Anula at Kinetic

Anula & I

August 2019

I saw a post from Anula that she was going to be teaching a mat class at Kinetic & thought, YES! I would love to be there. When I first began practicing pilates I would go on Sunday mornings. I loved that time, it was a really pleasant way to start my week and it was one of the reasons I began saying, “Pilates is my church”.

The class

One of the coolest things that we did in this mat class was build up’s. She had us begin with small movements, repeating it a few times. Then we would add on to that, and repeat it more until we were doing the thing. She did this with multiple pilates moves – the Hundred, Swan, Rocking, and more. I really like this style because it allows for any person to join in. It doesn’t matter your fitness or pilates level, you can move your body with the class. Another reason why I enjoy learning this way is because you see each side of your body individually. When you are only lifting one leg at a time, or you’re pushing your body up with one arm at a time, you begin to see what is moving more or less. I begin to understand each side of my body, respectively, and how one may “feel” or “move” differently. Perhaps one side overcompensates for the other when I move a certain way? It’s a very interesting perspective.

Commentary

When Anula is teaching she is also encouraging you to explore and see how you feel in the moment. In the beginning of class she had us lift only our big toe, while keeping the others down. Then lifting our other four toes while keeping our big toe down. As we were doing this she said, “What’s happening with your fingers?” OMG! My fingers can do some wonky things when I’m working out and they were definitely doing their own thing. Other times during class she would say, “You do you”, “Do what’s good enough for today”,  “Get rid of the negative talk in your head” and “No one is watching”. These comments break down walls in our minds, or at least it does for me. And then POOF! I feel lighter, free to do what my mind and body want to do, in a no judgement zone.

Give it a try!

When there is a different teacher visiting your city, do you take the time to join their class? If not, I highly recommend it. Sometimes you hear a different cue that works better for you, you meet new people, and you move differently. Have you taken a class with someone new recently? What did you think? Drop me a comment and we can discuss.