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Breath
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Refers to:
- Learning to consciously breathe fully and smoothly while still maintaining
powerhouse control
- "Pilates Breathing" involves inhaling through the nose and exhaling through
the mouth, breathing laterally through the sides of the ribs and into the back
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- Correct Pilates breathing increases circulation, bringing needed oxygen
to the brain and muscles while exercising, while maintaining the necessary
core strength to support the movements
- Reduces unnecessary muscular tension and decreases stress during Pilates
and in daily life
- Aids with asthma by exercising the lungs through specific Pilates exercises
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- Lack of sufficient oxygen leads to muscle fatigue
- Holding or restricting the breath causes tension and even pain in muscles
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Centering
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Refers to:
- Working from the "powerhouse", pulling the navel to the spine, creating a
concave "scoop" in the belly
- Beginning every exercise from the center - or core - of your body
- Includes the deepest abdominals and spinal muscles, and those in and around
the hips and buttocks as your source of movement and strength, even when working
the arms and legs
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- Maintains a center of balance, maximizing your ability to perform the
exercises, and using the least amount of energy to do it
- Strengthens and supports the alignment of the spine, preventing or
correcting conditions like scoliosis, disc herniations, sciatica, and
disc degeneration
- Protects joints and extremities from being overused or injured
- Aids in overall effectiveness of your body to perform everyday tasks like
sitting, working at a desk, walking, standing or doing any manual labor
- Fosters any type of extreme activity that uses focus, balance, strength,
agility, precision, and/or overall power, including most sports, dance,
and martial arts
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- Leads to imbalances in the body and misuse of the joints and muscles
- Increased risk of day-to-day physical discomfort, pain or injury
- Ineffective Pilates practice
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Concentration
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Refers to:
- Mind-body connection
- Using careful mental focus to perform the exercises with precision,
by visualizing and feeling how your body is moving in space
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- Helps you to understand and appreciate the purpose of each exercise as
well as its placement in sequence
- Creates a meditative experience, as the mind focuses completely on the
body and becomes clear and undistracted
- Connects the mind to the breath, which is slow and even and thus relaxing
- Allows for lifelong personal growth, as the mind processes a continually
deeper and often NEW experience of the body as it moves through the exercise
system
- Leads to everyday awareness of your body
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- Difficult to grow in your practice
- Increased risk of injury
- Misunderstanding of the exercises and what they are meant to do
- Less overall enjoyment of Pilates
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Control
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Refers to:
- Using the mind to carefully regulate the movements of the body
- Understanding how to effectively use and manipulate your deepest muscles
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- Builds long, lean muscles by monitoring how they are used
- Generates self-awareness and overall muscular mastery
- Maximizes effectiveness of both daily and extreme activities
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- Can build bulky or imbalanced muscles
- Increased risk of injury from lack of awareness
- Ineffective Pilates practice
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Precision
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Refers to:
- Quality of practice, not quantity
- Performing only a few repetitions of each exercise with careful form and
control
- Executing the detailed movements within each exercise, with specific intent
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- Keeps Pilates challenging and interesting by discovering new details
within the exercises
- Experience the "process" or practice of Pilates, rather than a technique
that can be mastered
- Leads to everyday benefits of body alignment and great posture
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- Exercise becomes general and unspecific, thus less effective and
less enjoyable
- Tendency for misalignment and use of only superficial muscle groups
- Bad posture
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Rhythm and Flow
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Refers to:
- Performing exercises in a fairly slow, even, and fluid way
- Each exercise connecting directly to the next with smooth transitions
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- Energy is maximized
- Allows for easier control of breath and release of unnecessary tension
- Exercises feel almost dancelike and graceful
- Leads to a fluidity, grace, and ease in every day movements
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- If movements are choppy and uneven, there is a lack of full experience
of the exercises
- Tension can remain or increase
- Pilates is less enjoyable
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