I tell my clients all the time in class that I feel the way you practice Pilates can be a metaphor for how you live your life. For instance, one of my favorite things to tell my clients is to know where their pelvis/butt/hips are at all times. I really think the world would be a better place if everyone could just notice and pay attention to where there butt is every minute of every day. (and own it!) From people barreling down the street with no spacial awareness, to people ending up places in their life they neither intended nor desire to be, everyone would better off if they brought some attention and awareness to where in space their butt is. But I digress.
(Spoiler Alert! I’m about to geek out hard core.)
Along this vein of thinking is my “just take what you need” theory. For anyone who is a Buffy fan this line will having you recalling a dream that Buffy has after she stabs her evil counterpart Faith in season three. The two meet in a dream, set in Faith’s room, where Faith’s things are boxed up as if ready for a move. Buffy turns to Faith and says “I can’t use all of this” referring to the stuff in the room (which of course in my opinion really represents Faith’s memories, thoughts and emotions about her life) and Faith replies with a yogic serenity “Just take what you need.”
As I worked out the other day, my instructor offered a cue that I was unable to apply in that moment. I couldn’t wrap my mind or body around what she offered and I was frustrated by my inability to interpret what she had said. I knew it was a gem and something that would probably have me deeper into the exercise and therefore my mind/body/spirit connection. For a moment or two my lack of ability to use what she said interfered with my workout, til I heard Faith with perfect calm in my head. “Just take what you need.”
I see this happen with my clients on a daily basis. I offer them a thought that has the potential to bring them further into the work of Pilates, to work their muscles deeper and offer greater connection and, for whatever reason, they can’t apply it in that moment. Sometimes, we are simply worked to our capacity and there isn’t room in our heads or hearts for anything more. Or perhaps in a group setting I have offered a cue intended for the other four clients in class and not for you. At times in private sessions, I can tell the client is on the cusp of a mental and physical break through and I offer a thought may be a week before they have made space for it. I know they will get it next week, but sometimes the thought that we might have missed a gem of wisdom frustrates and gets in the way of progress.
Of course, as I said at the beginning this is a metaphor for they way that we live our lives. Our lives are full of stimuli. We are busy. There are kids to feed, bills to pay, projects to be done at work. All around us are suggestions to keep up with the neighbors, eat better, be thinner, be stronger, be smarter, more loving, to look better, to dress better, to make more money, to be better parents…. If we try to take all of that in or to be all of those things all at once, we drown, over-whelmed by all the things we cannot be instead of noticing all the things we already are. If something isn’t working for you, let it go and you’ll find it again when you are ready. I am not saying its bad to struggle or strive, but when its over whelming and you can’t find space in your self to fit all of it, just pause. And take what you need.
-Becca
