Are we the best studio for you?

Ease Pilates does things quite differently to other studios in Cambridge. Find out more about whether we are the best studio for you in our new page: our how and our why

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Beyond the hype: what does Pilates mean today?

  You may not be aware of this, but Pilates is at war with itself. After bubbling along amicably for many years, with teachers delivering mat lessons in gyms and village halls and studios offering classes on the apparatus, Pilates has recently become a fashionable exercise style for the rich and famous. This has inspired lots of people to open up reformer studios, some of which truly teach Pilates, and some of which teach fitness on a reformer. Some long-standing teachers are getting very upset and feel threatened by these new upstarts shaking up the industry, but I see it differently. I believe all movement is good, and that there is something for everyone. However, I also believe that for reasons of safety, it's important for people to understand the distinction between the various exercise systems that identify as Pilates. Here is my understanding. You can broadly categorise Pilates into four groups: Classical Pilates:  This aims to preserve the method exactly as taugh...
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The neck's best thing: the importance of head support in Pilates.

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A common question I get asked is, do I need to use the headrest or head cushion? This is usually from people who wish to correct a rounded posture or forward head, working on the assumption that lowering the headrest on the reformer will help straighten the upper back. After all, if the head is lower, surely the spine will lengthen too? Unfortunately, that’s not what happens. For people with a naturally rounded upper back (which includes most of us to some degree), lowering the head doesn’t magically straighten the spine. Gravity and willpower alone won’t do the trick! Instead, the upper back stays as it is, but the head tilts back, forcing the neck into an extended position. This can feel uncomfortable and may lead to strain in the neck. A headrest or head cushion doesn’t push the head forward or encourage forward head posture; it simply supports it in a more neutral position. If the upper back has more curvature, keeping the headrest too low can force the neck into extension, creatin...
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Mat with opposition

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Pilates teaches us to create strength in our body firstly by opposing gravity. Standing tall is an example of this. There's a reason that I'm always saying, "Reach the crown of your head to the ceiling!". Pilates elder, Lolita San Miguel spoke of a gold string attached to a helium balloon above your head. Using this elegant imagery, she said: "You are not crunching down in the torso. You are resisting gravity, which is what we are trying to do. We are trying to resist the downward pull of gravity. Axial elongation; lifting through this string."  - Lolita San Miguel . ​ Beyond finding strength by lifting up against gravity, we can also become stronger through opposing movements within our own bodies. This means that we are building strength by lengthening through the body at the same time as we are avoiding compression. ​Let's focus on spine stretch forward. We start sitting tall - lengthening the head away from the floor. At this point we are opposing gr...
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