Transforming Your Routine: Tips for Getting More Out of Your Pilates Sessions
Your Pilates practice can be a springboard for trying new activities, feeling better, and making everyday life easier. I want to share some tips I use both as an instructor and a student on how to get even more out of your Pilates session.
Clarify what you want: What do you really want Pilates to help you with? Your first instinct might be to answer with what you think you should want or with something very general. But is there something meaningful and specific you want, such as being able to walk farther with ease, getting back to playing pickleball, or feeling stable getting up and down from the ground? There is no wrong answer. Knowing what matters to you makes it easier to tailor your workout and adds motivation and meaning to the time you invest.
Communicate: Pilates is an exercise system that was designed to support people’s individual wants and needs.
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Share your goal.
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Pipe up if there is something you want to say or ask.
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Be honest if something feels bad, too hard, or too easy.
Take it with you: If the little tips and details that you use in your Pilates exercises help you move with more ease, apply them to your other activities. For example, if you came to Pilates to help with back pain and have found slight position adjustments that help you bend over in Pilates exercises, that can translate to how you pick things up from the ground at home or in the garden.
Habit Stack: Most people are not going to do an entire Pilates workout on their own. Instead, have one exercise specific to your goal and integrate it into another habit you already have established, such as doing it at home while you watch TV, or adding it to your pickleball warm-up, or doing it while you’re at the gym. This can be an easy way to add it into your week.
I’d love to hear from you: let me know if one of these tips struck a chord or if you want a little help with any of the above.
Here’s to transforming your routine and unlocking new possibilities!
Leila