April 2026
Happy Easter, Passover, and spring, Pilates people!
Spring is my favorite season, and these holidays, to me, offer a chance to slow down and enjoy the many gifts it brings. It is a time for cleaning and refreshing, enjoying the outdoors, and gathering with loved ones. Our chickens have recently returned to laying eggs, fresh, tender greens are just beginning to emerge in the garden, and soft green grass grows through. I love that it feels like a breath of fresh air, a higher vibration. I recently read that birds sing significantly more in the Spring due to the increased daylight and hormones. That made me smile because it's much the same with humans. On a sunny spring day, we're more likely to wave and say hello to strangers on the street, and sing our favorite songs with the windows open for all to hear. I hope you all feel the same light, happy energy this weekend. Enjoy some time outdoors, soaking in the longer, sunnier days, seeing the butterflies, bees, and flowers, and hearing the birds sing sweet songs as the world comes to life around us.
Reflecting on what the Spring season means to me, I cannot help but see the direct correlation between the rebirth of spring and Pilates. Each time we do Pilates, stimulating what Joseph Pilates called the internal shower, we’re awakening our circulation and performing a spring cleaning of our own, leaving us feeling alive and invigorated. In Return to Life, Mr. Pilates says it himself.
“As the spring freshets born of the heavy rains and vast masses of melting snows on mountains in the hinterlands cause rivers to swell and rush turbulently onward to the sea, so you too will your blood flow with renewed vigor as a direct result of your faithfully performing the Contrology exercises.”
“As a heavy rainstorm freshens the water of a sluggish or stagnant stream and whips it into immediate action, so Contrology exercises purify the blood in the bloodstream and whip it into instant action with the result that the organs of the body, including the important sweat glands, receive the benefit of clean, fresh blood carried to them by the rejuvenated bloodstream.”
“By reawakening thousands and thousands of otherwise ordinarily dormant muscle cells, Contrology correspondingly reawakens thousands and thousands of dormant brain cells, thus activating new areas and stimulating further the functioning of the mind. No wonder then that so many persons express such great surprise following their initial experience with Contrology exercises caused by their realization of the resulting sensation of “uplift.” For the first time in many years their minds have been truly awakened.”
Certainly, other forms of exercise yield similar results. The famous “runner's high,” for example, or the feeling of Zen after yoga. The joy of dancing, the concentration and the strength in mountain biking, or the focus and cardio in a soccer match. They're all amazing in their own way, providing ample benefits of their own, but none are as efficient and as effective as Pilates in giving you all of the benefits at once. When practicing our Pilates exercises as Joe prescribed them, “without deviation,” he says, and with our minds “wholly concentrated,” we are brought into harmonious balance, body, mind, and spirit. Physically, we’re gradually restored to natural alignment, growing tall, strong, and unwavering just as a daffodil emerges tall and proud each spring. Muscles are lengthened and strengthened in harmony, uplifting and supporting our skeletal structure in a softer and more effortless manner. Our hearts beat to cleanse us internally and enhance our mental clarity and focus, like reawakening after a long winter nap. Being wholly concentrated allows worries and anxieties to drift away, at least temporarily, while we’re unconsciously lowering blood pressure, reducing inflammation, and improving emotional regulation, helping them stay away longer and longer. Just as the leaves unfurl from a tree's branches to breathe life back into its cells after winter's dormancy, Pilates breathing oxygenates our blood and stimulates the vagus nerve, resulting in a calm yet energized state. Pilates, like spring, feels like a breath of fresh air and raises me to a higher vibrational frequency.
To feel the full benefit of your Pilates practice, Mr. Pilates recommended performing his exercises at least 4 days per week, in order, for the prescribed repetitions. The mat and reformer exercises were designed to be performed in a specific order, building upon one another to create a complete, balanced session. The chair, cadillac (and pole system), ped-o-pul and other pieces of equipment were designed to supplement the mat and reformer work. While we enjoy full lessons on these pieces of "optional" equipment today, Mr. Pilates would use them only as tools. Take notice this month of how intentional and balanced your Pilates practice is. Are you doing mat and reformer regularly, or do you find yourself in more of these "optional" classes? Please, continue to enjoy chair, pole, and mixed equipment classes; they're fun, strengthening, and so valuable, but challenge yourself to prioritize mat and reformer. Maybe challenge yourself to perform just the basic 10 mat exercises each day!
