Pilates Posture-ing

Despite a really crap night of sleep due to a sore throat and achy body, I still kept my Wednesday Pilates session at Pilates Sol (www.pilatessol.com).  I missed the last couple weeks and really looked forward to this.  

I am SO glad I went.  I actually felt better after I left than I did before I got there.  How often do you exercise when not feeling well and feel better afterward?  This is one of the things I absolutely love about Pilates.  Yes, I worked my body--it certainly was not an easy / lazy reformer workout.  I've had tougher, but Marcie (my teacher) is amazing and knows when it's time to push and when it's time to not push as hard.  Absolutely love her.  (I say this, but if she'd made me do the "series of 5" I'd probably be cursing her for the next three days).  

This had me thinking...why did it make me feel better?  It wasn't as if there is some miraculous Pilates move that has anesthetic properties to make my throat not hurt.  It does, however, make breathing easier.  Chest open, breathe, exhale move in opposition, controlled movement.  So I think breathing easier made the stuff irritating my throat to lessen.  The stretching / strengthening movements did help with the achy-ness alleviating the discomfort in my shoulders and back.

This then led me to think about why those areas were so achy. I'm sure it had *nothing* to do with my "sew-cation" and kneeling on the floor to cut pieces for quilt blocks or standing to press seems and layout blocks.  It probably had even less to do with sitting in an incredibly non-ergonomic seat to try to actually sew.  I know when I knit, crochet, sew....I do not sit with proper posture.  I didn't stand at the ironing board in with proper posture.  I basically let myself be a hunched, mushy lump.  It completely serves me right to be sore.  

What is the point of all this "posturing?"  Pilates is more than just going to get a (really good!) low-impact workout.  

Pilates is:

• strength.  
• flexibility
• confidence
• standing tall
• mind-body
• AMAZING

Pilates is physically possible for most people; but not for everyone.  It is not aggressive like weight lifting and it isn't as passive and some of the common Yoga methods.  It's sort of more passive-aggressive.  It's pretty pervasive, though, and, as I hope I got across, it can be such a part of daily life (in a good kinda way)