Today’s blog post is brought to you by my husband, Mike. Mike has been with me since the start of my Pilates journey and he’s begun his own journey this year!
My wife has proven to be a deep vessel for knowledge and practice of Pilates. I love learning about her personal practice, and the joy she gets out of Pilates is contagious! I wanted to incorporate it more into what I do because I truly see the value in it.
I enjoy the Ah-Ha! moments in Pilates. The first time I did Teaser on the cadillac, I felt it in a different way than mat and began to understand how to feel the exercises in my body. I continue to chase that feeling!
My balance is better with more fluid movement, so I definitely feel the progress, especially on the reformer. I enjoy doing it on my own and taking ownership of my practice. Pilates excites me and the reformer helps focus on my breath and how I feel. It grounds me before lifting weights after my reformer workout.
Reformer is currently more enjoyable than mat. Mat can expose my perceived weaknesses in form, I see how working on the reformer now will help in my future mat work.
My favorite exercise currently is Frog because I feel it the most in my body and if I don’t, a few more reps and we’re all good. I’ve seen the most improvement in Elephant. I began by using more of my upper body and shoulders and now feel a difference in my lower body – you can’t muscle through to do it right! Chair is most challenging for me because I feel like I need to learn levitation.
I started adding Side Kicks on the mat and find these most rewarding after doing reformer. It wakes me up and helps me feel the work of my hips and pelvis. My goal is for Pilates to help me support my running goals as I start training.
I love learning about Pilates from Rachel and she challenges me in an engaging way every day!
Written by Mike and Rachel Thompson