There are many shapes found in a Pilates practice. Think: bird on a perch, rolling like a ball, shoulder bridge. Things get interesting when we find similar shapes in seemingly different exercises. Perhaps you’ve heard your teacher cue the spine in hundreds or in footwork to take on the shape of a canoe, hollow in the center yet tipped up at each end. But what if we flipped the canoe over to dry it out –what exercises can we find the upside-down canoe in?

As teacher trainees, we heard, “Well, spinal flexion and extension are really the same thing.”

Curious, we wanted to understand the movement connection between flexion and extension but also how the canoe shape spine in say, the hundreds or in footwork, could help the spine in swan or single leg kick? Philosophically, is an upside down canoe not just a canoe?

This week’s classes are all about understanding how spinal flexion and extension are, yes, opposites, but also the same.

Monday 9/12 @12PM with Destinie:
Today’s class explores how spinal flexion and extension are the same shape, yet require different strengths and areas of focus. Props: full-size towel

Wednesday 9/14 @8AM with Destinie:
Grab Bag! Last week Destinie got a request for the neck and the low back. So fun that last Wednesday’s class had a sneak preview of this past Monday’s class. Keep the requests flowing!

Friday 9/16 @12PM with Nicole:
I once heard,”every exercise has only thing in common – the hundreds.” Let’s explore why the hundreds are our greater teacher when it comes to other shapes like extension.