Pages


Unity/Healing Hands

inspiration & design...

"Work like you don't need the money;
dance like no one is watching;
sing like no one is listening;
love like you've never been hurt;
and live every day as if it were your last."

~ Old Irish Proverb ~ Author Unknown ~
~ Health in mind, body & soul.... Namaste. ~
~ Dolphin. ~

Sunday, March 14, 2010

"Introduction to the Principles of Pilates Workshop Series" (Preliminary Info/Working Title)

Preliminary information from my:


"Introduction to the Principles of Pilates Workshop Series"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(Under design still...

I.e. I will be expanding this information & over time & changing the order of how the principles are explored.

I will post update info as I go.. for this is being shared as a work in progress.

ALL information is copy write!)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Pilates Principles

Physical fitness is the first requisite of happiness. Our interpretation of physical fitness is the attainment and maintenance of a uniformly developed body with a sound mind fully capable of naturally, easily, and satisfactorily performing our many and varied daily tasks with spontaneous zest and pleasure.

"To achieve the highest accomplishments within the scope of our capabilities in all walks of life we must constantly strive to acquire strong healthy bodies and develop our minds to the limit of our ability."

So begins Joseph Pilates, in his book " Return To Life Through Contrology" , outlining the fundamental goal of his technique.
He intended this technique to be not only about muscular strength or cardiovascular fitness, but as a movement regime for the whole body.

In designing this body of work, Joe began with the philosophical stance and built the approach and exercises to fulfill the purpose of serving the principles of:

- Full Body Health:
Joe emphasizes the unity of the whole body, mind, and spirit.

This includes physical activity, good diet, and cleanliness.
Joe speaks really of the attainment of a way of life.

He doesn’t simply talk about exercise from a structural, physical stance. He speaks of how this allows you to achieve a whole, disciplined body that can move efficiently with spirit through the life you choose to live.

- Full Body Commitment:
To achieve whole body health requires commitment and discipline.

First and foremost is a commitment to a healthy lifestyle! Patience, persistence, and diligence to yourself and to the exercises.

The exercises themselves have no importance. (I disagree w/the statement to some degree, but that is what Joe believed). But, the intention of how to move to accomplish that movement skill/ability is of paramount importance. This requires whole body involvement and integration.

- Breathing:
This is the starting point for life.

Breathing is essential for life from the physiological perspective. It is the connection of mind and spirit from the "yogic" perspective.

The action of breathing is the most immediate connection into our Core and hence becomes the starting point for movement. In the exercises, the breath informs the movement and regulates the rhythm of the movement.


SIX BASIC PRINCIPLES OF PILATES

These are the principles identified by Phillip Friedman & Gail Eisen in "The Pilates Method of Physical and Mental Conditioning" ,
first published in 1980.

These principles can be considered as subsets of the guiding principles from which Joe worked. These apply more directly to the technique of the exercise system that is the Pilates Method.

It is important to remember that there is a difference between philosophy and technique: the philosophy is there to inform the technique; the technique is there to serve the philosophy.

Without teaching the philosophy along with the technique, all you are teaching is the exercises. The goal is to provide for uniform, balanced whole body development.

1. Concentration:

You must learn to pay attention to every part of the body and all parts at the same time. To do this, you must first learn to pay attention - recognize incoming information so to learn to accept, evaluate and respond.

I.e. Develop kinesthetic awareness
Eventually, through the conscious control, the neuromuscular patterning becomes embodied, becoming automatic, thus allowing freedom, ease and efficiency of movement.

This concept is also about being present in the moment to experience the movement in your body.

- Accepting incoming information from the body
- If a person cannot assess what is going on in the body, they cannot send a clear message from the brain to the body

Concentrate on the correct movements each time you exercise, lest you do them improperly and thus lose all the vital benefits of their value. ~Joe Pilates

2. Control:

You must be in control of the whole body, all of the time.

Every exercise of the classical repertoire involves the whole body - what is actively moving, what is actively stabilizing, what is actively releasing. This control provides increased feeling of power.

