Pilates Contributes to the Joy of Everyday Living

Deborah Ricketts is a long time Pilates enthusiast who can be seen in many Pilates Anytime classes. In this blog, she shares an experience that made her feel vibrant and exhilarated. While it's great to be able to workout at home, it's also nice to get outside from time to time so you can clear your mind and reconnect with nature. Deborah shows how she connected her passion for Pilates to other mindful and spirited activities and how Pilates is always with her in everything she does.

One of my interests this year is to explore local hiking trails. That seems innocent enough, though many times trails that show on different maps have been abandoned over varying number of years for multiple reasons.

Sometimes the brush has obliterated any passage, and sometimes it takes varying degrees of bushwhacking to find the trail or to connect portions of the still existing trail. The unknown creates the adventure.

There is a historic trail that some highly motivated people are on a mission to reopen. From the west (Santa Barbara) it is called the Ocean View Trail and from the east (Ojai) it is called the Camino Cielo Trail. Several weeks ago I explored the western side and though cleared for barely over 1½ miles, the views were stunning. Last Sunday I decided to explore the trail clearing progress from the east side. There was the potential of rain in the afternoon and I also knew it would be a long day, so I started at 6:30 a.m. Hiking alone always requires a heightened sense of awareness and preparation, but the advantage is the freedom to move at my own pace - exploring and stopping to satisfy my own whims.

The trail starts at 740 feet elevation, and within a mile, it starts to climb. The temperature was 36 degrees at the start, but my pace quickly had me sequentially peeling off layers of clothing. The inevitable internal conversations slowly quiet themselves. The rhythm of my pace settles in and allows the freedom for my spirit to fully be in the moment, with nature, with my connection to the whole.

Three hours later I’m at the top of the ridge, 3,500 feet elevation. It seems like 5 minutes. The views in all directions make me feel, once again, that there is nowhere else I’d rather be. That’s when I know I’m where I belong - within myself and within the universe. All else that my human brain derails me with is simply not present.

I continue now west along the ridge with the joy of efficient movement. Another hour goes by, which again seems like 5 minutes. I hear chain saws, and I run into some of the heroic people who are intent on reopening the trail for the future enjoyment for all. I talk to their leader and find out this is not a burden or a duty. It is sheer joy and the accomplishment of this is its own reward. They are so excited to show off the ongoing event of their masterpiece. I tell them I am there to seek the end of the cleared trail. The leader gives me a hand-drawn working map and points me in the direction where some minimal passage has been cleared, hands me loppers, and asks that I go to the end and mark it. We are now partners. I get to paint on their canvas, our canvas.

I once again establish a cadence, further clearing the minimal opening. Efficiently, joyously, and seamlessly noting in the distance the scar of the old trail that awaits a reunion one day. Half an hour later (yet another 5 minutes), and I’m at the end of the clearance. It has the feel of home. Not to be forever, but to belong in the moment.

Reluctantly I mark it with a piece of yellow flagging tape. The storm is coming and I must turn back.

Retracing my steps, I reunite with the crew and return their loppers. In our temporary partnership they were happy to see me back safely. The temperature drops perceptibly and it is time for all of us to head out before the storm hits.

Hiking back has more of a sense of urgency. Thoughts and concerns slowly work their way back to the forebrain. Friends who know I am out alone begin to text me to make sure I’m safe. Three hours later I’m back to the trail head – eight hours from when I started – a long, satisfying day. My body and soul are fulfilled.

Many people wonder about my fascination with Pilates. I notice it has become an integral part of the fabric of my being. The work is my constant partner - it contributes to the joy of everyday living with this body of mine.

I check my GPS - 15.1 miles! I turned 60 two months ago. Life is good.