THE INIMITABLE STYLE OF GLORIA MIZZI - MaltaRightNow.com

| LIFE&STYLE |
| WELL-BEING |
PILATES – THE ULTIMATE
MIND-BODY EXPERIENCE
by Karla M. Fabri BSc.
Body Control Pilates Instructor/Sports Science Specialist at Hotel Fortina, Spa Resort
The Pilates method (pronounced Pi-lah-tis) may be one of today’s
hottest forms of exercise, but physicians have endorsed it for
almost a century. Pilates was originally developed by Joseph
H. Pilates (born in 1880) in Düsseldorf, Germany, over ninety
years ago, to help strengthen and condition muscles. Pilates is
the ultimate mind-body exercise for anyone who wants to tone,
streamline and realign their body without the bulked-up results of
more conventional workout methods as well as improve posture,
flexibility and balance.
Many people reading this article will have already tried many
other exercise regimes. They will probably be thinking, ‘What’s so
different about this method’… The difference between Pilates
and the average stretch and tone session is that the approach to
exercise is completely holistic.
As with Eastern exercise programmes, it shares the training of
the mind to control the body. As your sense of body awareness and
co-ordination are developed, you will be able to control every aspect
of your body.
Pilates teaches you to concentrate on your ‘core’ postural muscles,
learning how to use those that are necessary to achieve stability,
strengthening weak muscles, lengthening those that are short and
increasing joint mobility. No force is used. Slow controlled flowing
movements are performed preventing any possibility of strain.
This is done by ensuring correct postural alignment - before
you begin a movement, you must consider the angle of your pelvis
and curves of your spine. Only when you have stability in your
torso and length in your spine can you think about stretching or
strengthening. In this way, balance is restored to the body.
“In ten sessions you will feel the difference, in twenty you will
see the difference, and in thirty you’ll have a whole new body.”
– Joseph H. Pilates
Pilates exercises are safe and effective, and suitable for all, from
the first-time exerciser to someone with chronic back pain, and are
used by top athletes, actors and performers.
Pilates is particularly useful in relieving and alleviating existing
backache conditions which effect three in five of us during our
lives. It does this by strengthening your deep core muscles and
improving postural alignment and body awareness.
Joseph H. Pilates believed that in order to achieve happiness it
is imperative to gain mastery of your body. If at the age of thirty you
are stiff and out of shape you are “old”. If at sixty you are supple
and strong, then you are “young”.
Autonomy is a powerful tool against the risk of failure to exercise.
For this reason Pilates is designed with the intent of making you
the master of your own fitness destiny. Whether you do five or fortyfive
minutes a day, committing yourself to your body is the key. .
Answer our
competition and
you can win an
introductory Pilates
session:
HOW WILL PILATES
HELP YOUR BODY
Mail your answers to:
Pilates Competition, Life &
Style Magazine, Triq Herbert
Ganado, Pieta HMR 08.
The first two winners will be
entitled to one free Pilates
session at Hotel Fortina,
Spa Resort.
24 L&S | SEPTEMBER ’06