JANUARY
2010
The Scoop

In This Issue:

Pilates for Your Mental
Well-Being
 
Pilates and Sciatica

Breathing for Health
 

Change Your Workout to Change the Way You Feel

Do you find yourself challenged with changes in your life? 
 
Life, especially in today's world, presents trials that we have to learn to adapt to.  Changes and challenges come at us that may cause us to move from our comfort zones into new unfamiliar territory.  When people lose their capacity to cope successfully, they can experience negative stress.
 
It is often said that exercise is one of the best antidotes to stress. I have certainly found this to be true, not only from my own experience but with many of my clients.  With my Pilates workouts, I find the combination the breathing, concentration, and the actual physical workout to be especially supportive to my mental well-being. 
 
Pilates offers a unique stage for quieting the inner rooms of busyness, and clearing out the clutter of distraction. As Americans, we pride ourselves on being able to cope with it all, working long hours, slaving away at the gym, all while trying to maintain a family unit.

“Physical fitness is the first requisite to happiness.” Joseph Pilates made this statement in his Pilates handbook, Return to Life Through Controlology in 1945.  Mary Bowen, one of the originating elders of Pilates, puts it this way, “As I practice, teach and observe (the Pilates Method), there is always a spiritual uplift and buoyancy that comes from the work.

Active exercise is important for sciatica relief

First off, what is sciatica?  The term sciatica describes the symptoms of leg pain and possibly tingling, numbness or weakness that travels from the low back through the buttock and down the large sciatic nerve in the back of the leg.

So, is exercise better for healing sciatic pain than bed rest?  Without exercise and movement, the back muscles and spinal structures become deconditioned and less able to support the back. Inactivity will usually make the pain worse. The deconditioning and weakening can lead to back injury and strain, which causes additional back pain. Exercise is also important for the health of the spinal discs. Movement helps exchange nutrients and fluids within the discs to keep them healthy.
 
Pilates is an exercise program that focuses on the core postural muscles which help keep the body balanced and those muscles are essential to providing support for the spine. Specifically, Pilates exercises teach awareness of neutral alignment of the spine and strengthening the deep postural muscles that support this alignment, which are important to help alleviate and prevent back pain.
 
Pilates exercises focus on strengthening the abdominal and back muscles in order to provide more support for the back. Stretching exercises for sciatica target muscles that cause pain when they are tight and inflexible. When patients engage in a regular program of gentle strengthening and stretching exercises, they can recover more quickly from a flare up of sciatica and can help to prevent future episodes of pain.

Breathing for Health

Diaphragmatic breathing or deep breathing is a vital part of every stress management program. It is also one of the primary principles in Pilates. Deep breathing presents “moment awareness” in people’s busy lives. That is, it reminds people to experience life in the present moment and allows them time to recognize distress and choose an alternative response.
 
Emphasizing the breath. Deep breathing occurs with the expansion of the rib cage during inhale and navel-to-spine emphasis on the exhale. “Squeeze out the lungs as you would wring a wet towel dry,” as Joseph Pilates would say.

Try this on one of those sleepless nights and you may just fall into a deep, relaxed sleep.



 

www.BodyBalancebySue.com