Pilates In Place: 5 Reasons To Continue Your Pilates Practice in Quarantine
1. The mat work is the heart and soul of the Pilates repertoire
Then Pilates mat work is the basis for the entire Pilates system. Yes, there’s equipment, but the apparatuses were was created to support the mat work.
In fact, Joseph Pilates made the mat work the focus of one of his two published books, Return to Life, where he details the exercises in a very specific order.
He wanted Pilates to be accessible to everyone, and for everyone to do it every day in their home, no reformer required.
Although a lot of people think you need equipment to do Pilates, it is just not true. And any “Pilates purist” will tell you that if you want to “master” Pilates, you need to master the mat work. Well, here’s your chance.
He even suggested getting out of bed and working the order on your bedroom floor if you couldn’t sleep:
“It is better to be tired from physical exertion than to be fatigued by the ‘poisons’ generated by nervousness while lying awake.”
2. Pilates strengthens the immune system
Pilates makes your lymphatic and respiratory systems more efficient, both of which are crucial to your immune system.
In fact, Joseph Pilates developed much of the work while he was at the Isle of Man internment camp (Pilates, a German national, was in Great Britain when World War I broke out, and was sent to the camp as an “enemy alien”).
He observed that those who were laying around, starving and still, only got sicker, while the cats, also skin and bones, were springy and agile.
This inspired the beginning of his exercise system, which he led the other men through. When the 1918 flu pandemic, which killed approximately 50 million people worldwide, hit the camp, Pilates boasted that none of his faithful followers got sick.
“I must be right. Never an aspirin. Never injured a day in my life. The whole country, the whole world, should be doing my exercises. They’d be happier.”
3. Turn the “Quarantine 15” into “Quarantine booty”
Sure, you can sit around the house, eating processed snack foods and watching Bravo. No judgement.
But another option is to throw yourself into self-care and self-love, and work that body.
There have never been more opportunities to get your booty in shape from the comfort of your own home. Almost every teacher is offering online Zoom sessions. Schedule the sessions, keep your routine or even add to it, and use this time to push yourself and see what your body is really capable of.
“Not only is health a normal condition, but it is our duty not only to attain it but to maintain it.”
4. Emerge from social distancing stronger than you went in
We can sometimes get very complacent in our workout, and settle into a comfort zone.
Being forced to switch up your normal Pilates routine will help you to identify patterns, and make new connections. You will establish new neural pathways that will make you stronger.
Read: “Why Does Pilates Make You Shake?”
For instance, if you are used to doing Rowing on the reformer, try Rowing on the mat with weights, a band, or a Magic Circle. It is going to feel different and when you are back on the reformer, you are going to bring that new strength and connection with you.
This is an opportunity to mix it up, try new things.
When you are back in the studio, you’re going to be stronger and be able too do things your couldn’t do “before the lockdown.”
“Were man to devote as much time and energy to himself as he has devoted to that which man has produced, what astounding and unbelievable progress would be made; a progress eclipsing all he has so far successfully accomplished...”
5. Stay sane
Pilates calms your mind. It improves anxiety, depression and basic unrest. It eases stress. When you are in control of your body, you feel more in control of your life.
And, by connecting and socializing with other humans via Zoom classes, you also feel less alone and isolated.
Read: “When The Going Gets Tough, Go To Pilates: 5 Ways Pilates Keeps You Centered In Times Of Stress”
“Physical fitness is the first requisite of happiness. Our interpretation of physical fitness is the attainment and maintenance of a uniformly developed body with a sound mind fully capable of naturally, easily, and satisfactorily performing our many and varied daily tasks with spontaneous zest and pleasure.”