R U Ok?

In July 2022 I unfortunately contacted Covid which meant two weeks without teaching Pilates. It was several weeks later that I noticed increasing pain in my muscles and joints which became almost debilitating. Over time my body only got worse. I became very wary and ‘careful’ as to how I moved. Being in my 70s I told myself it was part of the ageing process but not to the extent I took it to. Quite quickly I became old. I stopped working. I fell over several times. Forgot many things. 

Experiencing this myself made me realise how important our clients' mental health is and how interlinked it is to our bodies capabilities. By being in a state of fear, I wasn’t able to unlock or access parts of my body much like my clients. In this article, I’m going to talk about how I support clients through their mental health battles and how we as Pilates professionals can aid them in this journey to better movement. 

The problem of healing and restoring physical, mental and/or emotional health is dependent on what is accepted and considered appropriate functioning by the society in which the individual lives (Bartenieff: 1990, p151). Whether it be for pure physical exercise, dance, Pilates or some other form of movement it is a function of expression. I would suggest to you that in more recent times there’s definitely a paradigm shift but we still, in some circles, expect exercise to “burn” before it is effective. World-respected pioneers in trauma research such as Bessel Van der Klok, Babette Rothschild and many others, have worked for many years to help bridge the gap between verbal and body-oriented therapies. By verbal therapy I mean sitting and talking through things versus body-oriented therapies such as massages, osteopathy, chiropractic and dance-related therapies. All have an important place and generally do quite well for most people. However, trauma and/or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is another level. For most people, symptoms don't go away but we learn to quieten difficult reactions to certain events. By being aware of our bodies' response, our self-talk and how we can shift the physical and emotional reactions we have, we are then on the way to gaining greater control. So, movement, exercise and living in the body helps to support verbal and body-orientated therapies. 

With a background in Dance Movement therapy and awareness of Laban analysis training (a tool for analysing kinetic movement and kinaesthetic (i.e. the act of sensing) aspects of movement), I decided many years ago that I needed to give my clients both movement therapy and Pilates work in order to help them work to heal injuries, stroke or fear. 

So, how does this work with mental health and Pilates? It goes back to the fundamentals developed by Joseph Pilates. Let’s start with breathing. 

We all have problems at times even breathing conscientiously, let alone being relaxed while moving.

Every motor action of the body relates to some change in feeling or interest which influences the expenditure of energy and the timing of the action. Where an individual suffers from a physical or mental blockage, inner confusion and/or mental restraints, the various psychological mechanisms

involved will impair the free flow of emotional dynamism. In other words, movement effects behaviour and behaviour effects movement. A block in one will effect the other. The dynamic feelings or energy is also reduced and therefore the expression of personality. Spontaneity is lost and the self-awareness and self-identity of the person is impaired and incomplete. (McCutcheon: 1992). 

Through life experiences, lifestyles, genetic makeup, accidents or tense situations, our breathing alters, muscles contract or are not used at all and joint movement/mobility becomes restricted. As we grow these repeated habitual patterns mould the bones as well as the muscular envelope and fewer joints are moved and a repression of the body takes place. Muscular contraction not only shortens the limb, which is what it is meant to do, but through lifestyle, tension or trauma the skeletal body, joints and cartilage between the joints become worn and suffer damage. The way our body takes shape is produced by anatomical structure. All body movements arise from bending, stretching and twisting. Deep breathing replenishes the bloodstream, and by being more conscious of the breath, it helps to diminish the fear or the pain of moving. Pain however, is also a response to what the brain considers a threatening situation. Noticing our annoyance, nervousness or anxiety puts us in touch with our inner world. The conscious awareness of breathing is therefore an extremely important part of the Pilates exercise. 

So, take trauma for instance, what does it do to our bodies as well as the social person? 

We know that the threat of pain whether that be emotional or physical, contributes directly to the pain experience. By helping people to understand what is actually happening to their bodies (because of the fear or pain) we can assist in reducing it. A further step along the way is to be mindful and observe the interplay of physical sensations and how particular thoughts are registered in the body. It is interesting to note how the body organises particular emotions or memories which opens up the possibility of releasing sensations that were once blocked or ignored, in order to survive. 

“Mindfulness has been shown to have a positive effect on numerous psychiatric, psychosomatic and stress-related symptoms, including depression and chronic pain. It has broad effects on physical health, including improvements in immune response, blood pressure and cortisol levels. It has also been known to activate the brain regions involved in emotional regulation and leads to changes in the regions related to body awareness and fear.”(Bessel Van Der Klok, p.209. 2014). 

To be clear Pilates is not meditation but it is a by product of mindfulness by encouraging people to be aware of what is happening in different parts of the body. For instance, “push the spring with the ball of your foot, not your knee”. Then, “how does that feel?”. Sometimes there is a response, other times just an “OK”. “Over time the response will be more helpful, as muscle tone is better able to tolerate hyperarousal than those with lesser tone. For instance, a greater degree of muscle tone increases self-confidence and reduces feelings of vulnerability and/or helplessness.” (Rothschild , p137. 2000) 

The Pilates exercises themselves also have a sensory as well as a motor experience. The sensory stimulation is in response to the rhythm and the movement releases inner tension which in turn signals the nervous system for muscles to contract and the body to move freely. (McCutcheon, 1992) This is why we often hear clients say “I felt so good after the last Pilates session.” The client is now feeling strong, confident and paying attention to how the body feels in space. 

My goal in these sessions is to bring someone out of a state of fear when moving. It really depends on the client and the willingness to learn to beat the challenges they face.

So with assistance from a very understanding Osteopath and an enthusiastic owner of a pilates studio, I am back working. Even though I am still stiff and quite sore to some degree, I can apply experience to help the healing process. I have to acknowledge that at 78, I am ageing rapidly and I can’t expect my body to do the stuff I could do at even 68. But I now understand more about myself and therefore the process. 

So some advice in supporting these clients… 

- Make sure there is a counselling and psychology training degree before you start working with clients

- Listen carefully to what the client is telling you

- Are they in physical pain? Are they not sleeping? Is their persistent self-talk? - Where are they in the life cycle? 

- Never assume you know what is going on for them

- Be with your client at all stages, don’t just impose an exercise

And finally, remember we need to be gentle, listen and be patient. 

Arwen has been teaching Pilates for 25 years. She previously owned her own studio for 15 years and now works at Arc Pilates in Melbourne and thoroughly enjoys it.