Elephant
Elephant Nature Park and Sanctuary, Chiang Mai.
Northern Thailand
After witnessing the mistreatment and suffering of many elephants in the tourism industry, Lek the founder began providing medical aid to elephants in remote villages. In the 1990s, Lek started rescuing injured, neglected, and elderly elephants and established Elephant Nature Park in Northern Thailand in 2003 as a permanent homeland for them.
It was a magical morning meeting the elephants here. We enjoyed watching elephants be elephants. They were very playful and ate lots of food! Did you know nearly 80% of an elephant's day is spent feeding? The sanctuary offers the elephants a chance to live as natural a life as possible. Lunch was also without animal products which felt very in keeping with the ethos of this special place. The elephants physicality showed me how happy and calm they are as a species when treated well.
Observations and reflections
Asian elephants have a back that is rounded or arched. It is clear to me that Joseph Pilates observed asian elephants when naming the round back exercise ‘elephant’ which is performed on the reformer. It was amazing to see the strength of these creatures and it’s something I will try to emulate when performing this exercise on the machine.
It is said that Joe observed animals’ movement as inspiration both during his time at an internment camp in the Isle of Man and then later at the New York Zoo. This summer I worked with Amy Taylor Alpers who established The Pilates Center in 1990 in Boulder, Colorado with her sister Rachel. She (and her fantastic team) spoke of how Joe observed caged animals and how differently they move to those in the wild. In a way, he noticed that humans were more like caged animals than wild ones.
Our bodies and physicality can be affected by modern day lifestyle and struggles. Pilates heals. I recommend the book Caged Lion: Joseph Pilates and His Legacy by John Howard Steel who explores Joe’s personal journey in more detail. Originally published in 2020.
In health,
Emily
