I go back to Menezes, who illustrates Joe’s “Eight Principles”. They are mental guidelines to meditate on while performing the movements. If you think that requires too much effort, you are correct. It is all mental effort, but it is precisely this type of effort that makes Pilates one of the most effective fitness systems to date. Menezes lists them in order in his book, The Complete Guide to Joseph H. Pilates’ Techniques of Physical Conditioning: “Concentration, Centering, Breathing, Control, Precision, Flowing Movement, Isolation, Routine.” Concentration sounds easy enough, but I for one have been known to overload this one by over-concentrating, which ultimately leads to tension. A possible translation could be ‘sticky awareness’; visualizing and internalizing every movement you make, and every body part that’s involved. To have an intuitive understanding of your body trumps all things. Without it, steps like Centering are impossible.
Centering is, with concentration, locating and gaining control of the core. I’m sure you’ve heard about this area: “…the trunk of the body, especially the abdominals and muscles of the back”, according to Marguerite Ogle of About.com. It’s probably that area you have the most trouble getting to look pretty. I do. A lot of it is what we eat, but it’s also the types of exercises we use. For a long time the standard sit-up or crunch was the only way to go. Then, either through poor instruction or improper mimicking, we got back pain from strengthening our abs. We got told we weren’t doing the sit up right, and with this machine, we’ll get the flat abs we’ve always wanted. But none of the machines worked that well…and it was because we were using the wrong machine. See where I’m going? The core deserves volumes of writing, so I’ll try to be concise. The group of muscles called the core is responsible for some of the most important areas of the body: the heart, the pelvis, just about every major internal organ, and the spinal cord. It is also responsible for negotiating movement in the body, posture, and breathing. To have the core too loose or weak will result in a failed posture, putting undue pressure on the spinal column, and that’ll just mess up your whole day. To have the core too tight will restrict breathing, and optimal oxygen won’t get to the brain. The body will try to compensate, which will result in more tension, and probably undue pressure on the spinal column. Again, day ruined. Balance is key when it comes to the core, and the standard sit-up will only target the area at the center of the contraction; namely the superficial muscles just below the ribs. We can do variations that target other areas, but at best they strengthen the superficial muscles, and do little for fixing posture. Centering in Pilates first seeks to rectify the issue of alignment by targeting the powerhouse of the core, located a few inches below the belly button. In Tai Chi, that’s the Dantien. To be successful at that is to level the pelvis, which will lengthen the spine and relieve other muscles in the core that were overcompensating to maintain posture. NOW the work can begin.
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