Not being perfect
When I am teaching my classes, and particularly when I am editing them later to get them on the website, I sometimes feel and I sometimes look at my practice and think OMG … what on earth am I doing with my hips, or why are my arms at different heights … and why am I falling over when I stand on my right leg ???
The thing is, my body isn’t perfect and it doesn’t move perfectly, even though I have exercised for my whole life to date and I practise Pilates every day, it still doesn’t make it perfect. And although I try to do all the things that I know I should to rebalance and realign, I also want to just LIVE MY LIFE, so sometimes I do fall asleep on the sofa, or I sit with my laptop on my knees instead of at a desk. I play my violin but I don’t always
stretch after it, I walk pushing the buggy with my granddaughter in it, and when I get back I don’t stretch and open my chest … in other words I don’t do things perfectly. I have old injuries, I have a bit of arthritis in my knees, and my hands, I have a bit of wear and tear in my joints, my body doesn’t always move in the way I want it to.
I see lots of my fellow Pilates teachers in their videos and their movement looks amazing, they look balanced, they are aligned and beautifully poised …
But here are the plus points of not being perfect:
- There is always somewhere I can go with the movement, I can always progress and always learn more
- I love to move, it makes me feel joyous when I have done a Pilates workout
- It lights up my creative juices as I try to work out how I can achieve the movements
- It means I am totally empathetic to anyone who also has issues with their body, I know if I have problems there will probably be others with the same problems so if I can help myself, I know I can help others
- I am often surprised by what I can do and I really celebrate these moments
But most importantly, all the little quirks with our movement and our bodies is what makes us unique, so we should embrace them because they are part of what makes us who we are, our Whole Self.
