Just One Thing: Tune Your Instrument

30 min Tune Up video

After decades of teaching, I still find myself wanting more than an hour to hold my first session with someone. If you came to my studio to do a lesson with me or one of my colleagues, there is so much I want you to walk away with:

An understanding of the basic principles of Pilates theory.
The concept of where your neutral alignment is, and how to use this knowledge for better access to your muscles.
Discovery of core muscle structure that runs throughout your body.
A feeling of the apparatus’s resistance and assistance.
An understanding that Pilates can be various degrees of rigor, strength training, and therapeutic corrective care in tandem.
An understanding of the idea that muscles are like clay molding to the shapes in which you work them.

The list goes on and on. But if you only learn one thing from visiting my studio, it would be that your body is an instrument containing everything it needs to function efficiently, and like any instrument, it needs tune-ups! The apparatus, props, and even your teacher are all tools to help you organize your body and feel strong, efficient, and free of unnecessary tension. Like Joseph Pilates said,

“Physical fitness is the first requisite of happiness. Our interpretation of physical fitness is the attainment and maintenance of a uniformly developed body with a sound mind fully capable of naturally, easily, and satisfactorily performing our many and varied daily tasks with spontaneous zest and pleasure”.

Think of yourself like a machine, or even better – an instrument: an instrument that needs tuning up and regular play. Some parts may need to be loosened, other parts need their screws tightened, and some parts may not be working because others are taking on all the work.

Efficiency and harmony in your muscle and joint structures are possible, and it’s all relative.

We don’t all have the same baseline. You may have a chronic injury or disability. An education in Pilates will show you that it meets you where you are at, and you work with the system from there.

Even a seasoned professional needs to recalibrate and teach their body where it is in space. We have to warm up and reignite our muscles. This reiteration of a homeostatic alignment and muscle coordination is a lifelong project of mine, and all the other Pilates / dance nerds out there. My goal is to make you a nerd too, and feel the best reward of being present in your body.