MAKING THE CONNECTION

It appears we are truly neglecting our duty to preserve ourselves from decrepitude. This may be a little dramatic, a catastrophising of the state of affairs, but as a movement professional of some thirtyplus years, as an observer of millennials and Gen Zs in my own family, and as articles that fill newspapers and health journals report, now is the time to move. We are encouraged to change our position from reactive to proactive health care, but the amount of advice and the best ways to achieve this are vast and overwhelming. So where to begin?

It may help to know that ‘everything is connected to everything’, and once we have an understanding of this premise, nay, reality, we can begin to realise that every action we take towards a single goal of our own maintenance is likely to have multiple positive effects over our whole being. A dose of holistic realism, if you like: addressing all the parts of ourselves simultaneously sounds like a big ask, but the reality is that because all our physical and mental systems are interrelated, integrated, and interdependent, relying on our interoceptive barometer, what affects one part will undoubtedly affect others; ‘holistic idealism’.

We might think of ourselves as one big stretchy, human-shaped bag containing all that we are and all that we will become, floating in a mystical elixir, and I mean everything—thoughts, dreams, and experiences as well as the physical material that makes up the body. With all that stuff in the bag, each in its own position relative to everything else, if just one thing were to change, shift, disappear, or, as is our wont, we just keep adding more stuff, then every other relationship of objects within would also be affected. Everything is related. In physiological terms, the stretchy bag with its life elixir might be considered to be the body’s hydrated fascial network. Fascia is everywhere; it surrounds all our muscle fibres, muscle groups, arteries, nerves, and nerves that go through organs, and even more surrounds the organs, everywhere! What affects the fascial system affects everything else.

I am not a ‘master of all’. My expertise is in delivering Pilates exercises incorporating breath control, postural care, and better mechanical function, but over the years of my practice, it has become very evident that mental states, energy levels, and stress reduction are all improved as a result of such undertakings. I believe in the movement of the body to benefit mood, learning, sleep patterns, immune defence, and mental and physical growth, in addition to the more obvious improved and balanced physical ability. But the reverse is also true. How we move is affected by our mood (beliefs and attitude), stress (nervous system and the brain), genetics (muscular-skeletal and somatic types), health, hydration, lifestyle, environment, and so on, meaning everything is truly connected to everything.

The body is required to move and it wants to move. More movement will improve the well-being of all bodily systems to some degree, depending on the choice of activity. There is one caveat (showing yet again how everything is interrelated). Studies show there are few gains unless you like, or come to like, what you are doing. Some consider golf to be a good walk spoiled; boot camp is not for all; and initial benefits are quickly lost if the undertaking is not perceived as fun! There’s a lesson there for all instructors and teachers alike!

Creating the right environment and meeting client expectations matter.

As in many other fitness and wellbeing professions, it is common practice for the Pilates instructor to take comprehensive details of a client’s life and health history. Teachers are there to listen to you and work with your body’s abilities so you can get the absolute most out of a session. You can expect the experienced Pilates teacher to see things that you did not know were there! The past has yet another effect on everything, especially your presenting self: a riding accident, a traumatic loss, a childhood illness, or conversely, winning the school’s rugby cup or sailing around the world. All will affect confidence, self-esteem, and, more importantly from my perspective, how we move.

Deciding to improve how we move is the single goal towards our own maintenance that will affect everything in our being, as anyone who regularly takes any form of exercise or practises mindful movement will attest. Back to being dramatic... even our future may depend on it! Yes, the future is also linked in.

The peak performance of our primary asset in life— the body—is not a permanent state. With precision and directed movement, improvement is nearly always possible, whatever your age and that is why I teach Pilates—the belief in the body. It is a human condition to aspire, and striving is innate. There is no good or bad, right or wrong, and certainly no writing off; just the aim to be a little better than before. As one client so beautifully put it, ‘Not only a lesson in Pilates but a gift of healing as well; how lovely is that.’ However, the betterment does not have to be linked to Pilates; that is my happy place and that of my wonderful clients (and, yes, it is fun!) but, as one homespun studio poster for a future publication which should encourage us all states: Jump. Walk. Run and have fun. Bend, twist, curve, and turn. Freedom of movement is freedom of mind. quantockpilates.com

For many people, full-body stretching is ignored. It can be seen as irrelevant, digging into our valuable ‘workout’ time and can be perceived as tedious and even unnecessary. However, it shouldn’t be missed, is very important, and worth doing daily, even if you aren’t building up to a strenuous workout! Stretching should be performed both before and after exercise. To avoid confusion, in this article we’ll be discussing stretching pre-exercise. There are so many benefits of stretching, let’s cover some of them!

Improved physical performance

Stretching will improve your physical performance. The better you perform, the more you will gain from exercise. This correlation will also most likely make the exercise a more enjoyable experience. Our muscles will lengthen and relax post-stretch, boosting circulation by increasing blood flow around the body. The ability of the muscles to contract will also become more efficient and crucially in turn help us to maximise our performance.