When the stars align, everything else falls into place

At a wellness workshop I attended last week, one of the activities we did was acknowledging and listing all that we were grateful for. For me, one thing that I am always grateful for is being able to move – so often, we take for granted that we can walk, move, jump, or dance (hopefully, without pain or restriction).  But what if we do feel pain and restriction when we move? Sure, we can go to the chiropractor for an adjustment, physiotherapy if it is a more serious issue, or even muscle relaxants… but these are all temporary fixes. 

One of the hallmarks of Pilates is alignment – how many times have we heard that Pilates will help improve posture? It’s true, Pilates really does change your posture! Since Pilates is whole body (training the entire body at one time, rather than individual muscles) it can help correct imbalances in the body. 

When the stars align, everything else falls into place

 Do you remember playing with stacking blocks as a kid? My little boy loved this game – stacking blocks one on top of each other precariously until they tipped over. Over and over again, giggle after giggle.   Our bodies are the same, only instead of wooden blocks, we have bones that stack one on top of each other.

206 bones to be exact. Unlike the blocks though, if our bones aren’t aligned, we don’t crumple over right away. Instead, we create compensating movement patterns and less than optimal alignment and posture. (Can we say computer-head, or text-neck?) This is why I don’t completely agree with the general statement we often hear in the media: That we need to do weight-bearing exercises (ex: squats, weight training) to prevent bone loss/osteoporosis.

Yes, we need to do weight-bearing activities so that we get compression/decompression, but NOT if we are performing these activities in improper alignment. The weight-bearing component of the movement will not occur in this situation, and we will not be working in our optimal range of motion. If we continue moving this way without correcting it, it may lead to joint deterioration over time. 

Since we move with our breath in Pilates, we tend to work a little more slowly and consciously. This allows us time to pay attention to our alignment, and how the body feels in each exercise. We can usually tell if we have aligned our bones – our muscles respond in the right order and we move with ease. When we begin our Reformer workouts, we always start with footwork to align the body starting from the feet up. From there, we move to more complex exercises that allow us to open and strengthen the body, resulting in us finishing our session feeling a few inches taller! 

Try this imagery during your next session, and let me know how it goes! 

Imagine your bones as stacking blocks, with each bone fitting perfectly on top of the one below. Grow from the feet up, and with each inhale, create space between each bone. Once you have lined up and stacked all of your bones, grow the crown of the head to the ceiling as you root down through the feet, creating whole body stability and length. 

xo,L

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