The Language of the Body
The body generates information as it moves. Some of this information is processed without our noticing.
You don't have to consciously track which foot carries your weight, how your ribs expand as you breathe, or where a movement begins. Your body keeps coordinating these processes.
The Language of the Body isn't about gestures or facial expressions. It's about this information, and learning to notice and understand it. You won't find exercise lists here: first how the body works, then how Pilates approaches it. The rest is something you'll discover in your own body.
BODY AWARENESS
Noticing
With your eyes closed, you still know where your hand is. You don't need to see it.
In the body.
This sense is called proprioception: it lets you perceive your body's position and movement. The receptors involved are found in the skin, muscles and joints. The sensation of effort, however, comes from central signals associated with the motor commands that initiate movement. Another sense picks up signals from inside the body: interoception, such as feeling your heartbeat or breath. Not all of this reaches awareness.
Body awareness isn't defined the same way by everyone. In one account, it's the part you're able to notice, shaped by your attention, interpretations and beliefs.
In Pilates.
Pilates research describes the method as a mind–body exercise involving attention to muscle control, posture and breathing. That's the method's approach, not a fact of anatomy.
Notice.
Which part of your body can you feel most clearly right now?
POSTURE AND THE SPINE
Standing
Posture is less a fixed shape to find and hold than something the body continually adjusts.
In the body.
Seen from the side, the adult spine has four curves: neck (cervical), upper back (thoracic), lower back (lumbar), and the curve formed by the sacrum and coccyx (sacrococcygeal). The thoracic and sacrococcygeal curves form before birth. The cervical develops as a baby starts to hold up their head, the lumbar as a child begins to stand and walk. Together they help the spine stay strong and flexible and absorb shock under load.
Even in a posture that looks still, your muscles keep working a little. The shape of the lumbar curve also varies from person to person, even among people with no spinal symptoms.
Here, we approach posture not as one ideal shape, but through the body's ability to adapt to different positions and change them when needed.
In Pilates.
Posture comes up often in Pilates, though teaching language can vary. As described in a review of Pilates literature, "imprint" involves engaging the abdominal and buttock muscles together and tilting the pelvis back to flatten the spine, while "neutral spine" refers to maintaining the spine's natural curves. These are concepts used in particular teaching contexts, not universal Pilates or anatomical rules.
Notice.
When did you settle into the posture you're in now?
BREATH AND MOVEMENT
Breathing
Breathing carries on without thought, yet you can direct it whenever you choose.
In the body.
As you breathe in quietly, the diaphragm contracts and moves down, while the external intercostals, muscles between the ribs, lift the ribs up and out. The chest expands and air flows in. As you breathe out quietly, these muscles relax and the lungs' recoil sends the air out. A forceful breath out also uses the abdominal muscles.
In Pilates.
"Lateral breathing" is a breathing pattern that focuses on the ribs widening sideways as you inhale.
Notice.
Which part of your body moved first with this breath?
CENTRE, BALANCE AND COORDINATION
Staying balanced
Even when you think you're standing perfectly still, your body keeps making small corrections.
In the body.
Three main systems detect this sway: vision, the vestibular system in the inner ear, and proprioception. The body combines their signals into the small muscle responses that keep you upright.
In Pilates.
"Centre" and "powerhouse" are Pilates teaching concepts, not anatomical structures with fixed limits. Their boundaries vary between accounts: a band below the navel in one, the area from the pelvic floor to the ribcage in another.
Notice.
How often does your weight shift while you stand waiting?
EVERYDAY MOVEMENT
Through the day
This information isn't produced only during exercise. Ordinary moments speak the same language.
Sitting. Sitting isn't entirely still either. Your weight drifts to one side, your back meets the chair and leaves it, a foot changes place.
Walking. The rhythm of your steps, the swing of your arms, your breath. Some of it carries on by itself, and you notice it once you pay attention.
Picking something up. Your eyes find the object, your weight shifts, your trunk and arms come into play. Here too, you can notice how the parts of your body work together.
Notice.
Where did the most ordinary movement of your day begin?
Reading on
The Language of the Body isn't a programme. It's a way of reading.
This page offers general information and doesn't replace a medical assessment. If you have pain or a health concern, talk to a health professional.
Sources
Anatomy and physiology
- OpenStax. Anatomy and Physiology 2e. 7.3 The Vertebral Column.
- OpenStax. Anatomy and Physiology 2e. 14.1 Sensory Perception.
- OpenStax. Anatomy and Physiology 2e. 22.3 The Process of Breathing.
Sensing and awareness
- Proske U, Gandevia SC. The proprioceptive senses: their roles in signaling body shape, body position and movement, and muscle force. Physiol Rev. 2012;92(4):1651–97.
- Kaya D, Akseki D, Doral MN. Patellofemoral sorunlarda propriyosepsiyonun rolü. TOTBİD Dergisi. 2012;11(4):269–73.
- Khalsa SS, et al. Interoception and Mental Health: A Roadmap. Biol Psychiatry Cogn Neurosci Neuroimaging. 2018;3(6):501–13.
- Mehling WE, et al. Body Awareness: Construct and Self-Report Measures. PLoS ONE. 2009;4(5):e5614.
- Onat M, et al. Gençlerde Çok Boyutlu İnteroseptif Farkındalık Değerlendirmesinin Türkçe Geçerlik ve Güvenilirliği. Arch Neuropsychiatry. 2025;62:164–71.
Posture and balance
- Ivanenko Y, Gurfinkel VS. Human Postural Control. Front Neurosci. 2018;12:171.
- Roussouly P, et al. Classification of the normal variation in the sagittal alignment of the human lumbar spine and pelvis in the standing position. Spine. 2005;30(3):346–53.
- Peterka RJ. Sensorimotor integration in human postural control. J Neurophysiol. 2002;88(3):1097–118.
Pilates
- Wells C, Kolt GS, Bialocerkowski A. Defining Pilates exercise: A systematic review. Complement Ther Med. 2012;20:253–62.
- Muscolino JE, Cipriani S. Pilates and the "powerhouse"—I. J Bodyw Mov Ther. 2004;8:15–24.
- Jesus LT, et al. Effects of the Pilates method on lung function, thoracoabdominal mobility and respiratory muscle strength. Fisioterapia e Pesquisa. 2015;22(3).
- IDEA Editorial Staff. Cuing Lateral Breathing. IDEA Health & Fitness Association; first published 2012, updated 2020.