31 Days of Movement Successfully Completed
March Matness Pilates Challenge
March MATness brought a wide variety of mat exercises into focus—many that don’t always appear in a regular routine.
A Look Back at March MATness
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March MATness also brought a sense of community to the practice, connecting Pilates enthusiasts, instructors, and studios around the world through a shared experience. Over 31 days of movement in the month of March, each day highlighted a specific exercise from Joseph Pilates’ classical mat sequence. Whether you completed every day or just joined in when you could, this past month offered a meaningful opportunity to move through the full repertoire, build consistency, and gain inspiration from seeing how others interpreted and performed the same exercises.
Each year is a reminder of how challenging Joseph Pilates’ original matwork can be. Many of the most demanding exercises were born on the mat, offering opportunities to build strength, control, and deeper connections within the Pilates repertoire. You may have even discovered a new—or renewed—favorite. Personally, I always find myself coming back to the prone series.
Retain Your March Matwork Gains!
We all love the mixed apparatus -especially the Reformer- in our Club Pilates group classes. But did you know that matwork was the foundation of Joseph’s “Contrology” exercise program? Some Reformer and Springboard/Cadillac exercises were actually designed to improve your matwork. I know that you feel extra challenges with the spring tension as you do mat inspired moves in Reformer classes but sometimes the springs “assist” versus “resist” the action.
Why Matwork Matters
Many of the original Pilates clientele would do their apparatus work in the studio with the instructors and the mat was their homework between sessions.
Keep up the great work and continue building stronger mind-body connections by practicing mat Pilates most days. It takes about 21 days to make (or break) a habit -did you find yourself falling in love with matwork?
Do you attend group classes every day? If so, that’s fantastic! If not, here are some simple ways to incorporate Pilates daily:
Written By: Cara Bonney
Every Day: Start with breath and posture. Add one movement in each spinal position (as appropriate): flexion, extension, lateral flexion, and rotation.
Monday – Start Strong: The Hundred (modify with head or legs down; progress to tabletop, 90°, or 45°).
Tuesday – Core Focus: Ab Series of 5: Single Leg Stretch, Double Leg Stretch, Scissors, Double Leg Lowers, Criss Cross (modify as needed, keep control over range).
Wednesday – Seated Work: Spine Stretch Forward, Spine Twist, Mermaid/Side Stretch, Saw.
Thursday – Side Body: Side-Lying Series: Leg lifts, clamshells, kicks, circles.
Friday – Extension Focus: Prone work to counter posture: Swimming, Swan, Single and Double Leg Kick.
Weekend – Full Body: Teaser or Roll-Up, Bird Dog, and a plank variation (or Leg Pull Front/Back).
Track Your Progress: Notice changes in strength, mobility, and control. Keep a journal or share your journey. All exercises can be modified or progressed—stay consistent with Contrology, and you’ll feel more in control of your body.
Don’t Roll Up Your Mat Yet!
Club Pilates Master Trainer
Cara is a Corporate Club Pilates Master Trainer and leader with over 20 years of teaching experience and a lifelong passion for fitness and Pilates. She plays an integral role in the Club Pilates Teacher Training Program, supporting both clients and developing instructors with clear, effective coaching.
Grounding Your Pilates Practice This April
Spring Into Strength
Spring reminds us of renewal, growth, and our relationship with the environment, while Pilates emphasizes connecting to your center—moving from the inside out with awareness of both your body and your surroundings.
In the midst of busy schedules, routine patterns, and moments of disconnection, it’s easy to move through life on autopilot. Spring offers an opportunity to pause, check in, and recalibrate. Practicing movements that promote a sense of grounding can enhance stability and help reduce unnecessary tension.
Spring and Reconnection
It’s easy to just move, but moving with intention is where real awareness begins. This is how you reconnect not only to your body, but also to your surroundings.
Consider which movements make you feel grounded. As you focus on your breath, what do you notice? Asking these questions can help initiate the reset your body may be needing.
And with that in mind, here are 5 grounding Pilates exercises to get started
Breath is a powerful place to start. It’s always accessible—whether you’re lying down, sitting, driving, or walking. Taking this first step can open the door to deeper connections within the body.
