What is Pilates?
What better way to find out about Pilates (he was actually a person – Joseph Pilates), than through a South Park-esque cartoon of his history. We have to make a disclaimer that all facts outlined in the video have not been verified (for example, its unlikely that the beds in the camps during the second world war actually had springs), but its an entertaining history of how Pilates came to be.
Nowadays there are 2 streams of Pilates:
Classical Pilates – those who follow the lineage of Joseph Pilates strictly, completing his sequence of exercises in the same format each time they practice, finding extra depth in every session
Contemporary Pilates – those who take the spirit of Pilates and add exercise and movement based on the most recent updates in science
At Embodied Pilates Studio we certainly want to keep the spirit of Joseph Pilates alive, but we also value the changes in how the scientific world view working with muscles and fascia. We take into account that how we move is no longer simply about muscles but also incorporates things like our psychological, social, neural wellbeing (to name but a few). We believe that had Joseph Pilates lived to see these studies, he would have definitely taken them into account in his work.
So what is Pilates? It is so many things but if we were to summarise, we would put these things at the top of the list
breathing
flexibility through strength
mind and body workout
working deep stabilising muscles as well as the global ones
movement autonomy and ease
To find out more, book into an Explore Session today. We would love to show you what its all about.