In this episode of the Pilates Association Australia Podcast, host Bruce Hildebrand sits down with PAA President Robyn Rix to explore a question every instructor has seen play out in real life: why do clients often arrive feeling “heavy” and leave looking lighter, calmer, and more confident? Robyn shares the thinking behind her recent writing on posture and mood, introducing the concept of embodied cognition—the idea that our posture, movement and sensory input don’t just reflect how we feel, they actively shape it. In other words, the body is sending the brain a constant “status update” about safety, readiness and confidence, and Pilates can meaningfully change that feedback loop.
Bruce and Robyn then unpack the evidence in a grounded, teacher-friendly way, including research showing that people who maintain an upright posture during stressful tasks report better mood and self-esteem than those who are slumped—and that a collapsed posture can bias attention toward negative self-focus and even make negative memories easier to access. Robyn offers a simple, powerful demonstration instructors can try with clients: sit slumped and attempt to think happy thoughts, then sit tall and attempt to think sad thoughts—revealing just how tightly posture and emotional state can be coupled. Importantly, they avoid hype and keep the conversation evidence-informed, noting that popular “power posing” hormone claims haven’t held up consistently, and that the more reliable mechanisms sit in nervous system and respiratory changes.
The episode closes with clear, responsible application: Pilates is not positioned as a treatment for mental illness, but as a highly accessible and low-risk method that can support emotional regulation and resilience through physiology—especially breath mechanics, ribcage mobility, and parasympathetic support. Robyn also introduces interoception (the sense of internal body signals) as a missing piece in many client conversations, and suggests ways teachers can explain it simply while staying within scope. For instructors, the takeaway is both validating and practical: what you’ve observed for years is real, and with the right language you can articulate the deeper value of Pilates as movement education that supports holistic wellbeing—without overclaiming.
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