Return to the Source
In this month's blog post, I want to explore the heart and soul of the Pilates method –– the vision of Joseph Pilates himself. Many instructors, myself included, learn the exercises but might not delve into the deeper philosophy behind them. Today, I'll share my journey of discovering Pilates' true source and how understanding Joseph Pilates' ideas can elevate your practice from simply doing exercises to embodying a holistic approach to well-being.
I have been practicing Pilates for more than 15 years and I have been lucky enough to teach it with passion for more than 10 years. In comparison to my Master Teachers who are gifted with over 35-55 years of experience, it is clear that I am only a teenager in terms of Pilates expertise. However, I hope that my experience in learning the method can guide you or refer you in your personal research in mastering the Pilates method.
I was incredibly lucky during my training to be able to benefit from a variety of experiences with various Elder &Master Teachers. They all made me do similar things at the end of the day, but at the same time, they all had sucha different take on things. There was, however, one thing that reunited them in their approach, and this was the fact that they all referred to Joseph Pilates and his work “Return to life" as an indispensable source.
During my first years of practicing Pilates as a student in a Physiotherapy practice in Sydney, I knew nothing about the origin of the method and even less about the philosophy of its creator, Joseph Pilates. I had never known about the origin of the method and its history. I didn’t even know that Joseph & Clara Pilates were the creators, leaving behind them an entire tree of teaching descendants, which is today called the "Elder Master Teachers" (like EveGentry, Carola Trier, Romana Kryzanowska, Ron Fletcher, Kathy Grant, Lolita San Miguel, Bruce King, etc). What prevailed in my training was biomechanics, physical anatomy and lots of cues on the technical part of the movements... nothing at all about the vision, the philosophy nor the magic of the method.
It was only several years later, when I became a teacher, that I became aware of the creator, Joseph Pilates, and his life story, during one of my Pilates training sessions. But mentioning this, we had only spent 10min on the subject of Joseph Pilates, three pages of history in the manual, and that was it! Suffice it to say that my knowledge of the method source was still very poor.
Being by nature very curious and rather a perfectionist, I needed to find out more. I was shocked to have practiced, during all this time and without knowing it, a training method which had however quite a history and a very clear message. It was then that my research to find the source of Pilates began. I bought all the books that I could find in the book stores on the method (Google was not yet my friend), but without much result. And then, until one of my Master Teachers, Kathy Corey, made me aware of the fact that Joseph Pilates had written two books on his method and his vision of his training system called "Your Health" and "Return to Life". I then immediately began reading the book in English. And I very quickly understood from his own writings that Joseph was a visionary and a genius who was seeking to improve a world which was going to sink further and further in the disease and physical, psychic and emotional suffering.
For him the Mind, the Body and the Spirit were strongly linked together and it was the responsibility of each one of us, to take care of the primary "Being" which was given to us at birth. Seeking to maintain a constant balance between these three bodies, in an ever faster and more harmful world, must remain a key element of our life hygiene in order to be able to live to the best of our means and to find pleasure in Life. Neglecting the body we were given is the the most foolish thing we can do and we respect the needs of our physicality! How should we do that: by simply trusting and listening to wisdom of our body and having the mind guide the body with the proper directions for the greater enjoyment of life. Having himself endured numerous physical and psychic tests in his life, Joseph Pilates has always known how to deal with this through movement. Being very earthy, and gifted witha steel will and an extraordinary flair for the body, he knew, by his experience, to fully develop his potential. It is over his life course and because of his visionary insight that his method could give birth to one of the most effective and widespread teaching techniques in the world.
To return to what I believe to be the most fundamental source of the method, it goes without saying that it is about Joseph and Clara Pilates themselves; but more specifically, it is the vision and the philosophy which makes the Pilates technique truly MAGICAL as well as an ingenious training method for the mind, body and spirit. A complete, “holistic" approach, which should take into account all that you are, all what you live for and all that you aspire to in life, so that your potential is fully revealed and maintained daily through movement.
To help you to discover a small part of his vision, I invite you to read an extract of his book "Return to Life" written in 1945 by Joseph Pilates. I hope that these few original paragraphs, written by Joseph Pilates in 1945, will stimulate your curiosity and your motivation to understand more deeply the primary motivations of the Pilates method. Then, you will no longer be satisfied simply teaching basic exercises, but you will aspire to teach a method of holistic movements which will take into account ALL that you are and live for, at any time in your evolution.
I wish you a wonderful discovery in enhancing your knowledge of the original vision of the Pilates method according to his work, the source, “Return to life"
Civilisation impairs physical fitness
Our interpretation of physical fitness is the attainment and maintenance of a uniformly developed body with a sound mind fully capable of naturally, easily, and satisfactorily performing our many and varied daily tasks with spontaneous zest and pleasure.
