Dana Hershman - Pilates for Sexual Enhancement

Copyright 2012 Dana Hershman and Belinda McDonald. All rights reserved.

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For more information, address to Frederick Fell Subsidiary Rights Department, 2131 Hollywood Boulevard, Suite 305, Hollywood, Florida 33020.

Please consult a health care professional before starting a new Pilates and/or fitness program, especially if you have current health issues, serious injury or illness. Not all exercises are suitable for everyone. This Pilates program or any fitness program can result in injury. Reduce injury by modifying the exercises, working without force or strain and go at your own pace and skill level. We recommend reading the whole book before performing the exercises.

In addition please consult a health care professional before starting any new diet consisting of new foods, spices and herbs. Our book offers suggestions for foods, spices and herbs. If you question any of the diet suggestions for yourself please consult a doctor before ingesting or using on the body.

For more information about special discounts for bulk purchases. Please contact Fredrick Fell Special Sales at .

Cover Design By : Social Agency www.socialagencyinc.com

Interior Design By : Social Agency www.socialagencyinc.com

Manufactured in the United States of America.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Hershman, Dana, 1969
Pilates for sexual enhancement, 8 weeks to a new you and a great sex life /
Dana Hershman and Belinda McDonald.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 978-0-8839-1261-4
1. Pilates method. I. McDonald, Belinda, 1973 II. Title.
RA781.4.H475 2012
613.7192dc23 2012004214
eBook ISBN 9780883912782

To men and women everywhere, and to all our participants
and clients for helping us test our theory.

A special thank you to all my clients and friends through the years. Your dedication, commitment to your health, your faith and trust in me as an instructor, confidante and friend keeps me inspired and motivated. Thank you for allowing me to help you in your quest to optimal health and vitality.

To Linda M. Pyle for answering all my writing questions and assuring me to stay focused on the final project, a beautiful successful publication.

To Don Lessne of Frederick Fell who believed in our book and his patience to get the project done right, and to Kim Coffey for being a wonderful and patient editor. Thank you to Kevin Rockwood for his beautiful photography and Karen Belcher for her lovely illustrations and to Scott Bowie for his fabulous photo shop work.

A special thank you to my mentor, Sandy, for always guiding me and being there for me, no matter where my life choices take me.

Dana Hershman

To my husband and best friend, Stephen, thank you for your infinite patience and love.

Belinda McDonald

The Pilates is paying
off, by the way.

A happy Alec Baldwin to Meryl Streep in Its Complicated after a night of apparently great sex.

A s a Pilates instructor for over 15 years, I have been to my clients a trainer, friend, drill sergeant, and confidante. Most of my many loyal clients, during the years, have come from all walks of life, doctors, lawyers, CEOs, athletes, dancers, teachers and stay at home moms, to name a few.

Many of them I see more regularly than they see their friends or spouses, and over time my job as a Pilates instructor can turn into therapist and overall confidante. As my relationships with my clients grew and their practice developed, their body and mind began to change. They grew stronger, more flexible and more confident in the body and its capabilities. As a trusted teacher, friend and confidante I heard many stories about friends, family, and trials and tribulations. But the biggest issue that they revealed to me was regarding their sex lives. Whether good, bad, infrequent, fabulous or painful at times they all said that Pilates changed their sex life for the better. They all concluded that Pilates gave them a better sense of their bodies, more confidence and for many a less painful and more enjoyable sexual experience. Many noticed a change right away, others took a little longer but they all noticed a distinct difference after starting a regular Pilates practice.

So, I approached Belinda McDonald, a physical therapist I have the pleasure of working with, and asked her about issues that she was seeing with sexual dysfunction, pain, etc. and the improvements that were made through physical therapy and Pilates.

We decided to conduct a short, fun study to validate our personal findings. Our study consisted of 8 exercises to be done on a daily basis over an 8 week period. Participants varied from those who had never done Pilates to some seasoned Pilates practitioners. Yet, all of them had never taken the time to notice if doing Pilates had changed their sex life. They were eager to start a daily Pilates practice and find out how great their sex life could be.

It turned out that Pilates made a huge difference in all of our participants sex lives. They gained more strength, flexibility, confidence, and felt healthier and happier overall. In addition, we heard that their spouses were also happy and were more than willing to make sure that the participants maintained their Pilates practice everyday!

So, here is your chance to make a difference in your life and your sex life. By applying the Pilates principles and exercises we believe you will feel better, look better, and rejuvenate your sex life. If your sex life is great already, then applying these Pilates principles and creating a daily practice can only make it better!

The mind, when housed within a healthful body, possesses a glorious sense of power.

JOSEPH PILATES

A s we move forward in medical science, the most amazing thing I have seen in 17 years as a practicing Physical Therapist, is how incredible the body is without medicinal intervention. I was introduced to Pilates as a weight-loss program over 9 years ago, and it worked! As I continued to use it and apply the principles to my patients, I realized that it was so much more than a weight loss program. I had always been someone who would do heavy aerobic cardiovascular exercises for weight-loss and fitness. But now I had been doing what appeared to be core strengthening workouts and stretching and I had lost weight. The additional advantage was I felt great too!

Over the past 9 years that I have been practicing Pilates and using the concepts with my patients, I also noticed some patients commenting on how not only did the Pilates help them stay strong and flexible, it helped keep pain at bay. In addition, quite a few patients mentioned that it improved their sex life!

Clinically and very randomly I noticed on myself that the range in my neural system had dramatically improved. I was someone, who on school testing, could only bend and touch her knees, now I could forward flex my spine, and get my palms flat on the ground.

I started analyzing and studying why this had occurred. I looked at the individual exercises where the main description indicated stretching. One example is the Pilates exercise Single Straight Leg Pull. When explained by an instructor and when experienced by the individual, it will feel like there is a stretch along the hamstring. But then I noticed that head position or foot position affected these symptoms. So without moving the hamstring, you were changing the sensation experienced. The only explanation I could find was that it was the neural system that was moving differently. What I noticed is that these Pilate exercises tension and slide the nervous system which increases the neural systems movement. This neural system movement increases muscle and overall health of the body and the nervous system.