Week 2 — Why core stability is such an important part of your Pilates workoutAoife Lennon reminds us to do what we can with this week’s 10-minute session. Fri, 11 Sep, 2026 – 14:54Deirdre McArdle
In week one of her four-week Irish Examiner Pilates programme, Aoife Lennon of Vanilla Matcha Pilates introduced readers to the basics.
This week’s session sees Lennon reinforcing the movements we’ve already learned and shows us why core stability is such an important part of Pilates.
360 breath is also called diaphragmatic breathing, Lennon explains.
“We’re trying to expand our ribcage as wide as we can. Not just breathing upwards but breathing laterally and into our backs.”
This deep breathing helps activate the core correctly, ensuring a firm base.
“The core is the centre, or the powerhouse as we call it in Pilates. We want that powerhouse to be stable, and then we can play with the limbs in different directions and challenge the stability of the core.”
Lennon’s week two session will introduce a roll down, a bird dog, and a few different plank movements.
“All of these will again challenge the core, and we’ll also be moving through the spine, coming up into different positions,” says Lennon.
This week, we may start to notice that we’re acquiring a degree of “body literacy”, says Lennon, where we’re learning how to move our body more efficiently and recognising how to organise or set up our bodies before we start the class.
“The setup is sometimes more important than actual movement. That can be unglamorous and maybe even overwhelming, but that’s OK.”
In line with her philosophy of “meeting yourself where you’re at”, Lennon reminds us to do what we can with this week’s 10-minute session.
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Week 1 — A short and simple Pilates workout to bring exercise into a busy routine
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