Quality vs Quantity

The name of the game is quality.  

• The quality of a calorie - 100 calories of broccoli or 100 calories of a donut
• The quality of relationships - lof of surfaced or a few filled with depth and joy
• The quality of sleep - 8 hours of restless or 6 hours of deep satisfying energizing sleep
• The quality of water - sipping toilet water or ice-cold filtered water on a humid day
• The quality of exercise - an hour of cardio on the elliptical or a 20-minute focused workout session geared towards alignment, form, and intention.

It comes down to quality.  When you aim for a higher standard, you expand and move forward.  

Pilates is all about quality.  It's a practice that involves connecting with every single pose and posture that you do.  You don't learn it all in one session; it takes years.  I’ve been doing Pilates for 20 years, teaching it for about 17, and I’m still learning new things every day.  I love how each stage of life allows me to learn something new about my body.  I love how each principle connects to life off the mat.

And have you ever felt the Pilates burn? 

When you experience the Pilates burn, you’ll feel all your muscles working together so not "one" muscle group works harder than another. You’ll feel an inner strength and energy that's incomparable to anything else you’ve ever done.  

Pilates is meant for every body, but not everybody can do Pilates.  It takes dedication, consistency, and a HUGE desire to learn.  You can't go through the motions in Pilates, it takes being intentional and a whole lot of focus.  It’s about finding your own personal connection with the movement.  The results are more core strength, flexibility, and alignment, but the intention is connection.

When you find that connection, you will change your body.

Here’s what Joseph Pilates said,

In 10 sessions you'll feel the difference, in 20 sessions you'll see a difference, and in 30 sessions you'll have a whole new body

Concentrating on the Pilates principles of Centering, Concentration, Control, Precision, Breath, and Flow. When you learn to move from this place your other exercise, like cardio, weightlifting, or HIIT, will become much more efficient, effective, and safe!

Moving from my core and not my limbs has created a deep strength within me, that instead of feeling depleted and unable to walk down my stairs the next day, I feel energized and empowered.  My movement feels much more in control, and my Pilates sessions, even the most basic of classes, are always deeply connected and efficient. This comes with consistent practice.

It’s not just physical, it’s mental too.  When you take the time to listen to your body and give it what it truly needs, you are giving your body an incredible gift of inner strength, outer strength, kindness to the joints, body awareness (think preventative medicine - less trips to the doc!), stress relief, and control (YOU become the one in charge of your body - getting older in age doesn’t mean you have to feel it physically).

There are so many levels to Pilates. These levels can take years to master (hmmm not sure there’s ever Mastering Pilates, you'll ALWAYS be learning.)

When you first begin, it’s all about the physical - trying to feel the abs in every move you make.

 Then...

You’ll add the breath to your movement.  It’s actually pretty difficult to breathe while keeping the abs engaged.  But you’ll learn how to get deeper into the movement with your breath.

After connecting to your breath...

You’ll become aware of your alignment - is your pelvis tilted, your neck dropped, your shoulders shrugged, your legs squeezed together?  (It took me months to finally get my legs to stay together because I couldn’t focus on my legs and my abs at the same time.  I’ve certainly come a long way.  Honestly, I had ZERO body awareness when I started Pilates 20 years ago.)

As you feel the physicality in your body, you’ll begin to focus on precision.  Little tweaks here and there will feel like big sensations in your body. 

You’ll find yourself using Pilates in your everyday life, from the way you lift, push, pull, reach, and twist for things.  Your aches and pains will disappear- literally! Your concentration will improve and you’ll notice so many new things you didn’t see before, about your body and the world around you.

You’ll feel more graceful and realize you can change your body just by connecting deeper, not by longer workouts, but by improving your movement quality. 

You’ll be so connected to your body and mind, you’ll wonder why you didn’t start Pilates earlier.  You’ll crave the movement every day.  You’ll hop on your mat even if you only have 5 minutes because you’ll see the benefit of those 5 minutes. 

Because it’s all about quality.

Make every minute count.  Whether that’s in your everyday life or time on the mat. 

Honor your time.  Bask in the quiet, the connection, and the letting go. 

If you’re struggling with finding a workout that gives you results, consider Pilates.  Try it for a year.  I guarantee your life will change. 

Better yet, give me a year to teach you!  Let’s go on this journey together. 

I’m offering 2 weeks free in my online Pilates Club.