Ideally, our muscles should obey our will. Reasonably, our will should not be dominated by the reflex action of our muscles. ~Joe Pilates

As a client, you need to accept responsibility for yourself, and/or your body! ~ME! (& well.. sorta Joe)


Pilates On The Chief

3. Centering:

The starting place that supports the body and from which all movement begins.

Joe’s designation: The Girdle of Strength
• The front and Back of the body between the ribs and the top of the pelvis.

The contemporary Pilates designation:
• The front and back of the body extending between the floating ribs and the top of the pelvis.
• This area is crucial for supporting the spine (and the CNS).
• This area has no bone except the spine. If this area is not stable, it is difficult for any other part of the body to move efficiently and effectively.

Stabilization of the core, both in movement and in stillness!

4. Precision:

Correctly executed and mastered to the point of subconscious reaction, these exercises will reflect grace and balance in your routine and activities. ~Joe Pilates

Pilates is about effective and efficient movement throughout the body. To develop this requires a balance and coordination of all the muscular systems throughout the body.

For new participants, they often begin with well-ingrained, imbalanced muscular patterns.

Is there any point to mimicking through a movement or exercise without conscious effort to correct these imbalances?

By learning the wrong way, you only reinforce bad habits.

This requires self-discipline --> can you commit to disciplining your body?

There is no bad movement, just movement done badly ~Eve Gentry

Image of an old watch - if all the little parts are working properly, the watch works perfectly. ~Kathy Grant

Practice does not make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect ~Joseph Pilates

If you do not put your bones in the right positions, your muscles can’t pull on them properly, and so your joints are out of position. This means you cannot strengthen the muscles properly because they are not in the right position. You also can’t release the other side properly, and you can’t build a balanced relationship between muscles.

5. Flowing Movement:

The Pilates system is about movement!

When you put these principles together, you get balanced muscle development with the knowledge of how the body parts move in relation to each other, and as such efficiency of movement. All this leads to natural movement and natural rhythm (pace).

The body learns through movement, not through stillness and the best way to learn strength, efficiency, etc. is through movement. There is no end point for the movements, they are cyclical and flowing in sequence. Pilates exercises are designed to increase the range of motion with progression of/through the exercises.

If you go at a very slow, or a very fast pace, you are going to be using too much muscle and not allowing your body’s rhythm to be normal. The brain will not (can not) learn properly at a slow or fast pace. For example, when you work too slow, the brain will segment the movements and it will not be able to put them together as efficient movement.

6. Breathing:

Breathing is important in many ways:

It is the life force!

It is essential to life - to bring in O2 and remove CO2 from the body
It facilitates circulation of cerebral-spinal fluid through the central nervous system. It has a profound effect on posture. Inhaling into the ribs takes pressure off the discs.

But, if you inhale into the abdominals, you pull the spine forward, bringing the vertebrae together and putting pressure on the discs. Correct breathing will move the ribs and use the intercostals. As you lift and separate the ribs, you lift and separate the vertebrae. Everything falls back together on the exhale.

Pilates with "Cat"
(I've actually put vertebrae back into place just by breathing.. so much for needing that Chiropractor appointment?!

And let me tell you.. does it EVER feel good when it happens! :)




Each exercise in Pilates has a specific breathing pattern that directs the movement, designed to allow easier movement through the exercise.

You have got to OUT the air to IN the air! ~Joseph Pilates

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pilates Principles Handout Client Version

Modified and Compiled by Michelle Marcicki
~ Unity Integration Studios ~ Vancouver, BC
~ Email: UnityIntegration@shaw.ca ~

(Original Compilation/Creation by:
Steve Bryson ~ Bodyworks Pilates Studio ~ Edmonton, AB)

~ Last Edited: January 28, 2009
~ Last Update (major): January 28, 2009
~ Created: July 09, 2007

Copyright: Michelle Marcicki ~ Unity Integration Studios
(And Steve Bryson ~ Bodyworks Pilates Studio)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

References:

~ Return To Life Through Contrology ; Pilates, Joseph H. (Joe); First published in 1945
~ "The Pilates Method of Physical and Mental Conditioning" ; Eisen, Gail & Friedman, Phillip; First published in 1980

More to come (for various other quotes & information).
~ Kathy Grant
~ Eve Gentry

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


*New*-ish blog feature!
Songs listened to while writing (in this case editing/publishing)...

