Owning Your Practice
There’s a book I read this past year that shifted the way I think about things a bit. It’s called Extreme Ownership: How US Navy SEALs Lead and Win. There are some very business specific lessons extrapolated from each real life scenario of Jocko Willink and Leif Babin who co-authored the book, and I found tremendous value in applying them on a more personal level.
It’s a book about leadership, which is something you may be able to apply to leading your family, a team at work, your pets, or what I’m suggesting here: leading yourself. Feel free to take a peek at the book, but it’s merely a jumping off point for this topic. One of my main takeaways is that progress, victory, winning, whatever you want to call it, isn’t just going to passively happen. There’s some action on my part that is required. A level of personal responsibility for my own success (or lack thereof).
Can we take extreme ownership of our minds and bodies in Pilates for better results?
Yes we can!
Own Your Mental State: Pilates is Active Meditation
The apparatus can be your sanctuary. You don’t have anyone to answer to but yourself. It sounds cliche, but it’s your time. 100% your time, no one else’s.
Don’t text in class. Don’t ruminate over an awkward social situation, or over some bad news you heard. Don’t start a conversation out of boredom and derail the entire class. Take whatever is fidgeting in your mind and turn your focus to your breath and find a balance between precision and flow.
With a properly focused mind, you will listen better to what your teacher is trying to get you to do. We love to talk, don’t get me wrong, but it’s not just for fun. We are saying specific things because we are seeing specific things, and they are all meant to help you. With a clear head, you’ll hear these things more clearly and be able to apply them.
Owning Your Body
Does our body always do what we ask it to? Nope! But take ownership of your body from head to toe anyways.
If you know that your teacher always corrects your left hip on a certain exercise, make a mental note. Next time you do that exercise, can you remember the correction? Can you correct it before she does? Eventually, the self correction will become so automatic that no correction is needed. Don’t worry, you won’t put us out of a job, it will just free us up to cover more complex concepts and exercises with you. This is how progress happens - this is how you make that magical jump from Reformer 1 to Reformer 2 for example, if that’s what you’re looking to do. Or maybe it’s the difference between disliking an exercise because it never feels right to loving an exercise because you understand it and have mastered it and feel the benefit in your body.
Does your teacher ever give you homework? Do it! Consistency is the only path to significant progress. Do your release work between classes. I’ve given away a lot of lacrosse balls this year, and I hope you’re all using them at home as directed. I’m sure you are ;)
Bottom line, we are here to teach, guide and support you, but we can only take you so far. Make 2020 the year you come to Pilates ready to feel the difference. Cheers and Happy New Year!