Mind Body

The key principles of Pilates that make it effective for rehab exercises are breathing, pelvic placement, ribcage placement, scapular movement and stability, cervical placement, and lower extremity mobility and stability.
 
Transcript: "What are some of the key principles of Pilates that make it an effective form of rehab exercise? So I teach Stop Pilates. Stop Pilates is a contemporary approach to Pilates and it has basic principles that are applied to every exercise that is taught within the repertoire. So these principles I believe are just more body awareness, bringing awareness to how your body is moving because I find that people don't really pay attention to how easily their body moves until they have discomfort. So the principles that we teach in Stop Pilates are breathing, being mindful of your breath, where that breath is going, are we able to get that full excursion of the rib cage, is it causing undue muscular stress and tension if we're inhaling and every time we inhale our shoulders come up could be leading to some chronic neck tension. The next is pelvic placement. Where is your pelvis? Your pelvis is the base of your spine so you want to make sure that it's in a strong position in order to support the rest of your spine. Next up is your rib cage placement. You know, is it pushed forward, is it sunken back, is it rotated? So trying to improve the alignment of the rib cage over the pelvis in order to get a good length tension relationship through the core musculature. And then we have scapular movement and stability. So allowing the shoulder blades to move freely to allow the arm bone to stay centered in the socket. The next one is cervical placement. Where is our head? Over our shoulders, over our rib cage, over our pelvis. And lastly, it's lower extremity mobility and stability. So just incorporating the entire body. Again, thinking about good movement patterns and good body awareness throughout all of the exercises in stop Pilates."

Pilates can help athletes focus and improve their mental game by requiring them to think about how their body is moving in space, focusing on subtle movements.
 
Transcript: "How can Pilates help athletes focus and improve their mental game? This is an interesting question because I've never really thought about it in that terms, in those terms, but Pilates in general is more of a mind-body type of strengthening exercise. You really have to think about how your body is moving in space, focusing on sometimes very, very subtle movements where I don't think a lot of people are used to focusing on the subtleties of movement. So focusing on that, really thinking about how your body is moving and how you're carrying it in space, I think is one of the ways that Pilates might be able to help athletes."

The biggest differences between yoga and pilates is that yoga has more of a spiritual component to it, with positional holds and flowing sequences, whereas Pilates does more repetitions and moves smoothly between exercises without a spiritual component, but still has a mindfulness component.
 
Transcript: "What are the biggest differences between yoga and Pilates? So I am definitely not an expert in yoga. I have taken some classes in the past in different styles, but I believe that the biggest differences between yoga and Pilates is that yoga is definitely more spiritual in general, although yoga and Pilates are underneath that mind-body umbrella. I think yoga has more of that spiritual component to it, whereas Pilates does not. Pilates does more repetitions versus positional holds that yoga does. Yoga has some flowing sequences, whereas Pilates moves smoothly from exercise to exercise and not necessarily repeating sequences. So again, more spiritual, more positional holds, flowing sequences in yoga, but in Pilates we do more repetitions. We move through exercises and there's not that spiritual component, but there's definitely a mindfulness component to both of the forms of exercise."

I'm Paula Strupeck Gardner, a retreat guide, teacher, life coach, and mom with multiple advanced degrees and certificates. I use restorative yoga, healing sound, Ayurveda, Reiki, writing your life, stillness, somatic awareness, and more to help people cultivate awareness and the ability to feel more. I have worked with people from age 3 to 93.
 
Transcript: "Who am I? I'm Paula Strupeck Gardner. I've been a retreat guide, a teacher, a life coach for over 40 years, and a mom for 29. It's the mom part that I'm most enamored of. I have learned so much from my sons over their lifetime. I have multiple advanced degrees and certificates, which are all listed in my bio. What I most want you to know about me is that I care deeply for you. I am your best cheerleader. I feel honored when I'm invited to help you find and feel your best self, to transform into the person who is, who feels, and does what it is that you want to feel, be, and do. I use restorative yoga, yoga, healing sound, Ayurveda, Reiki, writing your life, stillness, somatic awareness, and everything else that we come up with together in our coaching sessions, and that I create for classes that help you cultivate awareness and the ability to feel more rather than less. I've worked with people from age 3 to 93, and I'm always delighted to answer your questions and to help you find ways for you to be all that you want to be. Many blessings."

When seeking Ayurvedic treatments to help with chronic illnesses, it is important to find a certified practitioner who has experience in this area.
 
Transcript: "How can Ayurvedic treatments help those with chronic illnesses? First of all, Ayurveda believes deeply in the uniqueness of each of us and so whatever illness we might be experiencing also manifests uniquely in each of us. Ayurveda believes that everything begins in the gut. Having said that, it's really, really important that as you're looking for an Ayurvedic practitioner, you find someone who has done the schooling and has the experience. I'm a certified Ayurvedic practitioner but I don't work with people with chronic illnesses. I always refer you to my colleagues who do that. There are treatments that are appropriate for everyone's overall wellness but even then if you have a chronic illness, I would consult with an Ayurvedic practitioner. I wish you many blessings."

Heart coherence is a measure of the heart's rhythm and its fluctuations that indicate relaxation, decreased stress, increased immunity, and improved cognitive functions. It can be achieved with heart breathing or meditation techniques.
 
Transcript: "Heart coherence is essentially the physiological of the body and the psychological of the brain. Essentially the coherence measures that there is a distinct pattern within the heart rate and its variabilities and its coherence and its fluctuations. That is closely linked in with the parasympathetic nervous system which is primarily responsible for rest and digest. So science has shown us by creating a heart coherence, a focused heart breathing or a heart meditation with another person or another sentient being induces relaxation, decreases stress, also increases your immunity and your cognitive functions."
 Heart Chakra