Strike a pose, perfectly in balance

At Mums in Heels we are all mums, but I imagine you knew that already. It’s somehow not genuine to write about mums and heels and not be mums or wear heels. The thing is that the heels and the running around to do interviews and shootings, to pick up kids from crèche or spend hours at the computer after dinner time writing a story, it is all affecting our bodies and the way we move. I think we realized it recently when we were invited to a very chic dance party in the city. In general we are quite sporty; Anna rides her horse every day, Claudia does Pilates, I run, but still there is little flow in the way we move and there is a lot of slouching. Claudia maybe looks like the most easy and relaxed one compared to Anna and me. Plus Anna and are I really tall and this makes us even more stiff and kind of encaged in the way we walk.

The question is how we can fix that. I started doing some research lately and met with an old friend, Anna Breuer, (I know I have a lot of friends named Anna…) who has a Pilates studio in Zug called Absolut Balance.

Tsitaliya: Could you tell us please what the core muscles are?

Anna B: I always like to use the image of a “corset“ when I talk about the core muscles. It is a group of muscles that work together as a team: upper and lower abdominals, pelvic floor and some back muscles. They create a great support for the spine.

 Tsitaliya: Can we strengthen the spine with exercises?

Anna: We can’t strengthen the spine per se because it consists of a segmented series of bones – vertebrae separated by intervertebral discs but we can definitely strengthen the muscles around it.

Tsitaliya: You always say that you have learned a lot about your own body through Pilates. What do you mean?

Anna B: When you do Pilates you start learning to “listen” to your body and you learn how your body works. You become more aware of your body movements. Another very important element that we learn in Pilates is how to engage our core muscles before any kind of movement happens (arm or leg even), thus protecting the spine. This is why Pilates is about body and mind working together. Imagine boxers who have very strong core and defined muscles. When they hit, they use not only their arm strength but they use the core strength too. The same with the kickboxer; When they kick with their leg they engage the core muscles. There is a lot of power and resistance in the core. Also the correct breathing helps to engage core just in time. It helps in any sport and life activities. For example carrying something heavy or lifting a child.

Tsitaliya: Can you tell me a bit more about the breathing in Pilates?

Anna B: I always like to tell people who come here to think about the ocean waves when they start breathing. First of all breathing is very calming for the mind and it protects from stress and tension. If you breathe deeply and imagine ocean wave power you also engage your abdominal muscles. This is important to restore the connection with your lower abdominals, especially for women after giving birth or caesarean. It rebuilds the energy channels.

Tsitaliya: What can we do at home to improve our posture?

Anna B: First exercise is to try walking with a pile of books on top of your head. This doesn’t mean that your body should freeze and be stiff. While we walk we have to maintain the natural movement of the shoulders and the hips, just like African women carrying things on their head.

I often see our clients entering the studio, very much in a hurry and leaning forward with the head. In Pilates we encourage clients to walk with their chest open and looking straight while imagining they have a cherry or a pile of books on top of their head. They should be thinking that their spine is lengthening whilst moving their hips and relaxing their shoulders, slightly swinging the arms.

One more exercise I would suggest is to find somewhere you can hang, holding on with your arms whilst letting your body and spine stretch.

This exercise releases the spine in a very natural way and prevents the compression. For the correct hanging pose it is important to keep your feet slightly forward and imagine that you are sitting on a high chair, keeping the natural curves of the spine.

Tsitaliya: Is there a connection between the flexible spine and longevity as the yogi say?

Anna B: For me happiness is the key to longevity, finding joy in whatever you do in your every day life. At the same time we have to remember there are a lot of nerves along the spine and the health of the spine impacts the whole body and our organs. What also is important for my clients who come to Pilates regularly is raising their bodily awareness. As people grow older their flexibility and general physical ability may become impaired, achieving bodily awareness and balance are great benefits. At the same time I see lots of people who want to train fast and then go. Their body is moving fast with no mind connection, which may lead to injury sooner or later. In Pilates we strengthen this connection.

Pilates respects the way the whole body works and it also considers the way joints move. People who work out without understanding how every part of the body is connected often focus on strengthening only certain muscle areas and those that are neglected stay weak. This leads to body imbalances. In Pilates we work on the full range of joint motion and improve their stability, which keeps them healthy. Pilates equipment, which is based on springs, is great for that.

As you can see Pilates is very complex and there are so many elements to it, but this to me is the reason Pilates is so fascinating. Every body is different yet every body can benefit from Pilates in one way or another.