During all the years of teaching Pilates, I would say slowing clients down is one of the HARDEST ideologies to communicate to clients. I have tried verbal communication, physically holding a client and making them slow down, explaining why going slower during movements are more beneficial for the body... it works about 10% of the time.
Our society has trained us since grade school to go fast. Finish your work, scurry to the cafeteria, gobble up your food, play quickly at recess, get your energy out....GO GO GO! Our schedules are jam packed with school, after school activities, homework, play time, dinner and hurry off to bed. We are all guilty of this go go go frame of thought. When I was young, bed time was when I slowed down and decompressed. Now... I have a glass of wine to decompress and wrap my hear around everything that went down that day. PILATES SHOULD BE OUR WINE TIME TOO!!!
Pilates is your time to SLOW DOWN!!! Pilates is waaaaay easier if you use momentum instead of controlling each and every movement. Breathing deep, moving in a sloth like way, feeling each muscle engage, feeling where your body is weak, feeling where you are strong, paying attention to your body alignment in every movement. Pilates is an exercise to get you back to your anatomically correct alignment, have you move in safe yet effective way and for you to strengthen your body and your mind through slow controlled movement.
It is ok to speed movements up from time to time.... but if you want THE MOST out of your Pilates practice, then GO SLOW!!!