Pilates-Based Physical Therapy at Mindful Pilates and Wellness: It's Where It's At!
This ain't your mama's physical therapy. Pilates-Based PT is one of THE MOST effective and efficient ways to go through PT.
Why? Oh, let me count the ways...
1st: TOTAL body training. That's right. No more treating you as a single body part. No more calling you "a knee" or "a back.” (Side note: This is a real thing in PT. Folks are often referred to as the body part that's injured. I think you're more than that.) While some moves may be done in isolation, they are quickly incorporated to WHOLE BODY WORK. Why? Well, because quickly incorporating total body attention can help you recover quicker and function more safely throughout your day. And isn't that ultimately the goal?
2nd: Various types of muscle work are incorporated throughout each session. We're not just working on building strength by SHORTENING and CONTRACTING the muscles. We're also working on LENGTHENING your muscles and CONTROLLING what happens at your joints. Finally, adding on a bit of ISOMETRIC or HOLDING work goes SO FAR in restoring your body's function by giving your brain-body that extra bit of time to figure out WHAT IS SAFE for you!
3rd: No more just counting reps! No more counting to 12 for 3 sets and checking off an exercise list. Nope. We're going for QUALITY over QUANTITY. If we do six high quality, controlled moves that's wonderful. If we do ten, great! If we do twelve just to do twelve, what's the point? Quality will ALWAYS trump quantity. Because what's the good in sloppy performance to reach a number target?
4th: Brain-Body connection and awareness are addressed In. Every. Session. Exercises are cued and performed with intention. As you learn, this helps your brain and body work together mindfully to learn what is SAFE and APPROPRIATE for YOU. We work in each session on creating safe, efficient movement patterns in the studio so that you can move through the rest of your day with confidence. Mindful Pilates and Wellness' PT sessions train you to pay close, mindful attention to your movements- and in turn, help you stay safe and avoid re-injury as you move more quickly throughout your day. And I want you to live life to the fullest as fast as possible!
5th: You know how regular PT training often breaks down exercises that focus on strength and those that focus on stretching and flexibility? We really don’t do that in Pilates-Based PT. Practically every exercise selected can be used for targeting strength training AND flexibility simultaneously. What does this mean for you? You work on exercises that aim to help you get even more out of the time and energy spent in sessions and in prescribed homework exercises.
6th: Along with this, there’s sneaky muscle work! From the outside, it may “look like” you’re working just your arms or just your legs. But that’s only PART of the story! While working the arms or legs you’ll also be working on core strength and stability, body awareness and alignment, and breath work. Exercise depth and understanding are layered on as we progress, so while something may feel somewhat simple, the further you train and gain an understanding of your body the more you’ll see that sneaky work has built the mansion!
And in my studio specifically, an added bonus is the FORMAT of each physical therapy session. You can count on receiving true one-on-one care. At Mindful Pilates and Wellness, you're training with one other person in the room: ME. There's no one interrupting our session with a question about another client. I'm not juggling other patients while I'm working with you. You're not left on your own to go through your exercises (and then be billed for "physical therapy"- side note, that IS NOT good physical therapy <gulp>). And, aside from the evaluation time, I'm not stopping to document while you hang out and wait. You've got my full attention. I am there by your side to cue you, guide you, offer ways to modify or challenge you as needed. You're not the same as the person I worked with an hour before. You're not the same as the patient who will come after you. You're unique, and I don't take that for granted.
So if/when you ever find yourself in need of physical therapy services, please consider what type of experience will benefit you most. If it's a busy clinic with folks chit chatting, therapists juggling a patient or two in addition to you, you're being left to receive a passive modality (while these can be amazing, if you're bumping from modality to modality is this carrying over to your daily life?), then this is NOT the place for you. But if you want to work closely with someone who truly has YOU in mind for each session, with a total body approach and unique equipment that challenges the muscles, wakes up the nervous system for safer movement patterns and improved balance and proprioception, and helps you make the desired gains faster, then please reach out. I’m here when you’re ready!
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