Quote of the Day
"Rice eating macrobiotic disciples in Montana must rely on foods imported from distant lands in order to practice their search for enlightenment, but in order to achieve world peace they would need to give up rice-eating for a diet of local beef."
- Sally Fallon
Sure you can
The Voice
quote of the day!
The next time you lie down on a roller or stand up for side splits remember...
“So be sure when you step, Step with care and great tact. And remember that life's A Great Balancing Act. And will you succeed? Yes! You will, indeed! (98 and ¾ percent guaranteed)”
Dr. Seuss, Oh The Places You'll Go!
Balance, health and harmony- quotes towards a flourishing mind body connection
"Optimal physical and emotional functioning involves a state of balance and harmony between our minds and our bodies. We need to work at being healthy, not merely prevent ourselves from getting sick".
"The relationship between the mind and the body can be antagonistic as well as distant. Many of us are oblivious to feedback and coercive toward our bodies".
"We have been taught to believe that the mind and the body are separate and that our corporal selves are inferior to our intellectual selves".
"We flourish when we take great care of ourselves, connect with spirituality, widen our moral imaginations, cultivate ethical accountability and live authentically."
- Jeffrey B. Rubin, PhD. The Art of Flourishing
Balance of Body and Mind
"A sound mind "housed" in an unsound body is just about as desirable a physical condition as is the structural weakness of a house boasting a find copper roof but built upon a foundation of shifting sand.
A sound body "housing" an unsound mind is just about as desirable as a physical condition as is the structural weakness of a house boasting a solid rock foundation but possessing a roof of flimsy paper.
A sound mind "housed" in a sound body is desirable just as is a fine copper-roofed house built on a solid rock foundation"
-Joseph H. Pilates
Your Health
Joe on Posture
"Good Posture can be successfully acquired only when the entire mechanism of the body is under perfect control. Graceful carriage follows as a matter of course."
-Joseph H. Pilates
Return to Life Through Contrology
Joe Says RELAX on the regular
"...Another important factor in this connection (of complete physical fitness) is that of relaxation at stated fixed intervals through out our workday wherever it is possible to do so, since this practice keeps us physically fit after we have obtained physical fitness. The person who uses intelligence with respect to his diet, his sleeping habits and who exercises properly, is beyond any question of doubt taking the very best preventative medicines provided so freely and abundantly by nature"
-Joseph H. Pilates
Return to Life Through Contrology
Breath
Your breath is essential for life. How you breathe is greatly affected by your physical, mental and emotional bodies and their experiences or ways of holding themselves. The reverse is also true in that how deeply, calmly, quickly, mindfully, naturally or forced you breath profoundly influences how you feel emotionally, physically and mentally.
Your breath connects you to the outside world. It is the thread from external to internal.
Here are some various and interesting perspectives on all that is our breath:
"Cellular breathing is the absorption of oxygen and removal of waste products in every cell"- Andrea Olsen, Body Stories
"If your breathing is in any way restricted, to that degree, so is your life"- Michael Grant White in Wheels of Life
“Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor.”-Thich Nhat Hanh
Collage by Travis Bedel
"Without breath we could not speak, for air is the force behind our voice. We could not metabolize our food without oxygen. Our brain could not think. Breathing is a grossly underestimated source of life giving, healing and purifying energy."- Anodea Judith, Wheels of Life
"It is a common belief that we breathe with our lungs alone, but in point of fact, the work of breathing is done by the whole body. The lungs play a passive role in the respiratory process."- Alexander Lowen
To "catch one's breath" and "in the same breath" are commonly used phrases that communicate an understood amount of time or tempo which cannot be quantified.
Breath is a layered, textured element that can be rhythmic, change qualities drastically and is the one nourishing activity we go the shortest time without. It is movement. It is both conscious and unconscious. It is the perfect bridge to connect mind to body.
#corevalues
In Pilates the word "core" gets thrown around a thousand different ways. But as humans why is feeling connected, centered and balanced in this part of our body important? When your center is out of whack, weak or disconnected, it's like living in a house with a shaky foundation.
Muscles by the amazing Ben Giles
core
noun
1 the earth's core: CENTER, interior, middle, nucleus; recesses, bowels, depths; informal innards; literary midst.
2 the core of the argument: HEART, heart of the matter, nucleus, nub, kernel, marrow, meant, essence, quintessence, crux, gist, pith, substance, basis, fundamentals; informal nitty-gritty, brass tacks, nuts and bolts.
adjective
the core issue: CENTRAL, key, basic, fundamental, principal, primary, main, chief, crucial, vital, essential; informal number-one. ANTONYMS peripheral.