Pilates: A Work Out For Mind and Body
If you are a big fan of yoga, you may just as well be a big fan of pilates. Pilates is very similar to yoga, using graceful movements and poses to work core muscle groups in your body. I first heard of pilates when I was a freshman in college almost eight years ago when I was taking a public speaking class. The topic for one of our speech assignments was to give a speech in which we demonstrate how to do something. For this one girl’s speech, she brought in this pilates video, yoga mat and a medicine ball and demonstrated a few basic exercises to the class on how pilates was done. I remember thinking that it seemed so simplistic…that is, until I tried it and found out otherwise. Pilates is actually very challenging! It is challenging to remain totally focused and calm while your inflexible body (my body is extremely inflexible) tries to flex and hold these difficult poses. Pilates is beneficial for a number of reasons. It improves your posture, strengthens your spine and tones your abs by focusing on your core. What’s even better is that it doesn’t require any major equipment; all you need is a mat or fluffy towel and maybe a medicine ball (optional).
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