I begin every session with this “Song” I learned from Kathleen Stanford Grant. For those of you that don’t know who she is - Kathy is someone who studied with Joe Pilates and continues to teach in New York. At 87 years old she maintains a full schedule that I have no question would tire me out. Many of my student teachers ask about this song again and again so I thought I would blog about it today. Remember that you can still apply this entire principle in any position but for the Pilates Session I will start you on your back.

Lay flat on your back, knees bent, heels in line with your sits bones, feet and knees hip with apart. While you are on your back take a few moments to check in with your body and your breath. Don’t correct, just be there. Take a moment and establish your neutral pelvis - finding the points where the pubic bone and the hip bones are all in the same plane. Your tail should feel heavy in the ground and you should feel a small space behind your lower back, your upper back should rest into the floor and you should have a small space behind the neck, your head should feel heavy in the floor. Make sure your feet have firm contact with the floor and the knees are neither nocking together or spread wide.

The Song:
Think of pulling up a zipper from the pubic bone up the front of the body - don’t worry how far, you will know.
     Hold in the Zipper as you inhale
On the next exhale pull your navel in and down toward the back of the hip - like a nail going into a wall at an angle to hang a picture
     Hold the Zipper and the nail in as you inhale
On the next exhale feel like you are pulling on a belt - I like to refer to high waisted pants that women wear with this image.
     Hold it all in as you inhale
On the next exhale get a lifting feeling in the chest like you are wearing a vest or a waist coat. Here I also like to think about the shoulders going down the back.
     Hold it all in place as you inhale
On the next exhale pull gently in underneath your bust line - As Kathy Grant says - “Like you are being measured for a dress” I also like to think of a bra strap - guys I am sure you can figure out where this is!
     Hold it all in as you inhale
This I added - On the next exhale pull the lower ribs down into the floor so you have the feeling of suspenders down your sides. 
     Hold it all in as you inhale
Now you should be in touch with your core and a very stable abdomen. When you in hale you should feel the breath go more into your rib cage, your abdominals should remain engaged. Depending on your teacher there are a number of ways to describe this feeling. Once set you should be able to move on to your next exercise in the fundamental series.

This blog is coming together in a bit of a puzzle, but we have already talked about several fundamental exercises. I would start here then go to the “Pelvic Curl” - Spine Twist Supine - Chest Lift or Perfect Crunch - Chest Lift with Rotation - then leg lifts and leg changes. A great warm up for pilates or any other activity for that matter.

Enjoy.

Tags: Kathy Grant, Preparing to Exercise

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