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Interview with Jillian in...
Gaiam Lifestyle magazine
2003 Premiere Issue, pages 36 ff.
Beaming In to Pilates
A Q&A with Jillian Hessel, whose B.E.A.M. method helps make Pilates easy for just about anyone.
GAIAM LIFESTYLE:
Why is it a challenge for some people to get started with Pilates?
HESSEL:
A lot of Pilates tapes look so rigid — they seem to say, "It has to be this way," or "This is the way Pilates is taught." And you often hear that you've got to be fit to start Pilates.
Pilates does assume a certain amount of flexibility in the spine, lower back and hips that a lot of us don't have these days. But I began Pilates because of a back injury; I was not capable of performing classic Pilates. I think a lot of my B.E.A.M. techniques and beginner moves stem from that. If I had gone to the kind of teacher who insisted I begin with breathing 100s and rollups, I don't think I would have been able to do it. At the least, I don't think I would have gotten stronger. I would have just kind of superficially performed the movements and not really understood where the breathing and the abdominal control came from. Ultimately, Pilates wouldn't have helped me.
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© 2003 Gaiam Lifestyle magazine
