MARCH MATNESS

It’s a month long Celebration!

Let me repeat myself…

MARCH MATNESS is a Celebration!

It's a month-long, awareness raising, global event shedding light on Joseph H. Pilates’ original 34 mat exercises.

The goal is to share in some form (photo, video, drawing, poem, etc.) one, and sometimes necessarily two, exercises a day for the whole month of March.

We begin with The 100 and end with The Pilates Push Ups.

March MATness was started in 2013 by Pilates teacher Benjamin Degenhardt with engagement growing each year. Here's a link to the full history.

I dabbled in the early years and have pretty much managed to post every day for the full month since 2018! #challenge accepted.

In 2020, because of various reasons (including putting our house on the market at the beginning of a global pandemic) I could only film a crazy 25 second time lapse video of all 34 exercises...on April 1st! Oh well, sometimes real life gets in the way and messes with our plans.

I teach AntiGravity Pilates and in 2019 decided to intersperse videos of the regular exercises with some in the hammock, here's my video compilation. (these were IG posts with no sound so I added a couple of groovy tracks which now upon re-listening maybe/definitely aren't so groovy??) - Cleo, Charlie, & Tish - the dogs and cat - also sometimes made their presence known.

 photo by Thomas M. Evans

Back to more pertinent info on March MATness... 

Generally every year there is a theme, for example 2021's was #thankyou Pilates and how it got us through the pandemic craziness of 2020. (how naive we all were at the beginning of 2021 thinking that the worst was behind us, right?)

In 2021 my “thank you” was not only to the Pilates Method for maintaining my body, my mental health and my livelihood, but also to my clients for staying or becoming connected to/with me that year. Through lock-down. Over Zoom. And through house sale and relocation.

I still thank the Pilates Method every day because it's given me so much.

Is it the be all and the end all?

Of course not, ultimately it's just an exercise system, but for me it's been the springboard to dive into my health and fitness, and to have a way to share that pathway with others.

Over the years other themes have been:

• #backtobasics
• #matstories
• #pushupmatness (i.e. how do we build to get to the last exercise)
• and from 2022, the theme for March MATness was #pilateshereandnow.

 This was from the March MATness official website that year and I really like the second paragraph:

"This year, our caption theme—sponsored by 360° Pilates—focuses on the relevance of the Pilates method TODAY. How does Pilates support you in your everyday life? How is something that was established many decades ago still working for us? What does Pilates look like for you, especially after having been somewhat limited to the Mat work for the past two years?

“Pilates here and now” is also an invitation to get real with the work… no need for filters, staging, rehearsing, or trying to make it look “good” (as if there was such a thing in Pilates)… instead, we want you to feel comfortable to share your practice and perspective in the real-est way possible." 

Photo by James Allen 

So how should you interact with March MATness?

Well, any way that suits you and your life.

You can:

- simply take inspiration from all the photos & videos that will be all over social media in March (not just mine, there’s a ton of content online)

- get down on your mat and give the daily exercise a go: you can follow along  @keeneforpilates on Instagram (Keene was my surname pre-marriage)

- join or rent a class: Live-stream & On Demand Classes 

- book a private Pilates session: Info Here

- check out my deep dives on many of the mat exercises. Here are just two: Rolling Back / Rolling Like A Ball & Spine Stretch

or...

- just move and breathe and breathe and move!! 😉

Here's a list of the 34 Exercises and how they're organised into the 31 days of March.

(If they're different, I've added the names I was taught along side the March Matness ones)

1st: The Hundred

2nd: The Roll Up

3rd: The Rollover

4th: The One Leg Circle (Single Leg Circle)

5th: Rolling Back (Rolling Like A Ball)

6th: The One Leg Stretch (Single Leg Stretch)

7th: The Double Leg Stretch

8th: The Spine Stretch

9th: Rocker With Open Legs (Open Leg Rocker)

10th: The Corkscrew

11th: The Saw

12th: The Swan-Dive

13th: The One Leg Kick (Single Leg Kick)

14th: The Double Kick (Double Leg Kick)

15th: The Neck Pull

16th: The Scissors / The Bicycle

17th: The Shoulder Bridge

18th: The Spine Twist

19th: The Jack Knife

20th: The Side Kick (Side Kick Series)

21st: The Teaser

22nd: The Hip Twist

23rd: Swimming

24th: The Leg Pull Front / The Leg Pull Back

25th: The Side Kick Kneeling

26th: The Side Bend

27th: The Boomerang

28th: The Seal / The Crab

29th: The Rocking

30th: The Control Balance

31st: The Push Up

More into the visuals?

Here are the photos from March MATness 2019 in composite form.  

FYI it’s a thing that I try to wear a different outfit every day and yes, that means that I have over 31 pairs of tights!!! (I live in them and some of them are decades old so don’t judge me, lol) 😉 It looks like I doubled up on days 6 & 27 but other than that, if I have on the same pair of tights, it’s the same day and is either a couple of views of the same exercise or a two exercise day. 

I hope this inspires you to check out March Matness a bit more deeply.

As always, be well,

x Bec

The information contained above is provided for information purposes only. The contents of this blog are not intended to amount to advice and Rebecca Forde disclaims all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on any of the contents of this post