Did you know that most of the Pilates exercises are based on the movement and stretches of cats? That’s right, Joseph Pilates was a German citizen interned in England during the first World War. He passed the time watching the wild cats as they hunted mice and moved around the camp. He noticed they often took time to stretch and move their spine, not just their limbs.
In yoga, we do a stretch on all fours called cat and cow. You flex your spine in cat (think a scared Halloween cat) and extend your spine in cow – like a sway back cow. And in all of our sun salutations we perform upward facing dog and downward facing dog. I never quite understood why they were named this, nor did I feel like I was doing them “right” until I saw my dog stretching. Then it clicked! Aha! You stretch just like a dog stretches.
There is much we can learn from our animal friends, not just physically, but emotionally and spiritually.
Let me tell you about Lacey:
Lacey came to us in September of 2019 after our dog Finn passed away from lymphoma. Our other dog, Loki, had never been an only dog. My cousin reached out to me because her friend needed to rehome her yorkie so we decided to meet her. Loki and Lacey (nee Bella) did not exactly hit it off, but we fell in love with this sweet, feisty girl. She came home with us and we’ve been loving her ever since!
I started watching how Lacey interacts with her world and decided I could learn a lot from her. I thought others could too, so I using Lacey’s personality in our social media. Here are some of the ways you can be more like Lacey:
This is Lacey. Here she is watching a Pilates class. She is curious and likes to learn new things. Be like Lacey.
This is Lacey. Her body is not perfect but she loves it anyway. Be like Lacey.
This is Lacey. When Lacey is tired, she takes a rest. Be like Lacey.
I think we should all be a little more like Lacey. Follow us on social media for more great advice from Lacey and please stop by the studio and pick up a free Be Like Lacey Sticker!
