In his 1945 book Return to Life Through Contrology, Joseph Pilates argued that poor posture, shallow breathing and unnatural living conditions were disconnecting people from their bodies, causing mental and physical decline. He warned that industrial life was ruining our vitality.

One can only imagine what he’d make of today’s digital age of screens and cell phones!

When we go for a walk or move through a rhythmic exercise like Pilates, the nervous system settles: the mind clears, sleep comes easier. Add oaks or redwoods, a vineyard, open sky or quiet, and the effect deepens. Exercise is not only something we do to our bodies; it can be a way of returning to them.

With its roots in agriculture, Moraga has preserved an extraordinary amount of open land. Nearly half of the town’s roughly ten square miles remains green space.

Research increasingly supports what this town already instinctively knows: time in nature reduces stress, supports healthy blood pressure and restores attention depleted by the demands of everyday life.

Research also supports Pilates as therapy. Clinical studies show it can reduce chronic lower-back pain while improving balance, strength, flexibility, mobility and stress management. Institutions such as the NHS and Kaiser provide Pilates to help patients progress from rehabilitation toward long-term healthy movement.

Moraga provides an unusually inviting setting for this kind of healthy, embodied life. Saint Mary’s College brings the energy and discipline of Division I athletics to the hills, while the town’s trails, parks and open spaces make movement accessible to us all.

In my own work at Small Steps Pilates, clients practice personalized reformer and apparatus Pilates at a hillside vineyard, watching the vines change through the seasons and connecting with the landscape while caring for the body.

Fortunately, we do not need to train like athletes to benefit. Small, consistent steps make the difference. Walk the historic Swiss-inspired parcourse near the Commons. Explore the Lafayette-Moraga Regional Trail, one of the country’s first rails-to-trails projects. Or give Pilates a try. The best practice is one you can enjoy enough to return.

Moraga is a little off the beaten path. It is not a place people usually pass through, unless they are really lost. It is a place people come to intentionally: safe, unhurried and still remarkably down to earth.

No wonder so many of us stay. Or return.

Moraga 4 Life!