Romana would often to refer to Joseph Pilates' study of animals. He noticed that they were always in a tilted, forward stance. Romana would say, "Paw the Earth like and animal! Up and forward!" Watching and studying animal movement was a huge influence on Uncle Joe's work.

Romana would also say, "Pull in and up!". She would explain that you want to pull your stomach to your spine, and lift it up your spine. Making the conscious effort to make the muscles "pull in and up" automatically corrects your posture without much knowledge or manipulation. Just like real life, your body will respond to your conscious thought.  

A Basic exercise that implements this idea is Arm Weights. The apprentice program always taught us that the most important part of Arm Weights Series is you Stance! How you hold your body! Your arms, are secondary. Romana insisted you hold you body like a "Greek column"! No one, or nothing was going to push you over. That slight incline, or up and forward movement was the most important. When you're doing it correctly, it feels like you're going to fall forward. When you're holding this stance, your arms will work the various positions, and get the articulation they need. There is a secondary stance in Arm Weights, which is more advanced, and the last set of arms I teach to an individual or group in this series. It looks like a squatted position with your back flat over your legs. Although, the execution of holding this squat or Table Top requires the same up and forward motion, it's not the easiest position to find and why I teach it last.

One of my favorite places to feel this idea of Up and Forward is 2x4. This is an exercise to strengthen your ankles, and is first taught using a stable device for balance. Most often in the studio, The Cadillac is used, as it has bars to hold about shoulder distance apart. If you were doing this exercise at home, I would recommend holding onto a door jam, or kitchen counter, or maybe even the dining room table. Yes, as your thinking, an actual 2x4 is used, but not necessary to execute the exercise. You would start with your feet parallel (remember from math, parallel lines never meet), adjust you knees over your toes (if they don't line up naturally), spread all five toes and lift your heels as much as you are able. Slowly lower the heels down. This is repeated five to seven times. (Repetitions may vary.) If you can visualize this, you can imagine that you need to have a slight incline, forward motion. You need to feel light on your heels. No letting the heels drop like a sack of potatoes! This is how dancers are able to lift off of their ankles like there are on marionette strings. Their whole body is in Up and Forward motion!

So, I challenge you to try and feel Up and Forward in your body! Practice feeling more weight in your toes, than in your heels. You might fall a little forward, not to worry, you will catch yourself before it becomes an incident! Let me know how you make out!

Feel free to ask questions!

Love, Light and Blessings,

Julia