Jerome Weinberg would often share his stories about him and Romana to the apprentices as part of our learning. There was this one story he would recount about an advanced exercise that he had been practicing and showed it off to Romana. He practiced it so well, he "added" to the exercise. Romana would exclaim, "WOW! Why didn't I think of that?". Jerome is a Visionary.  It's a talent to "see" where the exercises can move to next. Not many people are as advanced in Pilates as Jerome. We have a good handful, but Jerome is the one who can keep extending the super advanced to beyond! "Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere." Albert Einstein Jerome's hard work and imagination has taken him into some of the world's top forums for excellence in a field!

It takes a great deal of imagination to keep seeing where Pilates can go AND keeping the authentic method! Many have just taken what they think is Pilates and created exercises that are Pilates-esque, but have diluted or completely deviated from the original method. That's not imagination, that's ego. Although they say, coping is the highest form of flattery. 

Being trained by Romana, we all learned an exercise on the Short Box Series of the Reformer called, "Side to Side". It's actually an exercise Romana made up! She created it for people who couldn't twist. It gave them a safe way to stretch their back and not hurt their bodies. Hopefully working towards the day they would be able to twist. Romana applied Joseph Pilates method and just "saw" where an exercise could go! Imagination! Vision! What I would call, "clear seeing".  "Every great advance….has issued from a new audacity of imagination." John Dewey.  Romana always encouraged us to keep going beyond our limits, to keep "seeing".

I am also reminded of an exercise Uncle Joe made up for Sari, Romana's daughter. It's called, "The Sari" or The Shoulder Roll Down. It's preformed on the Cadillac with the Push Through Bar. He designed it for Sari to bring her legs over her head without it going into her neck. When she was younger, she had chronic neck issues.  "Imagination is the power of the mind over the possibilities of things." Wallace Stevens Without Joseph Pilates imagination, we wouldn't have his outstandingly genius method to begin with, let alone where he continued to take it while he was working on clients.

I, too, will break an exercise down for those who are struggling with something basic. You can see their body will get there; they just need a more rudimentary form of the norm. I'm always clear about stating that "I made it up", so not to confuse it with the original masterpiece Uncle Joe created. As Romana and Sari would remind us, "he was the genius!". Of course, I believe we are all genius' in our own right, and I am trained to keep the method the way it was invented and taught. The best way to experience Contrology is to just do it as is and control your body with your mind.  THAT, takes imagination!  "My imagination creates my reality." Walt Disney. I like being able to show clients that they can do more than they've been telling themselves. "Seeing is believing" they say, and when they get to see how the dots connect, their imagination opens, too.

How do you use Imagination in Pilates, in life? Do you feel this is an aspect that is worth developing? What have you imagined that has come to fruition? I would love to hear from you!

Love, Light and Blessings,

Julia xo