Pilates Mitte

Joseph Pilates was born in 1883 in Mönchengladbach. He developed his movement method 'Contrology' in Germany and England whilst interned as a prisoner of war on the Isle of Man. During WW1 he aided patients back to health using his ‚bednasium’; a prototype of his machines; the reformer and trapeze table, which both now utilise resistance with springs. His series of over 600 exercises work every muscle in correct alignment harmoniously. In 1926 with the help of his client; boxer Max Schmeling, he secured passage on a ship to America where he opened a studio in New York in 1929. There he trained socialites, athletes, gymnasts, circus performers, and rehabilitated injured dancers until his death in 1967. He and his partner Clara trained teachers, who, in turn trained my teacher, and the Pilates movement spread around the world. Pilates became integrated into therapy in 1960 when orthopedic surgeon Dr. Henry Jordan of Lennox Hill hospital in New York City began to send both patients and students to practise Pilates. Jordan would allow Pilates trainers to observe surgery, so that awareness of affected structures could be precise. From 1983, the clinic for Dance Medicine in San Francisco allowed for its physiotherapists to be trained by Pilates teachers. The Pilates method has grown over time, and is now modified and underpinned by latest scientific principles, and is thus suitable for prevention and rehabilitation.

What does Pilates do?

You’d like the clichéd poolside body, with the side effect of good health and high self esteem? Pilates is the optimal ‚sport’ to create stability, fitness without bulk. Your posture, from the middle outwards, improves. You look and feel slimmer. Athletes increase performance and can be aided in healing from injury. Women prepare for birth and rebuild their bodies anew afterwards. Sexual fitness and energy awakens and increases empowerment. Teenagers recognise a healthy self image early on, which accompanies them their whole lives, learning movement patterns that they integrate into their everyday lives. Pilates is for people who don’t do sport, and it’s also for people who do! Small muscles are trained, which assist the larger ones in doing their jobs. Without training these groups, true core stabilization and peak performance is unlikely. Pilates trains your muscles, fascia and tendons to stretch dynamically to ensure they don’t overstretch, and to increase their elasticity and power. Diet, life experiences and time can disrupt our optimal functioning, but Pilates can facilitate a person’s recovery of their best genetic self. I will empower you to reach your highest level faster, safer and longer than any method available. You will achieve peak performance with less effort. You will walk easier, stand taller and experience less fatigue.

Exercises are chosen for your body specifically, taking into consideration your history, pathologies, posture and goals. You have my complete attention and training is thus optimally effective. Duo training shares the cost and the trainer's attention, and can double the fun. Using the reformer, wall unit, barrel and mat, we adhere to a concise set of traditional Pilates principles: whole body movement, breathing, balanced muscle development, concentration, centering, precision, rhythm. To apply the Pilates method therefore means: to perform fully body exercises, to promote natural movement through concious breathing, to load joints effectively and bio-mechanically, through balanced development of muscle strength and flexibility, to apply constant mental concentration, to use only as much muscle strength as is necessary for each exercise, through controlled movement, to begin all movement of the body from a strong centre, to perform precise, defined movements as accurately as possible, to channel the natural rhythm of movement and stimulate muscle engagement through the breath. (Pilates Method Alliance Study Guide 2005) When you have undivided attention, the likelihood of utilising all these principles correctly whilst moving is much greater than in a group situation. Exercises can be modified to take into account for example your scoliosis or slipped disc, or be chosen to enhance, for example, your passion for golf or riding. Using the barre and jumpboard, a cardio and plyometric element can be brought into your session.

Cathy Skene, British born teacher of the Pilates method on all apparatus, in English and German (and sometimes Latin). I started practising Pilates in 1991 at the 'Studio für Körper Training' in Hamburg. My teacher, Vesna Matthies, was teacher trained in the original Pilates studio in New York by Romana Kryzanowska. After I relocated to Berlin, I purchased my first piece of large apparatus, a reformer, and then trained to be a 'Bewegungspedagoge der Pilates Methode' on all machines and mat, at the ‚Body in Balance Pilates Studio’ Berlin with Joanna Mountifield. I am fully qualified to teach on all Pilates machines; Reformer; Cadillac, Wall Unit, Step Barrel, Ladder Barrel, Wunda Chair and Mat. I also use the jumpboard for plyometric cardio work, and teach Balanced Body Barre. I regularly attend further education courses (Madeline Black, Dr André Vleming; Portia Page). Most recently I learned the 'Total Immersion Swimming' TM method of swimming. I am a member of the Deutscher Pilates Verband.