One of the things that sets Pilates apart from other kinds of physical training is the use by teachers of descriptive imagery in their cueing of the exercises.  This imagery-rich cueing serves to enhance the physical experience of Pilates exercise by engaging the mind to connect with the work through familiar sensory perceptions.  Some of the best Pilates sessions or classes that I’ve taken have been so rich in experiential imagery that I’ve often forgotten that I’m actually working out!  Imagery serves to connect you deeper into the exercise by involving all your senses, and can totally change a single exercise or an entire session simply by the words the teacher uses.

Pilates has history-rich cues, which also speaks to me, as I love the idea of passing things down to another generation.  Who hasn’t heard the cue “melt like chocolate”, or “head to heel like steel”, or “pinch, lift, and grow taller”?  These cues are used by Pilates teachers world-wide, and help to bind the Pilates world together through common language.

In a prior post I talked about starting a Pilates notebook to capture cues that spoke to me and helped me to really connect to an exercise in new or different ways.  As I said there, I am a collector of cues…I take a class and hear a great cue, and I write it down to be transcribed later into that Pilates notebook that never leaves my house.  I listen to my teachers in their sessions with clients, and every once in a while they come up with a cue that just makes me glow with pride (because, after all, I did train them), and later I tell them that, yes, I am stealing that cue (I will give them credit, of course).

Today, as I listened to Patty teach shortbox flat back, she used an image (later on that) that caught the essence of flat back so well, that her students quickly understood the essence of the exercise and corrected their movements immediately!  What had been a train wreck of leaning back and collapsing, became the hinged at the hip, stick straight back that we look for in that exercise.  Because of this, I decided right then and there to write this blog.  I’d like to share some of the imagery-rich cues that have worked for me (and for those from whom I stole them from), and invite any readers to share their own special cues in the comment section immediately following this blog.  In this way we can have an on-line version of a Pilates notebook, that we can all refer to when we are sick to death of ourselves and need a new way to say something.

I’m going to start with Short Box cues, because it’s in the front of my mind right now.  (And because shortbox is so hard to teach, that maybe these cues can help someone out there who is struggling on how to explain this difficult series.)

Short Box Round I’ve stolen from Pam Garcia: curl your tail under and roll back, now come up and get over yourself (Pam, did you ever get a T-shirt made with that saying?)

Okay, so here’s Patty’s shortbox flat back cue:  Hinge back from the hips like opening up your laptop.

Side to Side is from my daughter Carly:  anchor your hips and reach up and over the top of your rainbow. 

Short Box Twist:  (I think this one is mine, but I could have totally stolen it from someone and forgotten):  Hold tight to your seat and spiral up and around like a phone cord.

Now here’s your chance to share your cues.  Don’t be shy, or stingy.  There are no wrong answers!