Awareness: A Buzzword or a Useful Movement Tool?

When I have the pleasure of meeting a new client for the first time at my Studio, I observe how they move in space, their voice, their gestures, their intention, energy and posture, it all begins to create a picture of who they are now as they begin their Pilates journey.

I’ve learned from years of analysing movement , working with numerous clients and a developed confidence, that what I feel, my intuition, as well as what I see, my awareness, enables me to know how to support the client but how can awareness be a movement tool?

Awareness is how we perceive ourselves. What we think we look like and move like and how we feel inside. Perception is both a powerful ally and foe. We can feel tall, feel strong, which is great but how we think we are moving maybe the reason we have back pain or stiffness. We need to develop our awareness to find the answers.

I find a new client searching out a 1:1 class is open and curious, willing to challenge their perception of how they are moving, wanting to become more aware of themselves. It becomes a wonderful collaboration between us.

In my classes, I guide a client to become aware of their own body. I want them to notice how they move in space and what the consequences of that may be. Our bodies are innately connected so when doing a pelvic tilt for example the breast bone also moves, the weight through our feet changes, the shoulders respond, the ribs slide. Sometimes it’s more like a movement whisper but there is change.

Creating new awareness or wisdom in your body allows you to have movement options. I ask clients questions… where do you sense the movement? How did you do that? Why does that work better? The client begins to realise their habitual patterns and then learns that there’s another way they could move. The question to explore next is “does this new movement pathway feel more comfortable, more achievable?”

Discovering your movement perception as an internal sense and the physical sensations within your own body deepens your awareness even further. The quiet, almost unconscious micro movements your body makes should be noticed and acknowledged. What happens in your body the nano second before you move? Find out it’s truly magical! This awareness can translate to the movements you make throughout the day. It empowers you and of course it builds a stronger foundation when teaching the Pilates repertoire.

My clients, whom I’ve taught for a long time, can now feel some of these micro movements. They can analyse them, altering habitual patterns when needed and have developed vocabulary to explain and describe their felt experience.

Where you are reading this right now, pause and sense your breath, how you are sitting/standing, what can you feel under you, behind you, in front, inside of you…. If you slowly changed your weight from foot to foot how does that feel? What do yours hips do? Have you stopped breathing! Does your shoulder tense, where is your gaze?…. Keep exploring, both externally and internally, notice, question, be curious and by building your awareness, its impact is limitless.

Contact me via email to book your class or retreat. I look forward to meeting you soon.