Joseph Pilates was born in Germany in 1880. His father was a gymnast of Greek origin and his mother German and a naturopath. Naturopaths believe in stimulating the body to heal itself. His mother’s healing philosophy probably influenced his view on and approach to exercise as we will see. In time Joseph came to believe that modern day life-style, poor posture and inefficient breathing were the root causes of poor health. He decided to answer these problems with a series of physical exercises to enhance and help correct muscular imbalances thus improving posture, coordination, balance, strength, flexibility and increase breathing capacity and organ function. In essence, restore the body to its original, healthy state.
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