Progress Not Perfection.!!

I wasn’t flexible

I wasn’t coordinated

I wasn’t an althete or a dancer

My movements didn’t look like the picture!!!

When I started my Pilates practice these thoughts and more would cross my mind and body on a regular basis.

The more I practiced I realized it was about me coming to my Mat, listening to my body and doing what was available on THAT day. I was getting my ambitions mixed up with my capabilities.!!

I was feeling frustrated when I couldn’t do the exercises that seemed like a natural progression to the next level of my Pilates practice. I wasn’t listening to my body, something I say to my clients often. On these days my body was telling me that at this moment this next level was not impossible, just not today.

On these days I had to get back to the basic exercises and allow the movement to happen. I soon learned to be grateful that I have a body that is able to move and to find and feel the joy of Pilates movement.

Pilates is about Progression but it is also about regression.

It has taken hours of practice and a lot of failed movements. I still have a few that I haven’t mastered and where I am sure my body is not making the perfect shape.

One of the great things about Pilates is you can include modifications in your practice that make the exercises easier or more challenging depending on your fitness level and how your body is feeling on the day.

I constantly remind myself that Pilates is a journey and as Joseph Pilates said “ Patience and Persistence are vital qualities in the ultimate successful accomplishment of any worthwhile endeavour.”