Welcome to Studio Sol Pilates.
Why that particular name?
The name jumped into my mind one day when I was considering opening up the studio. “Sol” is Spanish for “Sun” and the sun is the source of light, energy and vitality for everything on Earth.
I like the imagery… Light is essential to us all. Not only the physical properties of light but spiritual light and to feel a Lightness of Being.
Joseph Pilates said his exercise system, “develops the body uniformly, corrects wrong postures, restores physical vitality, invigorates the mind, and elevates the spirit.”
You do feel that lightness, energy and vitality when you are working from your physical core. It’s a lightness of Body, Mind and Spirit.
The sun is the star in our solar system and the sun’s core is the most powerful force known to man. It binds the solar system together.
Our own physical core – called the powerhouse in classical Pilates, has an analogous function in our body. Movement initiated from the physical core creates a seamless flow of movement. We have all seen people moving disjointedly, seeming like a bunch of arms and legs with no cohesiveness to their movement. Strengthening the core and learning to move from the powerhouse unites that movement together.
I remember having the experience of falling one day at the sky train station while visiting in Vancouver, B.C. I tripped on some concrete and fell, but before I knew it I was standing up again! I had fallen, instinctively tucked up into a ball, rolled onto one shoulder and then rolled back up to standing. I looked back behind me in amazement. I had just been totally in the now, all awareness focused on rotating around my core. In retrospect, I understood how that well known Pilates mat exercise: Rolling Like a Ball had assimilated into the instinctual, functional movement of my body.
We live on the earth and are subject to the forces of gravity. It’s easy to see how those forces exert pressure on people’s bodies over the years. The forward shoulders and forward head with the whole body being pulled forward and down to the earth. The once 5 ft. 6 in. woman, now 5 ft. 3 in. The once 6 ft. 2 in. man now 5 ft. 10 in.
But, how do we change that?
I once heard Joseph Pilates’ protégé, Romana Kryzanowska, call Pilates “anti-gravity” exercise. And so I also have found it to be.
By strengthening and engaging your core – the powerhouse, by pulling the abdominals in and lengthening them up, you stand taller, feel lighter and are more powerful in your movements. No matter what the exercise is, in every Pilates exercise there are elements of lifting up, pulling in and lengthening.
Pilates is truly anti-gravity exercise.
My intention at Studio Sol Pilates is to have every client leave their Pilates workout feeling taller, lifted up, relaxed, energized and revitalized…. Feeling that Lightness of Being.
Come and try out Pilates at Studio Sol Pilates with our introductory package!
The writer, Lucille Anne Bright is owner and classical Pilates instructor at Studio Sol Pilates in Prescott, AZ