What is Contrology

By Daniela Escobar & Francine Rodrigues

We get this question almost everyday. You see printed on our t-shirts, the name of our classes and even the name of the apparatus we have in the studio. Then we realize that even though we, Pilates instructors, know the history behind the name, our clients don’t. So here we go… 

Most people are not aware that this method of physical conditioning we all practice, that we now know simply as “Pilates”, was invented by a man called Joseph Hubertus Pilates, who immigrated from Germany to the U.S. in 1926. You’ve all seen many pictures of him throughout the studio. The interesting thing is that when Joseph Pilates was alive, he didn’t call his method by his name. He called it Contrology.

The Contrology system of exercises was heavily inspired by Ancient Greek culture, which highlights the mind through its philosophy authors and the body through the psychical culture seen not only in the creation of the Olympic Games but the famous Greek sculptures of uniformly developed bodies. However, Joseph Pilates realized that in our modern times, there was a huge disconnect between our minds and bodies. 

In his book “Return to Life through Contrology” originally published in 1945, he explains that Contrology is “the complete coordination of body, mind, and spirit.” where the mind and physical health are complementary to each other and work in harmony. He states that “Contrology develops the body uniformly, corrects wrong postures, restores physical vitality, invigorates the mind and elevates the spirit”. The control your body would acquire by practicing Contrology at least 4 times a week would help you not only with your everyday activities but also improve the performance in sports or any leisure activities.

What actually blows our minds every time we think about it, is that Joseph Pilates was way ahead of his time when he created his method. He started observing a world in which people only paid attention to their brains and left their bodies in second place. Especially because of their work demands, at the end of the day, people ended up with no energy to do the things they enjoyed and he was a big proponent that everyone should enjoy life no matter how: going hiking, playing golf, having dinner with their friends or having the time to read a good book. Therefore, the practice of Contrology or Pilates as we know it now, would prepare our minds and bodies to perform daily activities with ease and it would still leave us energized to enjoy life as a whole and ultimately return to life. 

So keep moving and enjoy life!