What is Pilates? Power with Length, Not Just Strength

What exactly is Pilates, and why do so many people swear by it?

This blog is for the man on the boat last week while I was snorkelling. The waves were lurching the boat back and forth, and while I was doing all I could not to heave my breakfast onto my lap, a kind gentleman asked me:

“So tell me, what is Pilates?”

Sadly, I couldn’t answer. My response was, “I’ll have to get back to you when I’m on dry land.” So Kevin, this blog is for you. I hope it helps.

Nowadays the word Pilates is everywhere. I remember when I first started teaching the method in school halls and village halls in Leeds in the early 2000s, no one could even pronounce it.

“What’s ‘Pie-lats’?” and “Is it like yoga?” were the top questions.

Today there’s a studio in almost every town, with Reformer Pilates becoming the next big trend. So in this blog I’m going to do my best to give a succinct view of what it is and why it has been valuable to my students over the last 20 years. And trust me, it’s remarkably valuable for all bodies, not just women looking for beach bodies or help during pregnancy (although it can do that too).

I’ll also speak a little about why I added the Feldenkrais Method to my teaching tools, and how that fills a missing link for me in this otherwise transformational movement method.

Pilates, movement patterns, and organisation

From a distance, the Pilates Method can look like abstract bodily arrangements, with different breathing patterns, beating of arms, and rolling movements. Some shapes resemble yoga, others gymnastics, others athletics.

In the classical form, Joseph Pilates curated movements performed in a specific sequence, each with a name such as The Swan, The Monkey, The Elephant, and The Side Kick.

For me, the method is a beautifully curated series of movement patterns in all directions, in varying orientations, encouraging power with length rather than effort or compression.

Pilates can be done on a mat with no equipment or on machines. The movement patterns remain the same, but machines offer support, resistance, and challenge to enhance learning.

What is a movement pattern?

Brushing your teeth is a movement pattern. Shaving the back of your leg is a movement pattern. Walking, flying a kite — we carry out patterns of movement all the time.

These movements ask us to organise ourselves in different directions: bending forwards, arching backwards, turning, and side bending. Everything we do is a combination of spinal organisation in multiple directions.

As the spine is our central column, it becomes the reference point for all movement patterns.

Joseph Pilates famously said:

“You are only as young as your spine is flexible.”

He also noted:

“If your spine is inflexibly stiff at 30, you are old; if it is completely flexible at 60, you are young.”

Pilates asks us not only to explore movement through the spine, but also to develop control, coordination, and endurance within those patterns.

When people begin Pilates, they often discover familiar movements suddenly feel different. Bending to pick something up, reaching into a car, or turning while reversing becomes smoother and more efficient. These everyday actions are the same fundamental patterns we explore in class.

Power with length vs strength

For me, understanding how the central column of the body functions is key to the method.

In order for the spine to move in multiple directions, it needs length in order to express power. When we lengthen the central column, the muscles act like a responsive support system — creating an organised, elastic structure capable of efficient movement.

Rather than compressing the body to generate strength, Pilates develops a kind of organised power that feels light, responsive, and coordinated.

This is why I prefer the word power rather than strength. Strength often implies effort and compression. Power implies coordination, integration, and whole-body organisation.

The Eight Principles of Pilates

In his book Return to Life Through Contrology (1945), Joseph Pilates describes eight guiding principles of the method.

Breathing

Breathing is fundamental to movement and life. Change your breathing and you change your movement.

Concentration

Awareness is essential. If you don’t know where you are, you cannot know where you are going.

Control

Movement is guided, not random. Control creates resilience and adaptability.

Centering

Movement is organised from the spine — “we are a spine with bits attached.”

Precision

Doing less, but with clarity and accuracy.

Flow

Movement becomes continuous, smooth, and connected.

Alignment

Efficient organisation of the body in motion. In Feldenkrais, this relates closely to “Acture” — posture in action.

Stamina / Endurance

Sustained control over time, with increasing complexity rather than repetition alone.

How Feldenkrais becomes valuable in this work

This is also where the Feldenkrais Method becomes relevant, because it explores the same question—how we organise movement—but through awareness rather than structured exercise.

If you’re new to the Feldenkrais Method, you can read a simple introduction here: What is Feldenkrais?

In 2023 I decided to train in the Feldenkrais Method, which is even less well known than Pilates. It filled a gap in my teaching by deepening understanding of movement patterns, the nervous system, and learning processes.

Feldenkrais adds another layer of awareness, helping people discover more efficient and comfortable ways of moving. This is especially valuable for those with complex movement challenges or neurological conditions.

Pilates builds structure, control, and strength through organisation. Feldenkrais explores awareness, perception, and refinement of that organisation.

So what is Pilates?

Kevin, my simplest answer today would be:

Pilates is a method for learning how to move your body with greater power, organisation, efficiency, and awareness — using movement patterns that develop coordination and control through the spine.

Ultimately, both Pilates and the Feldenkrais Method invite us to become more curious about how we move and how we organise ourselves in everyday life.

Together they create a powerful combination for finding more ease, clarity, and capability in movement — helping us do more of what we love for longer.

Pilates has been a companion in my work for nearly twenty years, and I’m still discovering new layers to it.

It is my practice.