Getting back to the basics of Pilates

The first time you walk into a Pilates studio and begin your Pilates practice it can be overwhelming. Learning the Pilates apparatus, the Pilates exercises and also a new language in Pilates speak of terms. Many Pilates beginners think it is easy, they weren’t sore enough the next day and it seems simple in a lot of ways. In any new thing, you are learning the basics of Pilates and the shapes and moves the Pilates teacher is asking for you to do. Getting the basics of Pilates takes time and patience.

The basics always start with the mat work. This is the foundation of Joseph Pilates work. It is the hardest of the work. For many they think the Reformer is the hard work, they want to skip the mat, and don’t think it is worth the time but the reality is the mat is hard. The more you practice it the harder it becomes, just like anything in Pilates.

This is where we are seeing the shapes, mobility, and strength of the body. Figuring out what the connections needed for Pilates are and how to maybe figure that out. With just the body and gravity. Not a lot of help or support which challenges the body and mind.

I have talked about it in many blogs how Joseph Pilates designed the Reformer and all the apparatus to offer support and feedback to the body so that the mat would become easier, and more connected. That your mat work would get stronger! Now with the spring, the body has something to “shout” at it what needs to engage and how.

In 2020 when Covid hit the world and Pilates studios shut down for many the full studio was gone. No more Reformer classes or Tower. It was back to the basics. Back to the mat. That foundation that he created. The hardest work in the Pilates method. For those that had stopped the mat work they felt lost and some thought they weren’t getting the most out of Pilates because they no longer had that Refromer but, turns out the shutdown created the moment to really get back to those basics.

I was lucky that all my clients had mat in their session every time they walked into the studio. They either started with it or ended the session with it. To them, it was just a full hour now of hitting the mat and exploring that. They immediately commented on how hard it was. We used the building blocks to get them to where we wanted to go and explored all aspects of the body each session.

During the shutdown I watched as they got further and further into the more complex exercises in the mat work. I commented on how much stronger they were getting. Some felt and saw it while others were not sure but, trusted that they were doing the work.

I heard from many other Pilates teachers during this shutdown in 2020 that clients just decided to take a break and do other things as they thought the mat wasn’t hard or a waste of time. They would come back when the studio was open and they could get onto the apparatus again. Those that did continue virtually and hit that mat work realized that the work on the Reformer was here on the mat but, now no support of the spring. They realized this is hard! This is work!

When the shutdown ended and we all returned to the studio I could see a big difference with clients who did the mat during the shutdown and those clients that came into the studio not having done any Pilates since the shutdown.

Clients who had gone back to the basics of the mat work and really practiced suddenly got onto that apparatus and realized how much more connected they were to that and then how much stronger and more mobile they were throughout the workout.

Another perk of getting back to those basics was exploring how the body had moved with only gravity and that mat. They learned how to use their arms, legs and pushing and reaching and finding their full body work to make things happen.

Then back in the studio it created this new awareness once they got back onto the apparatus.

Every year as the new year begins I go back to the basics with clients. Hitting the mat and exploring the shapes and full body movement that Joseph Pilates created.

I find that each year as the client continues they get to the basics and it becomes harder. They have figured things out so they are able to truly connect to the work which when they first started had been out of their “tool box”.

When it comes to Pilates getting back to the basics is not getting back to a “beginner” exercise as I truly believe as Joseph Pilates created his work that there is no beginner, intermediate or advanced exercises. There is just continuing to do what you can and building onto that. By using the building blocks he created you go from simple to difficult to complex movements. They build on each other and to each other.

In Pilates getting back to the basics gets harder and harder the more you practice!