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by
Colleen Craig
Tonight's class at the fitness center Ceron in
Udine, Italy, is for women only. I watch a group of
twenty-five graceful, middle-aged, Italian women
select a mat, a large ball, and two small balls -
one with a smooth surface, the other, a knobby ball.
I am here only to observe and the first indication
that I am in for something different is the music: a
mix between muted operatic and New Age. Enrico Ceron
adjusts the volume. On his head is a microphone set
used by many aerobic teachers around the world, but
this is no ordinary class. After a warm-up he leads
the women into a series of upper- and lower-body
strength moves using smooth baby-blue 9-inch balls.
My favorite are a series of sitting-on-the-ball
exercises for the abdominals and legs.
Then, when their muscles are straining, Enrico has
the women switch to the small knobby-surfaced balls.
The knobby balls have small spikes used to promote
blood circulation and get at tight muscles. His
voice softens and the women slowly roll and press
the spiky balls around their heads and necks and
down their limbs, enhancing sensations and
stimulating acupressure points. Many of the women's
eyes are closed. The release in their bodies is visible.
After more strengthening exercises, Ceron's class
ends with an unexpected twist. He dims the lights
and switches to honey-sweet flute music. The women,
accustomed to this finish, get into position. One
woman lies on her belly on the mat while a classmate
unhurriedly rolls the large ball from head to toe
over the back surface of her partner's body. She
draws one hand over the other, dexterously, as if
stroking an ancient instrument and not an air-filled
ball. Then the woman begins making tiny hypnotic
ball-taps, moving up and down, left and right, and
drawing circles and figure 8s on the back of the
prone body. As I watch, release traces a slow path
down my spine and into my belly.
The women change positions. My notebook is open but
I have forgotten to take a single note. I think to
myself: All this time I've taught ball classes and
yet I've never seen anything like this. Afterward I
find one woman who speaks English. "Do you come to
this class often?" I ask a dark-eyed, full bodied
Venus before she exits.
"As often as I can," she says with a smile, her eyes
soft with repose. "Relaxation is not negation, it is
not passivity," attests Mabel E. Todd, author of the
classic The Thinking Body. She reminds us
that in all living cells and systems, nature
provides two phases of bodily rhythm: work and rest.
One balances the other. Why push mercilessly through
a nonstop workout when utilizing a "rest and
activity rhythm" would conserve energy and create
pleasure in movement?
Just settling on the mat may be challenging for a
person who is overextended and used to being on the
run or always surrounded by others. You meet
yourself on the mat alone, with no distraction, and
you might not like what you see. Don't judge your
initial reactions: the more you become accustomed to
relaxing, the easier it will become.
A relaxation position or "breather" creates the mind
space needed to go quiet and listen to your body. In
a Pilates-based workout these relaxation positions
are built into the session. We momentarily pause
before each exercise, scan the body, and ensure that
we're in good alignment. This in not an opportunity
to let everything go and sprawl on your mat. In the
words of Mabel Todd: "Take hold of your bones softly
but do not let go of them."
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