~ Sinéad O'Connor - Troy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hu7n0ccyywY


Also.. related "articles" I'm working on:

~ Cross-lateral movement - Article review/assessment & beyond
~ How long does it take to build muscle? - Article review/assessment & beyond

~ For the weekend warriors.. why you ICE (not heat)! - A snippet from the world of my first aid, massage therapy, Pilates & other fitness & Kinesiology training/knowledge!

~ Anatomy Books (aka Sexy Reading ;) - What's hot, what's awesome, what's for the layperson, the dancer, the weekend warrior, the athlete..

~ Neural Pathways... a.k.a. How the Mind Works - fascinating stuff..

~ Why We Breathe... (How we breathe) - Breathe in, Breathe out.. a little poetry.. a little A&P.. just for fun ;)

Saturday, March 6, 2010

NIA (Integration of heart, mind, body and soul...)

NIA
(Integration of heart, mind, body and soul...)


~ barefoot beauty
pleasure in senses,
dancing between the lines
outside the boundaries,
beyond the mind

~ pure joy
sensations merging,
emerging
empowering to the point of tears
of release,
of hope

~ dancing dreams
of passion,
of connection
amalgamation of heart, mind, body and soul
bliss and wonderment

~ tapestry
collection of hearts beating in time
in rhythm
explosion of expression
a spark,
a moment
a deepening,
a release
breaking free

~ awareness
of the soles of my feet,
my breath,
every fibre of my being
moving,
dancing,
breathing,
feeling,
centering

~ integration
from the ground up
connected,
power,
energy from the earth
feel your feet
feel your body
beyond time

~ barefoot beauty
pleasure in sensation
dancing beyond the lines
inside the body
inside the mind

clarity.




















Copyright: Michelle L. Marcicki (Dolphin)
Written: January 4-7, 2010
Updated: February 11, 2010
Edited: March 6, 2010

*New* blog feature!
Songs listened to while writing...
~ Sway - Michael Bublé
~ Lost - Michael Bublé
~ Bring it on home to me - Wilson Pickett
~ Downtown Train - Tom Waits
~ Just Like Heaven - The Watson Twins
~ You Send Me - Sam Cooke
~ No Woman, No Cry - Bob Marley

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Random Update - Human Again...

Well... I had a moment.. well a few of them actually in the last while.. and realized that it's been almost a month since I've written ANYthing.

And true to "me" form, I decide to take on a whole bunch of topics, manifesting and starting with one odd idea (wouldn't y'all LOVE to know what that was ;), randomly throw them together and try and make sense of it all.

Get on my train.
See earlier post about "What A Good Boy" if you need an update on how to find and follow my caboose! Get your minds outta the gutter.. Well.. that or invite me along... Haha.

So... Seeing as I have over 30+ drafts sitting there calling my name I have little excuse to be not be writing..

But. Instead. I'll ignore all of those and write something totally unrelated, rather random and somewhat "vague"... since so many blogs out there do that everyday. I mean write about random, probably somewhat boring elements of their daily lives... I thought I'd lash out and try it (wide-eyed innocence and NO sarcasm here at all.. ;)

The only thing I'm missing is a silly photo or video that has NO relevance or bearing on the situation.. ANY situation. Oh wait.. I'll post pics of my new hair.. b/c I look hot.. sure.. yah.. whatever.

Update on the last month:
(a.k.a. What the hell happened to February 2010!?)

New hair color!

Yaaaahhhhh baby!
I hair modeled about 2-3 weeks ago (which I have often done, as my hair is long, cool & goes curly, straight, pretty much whatever I/you/they want.. so hair dressers kinda love me :) and had a chance to be someone's "final exam" for her natural red-headed color tech. The first go at the color was ~3 weeks ago, and then I came in ~2 weeks ago for her final, plus a bit of color correction and root touch-up (apparently my hair grows REALLY fast)!

