Lorn Healthy Options health tip: Health and wellbeing essentials
Health and wellbeing is an essential part of our everyday lives.
Lorn Healthy Options’ Fiona MacInnes.
It is a complex combination of a person’s physical, mental, emotional and social health factors that are strongly linked to happiness and life satisfaction.
While exploring this complex combination, Joseph Hubertus Pilates entitled his exercise methods as ’contrology’, referring to the idea that the mind and the body must work together.
Born in 1883 and living until the ripe old age of 87, he praised his exercise methods as the reason behind his fruitful life. He was very frail as a child, suffering from rickets, asthma and rheumatic fever, and his parents were told he would have a very short life expectancy.
But Joseph Pilates had great determination and from a very young age experimented with different health and fitness approaches to rebuild his body strength. These included yoga, martial arts, dance, weight training, gymnastics and even circus training.
He developed a system he believed promoted the perfect balance of strength and flexibility, which he called ’contrology’.
His teaching focused on using the mind to control muscles, the alignment of the spine and the balancing and development of the core muscles creating the eight principles of Pilates: concentration, relaxation, alignment, breathing, centring, co-ordination, flowing movements and stamina.
Participating in pilates has many benefits including the correction of misalignments in the body, strengthening the body by using one’s own body weight, improving flexibility, which is essential for your overall fitness and vitality and shaping and toning the body evenly by working the front, back and sides.
By focusing on breathing and enhancing feelings of calm, Pilates can help with the management of stress and endurance by first focusing on mental strength by completing each repetition, exercise and sequence to build strength.
Strengthening the pelvic floor through a variety of exercises that engage the core and pelvic floor muscles is also a great health benefit that comes with doing Pilates.
You may have heard the phrase ’pelvic floor’ and, yes, we all have pelvic floor muscles. The pelvic floor is the base of the group of muscles referred to as your ’core’, located in your pelvis and stretches like a hammock from the pubic bone to the tailbone and from side to side.
It has an important function in your body as it works with your deep abdominal - tummy - and deep back muscles to build support and stability of your trunk.
A well-supported trunk will support your spine and lessen lower back pain.
To work your pelvic floor muscles, zip from your tail bone towards your pubic bone with an upwards lift - be careful not to clench your bottom or hold your breath. You may feel a lifting and tightening sensation as the muscles lift. It’s also important to let the muscles fully relax between each lift.
Our pelvic floor has many functions - supporting our bladder, bowel and internal reproductive organs, controlling bladder and bowel function, stabilising the spine by working with your deep tummy and back muscles, absorbing pressure from activities such as coughing and lifting and playing a part in our sexual function.
It’s like every other muscle - if you don’t use it you lose it. You can work your pelvic floor muscles anywhere at any time, so why not start now? Take it from someone who has been qualified to teach Pilates for almost 11 years and has been practising the art long before that too - Pilates is great for your overall health and wellbeing and is well worth a try.
If you haven’t exercised for some time or if it is your first venture into Pilates and you have a health condition, please check with your GP.
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JOBS
Customer Assistant - Foods - Oban - Marks & Spencer
ObanSalary On Application
Childcare and Education Worker - ARB15733 - Argyll and Bute Council
PA29 6XG£28,322 to £29,436 per annum
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