This month in our “Back to Basics” series, we are focusing on the Pilates principle “Concentration.” We encourage you to take this opportunity to refocus your practice on the principles that are the foundation of every Pilates movement. If you missed our first post in the series on centering, visit our blog.
Concentration: A Foundational Principle
Like centering, concentration is a foundational principle of Pilates. Mastering this principle enhances your body awareness in movement. It also prevents injury, strengthens the mind-body connection, and improves your overall performance in both Pilates and daily activities.
When practicing the principle of concentration, you focus deeply on each movement, paying particular attention to your breath and your alignment. Concentration ensures your Pilates movements are performed with intention rather than momentum. As a result, it helps improve your strength, flexibility, and coordination as you progress with your Pilates journey. Let’s take a closer look at the principle of concentration.
Intentional Movement Patterns
Concentration allows us to focus on intentional movement. These movement patterns demand complete awareness of certain body parts as they move. For example, if you lie on your back and extend your leg up, you need to focus on what else needs to be grounded as well as how the core plays a role in the leg extension.
Muscle Engagement
Concentration empowers you to intentionally engage the correct muscles and/or muscle groups to execute movement patterns efficiently.
Movement in Different Directions
Our bodies require us to move in different directions daily. This awareness and coordination help you adapt and move multiple body parts simultaneously. For example, when performing spine stretch forward, you must focus on grounding down into the pelvis and legs, while simultaneously lengthening the legs long on the mat and spine upwards as you bend forward.
Oppositional Movement
Oppositional movement requires you to concentrate on specific directional patterns. For example: as something goes up, something else goes down. If you move to the right, something else moves to the left. Concentrating on how one body part interacts with the movement of another is key. For example: when you reach your arms overhead, you will need to engage your lower abdominals to protect your spine. As your arms extend up, your abdominals draw in and up.
Building Awareness
Concentration allows you to recognize how different body parts work together to complete movement sequences. For example, when performing the exercise one leg circle, you have to focus on keeping your leg, pelvis, and torso stable to support lifting the opposite leg.
Neural Engagement
By focusing intently on the small but important movements your body is making, you are training your brain to focus on multiple elements at once. This improves your coordination and proprioception, as well as your awareness of the position and/or movement of your body.
Interested in checking out our Pilates studio? We enjoy working with individuals in Maple Grove and surrounding communities to find healing through movement. Schedule your initial appointment with our team today.
