Actress Emma Bates guest blogs on Pink Ribbon Pilates for rehabilitation of breast cancer patients
Thank you Emma!
Pilates is the “go to” exercise method for a large, and growing, number of Hollywood stars. Jamie Lee Curtis touts it as “the only thing that changed my body” and Jennifer Aniston says, “I’m a Pilates person. It’s great. I had a chronic back, a pinched nerve and a hip problem and it’s completely solved all of it. I love it. It makes me feel like I’m taller.”
But did you know that now Pilates is being used to rehabilitate women who are breast cancer survivors as well? October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month and I am excited to be guest blogging on Celebrity Diagnosis from Los Angeles to tell you all about the Pink Ribbon Program.
Doreen Puglisi is an exercise physiologist and Pilates teacher in New Jersey. While working with patients who were breast cancer survivors, Doreen saw a need to design a specific postoperative program for them. This need became even more pressing when she herself was diagnosed with breast cancer two years later and underwent a double mastectomy. Ultimately, this is what allowed her to design a program that she was able to test and revise using her own body as the gauge for effectiveness: “Pilates, itself, originated as a rehabilitation program. Based on its principles of proper alignment, stabilization, correct posture, improving flexibility and full range of motion without stressing the joints of the body, I believed it was a perfect fit for the rehabilitation of breast cancer patients.”
Not only was Doreen able to regain full range of motion herself with Pilates, but she was then able to use what she learned to start a certification program for other Pilates teachers and reach an even greater number of people. There are now over 200 certified Pink Ribbon Pilates instructors throughout the United States helping patients and hospitals navigate the transition between surgery and recovery. Check out the Pink Ribbon Program Postoperative Workout Enhancing Recovery for more info and to find an instructor near you.
Shape Magazine is also using Pilates to help raise awareness and funds for breast cancer this month with their Pilates for Pink program. Check out their site to find a class near you and join in to learn more about Pilates and help support an important cause.
My mother-in-law went through this program and it worked wonders for her. Thank you for sharing!
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jz:
I am so thrilled that your mother-in-law found help through the Pink Ribbon Program. Please invite her to send me an email of her experience.
Tanya Pier
Dir of Development
Pink Ribbon Program
[email protected]
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