By Mari Winsor
Reviewed By Katherine Kay
(ISBN: 0–7382–0228–2)
Right after World War I, Joseph Pilates brought to theUnited States his exercise program combining yoga,Zen meditation, gymnastics, boxing, and his experience in thecircus. Mari Winsor, author of The Pilates Powerhouse, longtimeprofessional dancer and now a devoted and well–knownPilates instructor, was trained by one of Pilates’ best students,Romana Kryznowska. Winsor has taught Pilates to celebrities(including Dustin Hoffman), music icons, professional athletesand has been featured in Time, USA Today, MTV andEntertainment Tonight. In her book, she shares her expertiseand testimony about how these exercises changed her life aswell as the lives of countless others.
In her introduction, she tells the story ofthe German–born Joseph Pilates. Sean Gallagher,owner of the New York Pilates Studio,believes that Joseph Pilates may havebeen the world’s first physical therapist. Hisexercises have helped injured people anddancers work with the body in a gentle andresult–oriented way by stretching, buildingstrength and balance, and using manymuscles that never get touched in ordinaryexercise routines.
Pilates was a sickly child, and as a youngman dedicated his life to improving hishealth and appearance. As his exercise programbecame known, he not only helpedinjured people, but also restored his ownhealth. The exercises work with the body asa whole to increase circulation, which is sometimes all that isrequired to heal.
Pilates exercises use the abdominal muscles as the focalarea where all movement of the body emanates. This bringsstrength and balance and translates into confidence and afeeling of being in control of one’s movements and emotions,Winsor says.
While still in Germany, the Kaiser took notice of Pilatesand demanded he train his elite troops in the exercises. Pilates,a strong pacifist, politely declined and left for England.
World War I brought hardship, and Pilates was interred ina prison camp in England. Being an intuitive and influentialperson, he convinced the camp of the power of his exercises,inspiring prisoners and guards alike to take part. A devastatinginfluenza plague swept across the world during this timeclaiming 50 million lives. But no one in Pilates’ camp died ofthe plague; and Pilates attributes this amazing outcome to hisexercise program.
The book contains more than 45 mat exercises with photographs and instructions. Winsor calls this core exercise program“the routine”. Winsor credits these exercises with herability to continue dancing professionally well into her forties,while many dancers need to start looking for new careers bytheir late twenties. Winsor also rehabilitated herself from injury after a terriblemotorcycle accident that happened when a friend wasgiving her a ride late at night in rural Michigan after her twentieth–high–school reunion.
She doesn’t remember the accident, but remembers herphysical pain upon regaining consciousness.She suffered a broken collar–bone, brokenfingers, and several broken ribs. But worstof all, she landed on her hip and “it literallyexploded,” she says. The doctors told hershe would have a tough time ever gettingback into dance. She looked so terrible herfriends thought she was lucky to be alive.
After her bones mended, she beganthe Pilates core “routine” outlined in thebook. Painful as it was, she kept up theexercise routine—breaking up scar tissueand strengthening the weakest areas ofher body. She vowed she would not onlyreturn to her previous physical condition,she would surpass it. In two months shewas dancing again.
Winsor decided to dedicate her life toteaching these exercises as a trainer. Sheclaims this routine not only builds physical strength, but emotionaland spiritual strength as well. She feels that as we gainmastery and control over our physical bodies, we becomemore confident, and more centered.
Winsor encourages readers to find out for themselves byperforming the Pilates “routine” an hour a day, for four or fivetimes a week. The reader will gain a new sense of mastery overtheir physical body and feel like a different person who hasmore intuition, greater happiness, strength, balance, and controlof their life, Winsor says. In just two weeks the reader willbe strong and confident, and after a month others will begin totake notice.
I felt a great sense of hope after reading this book. If, afterall their injuries, athletes and dancers like Winsor can regainpeak performance by training with Pilates, think how muchaverage people can gain physical control, flexibility, confidence,intuition and balance in our lives too.
