Pilates Fundamentals: The Five Principles

This is complicated but super-helpful. I think I’ll need to come back to it again, but it’s fabulous for raising your awareness about the pitfalls of incorrect body position and the benefits of getting it right. Thank you Kim.

This was tremendously helpful and something I'll carry with me in my yoga practice! Kim did a great job of explaining the importance of all of the principles.

I came to this class after a similar class by Kathi, looking for more. Kim look slightly uncomfortable under the awesome sun. Otherwise, her explanations are great.

I tend to strain my neck while doing crunches and pilates hundreds, her explanations on the neck solved my problem.

This really helped me to understand these principles. Thank you!

Wow, this really is the best video on the 5 principles. I've never had them explained so thoroughly and to really understand what each one does and how to do them. I won't lie, they feel strange and I found them quite taxing, only because I'm not used to doing them and it feels unfamiliar. And I don't know how long I'll be doing these until they feel more natural. However, this is a great video explaining them so sending a huge thank you!

This may be the best video describing pilates core muscle activation I've ever seen. I've read a lot of books and taken classes, and never has it been explained so precisely with easy instructions on how to activate the right muscles in any position.

I had spinal fusion surgery years ago and though my back is pretty sound, it is sensitive and if I'm not careful to protect it while I work out - and ESPECIALLY in yoga -- it immediately starts pinging and pinching nerves. When I use what was explained in this video, my back is quite happy. I'll be sure to come back to this one periodically to remind myself of how I should be doing it.

Thank you Kim, this is great! I feel a new body awareness in my shoulder, back, neck and tummy, which I think was missing in my yoga practice! Please, do more videos Kim!

I watched did this class first before trying any of Kim's classes and I come back to it every once in a while, especially when I've been out of practice for a bit. Yes, it's a lot of talking and less in the way of action, but it's important to understand the principles and to revisit them so that you keep them in mind throughout your regular practice. One should be working towards improving them all the time. This class shouldn't be a one-off; it should be revisited every 6 months or so.

I did not particularly enjoy this class and, in fact, stopped it after about 8 minutes. I want my yoga to be calming and relaxing, and there was too much talking for this to be calming and relaxing. After reading the other comments, it is clear that this is a great class. However, I would have to argue that it is not for everyone.

I feel that I have been doing crunches wrong for a lifetime. This was helpful on so many levels; I even hope my daughter notices a difference in my posture by my using these principles.
Clearly described, this could be beneficial to anyone who is wanting to enhance their practice and improve back health. Thanks

Kim, this was FANTASTIC! A wonderful inro to pilates. I'll be doing this a least a couple of more times. Thank You!

This class really promotes awareness of essential muscles that we usually neglect when we exercise!

Aside from the fact that it does have a slight gender bias, I feel that this video is a great introduction to the world of Pilates.
Below is a paraphrased summary of the five principles and what Kim Wilson mentioned.
Feel free to correct me where I'm wrong or may have missed out on anything important.
Hope that this will help those who need it.

1. Lateral Breathing
- Engage the deep core muscles, pelvic floor.
- Breathe to expand chest and abdominals laterally.
- Purse lips while exhaling to engage core.

2. Neutral Hips
- Midway between flat lower spine and fully tense lower back.
- Engage pelvic floor and transverse abdominals (deep core) to stabilise.

3. Ribcage Engagement
- Ribcage stabilises and protects thoracic spine (mid-spine).
- Engage ribcage during arm-raising activities by preventing the ribcage from popping-up.

4. Scapular Retraction
- Neutral Position at midway between fully extending arms forward and fully retracting shoulder blades.
- Relaxes upper traps, increases engagement of lower traps.
- Opens up chest, expands body laterally through collar bone.

5. Cervical Placement
- Tuck chin until eyesight perpendicular to body, imagine string pulling from top of skull.
- Protects the neck, prevents over-engagement during activities such as crunches.

In 2011-2012 I practiced Pilates consistently for over a year. Then a wedding, a move across town and a whole new life put me out of my regular routine and left me searching for a new Pilates studio. Out of practice for the past year, I've returned to Pilates and found this video. Though I was introduced to the five principles previously, I learned some new things from Kim about the positioning of my body in various exercises. Her description of the bungy cords pulling on the hip bones "clicked" with me and I was able to engage my muscles more effectively. Her explanations, instructions and examples are easy to follow and clear. Thanks, Kim!

This video seems like it can help you greatly improve your posture, and it is vital to learn this in order to reduce the likelihood of injury while doing yoga. (Not to mention, tucking your gut in makes you look skinnier!)

As a complete newbie, I selected this video for an intro. While I enjoyed Kim's instruction, I also noticed she seemed to assume that her audience was entirely female given her anatomical references. It left me wondering if (a) Pilates is only for women, or (b) if this focus is missing from the description.

I love the clear, straight-forward instruction in this video. These five principles are hard to master, but Kim's teaching makes them much easier to understand.