Waking Energy 7 Timeless Practices Designed to Reboot Your Body and Unleash Your Potential

7
empower and flow: pilates
Now it’s time for me to introduce to you one of my oldest and truest friends, Pilates, a vibrantly
energizing, dynamic yang exercise series that connects you to the center of your fire power like no
other. Pilates brings energy cultivation to new heights with the added dimension of an invigorating,
muscular reinforcement of the core of the body. You are now ready to meet your muscular core, which
works so beautifully in tandem with your subtle energy body.
Pilates serves as a kind of keystone to Waking Energy. A keystone is the balancing element in the
structure of an arch; it creates strength in the arch by receiving the equal pressure of the stones to its
right and left. In our Waking Energy arch, Pilates stands in the middle, supporting yang forces on one
side and yin forces on the other. As a keystone, it is a perfect meeting point between these two types
of subtle energy, inviting you to apply all the knowledge of subtle energy you’ve acquired thus far.
The Empower and Flow series will supplement your present abilities by introducing you to a
realm of power you’ve not yet explored: pure yang. The series is designed to balance the musculature
of your body. Like kundalini yoga, as Pilates raises the heat in your body, it purifies and enlivens your
entire system. From the Hundred onward, you won’t stop until you’ve completed your last Seal and
are clapping for more, feeling fully alive, awake, empowered, and ready for anything.
Pilates is ingeniously designed to meet you exactly where you are, never giving you more than you
can handle, but always challenging you in such a way that you surpass your preconceived notions of
your capabilities. It imbues you with a sense of purpose by dangling a carrot of promise before you,
landing it in your hands just long enough to whet your appetite, and then tempting you to climb higher.
When you embark on the Empower and Flow practice, you’ll discover that the way it combines
subtle body awareness with powerful core strength will both make demands on you and reward you.
Because of what it asks of you physically and mentally, Pilates rewards you with the strength to take
on more. The combination is winning—unbeatable, really—because it gives you the energy to want to
do more. What makes Pilates unique among exercise programs is that the workout itself perpetually
surprises you. With regard to building strength and physical capability, you’ll find that it’s unmatched
by the mind-body modalities you may have tried elsewhere, because the way it combines subtle
energy awareness with strength demands literally sculpts the beautiful physical body that you can see.
Like kundalini, it continually raises the bar, asking more of you physically and mentally, inspiring you