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!

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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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What is Pelvic Yoga Therapy?

by Cheri Dostal Ryba, C-IAYT 

I suspect by now many of us have heard that kegels may exacerbate symptoms for some people, and can have limited benefit for others. Pelvic health, like any health or fitness pursuit, requires a dynamic, whole body and whole person approach to creating a lifestyle that both minimizes symptoms and supports healing and thriving. No ‘correct posture’, ‘best’ exercise, or one cookie cutter approach can possibly meet the varied demands of daily life, our psychoemotional fluctuations, and the ever-evolving needs at different seasons in a woman’s cycle and lifespan. Yoga therapy represents a customized, integrative, and collaborative approach to healthcare and wellbeing that respects the complexity of the individual.

Pelvic yoga therapy, put simply, utilizes this comprehensive, therapeutic approach to yoga to improve someone’s pelvic embodiment and function.

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Acupuncture Without Needles?

I have spent a lot of time developing my technique with an acupuncture needle. First as a practitioner of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and then as a teacher of needle technique, and now as the author of The Living Needle, a book on the subject. I have a lot of friends who aren’t acupuncturists that ask me if there is anything in all that work for them, other than just getting treatments from me. The answer is a resounding yes! While the needle is certainly the most well-known tool of the TCM practitioner and a very useful one as well, it is not the most important thing at my disposal, or even completely necessary to my trade.

As I discuss in The Living Needle, what is most important is that the body is engaged, and not simply engaged in a passive way, but really meaningfully engaged. This can be accomplished with or without a needle. While it is wonderful to be able to make direct contact with the deeper tissues, the fact that is so often forgotten by providers and patients alike is that all the body’s tissues are interconnected into one vast network. This means that contact with any tissue will necessarily affect all the others. Because of this, as any good massage therapist knows fingers can be just as powerful as needles. This reality is perfectly clear not only in massage, but in trigger point therapy and any number of other manual techniques using nothing more than a finger or an external tool to create pressure.

Am I suggesting that you don’t need to see an acupuncturist? Not necessarily because there is a wealth of diagnostic and other skills we bring to the table, I’m just suggesting you might not be stuck waiting on your appointment to start seeing benefits. You don’t even have to go to a massage or physical therapist to start reaping some rewards (though in a lot of cases you should go see them too). What I’m suggesting more than anything, is that your health and well-being are your business first and there are some simple tools and tricks close to hand that you can start using right now!

All around your house are implements that you can bring to bear on your aches, pains, and even internal medicine issues; from the handle of a spoon, to a toothpick, or a rolling pin, almost anything can be used to apply targeted pressure to the body. And of course you always have fingers. Here are a couple specific things that you can try.

  • Digestive Rolling: Get a round implement, a dough roller, stiff cardboard tube, or even the side of a pencil. Find the front edge of your shin bone just under your knee. Place the tool just below the knee and about half an inch outside the edge of your shin bone. It shouldn’t be pressing on the bone, but it should be pretty close. From here, with strong pressure (it shouldn’t be painful, but you should know you’re doing it) roll whatever you’re using down the front of your leg to your ankle. Come back to the start and do it again. Roll down nine times and then do the other leg. This area of the body has a strong effect on the digestion and rolling it like this will bolster stomach function and up-regulate peristalsis. This is a big deal, because with the chronic stress most of us live under our digestive system is underfunctioning most of the time, and chronic underfunction in the digestive system can lead to all sorts of long term illnesses!
  • Morning Wake-Up Call: Get that same item you used to roll your shin and put it on the floor. You’re going to sit down and put your foot on it so that the inside edge of your foot, just behind your big toe is pressing against it. Put some pressure on it and roll it back and forth from just behind the big toe to the heel, keeping the pressure focused mostly on the inside edge of the foot. This will again stimulate digestive function, but will also help with adrenal function and cortisol, which can help you feel brighter eyed on those draggy mornings!
  • Stress Buster: Feeling stressed? Especially that kind of stress where it feels like someone is squeezing the middle of your chest and refuses to let go? Grab the handle of a spoon or a toothpick if you like a little bit of a sharper sensation, or even just use your finger if you don’t have anything else close to hand. On the underside of your wrist, find the two tendons that run down from your hand. About an inch and a half below the crease of your wrist you’ll find a little tender spot between those two tendons. Press and hold there, making little counter-clockwise circles. On the top of your foot, between the bones behind the big and second toe, slide back toward the top of your foot until you feel where those bones almost meet and then move back toward your toes just a little. You should find another tender spot there where you can repeat the same procedure. While you’re rubbing either of these spots try to slow your breathing down and take nice long breaths. Within a minute or two you should feel a lot better!

The most important thing to remember with any of this is that the real treatment, the fundamental improvement isn’t about the tool that you use, it’s about the meaningful engagement with the body. Most of us live a life where we are largely separated from our bodies as far as awareness goes. The adage I often share with students and patients alike is that most of us don’t know we have feet until we stub our toe. So while you’re doing any of these practices, really get involved. Don’t simply poke away at the body while you make a mental grocery list of other things you have to do. Be aware of the sensations you feel under your fingers and in your tissues. After all, it’s your body, you might as well get to know it!

This more than anything is the real art to medicine, the ability to actively connect with a body and respond to it in the moment. This is also where real health lives. If you want to learn more about engaging the body feel free to pick up The Living Needle: Modern Acupuncture Technique.

 

Justin Phillips, LAc teaches needle technique and advanced needle technique at AOMA. He also runs a private acupuncture practice in Texas. His new book, The Living Needle: Modern Acupuncture Technique explains the fundamental principles of the art of needle technique for acupuncturists.