Principles of Pilates 2: Centering

I like to think of the "Powerhouse", as Joseph Pilates would call it, as the center of all exercises. My teachers taught me a very interesting and unique way to engage the muscles of the core or powerhouse.

You will need to know how to hold your pelvis in what I like to call neutral. To locate neutral pelvis, place your palms on your hipbones (front of pelvis), middle fingers on pubic bones and make a diamond shape with your hand. Gently rock your pelvis forward and back until you come to the place where your hip bone and pubic bone are on the same plane; if you held a level from hipbone to pubic bone it would be plumb.

Quite often reaching neutral is as simple as lengthening your tailbone downward and softening your knees (for those who lock their knees).

This position will feel strange for a while, but gently learn it. It is very useful in establishing balance in many exercises.

Principle 3: Breathing

Principles 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

Engage the muscles at the core of your powerhouse

• Stand with your feet hip-width apart and your weight set into the center of your feet (near the arch) and your hips stacked squarely over your feet.
• Hold your pelvis in neutral (see above)
• Hold this position: shoulders centered over ribcage; ribcage
  centered over hips; hips centered over pelvis, with your arms and shoulders square by your sides.
• Without moving any bones, imagine pulling the right side of your pubic bone to your left sitting bone and hold.
• At the same time, imagine pulling the left side of your pubic bone to your right sitting bone and continue to hold. This is what I call the X.
• Practice forming and holding the X before moving on.
• Now add what I call the hat by bringing the sitting bones together.

I like to use the "X with a hat" with my clients to cue neutral pelvis and focus power from the center, improving control, precision, and power.