How Pilates supports your mental health
What’s your reason for doing Pilates? A lot of you might immediately think about your physical health, or how you look, or your physical strength, but did you know how incredible it is for your mental health too? Joseph Pilates believed that physical and mental health were intrinsically linked and this is why Pilates is considered a holistic form of movement. Here are some of the ways it can affect your mental health:
Release of endorphins, the feel-good hormone that creates a general feeling of well-being and even relieves pain! This hormone is also released when you play music, laugh, spend time outdoors in the sunshine or have sex! So, you know it’s good!
Concentration, one of the 6 Pilates principles, means you’re focused on the movement, your body position, which muscles should be working etc, this is a form of mindfulness. You disconnect from everything else your busy mind is thinking of and connect to your body and the present moment.
Breathing is another Pilates principle, as Joseph Pilates says ‘Breathing is the first and last act of life’. Each Pilates exercise has its own breathing pattern, and this focus again brings you into the present moment and away from your to do list!
Pilates can help to release emotional tension and stress; we store unresolved emotion in our bodies – think clenched jaw, hunching yourself over when you feel inferior or small and our hips can be a big holder of emotional trauma too. Pilates teaches you to release your muscles and therefore can help release any emotional tension you’ve been carrying as well; you’ll often hear me saying in class, relax your jaw!
Pilates can help with brain training and support memory. There’s so much to think about in Pilates; the breathing, the sequence of movements, bringing your mind to the muscles you’re working, performing each move with precision as opposed to a treadmill run where you mind can wander all over the place. In Pilates your brain learns new skills which is proven to improve cognitive function and slows age-related decline in brain performance.
Connection to others and social interaction – we all know the benefits of this are endless, I truly believe loneliness can be a bigger killer than smoking; research has linked it to high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, weakened immune system, anxiety, depression and Alzheimer’s. If you come to one of my IRL classes you’ll meet a group of like-minded wonderful people who enjoy a catch up before and after class. After a Saturday class, we head to the farmers market together for a coffee and brekkie and everyone is welcome – what better way to start your weekend?!
Pilates gives you confidence; you’ll feel a sense of accomplishment after every class and you’ll be proud of how capable and strong your body is. Pilates can help with weight loss and improves postural alignment which will literally leave you holding your head up high!
Fundamentally, when you feel physically stronger you are much more likely to feel mentally resilient.