Pilates as Energetic Practice: Seasonal Wisdom and Embodied Flow

In both my Pilates teaching and my growing understanding of Chinese Medicine, I keep coming back to the idea that the body is a conversation—one that is constantly shaped by breath, intention, season, and spirit. This isn’t new, of course. Taoist practices have always been rooted in the belief that we are not separate from nature, but mirrors of it. And as I’ve spent more time integrating these frameworks, I’ve noticed how much richer and more intelligent my work with bodies becomes when I let it be part of that larger rhythm, instead of trying to force it into the rigid structure that we commonly do.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), each season corresponds to an element, a pair of organs, an emotion, and a movement of energy. Spring is the season of Wood—governed by the Liver and Gallbladder, which drive the upward and outward momentum of growth, decision-making, and direction.

Summer, by contrast, is ruled by Fire—the Heart and Pericardium—and it brings expansion, joy, warmth, and connection. When we move from one season into another, especially in that quiet threshold time like we are now entering, we have a powerful opportunity to align ourselves with what’s happening both outside and within.

This upcoming Pilates & Acupuncture workshop is designed to support exactly that shift. The Pilates portion is intentionally crafted to target the meridians of both spring and summer—Liver, Gallbladder, Heart, and Pericardium—not through isolated movements, but through breath-led, full-body sequences that stoke the Dan Tian and encourage the free flow of Qi.

In Taoist traditions, the Dan Tian is the energetic center of the body—often described as the "elixir field" or the womb space of vitality. In Pilates, we simply call it the core. Both systems understand it not just as a muscle group to strengthen, but as a source of power, balance, and generative energy. When we move from the Dan Tian, we move from center—not just physically, but energetically and emotionally as well.

The body, in both its physical and energetic forms, is not a series of parts but a living web. When we move with the intention of integration, we awaken relationships that span far beyond the local muscles we think we’re working. There is, for instance, the quiet tether of connection between the inner thighs and the lower abdominals—the fascial line that draws up through the pelvic floor into the Dan Tian, like a thread of Qi being pulled from the ground into the center.

Or the way the lateral and posterior arms—the triceps and rotator cuff muscles—feed into the latissimus dorsi, which then draw into the thoracolumbar fascia, wrapping around the spine and deep core. When one region is activated with awareness, it sends a pulse through this connective system, reminding the body of its wholeness. This is not just anatomical—it’s energetic. It’s a return to integrity, to flow, to the idea that movement is not about isolating but unifying.

This mirrors what acupuncture does. While Pilates works through movement and breath, acupuncture works through stillness and touch. After movement has warmed and opened the meridian pathways, acupuncture is used to deepen that opening, to restore calm, and to settle the nervous system. The points chosen during this workshop by Molly are intended to support the transition of spring into summer—clearing any stuckness from the Liver and Gallbladder channels while gently nourishing the Heart. The combination of movement and acupuncture isn’t just additive—it’s alchemical. One prepares the body to receive; the other helps it to integrate.

We’re not machines to be fixed. We’re ecosystems to be harmonized.

And like the seasons, our inner landscape is always shifting. There is wisdom in learning how to listen to that, how to move with it, and how to support the flow rather than fight it. This workshop is one small way of doing that—of pausing long enough to notice where we are, what we’ve been carrying, and what we’re ready to open into.

Whether you come to this practice through Pilates, acupuncture, or simply the desire to feel a little more grounded and a little more alive, my hope is that you’ll leave feeling reconnected to your own seasonal rhythm. It’s not about doing it perfectly. It’s about coming back into relationship—with your breath, your body, and the larger pulse of nature moving through us all.