About a year ago I finally hit my tipping point with back pain. I had been ignoring a deep pain on the right side of my low back above my butt for a long time until it started to radiate down my back into my right foot. It was constant. I couldn’t sit for longer then a few minutes and couldn’t stand still because I was so uncomfortable. I found out from my amazing team of physical therapists that I had SI (sacroiliac) instability along with a compressed disc in my lumbar spine. As I worked with some great manual care therapists I was give the green light to start some Pilates to help strengthen my deep spine stabilizers and find my pelvic floor.
When I stated Pilates with Laurie I didn’t realize how weak I was. I always thought of myself as an athlete, but I was hit with a big dose of reality when I started to work with her. I never really knew how to use my pelvic floor and how to engage it with movement. Even as a physical therapist myself I struggled with these movements and had to work so hard for the smallest movements to happen. Each deep spine movement she gave me I was shaking and sweating! I would leave her sessions so baffled at how hard it was for me to find my middle and a neutral spine as well as try and maintain it while adding in leg or arm movements. It was always a shaky walk to the car !
After a lot of basic sessions I was finally able to stabilize my SI joint and back and get into more complex movements on the Reformer, Wunda Chair, and Cadillac. Laurie is an amazing physical therapist and Pilates instructor. She finds all my compensations and teaches and educates me about them so that I can keep reeducating my body about functional movement. Learning how to engage my pelvic floor and deep spine stabilizers has not only got me out of back pain but also has changed my life and the way I treat patients in the outpatient clinic.
If you are looking into Pilates as a way of exercise, therapy, or breath work I urge you to try it! It is such an amazing workout that challenges the mind, body and breathe all at the same time. If you are super unfamiliar with Pilates like I was and are dealing with some orthopedic issues I suggest finding a physical therapist who is certified in Pilates who can give you some extra care around your injury before you go into a class format.
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