| Pilates mat work is a method of body conditioning that combines a unique series of stretching and strengthening exercises. It strengthens and lengthens muscles, improves flexibility and balance, and integrates the body with breathing to create fluidity in movement.
By stabilizing our core and working in the proper alignment, we can both correct and prevent injuries caused by our physical compensations for structural imbalances. Our body becomes more streamlined in shape and efficient in motion.
Pilates also reduces stress, increases circulation, and encourages breath awareness. It builds strength and stability in the core, torso, arms and legs. Pilates engages your mind to work along with your body through visual images, and it teaches the body to work efficiently through the quality and control of specific exercises, not by multiple repetitions.
Pilates is an engaging and intelligent form of body conditioning for people of all ages and physical abilities. |
Joseph Pilates (above) developed this method of exercise in the early 1900s as a way to strengthen his own body, which had been weaked by a case of rickets when he was a child. The Pilates exercises focus on stabilizing your core (your center) while exercising your body as an integrated whole, not just one muscle group at a time.
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