A grounding move can be defined as “any intentional movement that helps you feel physically stable, centered, and connected to your body and the surface beneath you.”
Take a Moment to Reflect
Building strong roots in your practice sets the foundation not only for more advanced movements, but also for carrying these principles into every day life. Like the flowers of spring, growth begins with strong roots.
Why Grounding Movements Matter in Pilates
What It Helps With: Finding stability in the spine; provides help with learning dissociation of pelvis from the other parts of the body.
Exercise #1: Pelvis Rocks
How to Do It: Lay down on your back with the feet flat, knees bent, at hip distance apart. Roll or tilt the pelvis under. Think about gently pressing your lower back into the floor. Then release back to the starting position (neutral spine). Focus on utilizing the abdominal muscles to tilt the pelvis, and not the glutes. Repeat 8-10 times.
What It Helps With: Finding a posterior tilt of the pelvis to go into a c-curve of the spine. This will help with finding those deep abdominal muscles. It is a nice prep for doing full roll ups, or exercises that require full flexion of the spine.
How to Do It: Lay down on your back with legs out long. Lift one leg toward the ceiling, but only as high as the pelvis does not tilt or move. Circle the leg in one direction 6-8 times, and then reverse the direction. Be sure that the hips stay quiet as the leg moves. Best Practice: bend the stable leg instead of keeping it straight on the mat if there is any discomfort in the lower back.
Exercise #3: One Leg Circle
What It Helps With: Builds strength in the thigh muscles and hip flexors, muscles that we need and utilize in every day life.
How to Do It: Sit tall with the knees bent, feet flat on the floor at hip distance apart. Hold onto the backs of the thighs for more support, or reach the arms out in front at shoulder height for more of a stability challenge. Tilt the pelvis and roll back until the lower back (lumbar spine) is curved, and then return to sit up tall. Best Practice: Sit on something like a block, or even a chair to help with tight hip flexors.
Exercise #2: Half Roll Back
What It Helps With: Finding the extension of the spine is important because typically the muscles that go along the spine are tight and weak. It also helps to open up the airway and feel an openness across the front of the chest as you lift away from the mat.
How to Do It: Lay on your stomach with the feet and legs together. Hands will be slightly in front of and wider than shoulders. Initiate from the top of the head, and start to lift the chest off the mat by gently pressing into the hands. Be sure to keep the hips down on the mat, and be careful of “crunching” into the low back. Best Practice: If feeling low back discomfort, separate the legs and turn them out, and you can also walk the hands further forward.
Exercise #4: Swan
What It Helps With: Bringing awareness to the body in a neutral position with a different body placement. Can also help with finding shoulder stability and abdominal activation and control.
How to Do It: Start on your hands and knees. Be sure that the hands are under the shoulders, and the knees are under the hips. The spine should be neutral without any over arching or tucking of the low back or pelvis. Extend one arm over the head and the opposite leg out behind you. You can repeat this on the same side, or alternate sides. Focus on minimal shifting in the body as you switch sides, as well as maintaining a neutral and stable spine and shoulders. Best Practice: You can do the arms only, or the legs only.
Exercise #5: Quadruped (Bird Dog)
Progress in Pilates is built on a strong foundation, guided by intention and awareness.
Closing Reflections
Spring is a natural time to focus on growth—a chance to reset and redirect your energy inward so it can be expressed more effectively outward. Let each breath ground you, each movement center you, and every moment of awareness become the foundation for how you move through your practice—and your life.
Written By: Laressa Mems
Club Pilates Master Trainer
Laressa Mems is a Detroit-based Club Pilates Master Trainer educator with a strong foundation in movement and instruction with a pending Masters Degree in Applied Exercise Science. She is deeply committed to mentorship and education, leading multiple teacher training programs each year with consistently strong outcomes. Known for her attentive and adaptive teaching style, she creates inclusive, supportive environments where clients and instructors alike feel empowered, informed, and confident in their movement.
Spring Into Your Pilates Personality
Spring Pilates Quiz
With a focus on injury prevention and special populations, Cara leads dynamic group classes with thoughtful modifications and progressions to ensure every client feels supported and successful. Having taught at Club Pilates studios across Texas and Florida for nearly a decade, she continues to inspire clients to build strength, connection, and confidence through Pilates.