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I do Pilates 3-4 times a week. 
It’s good for any body but this body, as it gets older, loves the focus on low-impact strengthening, balance and flexibility.
I like how it’s meditative but we’re constantly moving.
I get bored with yoga.
I like Pilates better.

Our instructor gives us cues of what to do. There is all kinds of equipment to help us with a variety of exercises.
The reformer is like a “bed” with a carriage that moves. It has straps and weights for resistance. That’s what I’m sitting on in this photo.

We also have something called the chair. Maybe because we sit on it a lot. 
We also lay on it and stand on it, depending on the cues from the instructor. 
It has a paddle we add weight to and push down on in more ways than I ever imagined.

We were laying on our bellies on the chair with our legs straight out like Superman. Our hands were in front of us pushing down on the paddle.
Our instructor said to raise up the paddle - but as we do, raise our upper body with it, keeping our legs straight.
As we started the move upward, our instructor then said, “Shine your heart.”

I got it immediately.
I understood what it might look like if I “shined my heart” in this exercise.
My chest was unimpeded and expansive. My shoulders were back. My neck was long. I was looking ahead. 
I was open. 
I could imagine light shining from my heart, touching those around me.

Shining my heart in Pilates is metaphorical. But I felt a physical change when I worked to create the image she gave with that cue.
And since then, I’ve had a mental change as well.
What does “shining my heart” look like in real life?
Who will that light touch?
How will I open myself more freely, more expansively?
What if I look ahead more? What will I see? How might I expand myself and shine my heart?

You might not be into Pilates.
But maybe you see what I saw when I heard the instruction to “shine your heart.”
It’s a life cue, not just a Pilates cue.
What might it look like for you?💙🌟