Pilates Principles Overview
Contrology is the term that Joseph Pilates, the creator of the Pilates method and the inventor all of the Pilates equipment, called the Pilates method. After his death the term “Pilates” was used over the name Contrology.
And his Contrology method had a philosophy that he believed would bring whole body health, which gave context to the exercises he designed. Joseph intended his method to be a mental and physical discipline, a work ethic, and an attitude toward one’s self that would eventually become a habit and a lifestyle.
Joseph wrote in his book "Return to Life Through Contrology": “Physical fitness is the first requisite of happiness. Our interpretation of physical fitness is the attainment and maintenance of a uniformly developed body with a sound mind fully capable of naturally, easily, and satisfactorily performing our many and varied tasks with spontaneous zest and pleasure.”
All schools of Pilates teach a set of principles that we can apply to our Pilates practice, but also to our daily life. Some schools omit or add certain principles depending on their focus, but this is the set I like best:
Awareness (proprioception)
Balanced Muscle Development
Breath
Concentration
Control
Centring
Flowing Motion
Precision
Let’s have some fun exploring each principle over the next few weeks! And let’s see how we can refine each principle while we are doing our Pilates exercises.
