MARY BOWEN

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mary speaks about the history of the Pilates Method from the 1960's to the present. She will discuss her personal history and the changes in the Pilates industry... both positive and negative.

 

 

 

In this workshop Mary teaches  us the essence of Pilates.

Topics included:

 

MORE SPINE, LESS MIND: includes new spinal release exercises off the Cadillac, plus the

spine as the initiator and integrator seen applied to any and

all Pilates exercises.

 

Partnering with the body instead of controlling

it as applied to all Pilates exercises.

 

What the mind can think up as a way to breathing and what the body (animal part of us),

can show and teach us about natural breathing.

 

Spotting it and ways to correct it.

 

 

 

Mary discusses and teaches the structure and function of our human psyche through

the tool of Carl Jung's typology. We will explore how topology impacts each of us, explaining our strengths and weaknesses and foretelling the direction of development each one of us need to work towards.  This will apply to us personally as a practitioner and teacher of Pilates, and to our clients.

 

 

 

"Mind-Body Benefits Yoga And Pilates Fulfill Different Wellness Goals"- March , 2005 Los Angeles Times by Jeannine Stein

 

      As an elder of the Pilates community who has lived the Pilates Method for 46 years, taking weekly lessons for all of that time, and teaching it for 30 years, I feel I must reply to this article. I find this article to be a dumbing down and bastardizing of what tech Pilates Method was created to be (and has been experienced to be by myself. and many, many others) by the founders Joesph and Clara Pilates. I will respond point by point.

 

(First, the article states that Pilates is without a spiritual component or holistic approach and is simply a strength and conditioning system done with mat work and apparatus). Pilates without a spiritual component? Pilates has been practically messianic in its spirit and still is for those who understand it. Joe was trying to change the world! We, his followers, were referred to as his disciples. That's how avid the spirit of the method has been. As I have experienced the Pilates Method, as I practice, teach and observe it, there is always a spiritual uplift and buoynancy 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 live that.

 

(Pilates without a holistic approach)? Is there any method comparable that addresses the whole body at every moment in every movement whether in the studio or out of it. Pilates is not only exercises. Pilates presents a conscious way of being in your body for your whole life in everything you do.

 

The Pilates Mthod is a philosophy of movement. It is a commitment to total body health and breath, whether exercising in a Pilates studio, walking. sitting. eating. feeding your pets, cleaning out the kitty litter,performing, skiing, shopping, swimming, shooveling snow, typing, climbing stairs, gardening, riding horses or bikes, watching TV, making love, getting in and out of or rolling over in bed, sitting on or standing at the toilet or any other activities in life. Pilates principles impact everything you do.

 

(Further the aritcle gives only to yoga and emphasis on good nutrition and inward focus- which I will speak about later - and to Pilates simply a series of regimented exercises that focus on using the core muscles). Not to diminish the importantace of the exercises, Joseph and Clara Pilates always had a holistic and nutritional approach to living. They did not profess to be experts in nutrition but it was included in their overall idea of total health. In his book "Return to Life" Joe meant that his method was just that - for your whole life. In this book Joe expressed his holistic approach - although the word holistic was not in use that time. He called his method CONTROLOGY

 

(According to Ralph La Forge, spokesman for the Amercian College of Sports Medicine and exercise physiologist, Pilates is not for "lifestyle management- not for overall health and lifestyle goals- i.e. someone who has had their first heart attack or has high blood pressure or diabetes." For this he would choose yoga). Pilates not for lifestyle management? Not for overall health and lifestyle goals? What does he think Pilates is about? Unfortunately, Pilates is being taught around the world now by

people who don't understand the scope and the meaning of what the Pialtes Mthod is. It is being seen just as a series of "regimented" exercises. Once again, Pilates is a total committment to total body healthy and breath for your whole life in everything you do. As a Pilates person you learn to manage yourself. You learn how to handle your body and what to do with it. You learn how to correct and to heal your own body. Pilates is an education for you and your body.

 

(Ralph La Forge again: Pilates will not help manage chronic symptoms or improve the quality of one's life)! Quite the contrary, the Pilates Method can transform your life and has done so over and over.You are never done with improving with it. You partner better with Pilates the more you mature. We grow into Pilates as we grow deeper into ourselves. Pilates is thus a function of again, not just an ego effort using intelligence to grow strength and flexibility, although it does do that. You are more when you age, not less. You have more wisdom, fall prey to less bullshit, have more integration and capacity to focus on essence. You do and live Pilates better.

 

Far from not being helpful for chronic symptoms, Pilates is packed with particular exercises for chronic joint problems, chronic muscular tension patterns, on and on. Pilates is rehabilitative for all states of injury from borken bones to breathing incapacity to brain damage. Pilates can be creatively adapted to each individual's needs and condition. The Pilates Method is not fixed. Its principles apply to everything in one's life. Each of us is different and individual as will be our application and internalization of the Pilates Method. A Pilates person is not homogenized or cloned.