have access to a fully equipped studio. Why inversion? Gravity can lead to compression of the spine and their little shock absorbers known as discs that can become dehydrated. When we tip our body upside down, we can reverse the gravitational pull. This can help to create more space between the verterbrae and studies suggest that this allows for the discs' soft tissue to absorb moisture and rehydrate and plump up. Exercises like Roll over or the rolling moves can provide a massage for the spine and fascia as well as improving spinal mobility and of course, abdominal strength. (please note in photo above, my right arm is not perfect - my wrist should be flat and my arms could be stronger and better connected to the floor but it was the best pic I could find for now and I wasn't sharing that space with anyone else so it was a mediocre me or nothing!!!) Want more? Well, it is widely believed that being upside down can stimulate the lymphatic system and help with lymph drainage. Also the action of being upside down can increase blood flow to the stomach and therefor help with digestion and digestive issues. You don't need to be performing an advanced Control Balance move - some of the rolling moves and spinal extension we have been working on do the job in a modified way and anyhow, high blood pressure, glaucoma and spinal issues are some of the reasons why full, advanced inversion is not ideal - there are always ways to adapt, modify and practise safely. What we established in our 8am class yesterday was how many ways we can break down, build up and practise. For example, consider the Roll up, Roll down and Roll over as exactly the same exercise but variations come from the position you start from, how you work against gravity and whether it is your upper or lower body that moves. Thinking about Roll over, and going into the inverted positions (where your hands support you from under your hips), we worked on how to open up the chest, the need for strength through the traps, lats and triceps, length in the hamstrings, strength in the core and so much more. So for example, to improve High Scissors, you could consider side lying chest opener, Roll down with arms behind you, Saw and upper body only double leg kick - all moves to open up the chest and strengthen the upper body. In addition, hamstring and hip flexor stretches. Focus on pelvic floor and deep core connection so lots of abdominal and core strengthening- we could (and do) a whole class on moves to prepare us for one single and seemingly evasive exercise. What we do know is that to get better, we need to practise - a few daily exercises relevant to what you need to build on will make ALL the difference so.... with that in mind, I am going to start planning some workshop style classes again as we haven't done this for a while so your input would be welcomed. What moves really challenge you and what would you like to work on? I will get my creative hat on and build a class around the strength, stretch and mobility we need to focus on. What I continue to hear from you (and feel for myself) is the benefit of building strength from lifting weights and how that really helps with your Pilates progess. Isn't it great!!

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Weekly Wrap up. Week 9. 2025. It's nearly our 5th Birthday!

By juliet • February 27, 2025

I very nearly missed it. I was thinking about an April challenge or similar when I suddenly realised that WE ARE 5! In March, we will have been online for a whopping 5 years and as we grow ever stronger, this needs to be celebrated! Friday 17th March 2020. I was in a totally empty Beaulieu Village hall as everyone was staying home and with legs shaking and heart racing, I leant my phone up against a speaker on the stage and started my first ever Facebook LIve class. A lot has happened in 5 years and we are all far more tech savvy now but this was ground breaking for me at least and I was terrified. Seeing little hearts and smiley faces floating up the screen as more and more people logged on was the biggest support I could have imagined. That week before what we all knew was coming, I was facing the “what’s next” along with millions of others. For me, “what next” was a 3 day non stop run of no sleep (adrenaline has many uses) and a huge learning curve. Along with fellow fitness professionals, I was learning how to use Zoom, membership platforms, booking programs, how to manage my website, multi screening, recording and editing. There were a lot of tears and coffee and I did not see my bed for 3 nights straight. BUT…. (indulge me here please) scrolling back through my old blog posts (still there for you to see!) I saw my first post about Live, free Facebook Pilates on March 20th and my first calendar of classes the same week as we went into lockdown. I went live, online for free every day, one way or another for 6 weeks right at the start. It nearly killed me and how Joe Wicks kept going, I do not know but I am so proud of that and what we achieved together. I was reaching into countries all over the world as at that time, not as many people were offering this and as everyone was at home, time zones were not as relevant. Friends and family were sharing the links so that they could do classes together and see eachother from wherever they were. To be honest, it is all a bit of a blur (as I am sure it is for many, many people) as I just fought hard to save my business and my sanity. I do vividly remember one class where we had zooms from Australia, America, Qatar, Dubai and Mallorca. I wrote it down on my office whiteboard where it stayed for years. It was just surreal and I honestly could not believe this was me! I was doing all this on my laptop mirrored to my TV, in my lounge! You saved me! I was on my own and horribly lonely and isolated and slowly going a bit mad and “having” to log on daily and be positve and upbeat and full of energy to motivate and inspire you genuinely saved me. I have removed most of the old lockdown content and anything that still triggers me into a shivver of how awful it was, but one thing that I hold in my heart with enormous pride is my online community. I am more proud of this than I can begin to descibe. You are my family. I created this, built and nurtured it and continue to be indescribably proud of what we have all acheived together. Our Christmas lunches, when I sit back and see so many friends, the care and what we share - please know that it means the world to me. We have got up to SO MUCH online over 5 years. I am not going to go back over it because a) it is all there in old blogs and social media posts and b) full disclosure, I am only truly, this last year, coming out of what the lockdown era took out of me and I do not wish to revisit it but…. True friendships have grown and we all know we really are “SO MUCH MORE THAN PILATES”. Only last week when a group of us met for a walk, I took so much from hearing you talking about how much YOU get from it - not just the exercise but the daily morning chats and check in’s, the community and support - that you cannot believe how you used to do one class a week, whizz in, whizz out and that was that until the following week whereas now you are doing multiple classes a week and what’s apping fellow members, logging in to see friends and sharing so much. I have been able to teach from Cornwall, Botswana, Croatia ,Pembrokeshire, the local beach…. and as my feet get ever more itchy, the wonders of online means have van, have wifi - you can come with me! I have never wanted to go down the commerical studio route. That was never for me. Far too restrictive - and as online works, the world awaits! So here we are. This last week we have beamed into MELBOURNE (furthest reach so far!), Singapore, Tanzania, Germany, France, Spain, Greece and never forgetting the Isle of Wight… we have more members than ever, a wonderful variety of classes and the library has had another update with more to come. Teatime talks are shaping up (new page on the website under construction), we have 2 socials in the diary and it’s still only February. This year is my 20th anniversary as a Pilates teacher and 22 years since I started out as a Personal trainer. As the wonderful Master Teacher Michael King (who I am going to for a week of Pilates in Crete in May) says - “Old Pilates teachers never retire. We just roll down one day and never roll back up” For our fifth anniversary, it seems only right to go back to where it started so bear with me and watch this space as I plan a collection of extra FREE classes available to EVERYONE, some on Zoom, some on instagram live. This will be week commencing March 24 March and PLEASE put Saturday March 29th in your diary and come to Beaulieu village hall for old time’s sake for a FREE class open to ALL starting at 9am - and coffee and pastries up the road afterwards at Steffs. I will sort the times and days and post next week and in our members’ calendar but everyone is included. Do also keep March 11th in your diary for the first of our Teatime talks - again, open to all. The wonders of being online.