The lovely Marguerite Ogle does such a fabulous job on the About.com Pilates site, and today I discovered a fun page she has of quotes from the Joseph Pilates book Return to Life Through Contrology . Here are some of my favorites: 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... 

After I lost 32 pounds people around me started to ask my advice on how they too could drop the unwanted pounds. Most of my friends have tried every quick weight loss trick in the book, including single food diets, liquid diets, cleanses, and weight loss pills. With me I am trying instead to change how they shop, how they eat, and how they think about food, No high fructose corn syrup, no white flour, lots of nuts, seeds, produce, lean protein,... 

Pilates is a truly anti-aging exercise. While many types of exercise will strengthen your heart and other muscles and keep you strong, Pilates works on keeping the spine and other joints moving while as strong as possible. In this way you feel great, you feel young. Joseph Pilates once said that we are only as old as our spines. If your back is killing  Read More →

No matter how ergonomic and expensive your office furniture may be, sitting in any chair all day long will have a negative effect on your body. Your hip flexors and hamstrings get tighter, your spine compresses with gravity, your head strains forward and your shoulders round forward towards your desk or computer. Pilates exercises help counter this by moving and lengthening your spine, including neck, opening your chest and strengthening your shoulders,... 

Image via Wikipedia It is interesting teaching Pilates at a resort, since we get a fair number of guests who do Pilates regularly and know what it is along with a large number who have never tried it before. They are never quite sure what to expect, having heard about Pilates as being all stretching, all abs, or for dancers. Any introduction to Pilates mat should include a mix of small fundamental exercises that allow you to move correctly and…  Read More →

Image of Pilates-Pro.com My friend, Pilates teacher Anne Samoilov interviewed me recently about teaching Pilates, blogging, social media, and whether or not a new teacher should open a Pilates studio. The interview is now live on Pilates-Pro.com, Pilates Mentors: Q&A with ‘Pilates Goddess’ Lynda Lippin . I love being called a Mentor and Goddess is one sentence, by the way! And so you know, I think new teachers are better off renting... 

Most Pilates beginners, especially those doing Pilates mat only with no equipment feedback, need to modify some of the exercises. Making an exercise more achievable makes Pilates more enjoyable. Pilates exercises can be modified by reducing the range of motion or size of an exercise and using props, such as bands or the magic circle, among others. Like an electronic cigarette that helps smokers ease into quitting, Pilates modifications can help... 

Lately I see a lot of ads and discussion about home fitness using game consoles, such as the Wii, PS3, or xbox 360 . Many fitness instructors have branded fitness games, including Daisy Fuentes for Pilates. Now, I suppose that if you have no other choice and refuse to leave your house to exercise these could be a good option. My concern is that you get no correction on bad form or pushing to the next level when things get easier, both of which a... 

I have started a new collection of Pilates, Fitness, and Reiki information at Videojug Pages; the site is Sane Fitness In an Insane World and I am just having a great time posting videos and information as I have time. I have pages on Pilates history, my famous daily core workout, pilates and reiki, TRX, and kettlebells. I am adding more, so if there is anything that you want to know more about leave a comment here and I will create a page for... 

One of the very best weight loss products in the world is your own body. That’s right – your own body! When you exercise, including doing Pilates, you strengthen your muscles and increase your natural metabolism, which leads to faster and faster weight loss. So if you are looking to lose weight do yourself a huge favor and start a fitness program that incorporates Pilates.  Read More →

Beware of anybody who tells you that Joseph Pilates would have approved of fat burner pills in any way, shape, or form. Pilates was in many ways a naturalist, and while he did smoke cigars and drink bourbon and beer, he frowned upon forced and unnatural movements and activities. Exercise is a natural and side-effect free fat burner!  Read More →

Image by ewanr via Flickr Whenever I teach pilates I am amazed at how many people take it so seriously they just won’t lighten up at all. How you can not even crack a smile when Rolling Like A Ball, clapping your feet together like a Seal, or Swan Diving is beyond me! Pilates exercises are meant to be fun as well as functional, so a little laughter in the class or studio can always help! Related articles by Zemanta  Read More →

When you read all the weight loss hype, including apidexin reviews and other diet pill reviews, you would think that you can lose weight and be healthy without exercising. This is just not true! When you exercise you build lean muscle mass, which itself burns more calories than fatty tissue making you burn more fat all the time. Exercise is crucial for weight  Read More →

Image via Wikipedia Question: hi, i have lots of flab over my upper tummy and lower tummy i tried doing crunches but it didn’t help can u help me ..i am 16 and going to start college so i need to be more confident about my body….thanx, Avanika Answer: Dear Avanika, First, you should love yourself however you think you  Read More →

As my “style” of teaching Pilates has developed over the years I have become more about teaching strength and stability as opposed to mobility and deep stretching, especially in the mixed level classes I teach at Parrot Cay . I find that after just 1 or 2 classes as people become more stable in their spines and torsos their pain decreases and their mobility becomes greater without any extra stretching necessary. But I am coming up...