Pilates requires mind-body awareness. Teaching Pilates involves instructing how to stabilize and how to move both which require concentration. I find that many beginners focus more on the movement instead of positioning and placement. They will often move to more advanced exercises too soon or use too much weight or resistance. My Pilates mentor said “put it where it belongs and then call for movement”. What this means, is that one must concentrate and be very aware of the proper position and then engage the correct muscle(s) to maintain this position before any movement begins. This is definitely a challenging aspect of teaching and where I feel as a teacher, a lot of time is spent working on this. Doing a pilates movement is one thing, doing it correctly requires concentration.
