If you do Pilates in the wilderness and no one hears you groan did it still happen?

 Thoughts from Tahmour

“Without the body there is nothing to perceive and without the mind there is no perceiver “( David Lesondak)

It’s often said, and perhaps you believe it too, that the thoughts of the mind can affect the body. For example if you like a manual task you are more likely to be able to do it for longer than a task you don’t like. Ever noticed that? Theorists pose the question can it be bigger than that? If you enjoy a movement can your enjoyment of it be enough to change the “pain” sensations that would make you otherwise stop?

Is it your brain that likes Pilates?                               Or is it your body?

Or is it both?

Have you ever had a class that significantly changed the way you felt in your body? Have you ever asked yourself what it was that made that class so different? (It was you.)

Studies have shown that mindful meditation can reduce back pain in sufferers. Yep, just sitting still meditating… that doesn’t seem like a reason to come to Pilates. Meditation increases the levels of nitric oxide in your body. Nitric oxide induces relaxation in your fascia.

Fascia surrounds every organ, blood vessel, bone, nerve fibre and muscles in your body. To move your fascial system takes intention. The properties of fascia include elasticity for your joints, tensile strength for your muscles, glide for neighbouring structures – ie the hamstring muscles on each other, but more than that – your lungs on your intercostals. I could go on.

Andrew Taylor Still (founder of Osteopathy) said

‘When you deal with the fasciae you are doing business with the branch offices of the brain ...’

Let me give you a more specific example;  researchers have recently discovered  that the Thoracolumbar Fascia (TLF) –a large piece of fascia from your pelvis to your skull, has a  fascial connection to the dural tube. (Ie a tube like structure around the brain and spinal chord – ie the motherboard of your nervous system.)  So a direct link from a large fascial structure on your torso to your brain. Your arms, your legs, your core muscles, your lungs etc – are all attached some way to your TLF. When you do a Roll Down we are encouraging you to actively lengthen your TLF, and therefore open up the lines of communication between your body and your mind..

Stephen A. Wainwright, Professor Emeritus of Biology at Duke University says -

“Structure without function is a corpse. Function without structure is a ghost.”

When you show up to class we are offering you structure to your function. However only you can connect the mind and the body and give function meaning for you.

We love that clients bring curiosity to class, to accept challenges, and over come them.

So do I need to hear you groan for me to know your working your muscles?

 Do you need to hear you groan to feel that you are working?

OR can you instead turn inward and listen to the whispers? And when you hear them what comes next…….