To achieve the highest accomplishments within the scope of our capabilities in all walks of life we must constantly strive to acquire strong, healthy bodies and develop our minds to the limit of our ability. This very rapidly progressing world with its ever-increasing faster tempo of living demands that we be physically fit and alert in order that we may succeed in the unceasing race with keen competition which rewards the “go- getter” but by-passes the “no-getter.”
Physical fitness can neither be acquired by wishful thinking nor by outright purchase. However, it can be gained through performing the daily exercises conceived for this purpose by the founder of Contrology whose unique methods accomplish this desirable result by successfully counteracting the harmful inherent conditions associated with modern civilisation.
In the Stone Age and onward man lived mostly outdoors with practically little shelter from the elements. He has not yet lived long enough indoors with protection against the elements to be able to successfully withstand the daily strains and stresses imposed upon him by our present mode of “fast” living. This explains why both you and I and all the rest of us are compelled in our own interest to give constant thought to the improvement of our bodies and to spend more time in acquiring and maintaining that all-important goal of physical fitness.
All in all, we do not give our bodies the care that our wellbeing deserves
True, we do stroll in the fresh air whenever our whimsical spirit moves us, or whenever necessity compels us to do so, with the result that on these occasions we do, in spite of ourselves, exercise our legs to this limited extent, accomplished, however, at the sacrifice of the rest of our body which after all is much more important to us from the viewpoint of our general health. Is it any wonder then that this haphazard and wholly inadequate body-building technique of the average person fails so miserably in the acquirement of physical fitness!
Admittedly, it is rather difficult to gain ideal physical fitness under the handicap of daily breathing the soot-saturated air of our crowded and noisy cities. On the other hand, we can more quickly realize this ambition if we are privileged to breathe the pure fresh air of the country and forests without the accompaniment of the traffic roar of the city which constantly tends to keep our nerves strung taut. Even those of us who work in the city and are fortunate enough to live in the country must counteract the unnatural physical fatigue and mental strain experienced in our daily activities. Telephones, automobiles, and economic pressure all combine to create physical letdown and mental stress so great that today practically no home is entirely free from sufferers of some form of nervous tension.
Because of the intense concentration demanded by our work and despite the real enjoyment our work may bring some of us we, nevertheless, gladly welcome any additional relief in the form of diversified and pleasant recreational activities, preferably outdoors, in our constant attempts to offset the effects of increasing cares and burdens so common today. To ease mental strain and relieve physical fatigue we must acquire a reserve stockpile of nervous energy in order that we may really be able to enjoy ourselves at night.
We must of necessity devote more time and more thought to the important matter of acquiring physical fitness.
Hobbies and all forms of play tend materially to renew our vitality with accompanying moral uplift. Play is not necessarily only confined to indulging in conventional games. Rather the term “play” as we use it here, embraces every possible form of pleasurable living. For example, simply spending a quiet and pleasant evening at home with our family chatting with congenial friends is, according to our interpretation, a form of play that is delightful, pleasant social entertainment as distinguished from our daily work. This finds us cheerful, contented, and relaxed.
However, many of us at the end of our daily work lack sufficient energy at night for recreation. How many of us simply spend the night routinely reading the evening newspaper? How many of us are entirely too exhausted to read, even occasionally, an interesting book, visit our friends, or see one of the latest motion pictures?
When some of us occasionally spend a weekend away from our usual city haunts and environments, instead of receiving the immediate benefits of that desirable change in the way of complete revitalization (without fatigue)as the result of our experience outdoors in the bright sunshine, we are more often than not likely to find ourselves only recovering from the shock of our disappointment about the middle of the following week.
Why? Because our previous mode of living and the consequent neglect of our bodies has not prepared us for reaping the beneficial results of this diversion. We lacked the necessary reserve energy to draw upon for this purpose and the fault lies only with us and not with nature as most of us like to think. All that any normal body should require is a change from whatever it has previously been subjected to.
Accordingly, since we are living in this Modern Age we must of necessity devote more time and more thought to the important matter of acquiring physical fitness. This does not necessarily imply that we must devote ourselves only to the mere development of any particular pet set of muscles, but rather more rationally to the uniform development of our bodies as a whole - keeping all our organs as nearly as possible in their naturally normal condition so that we may not only be in a better position to earn our daily bread but also so that we may have sufficient vitality in reserve at night for the enjoyment of compensating pleasure and relaxation.
Perhaps with some feeling of doubt you ask, “How can I realize such a utopian condition? At night I am much too tired to go to a gymnasium.” Or, “Isn’t it too costly to enroll for a conditioning course in some good gymnasium or club?”
RETURN TO LIFE fully explains how you can successfully achieve your worthy ambition to attain physical fitness right in your own home and at only nominal cost.
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