Aware Pilates Santa Fe

In order to understand Onkel (Uncle) Joe’s philosophy and my personal philosophy of it we have to take a look at the history of “Contrology”, the original name that Joe Pilates gave his exercise regimen.

Onkel Joe was a pugilist, a boxer and a wrestler, he even had a circus act with his brother at one point. He trained the Nürnberger Polizei (Police) in Germany and was even asked to train the German military, which he declined.

The now called Pilates Method is a very athletic and even acrobatic exercise program that takes heavy cues from Yoga and martial arts, which Onkel Joe studied as well.

One of the main concepts always has been the connection of body, mind and spirit at a very deep level. Later on some of the elders replaced that with the so called Pilates principals to make it more accessible and understandable for the average participant.
The principals were broken down into breathing, concentration, control, centering, precision and flow of movement.
Onkel Joe’s original program was a mat exercise program comprised of 34 exercises that can be performed in about thirty to forty minutes, however once he realized that most mortals were not even close to being in shape to perform these exercises he went about to invent equipment to guide and support those that wanted to eventually be able to accomplish his vigorous floor exercises.

“If you will faithfully perform your Contrology exercises only four times a week for just three months as outlined in “Return to Life”, you will find your body development approaching the ideal, accompanied by renewed mental vigor and spiritual enhancement”. That is exactly what Onkel Joe wrote in his 1945 released book “Return to life trough Contrology”, which even for today’s standards makes some great reading. I highly recommend it.

As you can also see in his quote again he mentions not only the body, but also the connection with the mind and spirit.

To me the Pilates Method is an exercise program that needs to be done with utmost control and balance, not too fast as to lose the connection from the mind with the body, but deliberate. There needs to be an awareness to put all the pieces of the puzzle together in order for our whole body and mind to function in a smooth and efficient way. The breath needs to lead and guide our movement to obtain maximum efficiency. We need to be able to connect and feel all of our muscles, bones and tendons working together to improve our knowledge of movement, balance, stability, flexibility and strength. I have not found another exercise program that brings all of these different facets together to truly maximize our physical abilities. Whether you just like to stay in great shape or are looking to advance to the next level in your favorite sport on any level including professional athletes the Pilates Method will achieve those goals.

And that is what I would like to provide and support at my aware pilates studio.