Maria Mankin - Pajama Pilates: 40 Exercises for Stretching, Strengthening, and Toning at Home

Text copyright 2021 by Maria Mankin.

All rights reserved. No part of this book
may be reproduced in any form without
written permission from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available.

ISBN: 978-1-7972-0708-7(HC)
ISBN: 978-1-7972-0821-3(EPUB 2)

Artwork by Maja Tomljanovic.
Design by Lizzie Vaughan.
Typeset in Swiss 721.

The information contained in Pajama Pilates is presented for educational purposes only. This book is in no way intended as a substitute for the medical advice of physicians. If you seek to treat a physical condition using Pilates practices, please consult with your physician or a licensed healthcare provider first.

Chronicle Books LLC
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TO LINA,

my mother, whose creativity, strength, and love have empowered and inspired me throughout the years.

Welcome to Pajama Pilates (or Pajamalates, as I like to call it), an at-home Pilates practicethats right, youve guessed itdone in your pajamas!

Whether in your bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, or living room, you can do the forty Pilates exercises included in this book without leaving your house, or even getting dressed. Based on the world-renowned exercise system developed 100 years ago by Joseph Pilates, Pajama Pilates is a well-rounded strengthening, stretching, and toning program for every age and skill level. It targets all major areas of your body, helping you become fit, strong, and healthy by improving flexibility, core strength, posture, and coordination, and also fosters a holistic sense of vitality, well-being, and balance.

One of the most important parts of any Pilates program is committing to a consistent practice. With Pajama Pilates, you can exercise in the comfort of your own home, turning your house into a private gym, and avoid schlepping to and from fitness classes across town. This book provides simple exercises to be done in different areas of your house, using furniturelike your bed, sofa, and bathtubas props. No fancy equipment is necessary. All thats needed to have fun and get fit with Pajama Pilates are common household itemslike a pillow and a couple of soup cans.

In my twenties, I moved from Sicily to San Francisco to run away with a small one-ring circus. Our circus had no lion tamers or chimpanzees riding unicycles, but I performed daring acrobatic routines that were hard on my body. If I could, today, I would whisper in the ear of my younger self: Hey, be smart: Do Pilates! In fact, a good regimen like Pajama Pilates would have served me well during my career as an acrobat.

A few years after joining the circus, I stumbled into Pilates after falling from my husbands shoulders doing a difficult stunt, the Jump Rope of Death, in Yosemite National Parkyes, a tad unusual but, for me, just a day at the office. I injured my back and tore ligaments along my right elbow. After only a couple of Pilates sessions, I started to feel stronger and more aware of my body. My injuries slowly healed, and I fell in love with the practice. Pilates changed my body even beyond my initial recovery, but my true aha moment happened when I realized my love of sharing Pilates with other people. So, I became an instructor. For years, I jotted down and sketched out exercises for my clients so they could do them at home. One day, a favorite work-from-home client asked for a list of exercises to do in bed in the morning, so I drew her doing them in her pajamas. We started calling it Pajamalates; eventually it just stuck. And, of course, who doesnt love a pair of cozy pajamas?

Pajama Pilates is a collection of these home exercises Ive developed over the last 20 years of teaching, embellished with details and illustrations so that anyone can pick up this book and do the exercises safely.

Are you ready for Pajama Pilates? Lets get started!

Pajama Pilates presents forty at-home exercises divided into four 10-to-15-minute exercise sets to do in your bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, and living room. You may do the exercises in sequence or choose your favorites in the order that feels right for your needs.

Complete with an introduction to basic Pilates concepts and key Pajama Pilates terms, these exercises are perfect for individuals at all levels. The bedroom set is suitable for beginners and can be used as a warm-up for the other, more challenging sets. I recommend doing these exercises daily, but please remember to listen to your body. If you need to start slow and build up to an everyday practice, thats OK too. Each exercise includes simple, step-by-step instructions, a Good for section to highlight the physiological benefits, and a Variations section to explore the exercise in other ways or increase the difficulty. I also offer routines at the end to target common conditions or fitness goals my clients often come to me to address.

Bed

Chair

Sofa

Table

Coffee table

Yoga mat or rug

Pillow

2 soup cans or light weights

Tennis ball

Towel

Bathtub

* Before starting, review .

* Try to exercise at the same time of day to establish a regular practice.

* Focus on your breathinhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth.

* Maintain a slow and steady pace.

* Exhale on the exertion, or the part of the exercise that feels more difficult. This helps activate your core to support your movements.

* Listen to your body and move according to your abilities and within your limitations. Any suggested modifications are called out in the exercise.

* You can always increase the difficulty of the exercise by adding more repetitions. Gradually work up to more repetitions so you do not risk injury.

* In some variations, I recommend a certain number of reps, while in others, your body will tell you when its time to stop.

* If you are pregnant, feel free to do side-lying, standing, or on-hands-and-knees exercises, but avoid exercises on your back or stomach.

* If you are injured, unwell, or recovering from surgery, ask your health practitioner if you can start a Pilates program.

These concepts are fundamental for Pilates. To have a safe and effective practice, it is important to remember these basics while performing each exercise in this book. As you move through the sets, refer back to this section every so often for a reminder. Eventually, they will become second nature to you.

A consistent Pilates practice will help you acquire the body awareness and the muscle memory necessary to find proper body alignment and to make adjustments on your own. Whether still or during movement, proper alignment prevents injuries and promotes healthy posture and body mechanics.

Your are in alignment if, standing sideways in front of a mirror, you can trace an imaginary plumb line that starts at the center of your ear and goes through the center of your shoulder, torso, hip, knee, and ankle in a straight line. When your head and shoulders slump forward or when your hips are farther forward than your shoulders, your body is not in alignment. To stand tall, a cue used throughout this book to help you achieve standing alignment, shift your body weight toward your heels to equally distribute the weight between your two feet, hip distance apart. Then, imagine being pulled upward with a string from the crown of your head to lengthen your standing posture.