What is IMPRINTING in Pilates?

Image with text on the left side: "Volume 2 examines locomotor system health conditions, including scoliosis, kyphosis, and more, illustrating in detail how movement sequences improve gait, balance, and quality of life."
The text on the right side: "Dr. Suzanne Clements Martin | Chapter 1 
Pilates and Spinal Asymmetry: Effect on Gait"

This blog post was written by Dr. Suzanne Clements Martin, contributor to “Chapter 1: Pilates and Spinal Asymmetry: Effect on Gait” in Pilates Applications for Health Conditions Volume 2. This blog post originally appeared in Pilates Intel.

Imprinting is a beloved term used in Pilates

Attributed to our Elder Eve Gentry, imprinting is a subtle action involved with detailed movements of the vertebra in a supine position, where the imprinted motion seeks to “release” the individual vertebrae. In physical therapy terms, it would be called an anterior-posterior Grade 1 or 4 self-mobilization. Contemporary-minded Pilates allows liberty for interpretation. While mobilizing vertebral bones is one way of using the term imprinting, may I suggest others?

Fascia’s Importance

It is no secret that the fascia world concepts have inundated the field of Pilates, yoga, and exercise in general. How fortunate this age is to have new and exciting ways to look at not just fascial anatomy, but actual fascial movement, its connecting impact and coordination with the sensory and psychological self. Already being an advanced mover starting the journey over 25 years ago in cadaver studies, the glaring observation was how abundant the fascia was/is throughout a body, not just humans. Curiosity of fascia’s importance through observation of the outrageous amount of back-up tissue for infrastructure was immensely reassuring for my world, the mover population.

Thanks to interested surgeons, researchers, along with popular anatomists, a clearer, working knowledge of the structure, form, and function continues to emerge.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the actual skin, our first line of imprint, acknowledges both internal and external sensory nerve pressures that have direct influence all the way into our bones. Bones are not rocks, but actual organized living groups of cells. The fascial layers, beginning with skin, abut and connect layer after fascial layer to eventually continue into periosteum, the fascial lining of bone. What happens on the surface impacts the bones, and bones create functional motion from the gentle rotations of individual ribs to create breathe to the large motion excursion of the legs in Leg Circles on the Reformer.

Fascia has a basic organizational characteristic known as bio-tensegrity, a term gaining increasing popularity. What does it mean? The word breaks down to biologic tensional integrity, meaning tensioning connective tissue holds our bodies together instead of an architectural building block model. The tension is adjusted by our nervous system in a process called proprioception. Proprioception is the brain’s perception of where it is in space. Kinesthesia is the body understanding when and how it is moving. Functional joint stabilization occurs as a result of these two occurring during motion. (Panjabi, 1997)

The tensioning of the connective tissue of fascia gives what is called force closure of the joints, in particular the pelvic joints, which help to maintain verticality. Force closure helps so many of us that are more flexible, do not have perfect joints (as in spinal asymmetry or arthritis), or that have had babies, injuries, or accidents, in other words, most of the population.

Fascial-Oriented Pilates Applications

As a long-time fascial manual therapist, I’ve incorporated the principles of fascial decompression and manipulation to my courses. Imprinting can be applied in both decompressive and manipulative ways in our work.

My courses are now all fascial-oriented Pilates applications. Self-touch, the original tactile cue, is the first form of imprint. One of my favorite exercises is the Sternal Mobilization. It helps those who have had chest wall surgery as in breast cancer, those with spinal asymmetry or scoliosis, or clients suffering from post-COVID or other breathing issues. When stiffness occurs in either the internal or external chest wall, shoulder motions become limited as well as breathing and is often accompanied by pain. These mat exercises will help Reformer exercises such as the Hundreds, Stomach Massage and Mermaid to be more balanced and effective.

With the client in a supine position, with the calves resting upon a Short Box, instruct them to place the thumbs into the armpits, touch their 3rd fingers together, place the fingers upon the sternum, and then release the thumbs. The fingers are now on a safe position of the sternum. The sternum has 3 bones: the manubrium, the gladiolus and the xiphoid. It is best to avoid the lowest bone of the xiphoid due to the ease of displacement.

Inhale, feel the sternum rise against the skin of the fingers. Then exhale, feel the bones descend and at the bottom, gently imprint the fingers three times (1-2-3), then release. Repeat several times. This motion affects the superficial fascia, the deep fascia and the internal rib cage fascia along with the fascial capsules of the lungs and heart. A modification for osteoporosis is to simply feel the finger weight and give no pressure at the bottom of the exhalation.

One-Lung Breathing

Another favorite is One-Lung Breathing created by our Elder Eve Gentry. The West Coast Baby Arc is my favorite tool for this one and is a usual beginning exercise for many of my sessions. This exercise helps re-shape the fascia of the trunk and is a great tool for clients with spinal asymmetry and cancer restoration.

