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pi + lates

“Pi” is the name given to the ratio of a circumference of a circle to its diameter. That means that, for any circle, you can divide the circumference by the diameter and always get the exact same number. Pi is what we call an irrational number, which means that its value cannot be expressed exactly. Consequently, the decimal representation never ends or repeats. TO INFINITY AND BEYOOOOOOOND!!!! (Isn’t that a line from some movie?)

Anyway…

There’s a lot of “pi” in Pilates! No, no, no.  Not that kind of pie.  You can’t taste this one…you can only appreciate its value and contribution. People are still talking about “pi” years after its mathematical discovery.  It’s one of those subjects that is debated, studied, thought about, loved, hated, denied, confused, challenged…you name it. Pi goes beyond ordinary limits. It is… Transcendent.

When I’m teaching a class, I’m constantly saying to my students, “There’s no stopping or starting. Your movement never really ends… it’s infinite!” (Just like pi!)  I say this so my clients can take their time and actually feel the “in between” and not merely hit their positions. When they learn to move and have the NEVER-ENDING, INFINITE quality, they feel the magic of Pilates. The magic of Pilates is the internal shower. You can only experience the internal shower when you learn to move from your abdominal muscles. This takes time, patience, persistence, and practice…and maybe a little bit of real pie!

For me Pilates is an infinite form of exercise and the reason it has captured my attention for so many years. From my point-of-view, Pilates, too, is TRANSCENDENT. It’s the only form of exercise that has challenged me beyond ordinary limits! I can do a lot of the advanced fancy exercises, but I never really feel that I know it all or have come to an end.  No class is ever the same. There’s always more to learn, more to do, and more to feel.

Pilates is 3.14 all the way… magical, transcendent, infinite, to the ends of the earth, like no other…

Bye for now!