Sunday, July 19, 2009

'Lets giv'er the ol'heave ho.' - Pilates with Joan

I had taken three pilates courses before in my CSEE program, and somewhat new what to expect in this drop-in class: mat work, body weight, and lengthening of muscles. What I had forgotten completely about is how much internal body awareness and control it takes to do pilates correctly.

Stacking vertebrae, rolling up and down, and controlling the mid-section during lengthening movements for me, is more taxing mentally then physically. Having proper posture and form along with sequencing your muscle contractions is something that takes more then a few intro sessions to be second nature at. Mad respect to Pilates... mad respect to my instructor, Joan.







Joan was so funny... taught everyone (including 3 beginners) so well with humour and definitely created a relaxed atmosphere. Loved the moves (and will steal many of them to update my ab routine) and completely fell in love with some of the more… interesting moves like the seal.


You know, I've read a few times that the first strength gains in physical activity is not due to muscle adaptation, but because of the brain learning how to fire what synapses and in what order to efficiently move. Pilates was great class to remind me that the mind is what counts, and learning body awareness is something a lot of us take for granted.



Thanks Joan! Definitely looking forward to Gyrokinesis!

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