Will Pilates Help My Posture?

Question: Will Pilates Help My Posture?

Answer: Many people fret over their posture. Conditions such as kyphosis or scoliosis often cause an unsightly appearance. More importantly, however, they cause pain, and in extreme cases decrease the functioning of lungs or other organs. Even if you don't have one of these conditions, you may be concerned about how you carry yourself and your appearance, especially as you age.

With its emphasis on whole body alignment and developing balanced strength in those muscles that keep you upright, Pilates can help you stand tall. It can also help reduce pain in people who stoop, hunch and/or have a hump on one side of their back.

There are a number of Pilates instructors who now specialize in scoliosis, having developed sophisticated techniques and equipment tailored to muscle imbalances associated with common posture problems. These techniques work on balancing the strength and flexibility of muscle groups in relation to one another. While that won’t reverse the adaptive changes occurring in the bones, it can reduce pain and positively affect how you feel, move and look. For many people, this is all that is needed.