My Pilates Journey, By Karen Hew

I have made many friends who love Pilates thru this blog, but no one is as "obsessed" with Pilates than Karen. Recently she wrote to me about her journey in learning Pilates, and it was too good not to be shared! I seeked her permission to post it up here (at the same time extorted her to write few good words about me, hahhaa kidding!), so here it goes:

My journey as a Pilates student started exactly a year ago from this week’s Tuesday, 21 April 2009, with my first introductory trial class.

12 months ago, I was pale, flabby, unfit and had a miserable nagging lower-back ache. The lower-back ache was not nerve related and I was hoping that either Yoga or Pilates would help to strengthen my pathetically weak lower-back. Fate would have it that I could not find a suitable Yoga studio at my preferred locations, and my teacher, Song, had just joined the Pilates studio that was situated at my preferred location and could give classes after office hours!

What started as an evening of nervous apprehension for this Pilates-virgin (largely stemming from being ignorant as to what Pilates is all about), Song helped ease the anxiety by first explaining the fundamentals of Pilates – the zip, scoop and breathing. Next was the introduction to the intimidating looking “torture” equipment – Reformer, Cadillac (er, as in the car?), Wunda Chair, Electric Chair (the what?!) and Ladder Barrel. Song then put me on the Reformer and exercising supine was a whole new thing for me (hey, this I can do!). By the end of the hour, I felt invigorated, and in awe of the founder-creator of this wonderful method of exercise, Mr Joseph Pilates. Mr Pilates is a genius, a fantastic engineer and master of human bio-mechanics. I was stumped by Mr Pilates’ profound understanding of the musculoskeletal system. Everything that I learnt in that hour just clicked.

I immediately signed up for 10 private classes and I have never looked back since. What has Pilates done for me? It has awoken my sense of body awareness – I feel connected to my body, and conscious about alignment and posture. It has given me confidence – I am more comfortable with myself than ever. It has strengthened me physically – my body shape has changed drastically to become leaner and stronger (yay!).

What do I love most about Pilates? The mind-body connection. Yes, as cliché as it sounds, it is true. I have played competitive badminton and basketball, I have jogged, canoed, hiked, trekked, squashed, but they are all intuitive exercises. To execute Pilates exercises correctly, I have to really concentrate and focus being at every moment.

Where will my journey next bring me to? I want to learn more, much more about this wonderful method of exercise. Perhaps the path may lead me to a certification course… and what an adventure that would be!

Last but not least, I have made several new friends from the world of Pilates. Good Pilates teachers are special because they not only teach well but also bring sunshine to the studio and touch lives. Their passion is highly infectious and wonderfully inspiring. The teachers who have infected me with their passion and inspired me to go further in my learning journey are Song, June, Annie, Zein, and Cynthia Lochard. There are those who helped open my world to other methods of teaching Pilates – Jacek (Stott) and Daniel (Polestar) – and made me realise that, while the paths to the goal may be different, the goal of teaching Pilates is always for the good of the client. And many thanks to Tery for her blog; her relentless energy; her perseverance; her focus; and her dedication to promote Pilates. She is a gem!

Gosh, i never knew Karen has only been doing Pilates for merely 12 months!!! She is so damn fit, especially when compared to other desk bound people in her trade! Her tummy is FLAT. I am sure there are many others who are hooked to Pilates like the way Karen did and their bodies, their minds, and even their lives are transformed by Pilates.