What can I say really.. except her teachers raved, they loved it, they thought I was a natural & scolded me extensively that I had better keep this color.. or else! As for the color tech.. while she still really needs to work on her communication, people skills and client rapport... A LOT in fact, on the hair color "tech'ing" side of things.. she is clearly talented and everyone is quite happy.

So.. the verdic.. I AM a red-head again & EFF'ING loving it!
In fact. It's better than any MacDonald's commercial. I so should have been born with this hair color. All I can say is WTF genetics... why did you not give me this color from birth!?

Don't get me wrong.. I rather like my natural hair color too.. brown, w/red highlights, etc.. but there is something about red that just kills it for me. Everyone agrees. So why did nature get it so wrong?
I even have the "fair skin colour, freckles, and sensitivity to ultraviolet light". Sigh.

Well, a wee genetics lesson is in order then for those that may not understand the depth of my woes. My mom is a redhead, my dad has dark hair. It requires receipt of two copies of a specific recessive gene on chromosome 16 (in case you were wondering) to get red hair. It's rather unique.

Red hair is caused by a relatively rare recessive gene.

As Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_hair says...
"Even if both parents do not have red hair themselves, both can be carriers for the gene and have a redheaded child." Clearly this did not work in my case.

After doing genetics in university.. I was furious at my dad for months regarding his genetic make-up and the subsequent miss on me being born to the ranks of the naturally redheaded sexiness group. Good thing there is nothing he could really do about it and I eventually forgave him. But damn. ALL my cousins got red hair.
I guess my aunt married the right guy, genetically speaking that is...

I will keep this strongly in mind as I screen and choose any future mates.. Unless you're really hot (or named George Stroumboulopoulos, which is kinda both... ;), then I might just not care too much.



I was however many, many years ago voted on by three natural redheads and they granted me "honorary redhead status".
 



So that counts for something.. right?
I think I had "2 out of 3" of the already legendary redhead traits:

1. I have the fire/intensity/passion of a redhead apparently (also Google Scorpio as this applies too ;) and;
2. the lovely fair skin that burns at the mere hint, or mention of SUN and freckles.. (or tans with SPF of 30 on), or turns a rather embarrassing and pretty shade o'pink when I blush.. and of course;
BONUS: I have a parent that has natural red hair.. but that is considered extra.. although mom's count more than dad's do in these situations.. go figure.

But to wrap up.. for further interest/entertainment, or general genetic reading pleasure...
A really great, somewhat funny (not sure why I find it funny, but I do) and quite informative bit on Red Hair Genetics: http://www.derm.med.ed.ac.uk/06_teaching/redhairgen.htm

Dance/Pilates/Massage/Other treatment studio idea:

Hmmm.. next on the agenda for the month was a bunch of strange business leaps, ideas, and opportunities. Sadly.. nothing really came of them, but they motivated me, and reminded me off what I really should, and need to be doing with my life. I've known this "path" for a very, very long time and have to keep reminding myself that I just got side-tracked for a while and there is still time to do it!

Not sure how it all transpired exactly now, but a girl friend of mine contacted me to say that the yoga studio downstairs from her apartment was suddenly vacant, and possibly available to rent. Apparently the business and the owner didn't have the best business model or structure and had gone out of business or moved...
My friend teaches belly dance and it is an awesome fit to pair with Pilates.. as long as we could work together and not have any scheduling conflicts.

So we met up the day I had my hair dyed..
I was feeling rather dynamic.. a new being.. transformed in the light of day and in the dark into a redheaded goddess.. oh wait.. wrong storyline.. Sorry. Eek. < blush />

Anyway... we sat down and in a few mere hours over coffee and chocolate sustenance at Starbucks we hashed out a pretty damn fine Dance/Pilates/Massage/Other treatment studio idea and business structure.
Our two problems.. then and still:
1. Money/start-up funding (any angel investors out there?!) and;
2. The space ended up being way too expensive to be realistic (and also ended up being rented by the time she got around to talking to her landlord about it).

