Focused Control

and why it is important to care….

Practising Pilates is about having awareness of your movement so that you can learn to control and strengthen those muscles in the right way, rehabilitating to help return your movement to how it was naturally designed. In turn you feel the flexibility and mobility return, you feel more free and a even a little bit floaty (…or lengthened as we like to say in Pilates world).Earlier this week, I was doing some self practice on the arc.

Here you see the video in double speed which gives an idea of the slow control I was working on (if it were in original speed) to get the most out of the exercise.

Now you may look at this and think…well that’s easy with hypermobility!

Not so…, look how each vertebra works slowly down, connecting to the arc and staying connected…each part of the posterior torso in contact with the arc, from the sacrum (back of the pelvis) and right to the occipital bone (that bony bump at the back of your skull). That comes with the awareness and control, lots of focused control. It doesn’t “just happen” neither…this wasn’t my first roll-up, I’d worked on preparatory work beforehand in my session to help awaken the senses and the muscles to be able to get to this point.

Awareness, control (and the strength that comes with it) takes time and many hours of practice. Could I do this at the beginning of my Pilates journey. Oh my…I don’t think so! Or…I might have thought I could, but really I was just cheating by moving everything else in the body in the wrong way…which would then result in dire pains later that day / next day….and that wasn’t fun I can tell you!

So why should I care about how I move?

All of us, hypermobile or not, have developed habits, patterns in the way we move, in the way we walk, bend, sit…just everyday tasks. These patterns in turn end up in certain muscles being switched off, which in turns means that the body is having to work harder elsewhere to make up for the other muscles that are having a holiday . Cue…pain. The body is put through unnecessary strain and then it let’s you know about it. Being hypermobile means these patterns are very exaggerated, but this applies to us all.

If we take the time to control the move, we enable the body to strengthen the muscles in the right way. In doing so = less pains . If we don’t move with control, the body just shifts about as per its usual habit, which = pains return .

Don’t believe me?

Next time you walk down the street, take a moment, watch how your body moves …

Are you lifting your hip on one side?

Are you swinging your torso with a lovely swagger?

Are you twisting your foot?

And then ask yourself…could that be related to my back/knee/hip/shoulder/neck/etc… pain?

#PilatesRehabilitation #PilatesMovement #PilatesControl

Thanks for reading, Tanya x

Ps. Our awareness in space (proprioception) is shocking when hypermobile (but gets better with practice). Cue a future post .

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Mixed group mat-work classes held in your local community
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Pilates Reformer class (in our studio in Leicestershire or via zoom)
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You can contact Tanya on intensyslife@outlook.com or 07780 626 319

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Tanya is the founder of Intensys Life. Some years ago now, Tanya was recommended Pilates to help manage her newly diagnosed hypermobility condition. It turned her life around, taking her from a very poorly place, in constant agonising pain, to now being able to live life to the full… all thanks to Pilates. Amazed by her own progress, it is no wonder that Tanya is committed to helping others by sharing the wonders of Pilates.

Tanya is a Rehabilitative Specialist, helping others manage chronic pains and conditions. She is also is a:

Pink Ribbon Post Rehab Certified Specialist
helping women and men with the tightness that follows breast cancer surgery
Hypermobility Specialist
helping others to manage their Ehlers Danlos Syndrome / Hypermobility Spectrum Disorder / Hypermobility condition <<find out more here>>

By Tanya Davies of IntensysLife

With over 30 years professional experience of delivering successful client solutions, Tanya is more than qualified to interpret a customers needs and provide them, with the right help first time. Tanya takes the time to listen and understand others, building trusting relationships to support others to achieve their aims. . Tanya is the founder of Intensys Life and Intensyslife.com, and for the past 5 years, Tanya has been focused on helping others find wellness and balance in their life through Pilates instruction. . Sharing her love of Pilates and its amazing qualities with others, Tanya is passionate about providing quality Pilates sessions so that others can feel its true benefits. Seeing how it changes others lives, is what puts a smile on Tanya's face every day. . With the right support and regular practice, Pilates helps to: * reduce back and joint pains * increase mobility and flexibility * improve posture (which in-turn reduces those aches and pains) * provides whole body strength and reduced injury risks * improve general well-being and stress levels . Diagnosed with Hypermobility Spectrum Disorder (HSD), Tanya knows only too well the challenges of day-to-day life, living with hypermobility. It is of no surprise therefore that Tanya specialises in providing Pilates support to those also diagnosed with HSD/Ehlers Danlos Syndrome/hypermobility. Pilates is key to managing hypermobility, and it took Tanya from a very poorly, immobile place, to now being strong enough to continue life like everyone else. Contact Tanya to find out how Pilates can help you.

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Focused Contol