Rapid Rehab LA Pilates Based Physical Therapy Brentwood California

With so much emphasis on the physical benefits of Pilates it may seem a little abstract to understand and apply the practicality of how Pilates can improve everyday life. If you have done any research on the benefits or have any knowledge about the “Pilates Lifestyle”, I am sure that the “quality of life” has been mentioned and that Pilates has a unique way of improving the tenure of it.

Pilates, isn’t a Zen meditation technique although it has properties of concentration that dabbles in Yoga inspired practices. So the process, by which someone can tap into its practical advocacy, can’t be categorized as simply spiritual or physical.

Imagine looking down the scope of Pilates’ arsenal of health and wellness, to identify it’s practicality you must focus on where the crosshairs meet, this being between the most spiritual sense of who we are and the most physical sense of what we are.

Pilates is not a religion, but rather a belief system, with strong ties to overall peace, wellbeing, and physical fitness. However, not unlike a religion Pilates wasn’t designed by Joseph Pilates just to be an exercise regime to do in a studio and then go about your life.

It’s meant to be a part of your life. As mentioned before, the abstractness of an exercise program being a part of your belief system isn’t common, and isn’t easily understood without some sort of spiritual motivation. Under the umbrella of “sedentary salvation”, an explanation of Pilates ability to transform one’s life isn’t as “hallelujah” as it may seem.

Mary Bowen, one of the originating elders of Pilates, puts it this way, “As I practice, teach and observe (the Pilates Method), there is always a spiritual uplift and buoyancy that comes from the work. Moreover, spirit is everywhere, isn’t it? The body is a house of spirit. Joseph and Clara Pilates knew and lived that.”

The key concept in order to first understand the practical application of Pilates, outside of a Pilates studio, can be found in the everyday mishaps or inconveniences we are all encounter on a daily basis. Getting cut off in traffic, getting lost in a new side of town while you were already running late, or finding out that you got outbid in the last few minutes of your EBay auction. How we react in life says so much more about who we are, than the situations we often find ourselves privy to.

If we allow pockets of anxiety to build up, our muscles and bones will be the ones that bear the brunt of the physiological strain. Pilates helps redirect this reactionary effect through the course of breathing techniques.

Breathing is a huge component in reconnecting with our thoughts on a deeper level. The health benefits that Pilates brings to the entire physiological networking of our bodies enables us to use our breath as it was meant to be, a life giving source.

When we listen to our breathing, we are acknowledging that our breath is the entire outlet by which we exist. This type of respect and awareness to our breath will then help us regulate emotion and incorporate a deeper sense and understanding of self.

“Physical fitness is the first requisite to happiness.” Joseph Pilates made this statement in his Pilates handbook, Return to Life Through Controlology in 1945. What he may or may have not known when he first started developing Pilates is that the mind-body connection in conjunction with over-all wellness has been studied and practiced for centuries by different cultures all throughout the world.

Joseph Pilates had stumbled upon a treasure trove of methods in which he was gaining an understanding and developing a practical structure for study through his rehabilitative practice, Pilates.

Eastern meditation methodology as well as western approaches to wellness, such as Greco-Roman practices, all drew the same conclusions about the mind body connection: there is power when behavioral patterns and thought patterns coincide with a common goal, wellness. Concentration on the development of the mind-body connection yields numerous benefits, and Joseph Pilates himself knew this firsthand.

Far too often in this day and age our mind and our movements have separate existences, severing the unity of consciousness. We get up and go to work. We move throughout our day without much concentrated efforts on our movements and body positioning.

Our posture deteriorates at our desks, as we slouch into our chairs. Our core never feels engaged, making our mind seem detached from our body. Lethargy will then begin to dictate our lifestyle instead of the mind’s capacity for vitality being the headship of our bodies. When the mind and body become separate entities, a loss of grounding and centering takes place, which can lead to depression, sleep depravation, and even bodily injury.

The simple phrase, “mind-body connection” can send some of us into a mental back flip. What does it mean to engage our thoughts with our bodies, isn’t that a natural connection? When I need to do something I tell my body to do it, and so it does. However, a simple demand and result relationship between the body and the mind develops a breach of understanding between the two, sacrificing unity and implementing dictatorship.

Our thoughts directly affect our moods, social behaviors, the way we carry ourselves, and where we end up in the spectrum of healthy living. Some people are married to their counter-productive thought patterns making healthful living something they believe they cannot physically do.

When the mind is conditioned to think it cannot accomplish something, the body responds accordingly. But think how greatly the body would be positively affected if the tides of negative mind-body connection communication could be swayed. What a powerful portal of energy, dedication, and healthy living could be found.

Our will to engage in complete body awareness begins in the mind, and Pilates encourages this type of mental “tapping”. Conscious control of the body is found through deep breathing patterns while incorporating the fluidity of Pilates’ movements.

The natural gliding exemplar and exercises found in mat and machine Pilates instigates the groundwork needed to develop your own mind-body connection. Once you learn the basics of how to sew together the gaping space between the mind and the body, you will be able to engage this dynamic tool whenever you need to, whether its in a Pilates studio or elsewhere.