Imagine you are preparing for the big game. You’ve practiced daily, ensured healthier eating, motivated yourself with positive thinking, and visualized your end goal.  These practices are combined knowingly for the best performance. Like prepping for the big game, your body must be trained in a variety of aspects to achieve overall wellness thus bettering your lifestyle. 

What Is Wellness?

According to the World Health Organization, wellness is “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” Wellness is more than just avoiding illness. Rather, complete wellness combines physical, psychological, and nutritional aspects of health to achieve a higher quality of life. Over 100 years ago, Joseph Pilates, founder of Classical Pilates, called his method, Contrology.  The hallmarks of his method make up complete wellness.

Pilates & Your Wellness

Pilates is a body conditioning method designed to help build flexibility, muscle strength, and endurance in the legs, abdomen, arms, hips, and back. Pilates improves spinal and pelvic alignment, breathing, core strength, coordination, and balance. The Pilates method focuses on strengthening and elongating rather than tearing or breaking down muscles. Physical benefits extend beyond muscle building with proven abilities to improve balance, lumbar stabilization or flexibility, lower back pain, and pelvic floor dysfunction. 

Beyond physical aspects, Pilates requires proper breathing techniques, concentration, and a flowing movement allowing you to become more in tune with your body.  To achieve this, share a semi-private or a group mat class, and or take the time for personal thought with a private one-on-one session.  Relieve stress as you learn to control your movement through breathing and stamina. Develop a stronger sense of purpose as you gain better control of your body’s movement. From this, Pilates is known as both a mind AND body workout. 

Putting It All Together 

Wellness is a conscious, multi-dimensional lifestyle. Embracing physical, emotional, spiritual, intellectual, environmental, and social wellness creates a more positive and balanced life. As you control your breathing, elongate muscles, and practice concentrated control over your body movement, you will dive into multiple aspects of overall wellness.   As Joseph Pilates, said, “Contrology (Pilates) is complete coordination of body, mind and spirit.  Through Contrology you first purposefully acquire complete control of your own body and then through proper repetition of its exercises you gradually and progressively acquire that natural rhythm and coordination associated with all your subconscious activities.”