A very humbling modality

Six weeks in to training as a Pilates instructor, I took a class where I was introduced to the squishy ball (a soft rubbery ball used to throw the body off balance in Pilates work). I thought to myself , “I have been doing so much Pilates lately. My core is SO strong. I got this.” I placed the ball under my pelvis and promptly fell off the ball the moment my legs came off the floor.

Clearly I had more work to do.

That is when I learned Pilates is a very humbling form of movement. It is one of the aspects I love so much about this modality. The versatility of Pilates with the props we use keeps the body on its toes (so to speak). The work is never boring. Instructors are constantly finding new ways to challenge the body; to wake up the deep stabilizers of the body in an effort to move you past pain, through injury, improve posture, and be by your side as you feel the benefits of Pilates in your body.

I have since developed a love/hate relationship with unstable bases. Even though I fell off the ball, I kind of love that I did. It showed me there was more work to do, more work to learn and explore. And I now had something I wanted to master.

I often incorporate unstable bases when working with clients. A lot can be learned by throwing the body off balance. I can see fairly quickly where a client may be overcompensating or undercompensating in their support strucuture and it shows me the start of the path we will walk together. 

This week’s highlighted class brings forth another unstable base, the foam roller. It adds an unstable foundation to the Pilates work, allowing you to discover a deeper sense of balance and activation in the body. In this class, we explore lying on the foam roller (your spine will thank me later), using it as an aid for greater upper back extension and doing a fun little exercise at the end which will leave your low abdominals feeling the work. Click the link beside this post to take you there.

You can expect many more classes with the use of unstable bases on Rebalance Pilates at Home. I hope you will love being thrown off balance as much as I do!

Cheers,

Robyn