Pilates Power Animal of the Month

"In 10 sessions you'll feel the difference, in 20 sessions you'll see the difference, and in 30 sessions you'll have a whole new body"."
Joseph Pilates

We usually use the Pilates Power Animal of the Month to look at what we can learn about movement from different animals. There is certainly much to be learned from the butterfly. Its bright presence and grace in flight are truly inspiring. But it is the butterfly as a symbol of change and metamorphosis over time that I want to focus on this month.

We could see the butterfly's journey from caterpillar to magnificent avian as symbolic of our potential go through dramatic transformations in our Pilates practice. It's not just that we get out of the gate with fast changes in the beginning, as Joseph Pilates describes above. We can also make huge transformations throughout the life of our practice. The catch is that those changes are sometimes preceded by uncomfortable caterpillar and cocoon stages!

What I've noticed in myself, and many other people, is that I go along improving, which feels great; then I level out, still feeling pretty good and thinking I know what I'm doing. Then, something new enters the picture. It might be an insight from an instructor, a movement concept I read about, a new physical challenge, or just the inner push for the next level; and all of a sudden I feel like I don't know anything and I'm going backward in my Pilates practice.

The opportunity that comes with these disorienting phases is, of course, to stick with it. To have faith in the transformative process. If your Pilates practice is strong -- you have a good instructor and you practice at home and/or at the studio -- you will emerge on a new level of integration.

I'm in an "Pilates caterpillar" stage now. What's keeping me going is trust in my "butterfly process" (I've been through this before). What about you? Do you experienced similar transformations in your own practice?

See past Pilates Power Animals