Releasing Resistance: What My Reformer Pilates Practice Taught Me About the Mind-Body Struggle

Today, something shifted for me. And interestingly, it didn’t happen in a coaching session, a moment of journaling, or while reflecting on one of life’s many complexities. It happened on the Reformer bed—right in the middle of a deep stretch during my resistance training.

Now, I talk about the mind-body connection all the time. It’s at the core of how I teach self-awareness, presence, and poise. How we stand, how we breathe, how we carry ourselves, and even how we speak to ourselves in the mirror—it all reflects what’s going on internally. But today, the lesson hit deeper. It was embodied.

As I moved into a deep stretch, I felt the familiar discomfort arise. Not pain—just the kind of tension that makes your brain scream, “Nope, not doing this today.” It wasn’t my body warning me something was wrong. It was my mind resisting the discomfort, bracing for impact, anticipating pain that hadn’t even come.

But then I did something different. I breathed. I told myself, “Just release.” I stopped resisting. And in that exact moment, the stretch opened. My body softened. My mind quieted. And I felt the difference—not just physically, but emotionally.

It struck me how often we do this in our daily lives. We resist things—not because they’re impossible or dangerous—but because they’re uncomfortable, unfamiliar, or simply new. We resist vulnerability. We resist change. We resist accountability, truth, trust, even self-compassion. We resist what we cannot control.

But what if the struggle isn’t in the situation itself? What if it lies in the resistance?

I realized today that so much of our mental and emotional weight comes not from what’s happening, but from our resistance against it. And just like in the stretch, the more we soften into the discomfort, the more space we create—for clarity, for movement, for healing.

So here’s my gentle coaching nudge for you today:

Next time you find yourself struggling with a situation, ask yourself:

• What am I actually resisting here? 
• Is it the discomfort of the unknown?
  
• Is it my fear of change or failure?
  
• Is it a loss of control, or the courage it takes to face the truth?
  

When you can name the resistance, you begin to release it. And once you release it—even just a little—you might be amazed at how much easier things become. Not because the challenge disappeared, but because you’re no longer fighting yourself.

Sometimes the real breakthrough isn’t in pushing harder. It’s in softening.

And today, my Reformer reminded me of that.