Modify the neck and pelvic positions with towels and pillows as needed. Exert caution for those with osteoporosis. Modify by using only pillows underneath the ribs and minimize any pressure. Use only sensory tactile when in doubt. Position the client with the stiff rib cage side down toward the arc with the client’s chest at the height of the arc. Place two flat hands on the side of the ribs with extended fingers to avoid touching the breasts. Inhale, feel the ribs rise, then when the client exhales, let your hand weight give gentle pressure downwards. Repeat three times more and repeat to the other side.

Breath of Fire

The next one is the Breath of Fire, adapted from the yoga exercise. It is a stronger exercise that potentiates not only the excursion of the respiratory diagram but affects all the diaphragms (cranial, thoracic, respiratory and pelvic) by tensioning all internal fascial compartments. It works best if the client sits on a firm surface like a chair or the Trap Table.

Keep the lips closed throughout the entire sequence.

First practice posterior lateral breathing using the hands to mobilize the rib cage. Inhale, expand the cage. Exhale, give some pressure to the ribs. Practice a few times. Then practice the “percussive exhalation.” Exhale strongly deepening, imprinting, the soft tissue from the pubic symphysis to the navel. Hold it tense for four counts. Finally, practice repetitive percussive exhalations. Try not to inhale between them yet let the passive return from the exhalation happen naturally. Yes, it may not be perfect but try to keep going to number 20.

Next, put the whole sequence together: Posterior inhalation for four counts, exhale hour counts, then one percussive exhalation with a four -count hold, perform twenty exhalations. Start again to complete three cycles only, to end with normal breathing. Notice the excursion of your breath now!

***

Dr. Suzanne Clements Martin, DPT, founder of Pilates Therapeutics LLC, has been a pioneer in the international application of Pilates therapy. Her unique approach, which blends art with science, has been instrumental in her courses on spine health, women’s health, foot management, cancer recovery, and performing arts enhancement since 2002. Her practice is guided by the core values of integrity, growth, and artistry. An avid promoter of Pilates and Lifestyle Fitness, she authored 3 fitness books with Dorling Kindersley, and wrote wellness columns for Dance Magazine and Dance Studio Life (A Better You) for a decade. In addition to her recent publication, Spinal Asymmetry and Scoliosis, published by Handspring, she has contributed “Chapter 1: Pilates and Spinal Asymmetry: Effect on Gait” in Pilates Applications for Health Conditions Volume 2, which is co-edited by Elizabeth Larkam and Madeline Black, again with Handspring Publishing.

To further examine locomotor system health conditions, including scoliosis, kyphosis, hip joint dysfunction, diastasis recti abdominis, and congenital muscular torticollis, illustrating in detail how movement sequences improve gait, balance, efficiency, and quality of life, check out Pilates Applications for Health Conditions Volume 2: Locomotor System Conditions (Handspring 2025).

Learning to Feel Movement Thoroughly Is as Subtle as Learning to Taste Water

This blog post was written by Handspring author Sherry Brourman, author of From Bodily Knowledge to Intuitive Movement.

When it comes to sensing distinctions within our own movement, I believe natural human longing for safety coupled with our perfectionistic culture breeds a special self-conscious movement impatience. We’re compelled to know, to rush, to categorize, to perform—whether for others or ourselves—and all of this obstructs bodily presence and the self-awareness that comes with it.

Even the simple intention to shift into a calmer, slower gear—the state needed to take the time to truly feel movement can seem ambiguous or uncomfortably unfamiliar. Initially, just setting that intention may bring anxiety. This isn’t resistance to truth, a character flaw, or the absence of some innate ability that only some people have. Yet it appears and feels subtly defensive.

In over fifty years of observing, discussing, and guiding people toward greater movement sensitivity, I’ve come to believe that simple underexposure is the main barrier. Whether chemist or athlete, most people have had little experience with this kind of inner attention—and so we can grow shy, even to our own witness, much less someone else’s.


