Issue #333 – April 28, 2021
My 22-Year ‘Hand-in-Hand Relationship with Pilates
by Mona Stedenfeldt
It’s Fall 1999 and a physical therapy colleague at Colorado State University announced that there was a Pilates course for physical therapists in Denver. Did I want to attend? Oh, did I ever! Pilates had significantly caught my attention. There had been some buzz in the media (Madonna, etc.), but what stood out to me was the performance of the exercises I saw. There was the alignment of the body, the visible strength and preciseness, as well as the balanced body composure. It was beautiful!
I had left a little town in Norway to study physical therapy in England. After I completed those studies, my destiny brought me to Colorado. At the point of my first Pilates course, I was 24 years old, just married, a mother to a little baby and enrolled in a Master’s program in Exercise science and health promotion. I was a very active person. I ran, hiked, skied, danced, and was at a point a bit of an aerobics queen. My husband was boxing and pulled me into those hard-core sessions of bag punching. I felt I was a bit of a master when it came to exercise.
Little did I know, driving from Fort Collins to Denver, that this course (“Introduction to the Pilates Method of Body Conditioning for Physical Therapy”) would not only influence, but also shape, my life and really put me in place in terms of my “know it all” about exercise.
The rest of the story starts with Mathilda Klein, the course instructor who had trained and studied Pilates for last six years of Joseph Pilates’ life (1960-67) (and should technically be considered a first generation teacher). What stood out to me as she welcomed us into the world of Pilates was her youthfulness. She was so vibrant, gracious and strong and, I will say, looked absurdly young for her age, which was at this point, was 67 years old.
Mathilda told us a fascinating story of her discovery of Pilates in 1960. She was a dancer and had backache after giving birth to twins. She had worked with both Joseph Pilates and Clara and later, Romana and Carola (it was not until many years later I understood how unique this combination was) She could tell how Joe was very firm on the sequence of exercise; his style was basic and did not vary (compare to Romana). Joe taught a method of focus and understanding, a practice of order and discipline. This way was also Mathilda’s way as she introduced and taught Pilates to us.
Mathilda talked in a language we (students) knew. She, like us, was a physical therapist. We knew the anatomy, the joints and their articulations, the muscles and their actions, insertions and attachments as well as the circulatory and lymphatic system. Still, it was like she opened a new door of understanding and logic that I personally had missed through my Physical Therapy studies. Instead of isolated focus on, for example, a joint or a couple of muscles or respiration or the pelvic floor, the Pilates method included the whole body.
During those training sessions, I seriously rediscovered myself. Mathilda came with her finger, poked it in places definitely not connected to my mind and told me to find my disengaged muscles. Boy, did I work, and did I (my body) try to cheat, and did I learn! This was hard work. Mathilda taught the exercise with a good pace, far from slow. It was disciplined and rhythmical. This steady pace and underlying rhythm created a unique ability to focus. I have often thought how unique this combination is – the exercises that require an overall fine-tuned muscle interplay, together with the breath, the steady pace, the rhythm – generating a special space of focus.
I was by no means fully trained after the extended course with Mathilda, but I got an essence of Pilates knowledge that has always stayed with me: the basic, the cues, the pace the rhythm. I have been instructing Pilates mat-classes for 20 years as a side job. In addition, I did a PhD in clinical medicine with focus on preventing birth-related pelvic floor injuries, and now I hold an associate professor position with a focus on patients with chronic pain. I feel the knowledge gained though this work has only strengthened my belief in Pilates. Over the years, I have been lucky to meet several teachers at various courses (a special thanks to Brett for all the wonderful courses with amazing people he has arranged over the years!!). I love to see and feel variations the teachers provide, variations that are cleverly thought out and still in line with the core concepts.
On the other hand, I am skeptical of the strong trend I saw, and still see – the fear of the potential danger of moving if it’s not “correct”, or the focus on previous injuries and pains. As a result, I have seen and heard how Pilates mat exercises are broken down to small, small segments, that are then done repetitively at a slow pace. Then, just because it’s not done correctly, therefore one should not advance. Of course, in a setting where one is treating patients with injuries or illness, that certainly has its place. Otherwise, it does not. This is not in line with the method (I learned) and does not in my opinion serve a constructive way of moving into the Pilates world.
In general, the human body can and should (really) move! Small, large and big, steady and strong, and even if the movements are not perfect (at the beginning) it is my strong, strong Pilates belief that my clients should move and feel the movement. I do throw them out there, just like how it was done with me. Then, that is a source of tuning in, where they can learn to listen to the body, and where they slowly take charge of themselves, start embracing the method and making their life livable. We stick to the basics, we have the pace, we have the rhythm, we have the focus, and I poke them with my finger.
The last thing I heard (in 2013) was that Mathilda Klein was 81 years old, still running her practice, still doing her Pilates, every day.
Mona Stedenfeldt: I am a 100% MatPilates instructor! I love the simplicity of the setting and the complexity of that work. I have the ambition to touch as many people as possible with the Pilates magic wand. Pilates is for everyone and can be done everywhere. Started the Pilates training in 1999 and has the philosophy of “always something to learn”. I hold a BSc in Physical Therapy, MSc in Exercise Science and a PhD in Clinical Medicine which all has been contributing to the strong belief in the Method. The Method truly brings life to life.