We’re all looking to improve our Pilates practice, whether we’ve been doing it for 20 years or 2 weeks. Our bodies change all the time, which presents us with different challenges in every workout, but that’s what keeps things interesting. If it were easy all the time, would it feel as good to do it?
If you know you could use a little bit more from your Pilates workout, here are 6 things I’d suggest that will improve your practice right away!
1. Be more concerned with your connection
Your Pilates practice shouldn’t just look pretty (in fact, it doesn’t need to look pretty at all!). It should make you feel super connected and strong, even if there are things you can’t do. So, when you’re on your mat, focus on the feeling, rather than the doing.
It doesn’t matter if you can actually roll, or rollover, or reach to your ankles. It matters that you feel lift, support, and are trying for fluidity. That’s what changes how your Pilates practice looks, NOT just going through the motions, using anything you can to get to where you think you should be going. Take the time to connect with how your body feels. That’s why it’s called mind/body exercise!
2. Look at every workout as feedback
Just because you could roll up today, doesn’t mean you’re going to be able to tomorrow. That’s because our bodies are always changing, depending on what we’ve done so far that day, or the day before, or even last week. Doing your practice first thing in the morning might look very different to how it looks when you’re doing it at night. And that’s okay!
If you look at every workout as feedback – like, “Oh, my back’s a little tight today”, or “My right shoulder feels a bit off” – instead of telling yourself you suck because you can’t do something or berating yourself because your workout didn’t flow as nicely as it did the other day, you’ll be more likely to keep up with your practice.
Not every workout is a great one, but getting it in means there’s more possibility tomorrow. Every time you get on your mat, it’s a win. Celebrate that!
3. Crown of your head to the sky
Most of the time, we like to shrink. Or scrunch. Or collapse. Even more so when we’re supposed to round our backs and scoop. If you find your chin dropping to your chest, or your neck straining, or your head feeling heavy, try lifting the crown of your head to the sky (that’s the back part of your head where a crown would sit). By lifting it, you’ll lengthen your neck, turn on those upper back muscles, and get your abs to participate more!
If you’re pushing your chin down and making a triple chin, that’s a little severe. Try gently lifting it, like you’re getting a little traction in your neck from your massage therapist. It feels SO much better, and it helps you find your positioning better. Because neck tension sucks.
4. Shoulders on your back
This is something Pilates teachers tend to say, that most of the time we have no idea what they’re talking about. The good news is, it’s actually pretty easy to find.
If you think about the bottoms of your shoulder blades trying to touch your bra strap (without pinching!), you may feel a widening of your upper back and a connection of your lats under your armpits and bra strap area. Engaging here means the difference of your shoulders like a new pair of earrings at your earlobes and you actually having a neck.
What do you think sounds – and looks! – better?
Keep your shoulders on your back, babe. That keeps your collarbones wide, your upper back working, and no rubbernecking in sight.
5. Use your Thass
That bottom part of your butt – where your THigh meets your A$$ (hence, THASS) – can provide your body with some much needed support, instead of trying to find it in your lower back or from your quads and hip flexors.
Most of us have no idea how to connect that without clenching, and don’t realize how helpful it is in so many ways. It’s the difference between an exercise being possible, and not. It’s been eye-opening how my own practice has changed since discovering this connection (thanks, LL!).
6. Get help
It’s important to have someone helping you along the way. That’s where a qualified Pilates teacher comes in. You'll get more from your practice, not only because they’ll push you to do more, but they’ll show you where and how to correct the mistakes you’re making that are causing you to strain or preventing you from getting deeper into your practice.
They’re there for support, guidance, encouragement, and to help you find more from your practice than you thought possible. It’s worth it for the set of trained eyes that will save you time and effort in struggle. Plus, it’s a whole lot more fun working together.
Here's a bonus tip: Enjoy yourself!
Moving your body feels good when you let it, and the more you let it, the better it feels. I promise, your Pilates practice will improve every time you hit the mat – even if it seems like a struggle. Every exercise builds on the others, and sometimes you find your connection doing another exercise that doesn’t feel like it should help at all.
That’s why Pilates is a practice, not a perfect.
I hope at least one of these 6 tips for improving your Pilates practice works for you. Let me know which one you found most helpful in the comments below!
Xo, Kimberly
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