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Using Humidity Awareness to Create a Healthy Office during Cold, Flu and COVID-19 season

This blog post is written by Marybetts Sinclair, LMT, author of Hydrotherapy for Bodyworkers

The seasonal cycle of respiratory viral diseases has been recognized for thousands of years, as annual epidemics of the common cold and influenza disease hit the human population like clockwork in the winter season. Studies have long shown the effect of temperature and humidity on viruses’ survival and transmission to others.” -Immunologist J. Moriyama

“When someone with COVID-19 coughs inside a room with dry air, virus particles stay in the air and remain on surfaces longer, and go deeper into the body, which increases the risk of contracting a virus and the severity of the infection.” Engineer David Baird

The viruses that cause colds, flu and COVID-19 will thrive this winter partly because cooler temperatures cause us to be indoors more. As we crank up the heat to warm our offices and homes, the indoor air dries out, affecting your entire respiratory system.  The upper part of your respiratory system, including your throat and nose, is lined with moist membranes that capture dirt, dust, viruses and bacteria before they reach your lungs. Proper humidity levels help these membranes do their job. But if your home or office air is very dry, moisture is drawn from these membranes as well as many other parts of the body, and even the fluid that hydrates your bronchial tubes can quickly evaporate, making it easier for harmful particles to get into the sensitive areas of your lungs. Cilia do not work as well in dry conditions either, making it more difficult for them to pass virus and debris out of the lungs.

Signs you are breathing too much dry air include a scratchy sore throat that lasts for days, cracked lips, fingertips or heels, bloody noses, itching or flaking skin, chapped lips, even a feeling of tightness around joints. If you or one of your clients is contagious with a flu, cold, or COVID, even before that person even knows they are sick, dry air may help transmit it to the other person.

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“I feel my tension begin to melt away”: How water treatments increase the effectiveness of bodywork

Written by MaryBetts Sinclair, author of Hydrotherapy for Bodyworkers: Improving Outcomes with Water Therapies.

           In combination with skilled touch, water treatments are perhaps the very oldest and most revered of all healing modalities. Pain from injuries, issues from damaged muscles and joints, circulation problems, chronic tension, chronic pain and emotional stress have long inspired healers to relieve suffering this way.

From ancient Rome’s great baths to Russian saunas, Indian Ayurvedic steams, Native American sweat lodges, Turkish baths and Japanese hot springs, peoples the world over use and love hydrotherapy and massage together. In Germany, the warm waters of Baden-Baden have been used for over eight thousand years, and in Bath, England, for ten thousand. 2800 years ago, Irish sweat houses made of sod and stone were used for rheumatism.

As a bodywork student or practitioner, you may be wondering what is the advantage of adding water treatments to your skill set. Here’s how it can improve your effectiveness:

*** Like massage, hydrotherapy can relieve discomfort and pain, stimulate the flow of blood and lymph, and make connective tissues more pliable and comfortable to the touch.

***Hydrotherapy is soothing and stress-reducing. The ancients realized the effect depression and stress can have upon a person, and over centuries, chronic depression was called everything from gloom or melancholia to neurasthenia or dysthymia. In ancient Greece, while warriors bathed to reduce fatigue and promote wound healing, warm baths were also ordered to relieve “dejection and low spirits.”  The founder of modern psychiatry, Philippe Pinel, (1745-1826) recommended warm baths to calm “overwrought nerves.”

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Andrew McGonigle: 5 Reasons Why Lotus Might Not be for Your Hip

Andrew McGonigle has been studying anatomy for over twenty years, originally training to become a doctor and then moving away from Western medicine to become a yoga teacher, massage therapist and anatomy teacher. He combines all of his skills and experience to teach anatomy and physiology on Yoga Teacher Training courses internationally and runs his own online Anatomy and Physiology Applied to Yoga courses. His new book, Supporting Yoga Students with Common Injuries and Conditions, is out now. In this article, using our hip joints as an example, Andrew explains why yoga practice and what feels comfortable varies for each of us.

Have you ever wondered why certain yoga postures can feel so easeful in your body while others can feel like such a challenge?

Or why one person can sit cross-legged for hours having never practiced yoga and you still need to sit on four cushions after practicing yoga for years?

The short answer to this is that every body is entirely unique and will express a certain yoga pose in a completely unique way. There are also emotional, psychological and nervous system components that affect how much movement our joints make and the quality of that movement.

Let’s explore some of these factors using our hip joints as an example. Continue reading

Touch is Really Strange: An Interview with Steve Haines

Why can’t we tickle ourselves? How can slow touch convey more powerful emotions than fast touch? How does touch shape our perception of the world? In this short interview, Steve Haines – author of Singing Dragon’s best-selling Really Strange series – discusses the inspiration behind his new book, Touch is Really Strange

When did you start working on the book?

The idea for a book on touch has been around since 2019, but this was definitely a lockdown project. The Really Strange series has been huge fun and continues to get heart-warming feedback. There have been suggestions for books on Depression, Adverse Childhood Experiences, Grief or Breath.

Whilst I have some experience with clients with all those topics, I realised I have far more to say about touch. I use touch everyday in normal work life and teach 2-year courses on being skilful with touch.

What inspired the topic?

