This Is The Art We Can't Afford To Lose
"The Pilates equipment is a wonderful dance partner, but the mat teaches you how to dance alone."
I was lying on my mat, eight weeks after each of my emergency C-sections, searching for any sign my body still belonged to me. As a former dancer with twenty years of teaching Pilates, I thought I knew my body. But after pregnancies, that body felt foreign, and the strength I once owned felt like a distant memory.
The starting point of my recovery wasn't a grand movement. It was a single breath. With a hand placed gently over my C-section scar, I inhaled, searching for a response. The first two breaths were shallow. On the third, I felt it: a tiny, deep flicker of movement beneath my palm. A signal. That signal became my entire practice. For weeks, I simply lay on the mat, breathing life back into my fragile body.
I began with one shaky movement at a time. My first Pelvic Curls were wobbly, my modified Hundred left me trembling.
“But the mat, in its beautiful simplicity, demanded nothing more than honesty. It met me exactly where I was.”
Without springs or straps, it forced me to generate strength from the inside out. I was reclaiming my body, not with a dance partner, but alone.
This humbling return taught me something profound. Mat Pilates is the REAL work. Not just an introduction before you start equipment. It's the foundation upon which everything else is built, and it's where the magic of Pilates happens.
This truth I rediscovered connects directly to what Joseph Pilates himself called "Contrology"—a practice centered on the mind's control over the body. This philosophy wasn't born in a pristine fully-equipped studio; it was forged from wartime necessity. The result was a sequence of powerful exercises that required nothing but focus, control, and connection to your own body.
“The mat is an honest mirror.”
It reflects our imbalances without the aid of springs or frames. In this space, we use only our body against gravity to build real strength. This is why, at BASI Pilates, founder Rael Isacowitz honors the matwork as the "Crown Jewel" of the system. When we build our power on the mat, equipment becomes a tool to deepen our practice, not a crutch to begin it.
My rediscovery didn't stay personal. After years of teaching and running studios, I understood that real change happens not in complexity, but in simplicity. Mat Pilates strips away everything except what truly matters: your breath, your awareness, and your willingness to be open.
But in our rush to create the next viral movement, we risk losing what makes Pilates so powerful. I watch studios add more machines, more complex moves, more Instagram-worthy poses. Don’t get me wrong… I love creativity in movement—my successful YouTube channel, online membership and growing studios prove that innovation works.
“But when complexity and ‘likes’ becomes the goal instead of transformation, we've missed the point.”
The mat work doesn't always look impressive on social media. But I keep thinking about my clients who avoided surgery through fifteen minutes of daily mat practice. Or my late father's pure joy at touching his toes again. These "basic" movements can feel like miracles to someone who thought they were lost forever.
These are the clients who stay with you for years, who become walking testimonials for what Pilates can really do. This is how you build a lasting business—not through flashy marketing or trendy moves, but by creating real change in people's lives.
This is why I created my online membership Flow with Mira. No commute, no intimidating equipment, no waiting for the "perfect" time to begin. Just you, your mat, the fundamental movements and your transformation.
“In our equipment-focused fitness culture, I'm here to remind you that your most powerful tool is already within you.”
The mat doesn't lie, but it also doesn't judge. It meets you exactly where you are—whether you're a former athlete or someone taking their first conscious breath in years.
When you roll out your mat , you're participating in a century-old dance of finding strength in simplicity. Through precision over power. Through honoring your body's wisdom rather than forcing submission.
This is the art we can't afford to lose.
Mira Hassan’s Pilates teaching journey began in Australia (2005). Her Pilates journey has unfolded across continents, taking her to studios in London, Amsterdam and now her home in Jakarta. Mira is a BASI Pilates faculty member, owner of studios in Jakarta (Asia Award winning studio - Aalaya Pilates & BASI Pilates Indonesia HQ), and creator of Flow with Mira. Find her work at www.flowwithmira.com and on YouTube @FlowWithMira. Beyond her professional achievements, she is a proud mother to Kaia (8) and Theodore (2).