“Stop wiggling” commands my Pilates instructor par excellence, Denise Miller, “or I will put you in a straight-jacket”. It didn’t seem to matter whether I was trying to lift my leg up to make leg circles or trying to align my spine on the mat or … my body simply wiggles trying to make the move.
The problem explained Denise is I am “reacting” with my more superficial muscles to lift my leg to make circles. And not “responding” using my deep muscles that run along my spinal column to initiate the movement to lift my leg to make circles. To find and access my deep muscles became my homework during class and when I walked and moved around doing things. After a few months I started to be able to access and initiate movement from my deep muscles. And I now wiggle much less.
How does this relate to fixing a reading problem of mine. I have always been a very slow reader. I cannot read a newspaper article going through once. I start, read a few sentences and have to stop because what I am reading doesn’t make sense. And I have to start over from the beginning and try to read the words over again, focusing word after word. Recently trying to analyze my dyslexia, I found two examples.
- I read “White Lion; Honey Pearls” as “White Pearls”
In one example I saw separate words that together hit me emotionally and make sense together. Oddly, when I read I just combine the separate words and dropped the rest — this is what happened when I looked at the “White Lion; Honey Pearl” label. Instead I read “White Pearls” which has emotional meaning to me.
Another related example. I read the cover of this report from the American Academy of Arts & Sciences and got quite excited. It was about a topic that resonated with me — Colleges are becoming increasingly competitive! Looking at the cover I read “Competition” instead of “Completion”. And only when reading the report, and feeling confused, I slowly realized that I had misread the title.
Well, after months of daily thinking and trying to find and access my deep muscles in my body, and gradually understanding what Denise was talking about. I suddenly find I am reading better. Words and sentences on the page are not jumping around, being deleted, or combined as much.
Who would have thought my mind learned to read better from trying to stop my body from wiggling in my Pilates class!
Have you had an unexpected experience with Pilates or any other type of exercise? A connection between your body and mind? Please write a comment so we can learn from your experience. Thank you!
Lilian Wu 
Great post. I think Pilates has made a difference for you and others. Also, you are very fortunate to have an amazing instructor.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Denise is amazing. I have another amazing instructor, Lyn Butler, who is a dancer. She has helped me connect to my dancer impulse by trying to imitate her.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I don’t have any specific examples but I fully believe the body and mind are connected. That’s why you can’t just do cardio and toning, you need the yoga and breathing (mediation if it works for you, which I have to admit, doesn’t work for me, but I’ve found other ways 🙂 and stretching. When you become aware of your body’s movements, it translates into your mind, which manifests itself in ways like helping you read. So glad you discovered this!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Lyn, what I have learned from you (my other amazing teacher) is amazing as well. To connect to my more graceful impulse by imitating your movements — which in turn makes me feel more grounded and graceful.
LikeLike
I can certainly agree with you that the body and mind are connected, given my work as a psychotherapist. Besides our own knowledge of how good we feel when we are at the gym and working out with others, my experience with clients who have different emotional issues often relates to the mind/body connection very strongly. Just think about early abuse issues and how bodily trauma can manifest in emotional distress and pathology. Also, physical injury is not always remedied by medical treatment alone. Emotional issues often arise around what happens to the body.
So, with that said from another perspective, the mind is absolutely connected to the body! Awareness of this is essential for both physical and emotional well-being.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Lisa, I have always been impressed by your understanding of how to help people make serious life changes. You are very wise and compassionate.
LikeLike
I couldn’t agree more about the work needed to connect mind and body . It takes work to be present and to feel while focusing . As a yoga teacher I guide my students to take notice to how they feel in postures and poses .. by connecting the mind to the body you must be present .. mindful in the moment .
Beautiful read !
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you for your comment. What you say, “by connecting the mind to the body you must be present .. mindful in the moment .” is so insightful and beautiful. This is likely an important reason why yoga is so effective in helping us learn how to be present and calm our monkey mind.
Do you know if teachers of Mindfulness use this Mind-Body connection as well?
LikeLike
Great post Lilian! As a therapeutic riding instructor we see all sorts of this mind/body connection all the time. As I mentioned the other day, some of our riders with speech impediments/delays have seen major improvement when their speech therapy is conducted on horseback! I’m attaching a great article about “hippotherapy” — something we’ve begun doing down at Swiftsure Ranch!
LikeLike
Dear Caroline, I have been really impressed by the work at Swiftsure Ranch. I have seen how horseback riding strengthened the Mind/Body connection for a friend after suffering a stroke and another with Parkinson’s — I first noticed even though they normally, like myself, don’t sit up straight but somehow they both sat up beautifully straight on their horse — then I noticed their coordination, balance, and strength improved.
Now your description of using hippotherapy for speech problems, this is so wonderful. Thank you for this important information.
Can you attach the article in a comment to share? Thanks.
LikeLike
Thanks Lilian, this is terrific insight! I know that my mind works best when I take care of my body well, like exercise and healthy food daily. You’ve helped me be more mindful of the body/mind connection!
LikeLike