The Tuff Stuff

Pilates develops the strength, endurance, and resilience that defines toughness. So even if it isn't something you set out to gain from your mind/body practice, it's probably happening. Find out how our own Expert, Joan Blum, applies the toughness in her practice to improving her life.

“When the going gets tough, the tough get going” has meant different things to me in my lifetime. When I was younger, being tough meant pretending to be strong and faking it until I "made" it. Recently, after tripping over my cat in the middle of the night and fracturing my forearm, the expression has taken on a much greater meaning.

Two years ago, while out on a walk, I was involved in a freak accident that left me with a severe fracture of my left forearm, requiring multiple surgeries and a lengthy recovery. This recent fall, which resulted in a fracture of my right forearm, was completely unexpected and had a profound effect on my ego, self-esteem, and confidence. While in the emergency room, my feelings of shame, self-disgust, and embarrassment caused me more pain than the broken bone itself. In my current condition, I find myself asking, “What does it mean to be tough?”

Simply showing up for life—for my Pilates teaching and practice, and for my family—with a broken arm feels tough enough in all the right ways. I still feel some lingering embarrassment and shame, but I have decided to be bold, move forward, and embrace being human, with all the unpredictability that it entails. To me, that feels tough enough on its own.

In our Pilates practice, when mental or physical fatigue sets in, I find it helps to deepen my self-awareness and remain mindful and energized. I've learned that removing the internal pressure to do things perfectly is crucial. Putting my best self forward with relaxed determination and focused energy, is what being “tough” is all about.

In the face of struggle, self-doubt, or fatigue, it takes toughness to deliver your best nonetheless. Connect with your body, stay positive, trust yourself, and access the strength, endurance and resilience within you. Difficult times will inevitably arise in our lives and in our practice, but we have a choice: Whether wrestling with an evolving Pilates practice or facing the challenges of a broken arm, striving toward the best version of yourself is the stuff that tuff is made of.