Strengthening community one core at a time

Pilates! Core! Strength! These words have made it to main stream media. People finally know what it is, or at least they know that it is some form of exercise with lots of abs. It is now a rare occasion that I tell someone that I teach pilates while receiving that blank "Are you from Mars?" kind of look in return. Now I get questions, and people tell me that there are pilates classes at the gym. Or they say, "Wow I've heard that Pilates is really hard." This is so exciting, but there is something in this dialog that is missing, and it is this missing piece that, while it is hard to articulate, makes me love my work.

I love my work, but not because I am making people exercise really hard. I love my work because I get to see people's body's change as they learn how to move. I love my work because as I am teaching, people are telling me about their kids and grand kids and pets. I love my work because people get stronger and thus can do more...people begin to take pride in their knowledge about movement. People begin to theorize with me about their posture. I love my work because I get to see friendships grow. I love my work because people that would never meet each other in their everyday lives, spend an hour together every week. I love my work because people who don't feel comfortable at a gym find a space that makes exercise possible. These are some of the many things that make me love teaching pilates.

It's true if someone learns pilates they will increase strength, improve posture, increase flexibility, increase coordination, improve balance in musculature and proprioception. Pilates can relieve pain, aid in injury prevention and recovery, create functional strength, and improve lives. But beyond all of these things, Pilates is one of the many avenues that can return us to movement, return us to our bodies, and bring us friendship and laughter.

Katrina Hawley, C.M.A, R.S.M.E
Pilates Instructor
the Pilates Center of Western Massachusetts in Hadley
www.thepilatescenterofwmass.com