Pilates

(from wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilates)

Pilates believed his method uses the mind to control the muscles. The program focuses on the core postural muscles which help keep the body balanced and which are essential to providing support for the spine. In particular, Pilates exercises teach awareness of breath and alignment of the spine, and aim to strengthen the deep torso muscles.

Pilates created "The Pilates Principles" to condition the entire body: proper alignment, centering, concentration, control, precision, breathing, and flowing movement.

* to attempt to create a fusion of mind and body, so that without even engaging the mind, the body will move with economy, grace, and balance.

Breathing - circulating the blood - it has to be charged with oxygen and purged of waste gases through proper breathing. Full and thorough inhalation and exhalation are purportedly a part of every Pilates exercise.

Pilates saw forced exhalation as the key to full inhalation. “Squeeze out the lungs as you would wring a wet towel dry,” he is reputed to have said. Pilates breathing should be done with concentration, control, and precision.

Pilates breathing is described as a posterior lateral breathing, meaning that the practitioner is instructed to breathe deep into the back and sides of his or her rib cage. When practitioners exhale, they are instructed to note the engagement of their deep abdominal and pelvic floor muscles and maintain this engagement as they inhale. Pilates attempts to properly coordinate this breathing practice with movement, including breathing instructions with every exercise.

Centering - Pilates called the very large group of muscles in the center of the body – encompassing the abdomen, lower back, hips, and buttocks – the “powerhouse.” All energy for Pilates exercises is said to begin from the powerhouse and flow outward to the limbs.

Concentration - Pilates demands intense focus. For instance, the inner thighs and pelvic floor may be assessed when doing a standing exercise that tones the triceps. Beginners are instructed to pay careful attention to their bodies, building on very small, delicate fundamental movements and controlled breathing.

Precision - every movement has a purpose. Every instruction is considered vitally important to the success of the whole. The focus is on doing one precise and perfect movement, rather than many halfhearted ones. The goal is for this precision to eventually become second nature, and carry over into everyday life as grace and economy of movement.

Flow or efficiency of movement - Movement is expected to be kept continuous between exercises through the use of appropriate transitions. Once precision has been achieved, the exercises are intended to flow within and into each other in order to build strength and stamina.

feldenkrais - self-consciousness and movement

Feldenkrais Method
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Feldenkrais Method is an educational system centered on movement, aiming to expand and refine the use of the self through awareness.

Because it uses movement as the primary vehicle for gaining awareness, it is directly applicable to disorders that arise from restricted or habitually poor movement. But as a process for gaining awareness, the system claims to expand a person's choices and responses to many aspects of life: emotions, relationships, and intellectual tasks; and it applies at any level, from severe disorder to highly professional performance. The Feldenkrais Method holds that there is no separation between mind and body, and thus learning to move better can improve one's overall well-being on many levels.

The Feldenkrais Method was originated by Dr Moshé Feldenkrais (1904-1984), a Ukrainian-born Jewish physicist and judo practitioner who moved to Israel and eventually became an Israeli. He presented a view that good health means functioning well---working well, having satisfying relationships with emotional maturity, able to access a full range of responses to any situation ("Awareness Through Movement") - this is opposed to the medical health as in not 'sick or disabled' or health in any abstract sense.

He asserted that his method of body/mind exploration leads to improved functioning (health) through individuals becoming more aware and finding improved use;

this focus on exploration and awareness is typified by his statement "What I am after is more flexible minds, not just more flexible bodies".


Feldenkrais taught that changes in the physical experience could be described as changes in the self image, which can be conceived as the mapping of the motor cortex to the body. (Such a body image was depicted by Dr. Wilder Penfield in the form of a homunculus). Activity in the motor cortex plays a key role in proprioception (the sense of body position). Feldenkrais taught that changes in our ability to move are inseparable from changes in our conscious perception of ourselves as embodied. Feldenkrais aimed to clarify and work therapeutically with this relationship, with instructions that involved both specific movement instructions and invitations to introspection.

Although the technique does not specifically aim to eliminate pain or "cure" physical complaints, such issues are treated as valuable information that may inform the lesson. Issues such as chronic muscle pain may naturally resolve themselves as the student learns a more relaxed approach to his or her physical experience, and a more integrated, freer, easier way to move.