Pilates and its Anti-Anxiety Effects
I have found Pilates to be anxiolytic. While all exercise is great for managing the symptoms of anxiety and anxiety-related disorders, I’ve found that Pilates is particularly effective in doing so. As I built my Pilates teaching career, I did a deep dive into neuroscience and physiology as part of my doctoral work. In this graduate-level coursework, I learned more about the body/brain connection, and had a steady stream of lightbulb moments when I connected what I learned to Pilates. I’ve since come to view the physical benefits as a side-effect, with the main benefits of Pilates being mental. Along the way, I’ve identified five systems that are directly impacted by Pilates, and how these five systems downregulate an overactive nervous system and calm an anxious mind.
Yes, Pilates is great for developing long, lean muscles. Many celebrities have embraced the practice, enjoying the aesthetically pleasing physique that arises surprisingly quickly. Joe Pilates is quoted as saying “Ten sessions will change your body, and twenty sessions will change your life.” In my experience as a teacher and practitioner of Pilates, this assertion carries some truth. Bodies change surprisingly quickly, though the benefits are not restricted to looking better.
it’s my hope that more people may appreciate the depth of Pilates’ benefits for calming an anxious mind. Interacting with circulation, proprioception, vestibulation, interoception, and respiration, Pilates hacks the nervous system. These hacks converge to downregulate the overheated nervous systems that so many of us live with, and by interacting directly with the nervous system, calms an anxious mind at its source. In your garden, if you pull a few leaves off the dandelion weeds, they’ll grow back in short order. However, if you pull up the weeds by the roots, they will be eradicated.
In my experience, many approaches to working with anxiety, even some applications of mindfulness and exercise, address the symptoms of anxiety by pulling leaves off the anxiety-weed. An attentive practice of Pilates, on the other hand, pulls up the roots of the anxiety-weed, providing lasting relief from the symptoms of anxiety.
Yes, Pilates is great for developing long, lean muscles. Many celebrities have embraced the practice, enjoying the aesthetically pleasing physique that arises surprisingly quickly. Joe Pilates is quoted as saying “Ten sessions will change your body, and twenty sessions will change your life.” In my experience as a teacher and practitioner of Pilates, this assertion carries some truth. Bodies change surprisingly quickly, though the benefits are not restricted to looking better.
it’s my hope that more people may appreciate the depth of Pilates’ benefits for calming an anxious mind. Interacting with circulation, proprioception, vestibulation, interoception, and respiration, Pilates hacks the nervous system. These hacks converge to downregulate the overheated nervous systems that so many of us live with, and by interacting directly with the nervous system, calms an anxious mind at its source. In your garden, if you pull a few leaves off the dandelion weeds, they’ll grow back in short order. However, if you pull up the weeds by the roots, they will be eradicated.
In my experience, many approaches to working with anxiety, even some applications of mindfulness and exercise, address the symptoms of anxiety by pulling leaves off the anxiety-weed. An attentive practice of Pilates, on the other hand, pulls up the roots of the anxiety-weed, providing lasting relief from the symptoms of anxiety.
Comments