Pilates For Beginners: Class 1

Hi there, this is Caroline and now I’ve finally started my Pilates for Beginners course I thought I’d tell you a little about the first class.

We all arrived early, nervously clutching our yoga mats. The instructor spoke to each of us in turn about our medical history just to make sure there were no conditions she needed to be aware of during the class.

She explained it was a really basic introduction to Pilates as opposed to many Pilates for Beginners courses which launch straight into complex exercises.

We started off with a gentle warm up, described as limbering up, which we did standing and wearing trainers. This was surprisingly relaxing and unlike aerobic warm ups I’ve done in the past there was no sweating involved!

Next we were introduced to some very basic Pilates concepts:

Posture alignment: Where a straight vertical line can be drawn from the crown of the head to the ankle, with the upper and lower body aligned. It was amazing how many of us hunched our shoulders forward after hours spent at a computer. We were encouraged to pull our shoulders back, opening up our chests.

Neutral Spine: Where the spine is neither arched nor flat but in a comfortable neutral position when lying down. Using our yoga mats to lie on we were encouraged to arch our backs and then flatten them so that they touched the floor, finally coming to a neutral position somewhere between the two.

Navel to Spine: Before starting any Pilates exercise the lower abdominal muscles should be pulled back towards the spine and the pelvic floor muscles should be drawn up. Trying to get this right caused a lot of hilarity in the class but I’m sure we’ll get the hang of it in time. Remembering to breathe is the tricky part!

The exercises we did during the class seemed very gentle and the movements were small so I wondered whether they were really having any effect but I certainly felt something in my stomach, back and bottom muscles the next day. In the next post I’ll talk you through some of the exercises we did.

At the end of the session we had a ten minute relaxation which was fantastic. It involved some very gentle stretching whilst lying on the mat with some calming music and the instructor talking. I think I even nodded off half way through and it was a bit of a shock when the lights came back on.

I’ll write about my second class and the exercises next week and in the mean time will try to review my lovely Gaiam yoga mat. In the mean time if you’re kitting yourself out for a Pilates for Beginners class or you’d like a Pilates for Beginners Pilates video, please check out our online store.

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