Pilates Basic Principles CENTERING OR CORE CONTROL
In Pilates, all movement emanates from your center – those deep, core muscles responsible for stability and posture. By breathing correctly, as explained above, you have already connected your breath to your center, or powerhouse.
But we must also learn to move from our center. Though every movement involves the legs, the exercise focus is on the core, instead. For instance, in Footwork, Frog, Stomach Massage, and every exercise that involves pressing the carriage out with the legs, imagine it is the abdominals taking the carriage out, and the legs simply following the lead of the abs.
So the exercise order is to draw the abdominals in and up, and then feel the legs press away in response.
By working “from” our center, we ensure that we move from a stable foundation. We fix our attention on our core, rather than the legs or other peripheral parts of the body.
