Longevity and Pilates

The lovely Lola, Christine Binnendyk's dog.

Most all Longevity Readers recognize longevity is not about being old or looking young. Longevity is about fostering and maintaining well-being—spiritual, intellectual, emotional, physical—as long as we breathe, and in as many realms as possible. This attitude pervades current gerontology studies as well, studies once horrifyingly devoted to indexing decline and loss.

An essential element for one’s organic physical body and its sometimes cranky nature is physical exercise. It’s right up there with food and sleep demands. If one’s ever known a rowing machine (a full-body exercise appliance), before long it becomes obvious that if one body part was injured or painful the whole exercise attempt was challenged. This provided a lovely excuse for skipping the entire routine for as long as possible. Stubbing one’s toe could excuse rowing for a week. No problem.

However, excuses dwindle and now we have Ageless Pilates by local Portland author Christine Binnendyk to guide us through movements adapted to wherever one is physically. Ageless Pilates is the first in an Ageless Series of four books. Upcoming titles include The Ageless Pilates Meltdown (autumn, 2010), Ageless Pilates for Men, and The Ageless Pilates Breast Cancer Recovery Guide. A DVD Ageless Pilates will be available sometime next year (2011).

For awhile in the late 1990’s Pilates (pi-LAH-teez) appeared just too “in” to believe; enthusiasm can do that sometimes. Pilates is actually first a person, born in Mönchengladbach, Germany, in 1880.
 

Ageless Pilates book cover.

Joseph H. Pilates (1880-1967) started life as a physically challenged child—what with rickets, asthma, and rheumatic fever—an offspring of a prize-winning gymnast Greek father and a German mother adept at naturopathy. The stage was set. Joseph came to excel at skiing, body-building, gymnastics, and yoga and Zen meditation. By the time he was fourteen years old his perfect physical body was sought as a model for anatomical charts.

By the time Joseph H. Pilates grew up, he was an accomplished gymnast, diver, bodybuilder, boxer and circus-performer, who also taught self-defense to British police and Scotland Yard agents. Yet as a German he was interned during WWII. This is perhaps when his adult life’s mission crystallized. Pilates method of study, teaching, and training physical movement was first called “Contrology” since it encouraged the use of one’s mind to control muscles. Today we know it as Pilates: five-hundred or more precise, controlled movements, emphasizing the core muscles (the abdomen, back and buttocks).

Christine Binnendyk has adapted these classic movements in developing Ageless Pilates. Binnendyk comes to this work, like many health specialists, through personal inspiration. A car accident left her in pain with muscle spasms and limited mobility for eight years. Binnendyk says, “Professional Pilates training is what finally broke the pain cycle. My hope is that by sharing the ABCs [Anchor points, Body geometry, and Comfort choices] of Ageless Pilates, I’m providing a map for more people to find their way out of the pain cycle sooner.”
 

Christine Binnendyk

Binnendyk has trained hundreds of people since mastering Pilates certification. Many fortunate clients hale from the Nike headquarters in Beaverton, OR, where Binnendyk’s program is established. Binnendyk is planning to open an adjunct Pilates studio in Willamette Heights later this year and says, “I find that all of my clients, regardless of age or circumstance, come to me with some type of pain or discomfort. Neck and low back tension are hands down the most common, even in professional athletes. Pilates is rehabilitative in its nature—Ageless Pilates can help both those looking to focus on pain relief and those looking for an introduction to smart exercise that strengthens the body while preventing common pain patterns.”

Ageless Pilates is not limited in being just an exercise program. The whole Pilates system addresses mindfulness as well.

Sorry folks, no more I-can’t-exercise-because-I-hurt-maybe routines. The book, Ageless Pilates is easy to understand, organized, useful. Check it out from the library (on order) or take the leap to Powell’s or Amazon for one’s own adventure.

Photos courtesy of Christine Binnendyk and Lola who rules the household, with additional background from Mickey Ronningen.