Why I keep coming back to the mat

I still remember my very first Pilates mat class. Not because I was instantly transformed (I wasn’t), but because I left the class feeling rinsed clean from the inside out and energized rather than exhausted. As Joseph Pilates famously called it, it was an “internal shower.” I discovered muscles I didn’t know existed. I walked in as a dancer, thinking I had a solid understanding of my body. I walked out thrilled by how much I didn’t know.

I had visible scoliosis and my back tired easily. Pilates didn’t make the scoliosis vanish, but thanks to the uniform development of my musculature through the work, at 52 years old I often forget it’s even there. More balanced muscles now support me in a way that has managed discomfort and the kept the curve in check.

I keep coming back to the mat because it works. Not in a flashy “abs in two weeks” way, but in a consistent, grounded kind of way. After nearly 30 years, I still return to those deceptively simple movements. They’re honest, elegant, and they do what they say they’ll do (including give you strong abs).

Pilates helped me stand taller—measurably taller. I began to feel more confident, more at home in my own skin. My posture isn’t perfect, but it supports me now instead of holding me back.

It’s also how I shake off the day. That twisty, stretchy, spirally magic wrings out my body and resets my nervous system. I breathe easier. Stress is more manageable.

And yes, I am strong. Nothing, not even weight lifting, has ever made me feel stronger and more capable than Pilates.

And maybe most importantly as I get older—my body is smarter. It catches me when I trip. It adjusts when I carry groceries. It supports my dancing, my hiking and kayaking, my too-many-hours-at-a desk work.

Do I always feel like getting on the mat? Not even close. But I never regret it. Even five minutes can make me feel like I did after that first class 30 years ago. The work always circles back to breath, alignment, and circulation—foundational stuff that doesn’t go out of style.

Yes, I get busy. Even as a teacher, I sometimes spend weeks hunched over a laptop before realizing something’s missing. Then I come back to the mat and start again. Every time, it meets me exactly where I am—sometimes back to the very beginning, sometimes ready to take on an advanced exercise.

If you’ve ever wondered if Pilates is for you, I’d gently say: try it. You might meet a few new muscles. You might grow an inch. You might, like me, keep coming back just because your body requests it.

Yours in living intentionally, imperfectly -

Laura