In last week’s blog post I talked about how transitions are fun but can contribute to poor form if introduced to the wrong person at the wrong time. If you haven’t yet, read it here before moving on to today’s post.

Let’s take a look at the transition into Hamstring 3...

Transitions are wonderful. They seamlessly connect one exercise with the next. There is no pause in the movement, no letup of activity. No rest for the weary.

But if the transition is a struggle, then it can leave us in faulty alignment for the exercise to come. On top of that, the pressure of...

Pulling your navel in will encourage your lumbar spine to flex and your pelvis to tilt posteriorly (tuck). This means if you want to challenge the transversus abdominis, which works in a neutral spine position, but not a flexed spine, then “navel to spine” is not an appropriate cue.

When trying to correct a kyphotic posture you have probably learned to use extension exercises. It sounds logical: since the spine is bending forward, strengthening the spinal extensor muscles by bending the spine backward will help it return to normal/neutral, right?

Well, when working on...

The inhalation naturally extends (arches) the spine. The exhalation naturally flexes (rounds) the spine. You can use the breath to either use this natural tendency to help you perform a desired movement better or prevent an unwanted movement. Here are two examples of how the breath can be used to...

 If you or your student have hypermobile joints it is not recommended to stretch those areas. If someone can do a perfect Roll Up their lumbar spine can flex plenty already, so there is no benefit in practicing more and more lumbar flexion exercises.

If you or your student can do a split,...

Do you find it difficult to make time for your personal Pilates practice?

We Pilates teachers give out our time, knowledge, and energy on a daily basis. Getting a chance to be the student goes a long way in filling us back up and reminding us why we fell in love with Pilates in the first place....

"I breathe in when I push out and I exhale on the way in."

Great. This breathing pattern will help you control the carriage on the way in, and by cueing to inhale into the back ribs you can melt your rib cage onto the carriage, hence helping keep the front ribs together and the abdominals engaged...

The Pilates method lives in the details. We can get caught up in all of the many tiny adjustments. So when I come across a shortcut to fix someone’s alignment without saying much I frolic.

The three-point-contact is one of those shortcuts. Neutral spine is a term that has been obsessing...

Most of us are imbalanced in one way or another. One shoulder might be higher, one leg longer, the pelvis out of alignment. This is really fairly common, at least in the world of Pilates where we pay attention to such things. Are you wondering how to best exercise with imbalances?

1. Double up on...