Pilates and Centering by Anneli McCullagh
Most people who have heard of Pilates have the notion that it is for “strengthening your core”. The principle of centering is very much part of this. Your limbs can move in many directions, but they have more power and strength if you direct the movement itself from your centre, your core.
Have you tried standing on one leg just relying on your body to steady itself, then tried again whilst drawing in your waist and stomach and noticed how much better your balance is? Or, if you played a tennis shot just using your arms, how much weaker it will feel than if you use your core as well?
A movement to illustrate this Pilates principle with is Dead Bug -
You lie on your back and your head stays down.
Both of your legs are lifted and bent through the knees, with your feet lifted at the same
height as your knees.
From here you lengthen opposite arm and leg away from each other.
Most people begin such an exercise by focusing on reaching far enough so that the hand and foot touch the floor. However, in Pilates you try to resist gravity with your fingers and your heel - tempting though it may be to feel how close you can get to the floor! - and instead focus on keeping your spine still by using a strong centre, or core, and letting the movement flow from there. In this way your limbs move in order to strengthen the centre, not to see how far you can stretch.
By consciously working on centering whilst you are doing Pilates, you help your body unconsciously move at its optimum in your day to day life.
Anneli McCullagh