LESS IS MORE, Part One

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ONLINE PILATES CLASSES BY THE LIFT GIRL www.liftgirlpilates.com

LESS IS MORE is a term I’ve known only as an adult. When I was a kid everyone seemed to have what he needed and nothing more. People lived simply…life was easier.

It’s a different world now. We all have too much. Despite my own efforts to scale back, sometimes I look around and can count ten things in the room I do not NEED (and probably never will). I don’t need this, I don’t need that, this can go, and uh…where the heck did that thing come from? (Big sigh…just imagine my husband and I pointing fingers at one another!)

I don’t know about you but CLUTTER makes me feel weighted, heavy, overwhelmed, and burdened. My pulse starts to rev up, my tolerance level goes down, and I find myself growing short-tempered with anyone else in the room. My heart immediately closes off to the possibilities of “what if?” I don’t much care for that feeling; so I try really hard not to go there.

When the clutter disappears I instantly feel lighter, more at ease, calm, and efficient. Life is easier and everything seems to fall into place with less effort.

In Pilates LESS IS MORE also applies. My clients hear me say it over and over again… You’re giving me 200 percent when all that’s required is 100 percent!

That doesn’t mean I want them to be lazy and not work hard. On the contrary! It simply means I want them to keep it simple and move efficiently.

Moving efficiently means using the smaller muscles. When you recruit your smaller muscle groups, the larger ones are not so strained and overworked. We alllll know what that leads to: CHRONIC PAIN AND INJURY!

So LESS IS MORE can help us all be more efficient in Pilates, as well as in our real lives. Clearing away the clutter, living simply and efficiently will allow us all to be lighter. We can be better at home, at work, in our relationships, and ultimately in our own communities.

For me, living simply makes me feel more grateful. I appreciate what I already have and don’t merely long for the things I don’t have. Now that doesn’t mean I don’t long for that new TREK mountain bike, new piece of Pilates clothing, or whatever. I do. But it’s more of an “I don’t feel empty or deprived without it” feeling. When the right time presents itself, those items will enter my life and I will make room for them as opposed to adding a bunch of clutter to my repertoire.

LESS IS MORE can be a powerful message in our lives if we learn to practice the skill behind the words.

Bye for now!