Week 34 — “Transverse”
Hello Pilates People!!!!
Happy Sunday!!!
WHAT A WEEK!!! We made it though and we are so incredibly grateful to each of you for being here with us for every single part. We often hear how we've helped you cope through various moments in 2020, but we want to make sure you know that YOU help US just as much, maybe even more. So thank you - truly.
Remember, today at 10am we are hosting a Yoga + Meditation workshop with Camille focused on self-love. What better way to celebrate than come share a moment with our community, take a deep breath and be grateful for all our hard work? We'll be together from 10-11:30am with room for a Q+A at the end with Camille. It's just $20 for our Aligned members and $25 for non-members, so please join if you can! To sign up, please click here.
And we're very excited to announce our next workshop will be on Sunday, November 22nd from 12-2pm! Our friend Danielle will be hosting "Food Freedom" - a workshop to help you finally ditch the diet, find freedom with food and take control of your health! We will do a deep dive into what has made diet culture so toxic, how to implement mindful eating habits to help you start listening to your body, and how to approach your meals from a place of nourishment and also enjoyment — so you can eat ice cream and still be healthy :) To learn more and sign up, please click here.
And finally, our shirts are HERE!!!! Please check them out and SUIT UP!!! We love them and think you will too!
Transverse abdominals. You've heard of them. We've mentioned them.
But do you know them? Where are they? What do they do? Why are they so important?
Let's discuss, shall we?
The four layers of your abdominal wall are:
Transversus Abdominis - this is your deepest layer and what we're diving into this week
Rectus Abdominis - think of this as your "six pack" - we're not really talking about this today...or most days
External Obliques - located on the sides of your rectus abdominis - in charge of your trunk's ability to twist
Internal Obliques - also located on the sides of your rectus abdominis, but lower - in charge of your trunk's ability to twist as well (your internal/external oblique support is fascinating and complicated - a story for another time)
Your Transverse Abs are the ones that are responsible for trunk and pelvic stability. They connect from your back body and wrap all the way around to your front body (as much as I hate to say it, kind of like a corset...but let's reframe that and think about this being the muscle that gives you a "hug," which obviously makes it my favorite.).
Our opening breath in class is focused on waking up and drawing attention to your Transverse because it is THE THING for what we do here.
So let's make sure we know all about it!
And remember, as we journey into our abdominal wall, it is STILL, always and forever about what it FEELS like! Focus in on getting to know your body, feeling strong in it and working towards the endless possibilities it has.
We'll help. Always.
All our love,
Cassandra + Pilates People
(11/7/20)