Body Basics Newsletter - Summer Vacation Closing Out
Me - 51 years old - doing the teaserHello Here we are at the end of August and summer and vacation time is coming to an end. Time to turn the attention back to routine including the physical routine of keeping that body in a fit shape. Let’s look at a starting point for doing that. BODY BASIC TIP FOR SEPTEMBER Pilates is a co-ordination of body, mind and spirit with the aim of gaining optimum physical fitness. This brings up a very interesting point and one of the reasons why Pilates is so effective. The mind and the spirit very definitely have an effect on the physical state of your body. But how does this translate to you getting out there and moving that body and exercising it? Well it starts with your decision to do it, to get that body into a good state and that is the spirit side of it. Next comes the command from you, through the mind, to the body to do what you ask it. Command of the body. You ask it to move that muscle and it does it. And that really is the crux of the matter. Let’s apply this to breathing correctly.It is always good to work on your breathing, oxygenating the body- the internal shower. Lay down on your back , knees up feet flat on the floor. Place your pelvis in a neutral position. ( see earlier Body Basics and my website for finding this) Now when you breathe in through your nose you are going to expand your ribcage muscles not your abdominals. So place your hands round the side of your ribcage and breathe in concentrating on expanding those muscles. Your abdominals may want to join in. But here is your command and control. Breathe in, expand your ribcage sideways and flatten your mid back across the floor but tell your abdominals to flatten across, not expand and then breathe out through your mouth and keep those abdominals in. Keep breathing in this fashion, exercising your command over those ribcage muscles and abdominals as above. Keep doing it like that till you have the control and command and can get the muscles to work as you want them Breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth. If you can’t master it today, keep at it each day until you can. This breathing, by the way, will give your spine a stretch and fill your lungs with maximum oxygen. Exhaling strongly gets all the impurities out of the lungs. In using the body there are many muscles you can use to do something but which ones are you using and are they the most effective ones for the job? This is generally not known and as a result incorrect muscle usage, imbalance, incorrect posture and body aches and pains. Not to mention what you look like! This is one area where Pilates hits the spot. You learn to use a particular muscle to do a particular job, the most effective one and you learn to use all the other muscles in the body at the same time but doing what they should be doing and in the correct manner, to back up and support!!!!!! Guess what? It isn’t hard. It is natural to you. You gotta tell that muscle to work and eventually it will do it automatically. Let’s have a look at the other side of the coin and paying no attention to the body and what it is doing when you exercise. I have seen this with people on treadmills watching TV or reading a book, treading away there with the body slumped over, walking only on the outside of their feet, shoulders hunched over to point out a few. And then they wonder why some muscles are getting extremely tight and sore and others don’t seem to get any more toned or stronger. I am sure this is the same walking and running or doing exercises in class, with weight machines, or from a video. I am all for treadmills, walking and running, you need aerobics but I train my clients how to walk and run and to pay attention to what muscles, joints and how they are doing it. You get much more out of it for less time put in. Much more economical and cost effective. That is where Pilates comes in. Joseph Pilates, who developed Pilates back in the early 1900’s says it like this: ( Joe did not call Pilates by his name , he called it “Contrology”)“Everyone can and should have, to a certain and sufficient extent ,control of their own physical system.”“Contrololgy regards man as a spiritual being, taking into account all the various influences that operate upon his intellectual and moral life flowing from physical causes, as well as the power of the mind over the exercise of functional acts of the body of every kind.” So now you know where some of the Pilates power comes from.
MY CLASSES I run classes in Tujunga LA on Sat and Wed and will soon have others starting in one or two other areas of LA. I also will come to your home on a one to one or you could get a class going in your home of friends and acquaintences. I have equipment usage through a client and a studio if you would like to experience the reformer and other Pilates equipment. In September , I have two free introductory classes to Pilates in Tujunga. Sat Sept 16th at 10am Wed Sept 20th at 8pm. Contact me if you wish to go. Last of all but not least: SUCCESSES: The three following are from one client: I've been going to Louise's class for a month or so now and I've gained increased strength, flexibility and improved posture and it's fun! Come over and check it out! I notice now when my shoulders are hunched or more forward than they should be, before I was never aware of this. So now, my back muscles are getting stronger and it's easier to keep my shoulders back. I've noticed too my abs becoming stronger. I sit at a computer most of the day and I find myself sitting up without leaning back into the chair and it seems I can go longer without getting tired. “Pilates has changed my body. I have not even done 10 sessions yet and have noticed incredible changes in all parts of my body. My legs are stronger and more defined. My arms have become shapelier as well. My core is strong and my stomach has flattened. I have been doing Pilates only once a week and cannot believe how much change I have seen and so quickly. I recommend this to anyone who wants to see results.”
“Louise gets down to your core. She educates you by way of making you do it. I had taken Pilates before but honestly I didn’t have the true meaning of it until I began working with Louise. As a true beginner if something is too easy, I was probably doing it wrong. Louise made one tiny shift and I was formally introduced to my core (which I had ignored all these years). I think lack of core strength is why older people wind up having hip replacement and eventually limping. Louise taught me that there are tiny little muscles throughout the body, and if they don’t do their job, major body parts such as hips, knees and shoulders overwork themselves and that’s when the problems start. So those tiny components that are ignored are extremely important. Louise’s dancing background also adds grace to the Pilates workout. Of course with that come more challenges. I don’t think my balance has ever been this good! To sum it up, Louise’s core building challenging workouts have become part of my anti-aging program.”
Okay that’s it for this month. Talk to you again next month or maybe sooner. Yours Louise
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