Your feet are your foundation.  Be firm in what you know, be firm in what you don't know.
Lawrence Biscontini 

Our feet are the keyboard to our brain.  How we stand sends information through the body on how the rest of our bones will connect.
When we have issues with our tissues or knees, hips, back, shoulders or neck, we need to take a look at how we are standing.  Are we balanced equally on all four points of each foot?  Are our knees lined up behind our second toe?  Are the hips aligned?  Is the rib cage centred?  Are the shoulders balanced?  Is the head set firmly between the shoulders?

Our feet are connected to the earth via the soles, they truly connect our soul to the earth.
The foot is a complex arrangement of bones, muscles, ligaments and tendons. It navigates the ground forces from below, along with the impact of all body weight from above, and translates that into a horizontal plane of motion. We tend to ignore our feet - that is until something starts to hurt.

Here is a link from the Pilates foundation with a few easy exercises to help strengthen your foundation.

http://www.pilatesfoundation.com/newsite2/pdf/Footwork%20Exercises.pdf


My guilty pleasure is a monthly pedicure.  Having my feet pampered is my way of saying thank you for continuing to carry me along my way.



Namaste, I am on my way.....................................  to a pedicure

An Ideal World

I live in an ideal world.  My life is perfectly balanced.  I do all of the right things to ensure optimal health and fitness.  I have the ideal husband and perfect children.  Yes,  I have complete balance and control.....................................

when I am doing pilates.
For it is when I am doing pilates that I don't have to worry about the imperfections or worries that I may have when I'm outside that door.  Yes, I know that I do not live in an ideal world (or have the ideal husband or the perfect children - but don't tell them that).  But for that time when I am on the mat (or machine) my focus and attention is on what I am doing at that time.  I am breathing, lengthening, stabilizing, moving dynamically. My focus is on myself and on what I can control not what I can't.  I may not be in the same position as our friend balancing high above the city, but we are actually doing the same workout.  We are working like crazy trying to keep our balance. Staying focused and centered with attention to the task at hand. 

Going through a pilates workout helps me to find balance within my body and in my mind. Beginning with the very first exercise, breathing.
The first instruction given is "Inhale to prepare".  Oxygen is our fuel and our body is our vehicle.  With breath I am refueling and preparing  myself - body, mind and spirit - for the workout. With breath  I am trying to turn off the distractions from the day and tune into my body. I notice the way I breathe, where the breath goes, am I able to get a full breath into the body or do I feel constricted in my neck and shoulders?  Am I tense, do I feel at ease?  With breath I quiet my mind which may be still racing from thought to thought (we have about 50,000 thoughts per day). I am making a commitment to myself for that hour.

 "With body, mind and spirit functioning perfectly as a coordinated whole, what else could reasonably be expected other than an active, alert, disciplined person?  Moreover, such a body freed from nervous tension and over-fatigue is the ideal shelter provided by nature for housing a well-balanced mind that is always capable of successfully meeting all the complex problems of modern living.  Personal problems are clearly thought out and calmly met."
Joseph Pilates 
Return to Life Through Contrology and Your Health (1945).

Namaste, you are on your way to an ideal world.

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Namaste you are on your way

Namaste, I’m on my way. . .

December 29th is my 58th birthday. Frankly, I never thought I would make it this far. Not that I have had a risky life – it’s just that my parents both died youngish – mother on the day before her 57th birthday and father on the day before his 61st (note the pattern. But then they did make lifestyle choices popular in the 50’s, 60’s & 70’s – eat hardy, smoke ‘em if you’ve got ‘em and have a couple of drinks - at the time, all of which were recommended by 9 out 10 doctors as good choices.

In junior high school my friend’s mother mentioned the nutritionist Adele Davis and her book Let’s Eat Right to Keep Fit. It was the first time that I was aware that nutrition is choice and that it could determine how you look, act and feel. I discovered B vitamins and the power of wheat germ. This was the 60’s and we were into flower power and health foods.



I still believe in the healing power of food and exercise. For instance, this morning I started my day with a cup of tea and an orange. Then I ran on my treadmill for 30 minutes. For breakfast I had a smoothie made with protein powder, soy lecithin, hemp seeds, almond milk and frozen blueberries.



I started teaching aerobics in 1989 and I loved leading the class in routines I choreographed to songs that I selected. I got an endorphin rush not only from the workout but also from being in front of the group. But after 16 years of teaching 12 - 15 classes a week I began to get burned out. I was physically exhausted and was emotionally drained. I was looking for a change when my friend Diane suggested I take a Pilates Instructor course. I knew that I had to do something or leave the fitness industry all together. I had no idea how much of an impact that course would have on the rest of my life. From the people that I have met to the opportunities that I have experienced. Pilates is my passion. And it is this passion that I hope to share with you on my journey with this blog.

Namaste, you are on your way to better living the pilates way.