Pilates Please

“Civilization impairs physical fitness.” – Joseph Pilates

With such busy lifestyles these days and our bodies lacking that youthful resilience, it is so easy to put exercise on the back burner. However exercise is an opportunity for us to remain active, stay fit, and be in tune with our bodies, thus lending ourselves to better physical fitness and ensuring that we will continue to maintain the active lifestyles that keeps us thriving mentally and emotionally as well as physically. Recently I accepted a 10-day Mind Body Pilates Challenge (complete with daily mindfulness exercises) from The Balanced Life. It was during an emotionally difficult time in my life, and I just didn’t have the energy to participate in my usual, more intense work outs. They often resulted in a great deal of delayed onset muscle soreness, as it is called, and made daily tasks a bit more painful than I was up for. Pilates is known for its “lengthening and strengthening” properties as well as building core strength – a necessity for rehabilitating and preventing back injuries and fatigue. I welcomed the more calm discipline of Pilates and was eager to give my 10-day free trial a go. What I didn’t expect to find was a complete network, or “Sisterhood” as they call it at The Balanced Life, consisting of not only a full library of varied Pilates workouts but recipes, assorted groups (including a book club and a “Fit + Fab after 55” group), local Sisterhood socials, a community forum, a blog, and so much more. I have barely begun to explore all the perks available. The workouts are diversified, so you don’t get bored doing the same ones over and over. You can choose from the monthly calendar, the library of workouts, or your “favorites.” There are no DVD’s to purchase. No fancy equipment necessary – just an exercise mat and occasionally some small hand weights (water bottles or cans of soup will suffice). On rare occasions it may need to have a chair handy, a small Pilates ball, and a foam roller. All your workouts can be streamed or downloaded on any device for offline use, and membership is significantly cheaper than any gym. The workouts are super easy to fit into your busy schedule. Their customer service is top notch. They even compensate you if a friend or family member signs up through you! Robin Long is the lovely host, and all her workouts are filmed on the beach making for a serene setting. The life-giving message at The Balanced Life is “Grace Over Guilt.” I really grasped on to that phrase since it speaks volumes into so many areas of my life. It resonates so much with me that I even made my own barn-wood sign with the saying on it, and it adorns my hutch-turned-pantry in my kitchen to serve as a daily reminder that it is not perfection that we seek but progress.

Pilates is a part of my daily regiment and will continue to be so even as I integrate other types of workouts into my routine eventually, as I really believe staying active is key to feeling vibrant and healthy. What do you like to do to stay fit?