(I
wrote this essay for my Pilates training.
It gives an overview of why I say all those crazy things about frogs,
zombies, and the like during workouts.)
A
new Pilates student enters a foreign world, one in which actions normally
oriented vertically become horizontal, in which small movements can be more
exhausting than large ones, in which words like “reformer,” “table,” and
“chair” take on new connotations and functions. Imagery functions like an interpreter. The strange phenomena of the Pilates
world translate into more familiar things through images. The student can then begin to learn the
customs and habits of Pilates without extreme homesickness for the everyday gym
world of barbells, dumbbells, and cardio equipment.
The
“Feet in Straps” exercise puts the student in a vulnerable position, supine,
half suspended, legs akimbo. Imagery,
by bringing reassurance, comfort, and intelligibility to the experience,
enables better performance. Three
aspects of the exercise can particularly benefit from the application of
imagery: core awareness, disassociation of the hips, and efficient organization
and alignment of the lower extremities.
Core
awareness is such a central concept that the importance of grasping it cannot
be overstated. It is key. One way to begin developing core
awareness in this exercise is to picture some of the underlying anatomy. A student can begin by picturing the
familiar six-pack of the rectus abdominis and its orientation from top to
bottom along the torso. The
tendency of this muscle to bulge pops into mind easily from there. Then the student can learn about the
transversus abdominis and its orientation across the torso. Picturing this muscle stretched out
from side to side, smoothing the surface and containing the underlying tissues
and organs enables a connection between the feeling of flatness and the thing
itself. On a metaphorical level, the student can imagine the abdominals as a
rubber band stretched from hip bone to hip bone, continuing the theme of
activity across the abdomen rather than up and down the abdomen. A third imagery approach, sensory imagery,
can draw on the previous two images.
As the student uses imagery to guide movement, the instructor can
suggest the student pay attention to the sensations in the body during the
movement. Implanting the sensory
data related to the movement allows the student to increase
proprioception. In other words, as
the student pictures his or her transversus abdominis spread out across the
abdomen, the instructor can indicate with touch or with words the location of
the activity so the student can make the connection between the body and the
mind.
Similarly,
when it comes to disassociation of the hips, the same kinds of imagery can
improve dynamic alignment in this exercise. Visualizing the pelvis with its paired crests and spines and
the balls of the femurs planted in the hip sockets serves to orient the student
to the body territory. Adding the
metaphorical image of the pelvis floating on femur balls made of balloons or
the familiar image of the bowl of water tipping as the pelvis moves in each
direction activates the connection between the body and mind. Sensory imagery, including, perhaps,
the student finding the body landmarks with his or her hands or concentrating
on the relations of those landmarks to each other in space at the different
phases of the motion, can further
increase the understanding and performance of proper alignment during
the movement.
Finally,
imagery can facilitate the organization and alignment of the lower
extremities. A quick imagery tour
of the leg bones and their spiral motion due to their structure in particular
can open the understanding of what happens as the legs internally and
externally rotate during leg circles, for example. The metaphorical image of the legs zipping together provides
a way to encourage the legs to stay in touch with the center of the body. The sensory imagery of smooth circles
rather than jerky polygons experienced both kinesthetically and visually adds
another layer to the connection between the body and the mind’s dynamic
awareness of alignment.
These
are only a handful of possibilities for using imagery to facilitate aspects of
this exercise. Different
instructors and different students create and benefit from their own unique
imagery blends, all working toward the same ideal dynamic alignment.
(The picture is Amelia Bloomer, the reformer for whom I have named my Pilates reformer. Hooray for pants for women!)
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