What Is Pilates?

By Ashley Ludman
Ashley Ludman

Ashley Ludman, OTR and ERYT, is co-owner and director of Seaside Yoga. She has been leading yoga teacher trainings and retreats since 2002. Ludman has over 500 hours of study in Anusara Yoga and was one of 50 teachers chosen by John Friend to study advanced therapeutics and adjustments in October, 2007. A registered occupational therapist since 1996, Ashley specializes in therapeutic yoga. She supports students of all levels and abilities through individual teaching. Ludman shares with her students a deeper look into her practice of yoga on and off the mat through her new blog, www.yogash.wordpress.com. She hopes to use this forum as a teaching tool to supplement in-class experience and practice.

www.yogash.wordpress.com

Pilates uses breathing and mental awareness to control the movements of the body to build core muscle strength. Discover more about Pilates with expert tips from a fitness instructor in this free workout video.

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Video transcription

Hi, my name is Ashley Ludman from Seaside Yoga, here to talk to you a little bit about Pilates, specifically what is Pilates? Pilates is a form of exercise that was originally develop by Joseph Pilates at the beginning of the 1920's. He originally coins this form of exercise Contrology because you actually use your mind and your awareness to control the movements of your body. He develop this form of exercise based on his work in Martial Arts, Tai Chi, Yoga and other types of Resistance Training. And the key points of Pilates is the use of your core and to develop your core awareness to stabilize you or to move you through various exercises. Some of the other components of Pilates that you'll find helpful and beneficial in a Pilates class are breathing, are the awareness of your center, the ability to move fluidly between movements and the ability to create precise movement. And all these coming together, actually creates the system that we know today as Pilates. So that's in a nutshell, that's Pilates.