Sad. However.. we did put together a really amazing concept, and we realized that we have very similar focuses, business goals, organization structure and approaches, and even dreams/goals of what to do with such a concept, space, and business.

So, unfortunately, the idea is once again on a bit of a back burner.. but it now has my red kettle sitting on it simmering.. and I'm thinking: Pilates Business Studio dreams & ideas again.. somehow, someday.. soon!

Now I just have to be patience until my career coach person gets back mid-March and I can get back to meeting, etc and get on the awesome path again.

It is frustrating though, as I want to do it NOW!

I want the roadblocks gone, I want to start doing what I am supposedly to be doing on this planet, once and for all.. fully and completely! I am impatient, and I need to keep reminding myself that things do happen for a reason, and at the time needed and intended. (Ok.. enough hippie shit and just get on w/it says the other part of my brain..)

Next up.. and I'm going to leave this slightly vague and undefined, as it requires a whole blog post off it's own..

Met an old (OLD!) friend for coffee, then lunch, then photo shoot and another few photo shoot(s) to come!:

Wow. Does that seem like a whole lot of crazy. Yep. Days after I was asked to do a write-up for an event out here.. for a magazine out in Toronto, I had a perfectly synchronous run-in with a very old friend of mine, Mike. Now, Mike & I have known each other for ~15+ yrs and he is doing a similar path.. wandering his way back to remembering who he really is and what he really loves to be doing everyday. More on that later.. as I said.. there is a whole lotta cool stuff to get into there!

Update: Some photos from that photo shoot:

   


Somewhere in there.. I had hang-outs with 2 of my dearest closest g/f's, who I just don't see enough of, took some wonderful walks on the seawall in the sun and oh.. the Olympics started. Which may have something to do with the next phase of things.. or maybe I just felt like hiding when chaos came to town..

But then.. The flu (or something like it...) came along and all this great momentum I had built up crashed in a big fiery
(read fever-ish), achy and not feeling so great heap. I hate that.

Which meant that I was down and super sick on Feb 18th.. and..
Completely and sadly missed that great event I was invited to cover. However, I'm going by this week to see what I can scrap together about the event, hopefully view some sexy jewelry, possibly still do a write-up on it, and hope for the best!

... and I'm HUMAN again.. Present time:
Umm.. actually.. about all I'm thinking about is finally sleeping and WTF am I still doing up writing madly, listening to music and generally being a lil bit crazy.

Oh wait.. insomnia does that to a person!

[SIDENOTE: What ever happened to that whole H1N1 scare, freak-out.. thing anyway?! That to come in a blog about how to stay healthy in this crazy world of icky germs, bio-tech and expensive organic food.. in a health & wellness series I'm working on as well..]

Hmm.. editing.. later.. hope this make sense.. and pretty pictures.. of me! Red-headed hotness.. LOL. Umm.. yah. Did someone say sleep. NOW.

[FINAL NOTES: Minor editing done. Decided I don't care if it doesn't make sense.. there are much, MUCH worse "blogs" out there.. and other articles to move on to!]

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Color


Color

Red, yellow, green, blue - brightens,
shimmers, glows,
and dims and fades into
just color

no longer wisdom, no longer insight
just purity and shades of en-light-en-ment


just glimpses of what
lies between
the cracks of eternity

just flashes of what
lies beyond
the narrow confines of the mind

all around
and deep inside
bright and fading
blinding and contrast
everything and nothing


just color


Copyright: Michelle L. Marcicki (Dolphin)
Written: March 13, 1996


[UPDATE: February 27, 2010.. actually February 25, 2010..
I found the soundtrack for this poem.. should be linked in now, but blip.fm link below too!

~ Zebra and Snake - (MISF*TS remix) http://blip.fm/~ltwcg

NOTE: There are like 7 mix/remix version (that I know of) of this song.. listen to them all. Some of them are so different you wonder if they are same song.. Most of them kick ass.]