A Timeless Exercise

By Kathy Corey

The Beginnings - “In the Stone Age and onward people lived mostly outdoors with practically little shelter from the elements. We have not yet lived long enough indoors with protection against the elements to be able to successfully withstand the daily strains and stresses imposed upon us by our present mode of ‘fast’ living. This explains why both you and I and all the rest of us are compelled in our own interest to give constant thought to the improvement of our bodies and to spend more time in acquiring and maintaining that all important goal of physical fitness”, Joseph Pilates wrote in 1945 in Return to Life.

He said, “Civilization impairs physical fitness.” He was concerned that automobiles, city living and its stresses, would decrease the quality of physical fitness. “Telephones, automobiles, and economic pressure all combine to create physical letdown and mental stress so great that today practically no home is entirely free from sufferers of some form of nervous tension.”

And he believed that physical fitness was the first prerequisite for happiness.
He defined physical fitness as “the attainment and maintenance of a uniformly developed body with a sound mind”. He realized that we do not give our bodies the care that it needs and that physical well-being included mental calm and spiritual peace. He spoke of the unique trinity of the balance of body, mind and spirit and that through his method of Contrology we could become fully capable of naturally and easily performing our daily tasks with “spontaneous zest and pleasure.”

For our “spontaneous zest and pleasure”, Mr. Pilates proposed a challenge in his “Commando Exercise”. He states that it will cure everything from double chins to constipation and must be performed twice a day, without let up, in one minute. I taught this exercise at the Pilates Method Alliance Conference in 2007 and it was a memorable experience for all.

About the Author: Master Teacher Kathy Corey began her career with the Pilates Technique in 1979. She has been the leading expert in the Pilates community for 30 years. She is the Director of Kathy Corey Pilates, an Advisory Board Member for Inner IDEA and an Advisory Board Member for Pilates Style Magazine. The Kathy Corey Pilates Certification Program is taught at locations across the United States and her continuing education programs are taught in twelve countries. In 2004, she designed the innovative CORE Band™ which is also used in studios around the world.  Corey is PMA Pilates Gold Certified and she has been selected by IDEA as one of ten people in the world “Who Inspire the World to Fitness,” the fitness industry’s highest form of recognition.

Tags: Around The Clock And Back in One Minute, CORE Band, IDEA, Joseph Pilates, Kathy Corey