joe pilates

Excuse Not to Meditate

Though I deem them somewhat vain, I’ve been fascinated by personality tests since taking an online Myer’s Briggs test earlier this year. Then over the weekend I explored the Enneagram personality test. I spent hours of my weekend reading about and listening to podcasts trying to describe who I am and what motivates me. Was I actually learning something or just navel gazing? I do think I came up with an excuse not to meditate. Turns out meditation doesn’t suit my personality.

Nothing I learned came as a surprise. In the Enneagram world I’m a One: the Perfectionist (or more endearingly the Reformer). What does that mean? Apparently, I have pretty strong ethics and want to make the world a better place. In my attempt to achieve these goals I keep myself busy, am OCD (or maybe we can call this organized), can be very critical, set high ideals for myself and others, and I may never learn to meditate—the very gift that might most help me improve the world.

The Perfectionist

As a “Perfectionist” I create lists like they are going out of style. Each night I sit down and write a to-do list that is impossible to achieve in a day. […]

Excuse Not to MeditateMaggie Downie2019-08-14T15:04:00-04:00

Naked Pilates: What Workout Clothes Should You Wear?

Joe Pilates in typical workout attire.

I’ve done Pilates naked and it’s not pretty. I personally don’t recommend it. That being said when we practice Pilates nowadays we actually wear a lot of workout clothes. Joe Pilates had people train with minimal clothing. He basically wore swimming trunks that looked like black or white tighty whities and women working with Joe often wore leotards. I would not attend a Pilates class today if they required me to show up in a leotard.

There was a method to Joe’s madness though. He wanted people unencumbered by clothing, although arguably being comfortable makes you feel freer to move. I’d be really encumbered if I had to do exercises in front of people in a leotard. Last fall I almost went out in public in a unitard—a near disaster. Joe also wanted the skin to be able to breathe. I get that too, but I’m pretty sure our skin can breathe with a little more clothes on. And he wanted to be able to see his clients better. That’s helpful. If you show up to class wearing more form […]

Naked Pilates: What Workout Clothes Should You Wear?Maggie Downie2018-02-14T15:43:16-05:00

The Pilates Basic Principles in Life

If you have ever taken a pilates class you have probably heard talk of the basic principles. Even if an instructor hasn’t called them that, they have probably told you to “engage your core,” “pull your belly button to your spine,” “engage your kegels,” “relax your shoulders,” “tilt your chin up or down,” or “knit your ribs.” There are thousands of ways to get people thinking about the basic principles of pilates, but the question really is do you consider them outside of pilates class?

Here are a few ways to start incorporating the basic principles into your day:

1) Engage your lower abdominals and kegel muscles at every red light, stop sign, when you touch a door knob, or while you are waiting for your Keurig Coffee.

2) When you are tense or cold, notice if your shoulders are shrugging up to your ears and try to relax them.

3) When sitting for long periods of time (in the car or at the office) do some pelvic tilts—rock your pelvis back and forth just a little to lengthen the low back and then return to a neutral spine.

4) Check in with your breath […]

The Pilates Basic Principles in LifeMaggie Downie2017-09-12T19:31:39-04:00

A Good Exhale

Sometimes even a pilates instructor needs to be reminded about the basic principles of the pilates method.

One day when Matt and I were in Switzerland we walked a half an hour from one village to another. The walk down was fine, it was downhill, but coming back up was a struggle for me. It was a short walk and roughly at 5,000 or 6,000-feet of elevation so I was surprised to be struggling, but I just couldn’t catch my breath. I’d even stop walking and couldn’t quite catch my breath.

Finally Matt said to me, “Stop trying to inhale and exhale as hard as you can three times.” I did it and after the third exhale automatically took in a huge, deep breath that made me feel better. (Matt had terrible asthma as a kid so he’d learned some tricks.)

In classes I will sometimes tell people to worry about the exhale because your body won’t let you die and will eventually inhale. Joe Pilates emphasized the exhale more than the inhale and tried […]

A Good ExhaleMaggie Downie2017-09-12T19:31:49-04:00

Yamuna Body Rolling

Last week some of the Personal Euphoria staff took a Yamuna Body Rolling class with Sharon Sklar. It felt wonderful. Basically for about two hours, she talked us through different ways to roll on a Yamuna ball—an inflated rubber ball with different firmnesses to increase or decrease pressure on a particular part of the body. Yamuna Body Rolling is basically your own personal massage.

We rolled the ball over everything—our glutes, backs, spines, chest, biceps, and hamstrings. Then she took out these half-balls covered in little nubs called foot wakers. My feet died and went to heaven in that moment. I have a new love, and I purchased some, so if you take private classes, you can know you will see these in one of your upcoming sessions.

The body rolling was good, but the feet wakers are great. My feet felt like I was walking on air afterward.

If you ever get a chance to take a workshop with Sharon, I would recommend it. She teaches you to self massage. You know […]

Yamuna Body RollingMaggie Downie2017-09-12T19:31:52-04:00