Pilates principles for everyday living - not just on the mat or reformer!

Part 1 - Concentration

Pilates Principles are the keystones of any and all successful Pilates classes. However, through the twisting and turning journey into my Pilates world, I have found they apply into real life too!! I was originally going to do just one article to explain how I found it to help my life, but I realised there is a lot to relate to and so I have split it up into separate sections.

Overview

The six main Pilates principles are:

1) Concentration

2) Breathing

3) Precision

4) Flow

5) Centring

6) Control

If you currently partake in Pilates then you will know all of these and hopefully are incorporating these into your practice. If you are not, speak to an instructor on how you can improve on these principles. Remember it's Pilates Practice not Pilates Perfection! We strive to improve and there are always ways we can get better, faster, stronger, more flexible etc. But make sure you have the fundamentals (correct pelvic floor & tva activation, lateral thoracic breath and neutral spine) and work the principles into each session.

So... how does this work with our day to day lives? I will break it down....

Concentration

This one should be fairly obvious. but I realised that productivity is related to how much concentration one has when doing anything! If you are truly focused on the task at hand, not thinking about a multitude of other unrelated things, then you will get a lot more done (and maybe even dusted!). For me, I found that getting things done in one day was just too hard! I had all my lovely work for my wellness business, my rescued animals needed a lot of my time, the housework was always calling to be done and at some point food needed to enter my system!! So I drilled down into why I was struggling. I found that I had so much to do, it all became a little overwhelming.

I realised I was always focusing on what else I had to do, rather than ensuring I completed the task I was currently doing to my best ability. I found my attention span (especially for housework... ) ran about 45 - 50 minutes (not with full focus, mind!) then my brain would dilly-dally and stuff just didn't get ticked off my rapidly growing "to-do" list!

I decided to focus short chunks of time and break up my day so I could be more productive. So I set an alarm for 50 minutes with the promise of a nice hot cup of tea and a little sit down before I went onto the next task.

Just the mental clarity of knowing that whatever I was about to do, was only going to take 50 minutes was so liberating. It meant a) I was more likely to try to fold that HUGE pile of laundry b) I always got more efficient with my tasks making every minute count and c) I drank lots of tea!

I am a walking example of focusing on the present and getting things done works. Set an alarm, plan a few 45-50 minute chunks and go get that day and make it work for you!!!

Peace & Love

Kim

(see you on the next instalment!)