What is March Matness, and, what does it mean to me?
Benjamin Degenhart, a talented Pilates instructor, started March Matness by complete accident.
One day, Benjamin took himself through a Classical Mat Pilates practice - specifically, all 34 exercises listed in Joseph Pilates' book Return to Life Through Contrology. Benjamin was away somewhere (vacation maybe?), and there were no classes to take, so he set up a camera to film himself and planned on watching the footage after to self-correct. If there are no teachers around, become your own!
When he reviewed the footage, he noticed the lighting and scenery looked nice and thought it would make good content to post on social media. He separated all the exercises into stills and Viola! March Matness was born. Benjamin posted an exercise or two a day for the entire month, accompanied by the hashtag #marchmatness, and it went viral. It is now a tradition in the Pilates world where we all show our love and appreciation for the mat work in March.
I didn't participate in March Matness until March of 2020. I finally got on the bandwagon because I was volunteering for Amy Rost, the Pilates Fest North founder. Amy encouraged all the volunteers to participate. So, out of team spirit, I said, why not.
Then the pandemic hit, and when I look back to my posts from that March, I can see the shift in emotion, psychology and just how much the mat work helped support me in those uncertain times. March Matness alone gave me a reason to get out of bed and get on my mat.
I didn't talk about this much because I was trying to remain positive and uplift everyone, and besides, I was grateful to be safe, healthy and receiving emergency pay. But a lot of opportunities were taken away from me that March. I was managing a Pilates studio, in the final stages of training to be a Teacher Trainer, and about to present at a Pilates conference for the very first time. All the hard work that got me this far, was taken away in an instant. I, like many others, felt like the rug had gotten ripped from under me.
March Matness now symbolizes this moment in time for me. When I picture March Matness now, I imagine our community and our resiliency. I understand that the power to succeed is not dependent upon others. You hold the power. With that, I wanted to share my love of Pilates and express my gratitude to you for sticking with me on this crazy ride.