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By Laura Bond Williams, Owner of Mat Pilates ATX
Mat Pilates ATX recently led two Restorative Pilates workshops for the Texas Oncology Foundation at its Survive & Thrive Back to School Virtual conference. We designed two 45-minute Pilates classes to inspire cancer patients, caregivers, and their families to keep moving while navigating or recovering from cancer treatments. We believe Pilates helps them feel empowered, strong, and connected to their bodies at a time when they may feel especially tired, betrayed, or unsure. Practicing mindful, intentional movement can help relieve stress for everyone affected by cancer diagnoses.
Pilates and the Importance of Breathing and Movement
Pilates is well-suited for improving our recovery from disruptive and stressful life events such as cancer diagnosis and treatment. Connecting our breath to our movement allows us to reconnect with our body and improve strength and mobility while honoring where we are in the journey.
Mat Pilates exercises are designed to be vigorous and challenging; in a restorative Pilates class, they are blueprints for standing and seated exercises that allow movement across a spectrum of fitness levels. We use our breathing to guide us.
In every exercise, our first task is to pay attention to how we breathe, and one way to do this is to imagine breathing into a “column” or “cylinder” of air. We want to breathe in all directions of our ribcage including our low back, sides and chest. As we pay attention to our inhale and exhale while moving, we become more connected and in control of our bodies.
On the mat, reformer, and on other apparatus like the Pilates chair and Cadillac, some exercises have specific breathing patterns, for example, a reformer exercise known as “coordination.” If you have taken one or one hundred Pilates classes, you know it’s easy to wonder whether you are “doing it right.” In a restorative class, I want to calm anxieties about “right” or “wrong.” From my perspective, we are “doing it right" as soon as we begin paying attention to how our breath and body work together.
Benefits of Pilates and Exercise for Cancer Recovery
The American Cancer Society’s guidelines for cancer survivors* includes:
Avoiding inactivity
Returning to normal daily activities as soon as possible after diagnosis and treatment
Exercising several times a week for at least 10 minutes at a time
Doing both stretching and resistance training at least twice a week
Ask your doctor when it is safe to begin an exercise program during or after any cancer treatments. When you’re cleared, here are ways that Pilates classes can help.
Relaxation One of the effects of a successful Pilates exercise session is relaxation*. Pilates teaches intentional breathing and movement of our arms, legs and spine through various shapes. In our workshop, we practiced "posterior lateral breathing," which involves breathing deeply through our nose into the back of the body, expanding the rib cage, and exhaling through our mouth. This technique engages our core muscles and calms our nervous system, creating relaxation. (Plus: our brain loves paying attention to our nervous system, and rewards us with feel-good endorphins.)
Core Awareness and Strength: In Pilates we focus on breathing and moving our spine in ways to awaken core muscles including the diaphragm and pelvic floor; our internal and external obliques (to twist and bend); transverse abdominals that are a “belt” around our lower ribs and pelvis; and a deep core muscle in our back, the multifidus. Using and strengthening these muscles helps us feel more stable and in control, improving our awareness of our body in space (proprioception) and balance.
Mobility: Pilates and Pilates-inspired bodyweight exercises emphasize movement of the spine and the joints attached to it, our shoulders and hips. Improving our core strength and mobility in our shoulders and hips positively affects how we walk, because our body gently twists gently side to side with each step.
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Body Awareness: Pilates helps us feel more in tune with our body and aware of muscles we use in coordination with each other. This increased body awareness improves our concentration and also, our coordination, which brings us to another benefit:
Mindfulness and Focus: Practicing Pilates asks for our mindfulness and focus. It can be simple, such as lifting arms overhead while inhaling and lower them while exhaling. And it can be a complex task, such as nodding the chin, lifting the shoulders and alternating your legs as they stretch into space (aka, single leg stretch). This mindful practice helps us stay present and grounded, and also reduces anxiety and promotes relaxation.
Building Awareness: Proprioception vs. Interoception
Two concepts I introduced during our restorative Pilates workshop for Texas Oncology Foundation are proprioception and interoception.
Proprioception refers to our awareness of where our body parts are in relation to each other and in “space” around us. Improving proprioception develops confidence, control, and precision, which also can improve our mobility, balance, and coordination.
Try this→ If you can close your eyes and easily touch your nose with your finger, you are using your proprioception.
Interoception is your awareness of the internal state of your body including its sensations and emotions. In exercise, we explore it by attending to sensations in the body that are physical and emotional. When you tune into your interoception, you can gauge your limits and modify your movements to suit your energy level. (Read: Interoception: the hidden sense that shapes wellbeing)
Try this→ Your finger rests on your nose. Close your eyes and breathe deeply. Can you pay attention to the sensation of your finger on your nose for at least 10 seconds and notice how your body feels? Perhaps you feel curious, calm, or annoyed. Observing your physical experience of this feeling uses your interoception.
Improving proprioception and interoception can help someone recovering from cancer treatment because they begin to trust themselves to move more easily and with less discomfort.
Simple Movement That Feels Good in Restorative Pilates Class
During the workshop, we practiced restorative exercises to coordinate gentle flexing, extending and twisting of our spine, using our arms and legs as weight to challenge our strength and awareness. Here are some of the movement patterns we can enjoy when we are convalescing from cancer treatment, surgery, or another disruptive or traumatic event.
Head and Neck Nodding our head and curling our neck and shoulders toward our feet can be a standing or a seated exercise. This gentle forward flexion begins as a small movement, nodding our chin toward our chest. As we lower our head toward our feet and keep our arms relaxed, we notice how the weight of our arms stretches our back. It’s similar to a Pilates mat exercise called a roll up.
Shoulders Imagine you are sitting up straight and reaching for something in front of you, but you can’t lean forward, so only your arms can move. Doing this moves your shoulder blades away from each other, and then you “put them back” on your back. Keep your neck relaxed.
Hips Tucking and tilting our pelvis uses our low abdominal muscles. We “tuck our tailbone” like a dog with a tail between its legs to rock our hips backward, and then tilt our hips forward. In between the “tuck and the tilt,” our spine is in its natural “s” curve, a broad “spring like” s-shape.
Exercises That May Feel More Challenging in a Restorative Pilates Class
Pilates-inspired mat exercises that alternate arms and legs and flex, twist or extend the spine may require more focus and stamina. These exercises include:
Exercises inspired by leg circles and footwork on the chair We practiced bending and straightening our knees; flexing and pointing our ankle and foot; and a seated, supportive version of a single leg circle. We used a towel to help us hold our leg in space so that we notice the muscles that connect our hips and spine to our legs.
Exercises inspired by the Pilates “ab series” We start with including gentle marching and alternating legs while seated and standing, inspired by single leg stretch, double leg stretch and a seated "criss-cross.” We also do Pilates Hundred while standing or seated.
Seated versions of Pilates mat exercises that Stretch, Bend and Twist Spine Stretch, Spine Twist, and Saw help us combine movements to strengthen and stretch our abdominals and back.
Pilates connect our mind and body with breath and movement to improve body awareness, strength, mobility, confidence, and also, self-compassion. Whether you're recovering from cancer treatments or supporting someone who is, a restorative Pilates class is a step on the path to healing and restoration.
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Here's our Restorative Pilates class – it's a dress rehearsal for our Texas Oncology Foundation class. Grab a chair and a towel to follow along.
Learn more about the Texas Oncology Foundation and its programs for cancer survivors, caregivers and families.
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