Interview with Lanette Helene - Pilates and being in your body

Lyn, thanks very much for joining me this morning.

So I know you've got a lot of valuable information that our listeners will benefit from.

So...

But could you just give a bit of an overview to start with about what Pilates is, what it does, and how it might differ from things like yoga or core strength work or even maybe gym?

Yes, absolutely, Bronwyn, and thank you for having me.

It's, it's lovely to be here.

Okay.

So with regards to Pilates, as you said, it's having a bit of a moment, and it's Pilates, I think, in apostrophes.

Insofar as I think the word Pilates is having a moment.

A lot of what is described out there as Pilates or titled as Pilates is not what professional educational courses in Pilates.

So let me just start by saying Pilates, it is a method of movement that involves not only specific moves, repertoire.

It also involves specialized equipment.

Now, many people have heard of the word reformer, which is only one piece of large Pilates equipment.

In a fully, uh, kitted out Pilates studio, there are things such as trapeze tables, otherwise known as Cadillacs.

There is the Wonder Chair.

Mind you, I've been tortured wh- on the reformer this morning, so I know exactly-

Yeah

... what you're talking about.

Beautiful.

[laughs] There's also funny equipment called, uh, barrels.

There's things like the Ped-O-Pull.

And so these are large pieces of equipment that basically assist the body.

They progress and create strength and resistance to work against, doing very specific exercises.

And I think that's a very important part of what Pilates is, specificity of the exercises that come from, have been developed over the last100 years, and essentially probably were developed in the first50 years of the method, and then have been retaught and passed down through the generations of teachers.

So when you do a proper Pilates workout, engages and makes you work through every part of your body.