The hips don't lie...but Pilates can help!

I stood there, with bright, reflective markers on every bony protuberance on my lower half, two students and a doctor looking at me, as I asked, “what do you MEAN my hips are off? Now what?!” I was helping a friend with her Biomechanics capstone, which required me to have little reflective markers put all over my joints and bony landmarks to show up on a movement analysis video. I was all about it: I showed up with my tank top and shorts, ready to learn and help out. As my friend was palpating all the little grooves and lumps, she kept going over my hips, saying, “that can’t be right.” My hips were very tilted to the front, like a watering can, pouring water. She checked her markers with the Graduate Assistant, and then ultimately the professor in charge.

Conclusion: my hips are off.

Anteriorly tilted to a significant degree, more specifically, and this usually means the muscles in the front of the hips are tight, but that’s not the case with mine...it’s just the way my hips were made. I told him about the postural work I do daily and the Pilates I perform four-six times a week, the professor said although I should have low back pain, I need to keep doing exactly what I’m doing, because it’s countering it.

YAY PILATES!!! No body is perfect. I hear the clients I teach in the Pilates studio regularly talk poorly about themselves, and it is so easy to fall into a trap of what we think we “should” look like. No single body is perfect, and it’s not about looking perfect - it’s about feeling our best.

Period.

I can’t change my hips, but I can make sure I can run and climb with the kiddos in class and dance around the studio by working every day to feel my best. Being mindful of what hurts, what feels good, and respecting the bodies we’ve been given is what matters. It’s nice to be reminded in my own body how important the work we do every day really is...