Pilates Soulful Sunday: Keep It Simple

Woman sitting by a window, reflecting quietly with calm, thoughtful expression and soft light.

Sometimes we take the simplest thing and twist it into something unrecognisable. A movement, a thought, a plan. We overthink. We add layers that don’t need to be there. In Pilates, it shows up when we keep adjusting, tweaking, and analysing instead of breathing and moving.

Other times, we face something complex and, instead of letting it overwhelm us, we simplify. A client arrives with multiple injuries, stress, and a long story. We strip it back. We focus on one thing that helps them today. The rest can wait.

In life, it’s the same.

• We make decisions harder by asking too many opinions.

• We complicate relationships by expecting people to read our minds.

• We waste energy managing chaos that would shrink if we stopped feeding it.

And yet, humans seem to enjoy playing with complication. It gives us something to do. It keeps us feeling important. We convince ourselves that the harder it looks, the more valuable it must be. But simplicity often holds the real wisdom.

In Pilates, the most profound movements are often the most basic ones. The roll down. The breath. The pause before the next repetition. In life, it’s similar. Eat well. Move daily. Sleep enough. Be kind. Listen.

Maybe today’s work is to stop dressing simplicity up as something less. Make things simple again. Because simple isn’t lazy or basic. Simple is clear, direct, and powerful.