EINSTEIN AND PILATES From Alycea Ungaro, February 2023
Albert Einstein understood something profound about humans.
He understood how we existed on our planet and even more about the very conditions of that existence.
Fundamentally, he understood that we are all subject to universal forces. Forces that behave in concert to contain and control every movement we make.
On any given day, we are all operating under the influence of gravity. The fact that we are mostly unaware of this shared earthly experience is confounding to me. Apart from higher movers, athletes, dancers and such, the majority of us plunder through our lives with complete disregard for gravity all while it is tugging us towards the earth. Imagine what we might accomplish physically if we could each harness the knowledge of this potent force and utilize it productively.
I spent an inordinate amount of time observing my Pilates mentor Romana Kryzanowska. She didn't just teach, but literally wrangled her students into impossible positions. It seemed incomprehensible, but during my time observing her I was simultaneously studying undergraduate physics. I remained under her tutelage for the entirety of my education as a physical therapist which necessarily involved the study of anatomy, physiology and kinesiology. How lucky I was to have experienced those studies concurrently, because what I took away was the extraordinary power that an instructor could wield over a student with little other than bodyweight, leverage, and the ever present gravity.
Lift your leg and it's there. Curl your spine up and you'll feel it. Hold your arm out. Keep holding it. It's not subtle. The pressures from above us and the pull from beneath us are universal truths. Move in a conscious way - and suddenly you feel it. In Pilates we add springs, we change heights, we choose another plane of movement. Instructors may use their hands to assist, or align us or amplify the exercise.. Intuition guides most instructors in the use of their hands. All the while gravity is there as an umbrella force, like the air around us we simply take for granted.
In 30+ years of Pilates I always come back to Einstein's work. My role as a teacher, a student and a teacher of teachers leaves me more and more inspired by these invisible powers that fully connect all of us.
Every teacher has a superpower. I routinely ask the people around me to identify their personal superpower. In my experience, asking the right question is a superpower all Pilates instructors must master. What does my client need? What will help them accomplish this goal? How can I facilitate their success? Where should they be positioned? Where should I?
I wonder how Einstein would navigate the Pilates studio as an instructor. Would he push and pull on his clients? Would he cue according to scientific principles? How might he use his own body to manipulate his students? I once read that intelligence is the ability to correlate many facts. Einstein was surely aware of that. He spent most of his time asking the right questions, correlating information, hypothesizing and ultimately creating theories. He understood gravity and mass well enough to explain it to all of us.
What we do with that gift - is up to us.
By, ©Alycea Ungaro 2023
We are honored to have Alycea presenting at our Pilates Pedagogy, An Heirloom Springs® Retreat: Inaugural Event April 20–23, 2023. Apply and read more details here.