With the abundance of bleak information what are you doing to lift your spirits? What makes you laugh, relax, dance, and smile? And how often are you doing that activity?

For me, it’s music (resulting in mini-American Idol moments as I sing along!). I’ve elected to increase my listening time by ~30 minutes a day. It’s been awesome and to create this I’ve had to reduce my news consumption…reducing the negative input and increasing the positive, a double gain.

What does it for you? How can you fit a little more laughing, walking, dancing, writing, reading into your day? Whatever it is that connects you to your inner joy, bump up its space on your calendar and enjoy yourself. Be well.

FYI – The Dixie Chix, ‘Taking the Long Way’ are my present company!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWiXy55OHyY

Do, Toss, or File

You know those piles of ‘things to do’ around your desk. Create time to put them in their place. My ‘rule’ is touch each piece of paper once, do it, toss it, or file it. (Hint; create a ‘delayed toss’ file for the uncertain items. (In 5+ years I’ve never retrieved anything from mine.)

Don’t Love It? Don’t Use It? Donate it.

De-cluttering brings a sense of openness not to mention a tidier space. As you walk through your home notice items, do you love it? Do you use it? No? Why keep it? Find a spot for a donation box, when it’s full, deliver it. Donate it for the good of others.

Single Task

That’s right, give up multi-taking for just one hour a day. Really focus on what’s at hand; hearing about your partners’ day, folding the laundry, or walking the dog. Do just one thing and enjoy being present.

White Space

Give yourself at minimum 5 minutes of white space a day, time to sit quietly and be undisturbed. Where can you find 5 minutes? How about taking a media sabbatical? Turn the news off and tune into yourself.

How else can you simplify? What one change will make your day better? Now do it. Find the gifts you need during this rowdy economy and embrace the abundance you have.

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1. Exercise improves your mood.
2. Exercise combats chronic diseases.
3. Exercise helps you manage you weight.
4. Exercise strengthens your heart and lungs.
5. Exercise promotes better sleep.
6. Exercise can put the spark back into your sex life.
7. Exercise can be – gasp – fun!

Interested in any of the above? I thought so. Your challenge is to not give into the temptation of the sofa and that fuzzy blanket until after you’re daily movement routine is complete. You’re winter will be brighter even though it’s dark out.

Joseph Pilates at ~63 – scroll down to 2002: Souvenirs of Seventy Seasons

Mary Pilates at ~84 – (Mr. Pilates’ niece) scroll down to see Mary demonstrate Roll Over

Joseph Pilates at ~80
It looks like a lifetime of Pilates will do us all good.

At the young age of 85 Romana Kryzanowska, currently teaches at True Pilates in New York and offered this story. “The funniest was when this strange man came into the studio,” she recalls. “He picked up this heavy piece of equipment, put it on his back and walked out to his home near Carnegie Hall [about five blocks away]. Joe followed him home-in his mini gym shorts, with a gun tucked into the waistband.” (Apparently this wasn’t out of character. Joe was known to jog around the block in his skivvies year-round, seemingly oblivious to the elements and to the passersby.) 

Elder Jay Grimes has been teaching at Estrela Pilates in Beverly Hills for the past 20 years. Here’s his answer to “What was it like meeting Joe?” “Since I had never heard of him, I didn’t have any expectations. Even though he was short, he had great stature and a commanding presence. His glass eye made him a little mysterious and frightening. You knew immediately that he was serious about his work, but I definitely felt like I had stepped into another world. As soon as we started my session, I knew the man was a genius and I was terrified of him.” 

A lifetime is a series of short stories. What do you want your legendary story to be? What are you doing to write that story?

Being a classical Pilates instructor, I’m frequently asked, “Why do we always do the exercises in the same order?” I could say, “Because that’s how Joe did it” and be done with it but that’s an incomplete answer.

Mr. Pilates’ teaching and writing present Pilates exercises as a movement system designed to promote mind-body balance and build strength and stamina. These goals are more readily achieved by using the traditional order he designed. 

The order provides consistency for students to learn the fundamental movements, a framework, if you will, from which to advance their skills. The order creates changes to the neuromuscular system resulting is a greater ability to refine and duplicate movement, deepening the work mentally and physically. 

In addition to the order, Mr. Pilates exercises are link by transitions to maintain flow within and into each other, keeping the mind and body continuously engaged. He choreographed the order and transitions to prepare the body, (and equipment), to safely and efficiently move from one exercise to the next. Being a whole body movement system, it’s no surprise Mr. Pilates was intentional not only about the exercise, but the order and transitions as well. 

In my experience, the order more deeply engages the whole person and creates a foundation from which to expand. The order is one of the reasons his work is so effective. When asked what a particular exercise was good for, Mr. Pilates reportedly replied, “It is good for the body.”

Pilates and yoga are both low impact and focus on breath, albeit a bit differently. Yoga offers various styles of breathing designed to focus the mind and in yoga the belly is encouraged to rise and fall. Pilates breathing is used to maintain a core connection at all times, (on the exhale as well as inhale), therefore the belly does not rise as the breath is drawn in and up into the upper back. 

A key difference is spiritual. Yoga, ‘one with God,’ has spirituality as a central tenant. This is brought to yoga practice via readings, chants, mantras, and other resources. While Joseph Pilates wrote that his work is the ‘coordination of mind, body, and spirit,’ and the spirit does improve, the depth of the spiritual aspect is typically deeper in yoga.

There are blended forms of Pilates and yoga but my preference is to honor each by practicing it in as pure a form at possible. Each discipline offers benefits and as a student, I gain the most by focusing on one. As a mentor of mine once stated, ‘If you want to practice Pilates, do Pilates. If you want to practice yoga, do yoga. Don’t dilute their brilliance for your convenience.’

What’s right for you, Pilates or yoga? Try both and commit to what brings the most to your life, Pilates, yoga, or both.

The Pilates studio is open and I'm delighted to be welcoming clients. Currently, I offer private sessions Tuesdays through Thursdays, from 7:15am to 5:15pm. Sessions last an hour and utilize apparatus designed by Joseph Pilates.

Apparatus? What's that? My. Pilates designed equipment to enhance his work. In addition to mats, I have a reformer with tower, wunda chair, power circle and various props. Combined these offer access to ~75% of Mr. Pilates work, allowing me to design programs that address each clients unique needs.

Curious how these machines work? Contact me for an informational appointment. I'm happy to open the studio, answer questions, and help you make an informed decision about whether pirvate Pilates is right for you.

Cheers