Noticing The Subtle Changes

By Nico Luce

What is it about Pilates that keep us wanting more?  Is there something deeper than the overall feeling of strength and lightness in the body that keeps us coming back to it?  I’ve been teaching Pilates for five years and some of my students have developed a level of practice that makes me question if there is anything else I can teach them.  When I have the privilege of standing in front of a room with individuals that have a deep understanding of the practice and know from the inside out how to execute each movement, I feel honored and humbled.   And then I wonder if they too have been captivated by the meditative quality of moving with grace.

My journey as a devoted yoga practitioner led the way to Pilates when I realized that this practice is interested not only in moving from A to B but in how we go about it.  The more we practice, the more refined each movement becomes and at the same time a greater degree of simplicity arises from within.  It is externalized through grace and effortlessness.  When the body finds the way to express the attentive quality of the mind through movements,  a sense of ease takes over.

For thousands of years yogis have known that the body is a doorway to the soul and the key to open it is the mind. They have to work together with such connection that they are able to transcend the duality of separation and become one.  Now, how do we get the mind and the body to merge towards the ultimate goal of human existence? Simply by realizing that the way we do anything is the way we do everything.   And then what you do becomes less relevant than how you do it.

In order for the body to open up we need balanced actions.  We seek strength and lightness, effort and ease, expansion and contraction, lengthening and shortening, stability and freedom all in equal amounts.  In order for the mind to focus we need space.  We empty the contents of the mind by paying attention exclusively at what is going on right in this moment.  It is necessary that we let go of judgments and preconceptions about who we are and how we look.  We come to the mat to connect to the body in a curious and respectful way so we can dive deep inside to see what is. When the mind is fully present we are informed of how the body feels, what type of energy or adjustments are needed to find those balanced actions.

Next time you prepare yourself to practice Pilates, take a moment before and after to notice the more subtle changes in the depth of your being that are a direct result of integrating every part of yourself in perfect harmony for the benefit of the whole.

Nico Luce is YesPilates.com June ‘09 Featured Trainer and teaches both Yoga and Pilates.  He lives with his wife and two kids in North Vancouver, BC and co-owns the Northshore Elements studio.

Tags: Nico Luce, Pilates studio Vancouver, Yoga Vancouver Canada, YYoga Northshore elements studio