The benefits of Pilates are numerous. It works the core muscles of the body, improving posture, strength and flexibility. It also improves breathing and centers the body, which can relieve stress and release tension. Pilates helps all the parts of the body to work together in balance, rather than some being stronger and others weaker. As the body is worked and strengthened, another benefit of Pilates becomes increasingly clear – a greater sense of body awareness.
Body awareness is a benefit that can help people in many different areas of their lives. After taking Pilates classes regularly for a while, you should naturally begin to feel it when your muscles or joints are out of alignment. You may be able to sense the symptoms of tension or stress when they arise, as they sometimes do even in the apparent absence of a stressful situation. Sensing tension and stress helps you deal with it before it affects your system negatively.
It is important to learn Pilates under the supervision of a trained and experienced teacher in order to gain greater body awareness. In Pilates, so much depends on using the correct forms and positions. If the positioning isn’t correct, muscles and joints may feel worse over time instead of better.
Benefits of Body Awareness
Greater body awareness has many benefits for the Pilates practitioner. Knowing correct posture from your classes will spill over into the other activities of your life – sitting at your computer or at your desk, standing in line, holding your kids. It will start to feel natural to pull your abdominals in and push your shoulders down, and it will start to feel wrong to hunch over your computer or slouch through the grocery store.
Another benefit to body awareness is that you will be able to heal from injuries more quickly, since your body will begin to tell you where its weak places are. Centering and breathing also help with healing. In addition, you will be able to avoid injuries by using correct posture and having a stronger core.
Whole Body Benefits
Your deep core muscles are the powerhouse of your body. When you develop these core muscles, all of your daily activities will be performed with greater flexibility, coordination and ease of movement. This is healthier for your entire body.
Having greater control over your body is another part of body awareness. It may feel more relaxing to hunch and slouch, but these undisciplined postures will only lead to more stress in the form of back and neck pain as the years go by. The discipline of correct posture can even extend into other areas of your life, such as diligence in your job or how your raise your children.
Pilates is uniquely suited to encouraging greater body awareness because of its emphasis on movement and coordination. A trained Pilates instructor can assist you in achieving body awareness with regular classes or sessions. For more information about how Pilates can lead you to greater body awareness, contact Pilates Sports Center or go to www.pilatessportscenter.com .
