Ritual but no sacrifice

Almost all of the Pilates sessions I do start with the same few exercises.  Partly this is because I want to make sure that there is some warm-up before we get down to more challenging work and because there are some basics I want to make sure we do on a regular basis.  But a deeper reason is about plugging in to the session.

Clients don’t always exactly arrive when they walk through the studio door.  They’re full of traffic or work or grocery lists or that phone call from their auntie.  They have to get their shoes off and deal with jackets and water bottles and all the usual paraphernalia.  I check in about how their bodies are doing as we do the first few moves.  We take a minute or two to move with the breath.  And by the third or fourth movement, they’re really with me, in part because we do the same routine at every arrival.  We have set it up as a sign for the body to tune in to the mind’s channel and vice versa.

Similarly, almost every session ends with a standing extension, arms up to the sky like the Olympic salute.  Extension is about inhalation and tends to raise the energy level.  It makes people feel good.  We go out on a high.

Little rituals can make a big difference.