In my career I have undergone a paradigm shift in how I understand touch. Continue reading

Yoga Teaching Guides Introduced by Sian O’Neill

Yoga Teaching Guides

Singing Dragon’s Yoga Teaching Guides is a new series of books, launching in March 2021. Edited by Sian O’Neill and written by renowned experts in the field, the books in the series cover essential skills as well as providing inspiration for creative yoga teaching, both for the new and the experienced yoga teacher. In this short piece, hear from series editor Sian as she introduces some of the upcoming books and talks about her inspiration behind the series. Join our mailing list to be kept up to date with new releases!

As a yoga teacher, I’m always on the lookout for inspiration and ideas to help improve my classes for students and I have a feeling I am not alone. It can be challenging to come up with varied, interesting (and safe) classes week after week – so practical tips from highly experienced and inspiring teachers are always appreciated.

Sian O’Neill

Following the successful launch of the Yoga Teaching Handbook, it became clear that there is an interest among yoga teachers and trainees in practical tips to enrich their teaching. So, I was thrilled when Singing Dragon asked me to be editor for a new series aimed at yoga teachers, Yoga Teaching Guides, and we are delighted to be launching a series of volumes on topics ranging from supporting injured students; yoga and qigong; developing a home practice; the art of theming, and yoga and Ayurveda – with more to follow. Continue reading

Clouds Over Qingcheng Mountain: Posting Exercises to Try

Mount Qingcheng, one of China’s mystical mountains, has been the birth place of discovery, realization and preservation of the recipes that stimulate the deep potential of the human body for generations. Clouds Over Qingcheng Mountain, the follow-up book to Climbing the Steps to Qingcheng Mountain by Daoist master Wang Yun, simplifies the complex practices of Daoism handed down by generations of accomplished Masters – such as posting, breath practice and meditation – and gifts the reader with its most valuable aspects for a modern world.

In this extract, we share three simple posting exercises to incorporate into everyday life to promote the flow of qi and blood, boost the immune system and help relax the body.

Posting relaxation exercises

[Benefits of posting include: promoting the smooth flow of qi and blood, methodically harmonizing the breath, and clearing the channels of the entire body.]

Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, imagine a string hanging straight down from the upper dantian (near the pineal gland) to the huiyin point (the perineum), and landing on the floor between your two feet. Next, imagine your whole body as a bag of air, as if you were completely hollow. At the same time, relax your body; from the hair on your head down to the yongquan points at the bottom of the feet. Everything is totally empty, like a transparent crystal ball. Relax your body in this way and repeat the visualization three times. Continue reading

Clouds Over Qingcheng Mountain: Testimonials from Wang Yun’s Students

Immersing the mind with the concepts of the Daoist path of health and immortality, Clouds over Qingcheng Mountain – the new book by Daoist master Wang Yun – invokes the sacred birthplace of one of China’s mystical mountains that has stimulated both mind and body for generations.

Whilst the first volume, Climbing the Steps to Qingcheng Mountain, invited the reader to travel across time and through the history of China and Daoism, Clouds over Qingcheng Mountain is more focused in the book’s purpose. Wang Yun places special focus on relaxation and the breath through five sets of foundational yet all-encompassing practices, such as posting, to deepen both themes. He offers tales from his life and journey, along with accessible tools to strengthen both body and qi.

Bridging the gap between practical experience and philosophical background, Clouds over Qingcheng Mountain simplifies the complex practices of Daoism handed down by generations of accomplished Masters, and gifts the reader with its most valuable aspects for a modern world.

In these videos, students of Wang Yun give testimonials on the master’s teaching, and how they benefited from practising the exercises in the book on a regular basis.

 

Working with Death and Loss in Shiatsu Practice: Knowing What Ki Is

Tamsin Grainger has been a Zen Shiatsu practitioner since 1991 and is the co-founder of The Shiatsu School in Edinburgh, as well as being a prolific writer and teacher. Below, she gives a glimpse of what readers can expect from her new book, Working with Death and Loss in Shiatsu Practice.

Introduction

Working with Death and Loss in Shiatsu Practice is a guide to bodywork in palliative care. It looks at how Shiatsu practitioners sit with their clients when they are grieving, how they listen to the bereaved, what language they use at the end of life, and above all their touch.

Because Shiatsu practitioners can address and hold the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual aspects of clients at the same time, as a result of their deep training based on hands-on experience, they are supremely placed to practice in this arena. My book looks at all these levels and provides support for the practitioner who wants to be centred, open-hearted and well primed.

The book contains a wide range of useful and illuminating theory which has been collected together in one volume for the first time. It covers the dying process and the ideas which underly Shiatsu practice as it pertains to loss and palliative care. It looks at the traditional ideas as well as at current teaching, and supports and encourages each individual to find their own confidence.

Knowing what Ki is

Shiatsu practitioners are taught that Ki pervades everything, that everything is made of Ki. Though invisible in its purest form to most human eyes, it may be felt by clients and practitioners alike. Continue reading