Core Pilates Reflection Paper

Reflection #1
While taking this course, I have made many connections to my other courses here at
SLCC. One assignment that I recently did was a challenge about body weight and obesity. The
challenge was to improve how I view my own and/or others’ body weight. This assignment
reminded me of my Humanities class because in that course, from the beginning, we are taught
to try and look at life from different perspectives and have an open mind. I felt that making this
connection made me think about how many factors can influence something, and that I should
never make assumptions. Like everything else in this world, health and fitness should never be
looked at from one point of view. I also tried to take the idea of having an open mind in my
Humanities class and apply it to my Pilates class. Having an open mind made me excited and
feel positive about working out!
I also made a connection to my psychology class from last semester. In one unit, we
talked about mental health and how important it was. We went over ways to cope with stress
(which improves mental health), and working out and eating healthy were some techniques. This
made me think about how much better I felt about myself after working out and working on
health related personal goals. I felt quite content and stable with things, and relationships in my
life were improving.
I also took the assignments/challenges that were based around stress and tried to apply
those to my other classes. I had a pretty full schedule this semester which gave me a hefty
workload. I worked on taking the techniques and applying them to my other classes so I could
feel more in control and not overwhelmed while working on homework. I want to be able to
handle stress in a healthy way, so reminding myself to use them in stressful moments with school
was helpful.
On the topic of stress, I felt a lot of it in the previous semester (Fall 2019). Keeping up
with a new workload and life changes felt really overwhelming and like I couldn’t get through it.
I didn’t give myself enough self-care and let the stress take over. When I started taking my
Pilates Core course through SLCC, it helped me take my health into consideration. Although it
was a class where I still had to go and do assignments, I felt great going since I knew I was doing
something good for my body and mind. This semester, I tried to take my stressful experiences
from Fall and use those to figure out how I could make this semester more successful and
healthier (physically and mentally). Instead of dreading going to a workout class, I looked
forward to giving my body and mind some quality time to reset.

Reflection #2
Before this course, I never really thought about my health. Of course I knew the
importance of being healthy, but I rarely thought about changing my lifestyle any time soon. I
thought I would be a little bit older when I start thinking about my health and making healthier
choices. I also played Roller Derby for years and it was important to stay fit and healthy, but it
was never an idea that was enforced. I also had taken some health classes in jr. high/high school,
but it was always the same information that usually wasn’t 100% true.
After taking this course, I want to be more conscious about my health and make choices
that will benefit me and make me feel good about myself. I want to stop the bad habits, and start
the good ones while I can!

A lot of the misinformation I knew prior to this course was washed away because of the
great information in the readings. The information didn’t shy away from the consequences of bad
habits and busted myths that I believed to be healthy for years! I also appreciated the extra
reading sources (articles) that were from legitimate health websites. While doing the reading for
this class, and learning about health while in the class, I realized that health is more complicated
and complex and is different for everyone. For the assignments, I felt they were catered to
personal goals that made me excited to gain some new healthy habits. There were different ideas
and things to try which kept the challenges interesting.
 Before taking this course, I thought there was really only one way to achieve a healthy
lifestyle. With all of the readings, experiences through going to class and personal assignments, I
realized that a healthy lifestyle is different for everyone, and that I shouldn’t be discouraged if
mine is different from someone else's. I also learned to be patient and kind with myself on
working towards goals and do what fits my life best. All the new ideas and correct information
has influenced me to think about and prioritize my health. I’m going to try to make simple
changes like parking farther away and switching out white bread for wheat bread, and bigger
changes like working towards a healthier sleeping schedule. I loved learning the importance of
breathing and letting my mind take a break, and will definitely incorporate this into my life,
especially during stressful times!