The Pilates Loft

The Pilates Loft is 2 years old -  Happy Birthday!

Pilates for the Mature Body:

This workout is a collection of Pilates exercises aimed at giving the mature body tone and strength without unneeded strain on the knees, neck and wrists.  Leave feeling like you have worked hard and energized your mind and body without having the awkward starts and stops of a session based on the level of a younger physique.

As an instructor, I focus mainly on the mature body population. This way I am able to keep the choreography of the sessions flowing and efficient; guiding the client from one beneficial exercise to the next. This flowing  routine stimulates the entire muscular system helping to align and correct muscular imbalances and strengthen the core.

I enjoy sharing the benefits of Joseph Pilates’ classical vocabulary while using the modifications I have learned through the dance medicine styles of Pilates techniques.  This combination of vocabularies helps me include the very important unifying, strength-building aspects of Joseph Pilates’ original work while adapting to the needs of the over-50 population. 

Within these sessions, I often include contemporary body toning techniques that help target specific areas for aesthetics and function.  Come and try a Mature Body Workout today!

The Pilates Loft is  a private studio seeing only one person at a time by appointment. To schedule an intro session call Rachael Maddalena (360) 441-0211 or write: pilatesonholly@gmail (dot) com

The Pilates Loft’s first group workshop coming in April!

Pilates and Back Care for the Mature Body Gardener

5 week session Monday afternoons at 3:30  Downtown Bellingham, La Vida Dance Studio. 5 week workshop for $75 Register by calling (360) 441-0211

• Cultivate awareness of spinal position while working in the garden

• Improve body awareness while performing repetitive motion tasks

• Learn activate and strengthen the deep abdominal muscles and pelvic floor

• Strengthen and stretch the back and shoulder muscles

• Explore lifting techniques and precautions

• Prevent knee pain

• Develop an at-home practice including pre-gardening warm-up and post-gardening stretches.

4 Steps to Improved Posture

Try this gentle corrective technique:

• Imagine your spine being drawn deeper into your torso from the back. Then imagine your torso as a barrel, and each slat is being gently snuggled in closer, and equally to your spine. Your core muscles will help to facilitate this image by lifting and stabilizing you from deep within.

•  Once you have a sense of your deeply embedded spine, give it a lift; imagine you are creating a few more centimeters between each vertebra. Let the curves of your spine stay curved. Lengthening is not about flattening the curves. Think about how a spring can be both lengthened - and retain it’s curves. Then look into the mirror and lift yourself gently ‘up out of your legs’ so you feel as though you are floating on top of them.

• If your rib cage is forward or backward of your torso, gently draw it in line with your pelvis. Your rib cage should be floating over your pelvis, and your head should be floating over your neck and shoulders.

•  To “lift” your head, think of gently and internally drawing your top lip to the back of your neck - but without loosing the natural curve in the neck. That should help to bring your head more in line with your shoulders.

“Body language affects how others see us, but it may also change how we see ourselves. Social psychologist Amy Cuddy shows how “power posing” — standing in a posture of confidence, even when we don’t feel confident — can affect testosterone and cortisol levels in the brain, and might even have an impact on our chances for success.”

This is a very inspiring talk and I hope you enjoy!

Beautiful pose done by a dance and Pilates blogger @ http://yelinka.tumblr.com/ We are definitely going to trying this one on for size at the Pilates Loft this week.