I’m not sure that everything in life relates to this, but I have certainly found it to be the case since I’ve joined a Dragon Boat team. The faster we paddle, the slower we move. The problem is, we are moving fast, but not getting much strength behind each paddle. When we paddle slower we get more for our effort. Still, it’s hard to convince people to go slow. Our minds think the faster we move our bodies the quicker we will go.

Participants compete in a dragon boat race to mark the Dragon Boat Festival in Bitan, Xindian, Taipei County June 16, 2010. The festival commemorates the death of Chinese patriotic poet Qu Yuan, who drowned himself in 277 B.C. on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month to protest against the corrupt government of his time. REUTERS/Nicky Loh (TAIWAN - Tags: SOCIETY ANNIVERSARY)

More and more in life, I am finding this to be the case. When I try to rush through things, something gets messed up. Even when dealing with a simple task from life. For example, when I try to carry too many bags of groceries into the house to save myself a trip. I end up dropping something, making a mess, having to clean it up and using more time than if I’d made two trips.

When I try to multitask nothing seems to get done a well.

Ultimately it is the same for Pilates. Moving through an exercise with speed or going slow can both be a challenge, but only if when moving quickly you are still in control. Lose the control for the speed, and really you have nothing. So going fast isn’t necessarily bad, you just need to hang on to your strengths when you increase the pace. If you can’t, it’s time to slow down.