Pilates & Yoga Instructor Bridget
Bridgetbegan her Pilates practice in 2006 in West Palm Beach, FL. It was her mother that introduced her to Pilates. After taking her first Pilates mat class she immediately felt the benefits and the need to continue practicing to maintain and healthy and strong body. It was her mother that again encouraged her further to obtain her certification in both Mat and the Pilates Reformer. Pilates is a format of core exercises that lengthen and strengthen the body and is suitable for all ages and body types, advanced and beginners.
Bridget is also a certified yoga instructor. The strength, balance, flexibility & mindfulness that yoga offers is the reason she continues to make it a part of her life. Her love for Pilates and yoga is visible in each class she teaches. She teaches Pilates, Yoga and a combination of Yoga and Pilates classes. “My practice of yoga and Pilates has completely changed that way I view my life. The awareness received from yoga and the energy from Pilates is what drives me each day. It has become my caffeine, my career, my personality and my way of life.”
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What is Pilates?
The Pilates "method," as it is now known, is an exercise system focused on improving flexibility, strength, and body awareness, without necessarily building bulk. The method is a series of controlled movements performed on specially designed spring-resistant exercise apparatus (the Reformer, the Cadillac, the Spine Corrector, the Ladder Barrel, and the Wunda Chair) or on the floor (mat work), and the sessions are supervised by specially trained instructors. Pilates is resistance exercise, not aerobic (cardio), although the heart rate will certainly rise for a deconditioned individual. However, it's closer to weight lifting than it is to jogging, biking, or other aerobic activities, and so you should consider it resistance exercise.
Two of the key elements of Pilates are core muscle strength* and spinal alignment. The core musculature is loosely defined as the spine, abdomen, pelvis, hips, and the muscles that support these structures. Some of the main core muscles are the erector spinae (located in your back along your spine), the internal and external obliques (the sides of your abdomen), the transverse abdominis (located deep in your gut, this muscle pulls your belly button in toward your spine), the rectus abdominis (the "six-pack"), and hip flexors (in your pelvis and upper leg).
During a Pilates session, whether it's on the machines or the floor, your instructor will continuously prompt you to concentrate deeply on your core muscles, as well as on your breath, the contraction of your muscles, and the quality (not quantity) of your movements. These are also key elements of Pilates, and your instructor will emphasize them at every session. The objective is a coordination of mind, body, and spirit, something Joseph Pilates called "contrology." In his first book published in 1945, Pilates' Return to Life Through Contrology, the 34 original exercises that Pilates taught to his students are described along with the guiding principles of contrology.
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