Inspiration of the Month- Teena VanDaele

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DSCN0393December 2014

Inspiration of the Month

Teena VanDaele

When did you start Pilates and what inspired you to start?

I began Pilates about 10 years ago and was extremely diligent with my lessons, then my oldest child was born and Pilates fell to the wayside.  I restarted in May of this year because I was getting older and because of my occupation, I had horrible lower back pain.  I soon realized how much I truly enjoyed the experience of Pilates.  Not to say I didn’t have my struggles as I began taking classes again, but I was truly amazed that despite the few years I had been away from Pilates, I was still able to “maneuver” myself into various positions.

How often do you practice Pilates and what type of sessions or classes have you been doing?
I began in May with two sessions per week: 1 private and 1 class.   I enjoy the private classes for the individual perspective they provide.  Private classes enable you to perfect to your “working level” the techniques of Pilates, giving you a perspective on where improvements need to be made or where your strong points remain.  Class gives you the opportunity to work at a faster pace with a variety of sessions; i.e. mat, reformer, Tower.

Do you have a favorite exercise or piece of equipment (or both)?

My personal favorite is by far the tower classes; they provide an interesting mix of mat work/resistance combination.

What benefits or improvements have you noticed in your body and life from doing Pilates?

In restarting Pilates this past May, I have noticed a vast improvement in my lower back pain and my energy levels throughout my day.  I no longer wake up in the middle of the night with back pain and I find myself sleeping better overall.

What would you say to someone who is thinking about doing Pilates?
What I have learned and would pass along as a piece of advice from someone who started Pilates in my late 20’s, early 30’s and did not restart until I was 40, is that you certainly do not have to master the skills within each aspect of Pilates to retain the benefit of what it can do for and to you.  Everyone has a varied skill level and no matter what that skill level is; simply trying Pilates will provide benefit to you… that is the art of Pilates.

2014 Rivercity Pilates Inspirational Clients

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It’s the end of the year and as we reflect on the year past we love the chance to honor our amazing, inspiring clients!  At Rivercity Pilates, our instructors and staff are truly dedicated helping others create health and wellness in their lives and our biggest inspiration is our clients.  We hope you enjoy this video honoring our monthly Inspirations of the Month for 2014!

 

Be sure to share the inspiration with your family and friends by reposting this video on all your favorite social media sites!

Pilates Standing Arm Springs on the Tower

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Rivercity Pilates owner, Carey Sadler instructs on a few variations of the Pilates Standing Arm Series on the Tower system.  The Standing Arm Spring sequence requires whole body engagement in order to suspend the body into the springs while moving the arms with control.  Try out these exercises yourself by joining one of our group Pilates Tower Classes!!  Check out our current schedule here.

Life Inspired – Recap!

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We recently created a new monthly group at the studio called Life Inspired!  Our desire was to create a group, a space and an atmosphere where women could feel comfortable, explore topics that inspire their lives and connect with other amazing women.  I was out of town for the first meeting but was excited to be able to attend this month’s meeting and wanted to give you a quick recap.

Our monthly Life Inspired group left me with a lot to think about this month.  We started the night off watching a great TED talk from Brene’ Brown that focused on what it meant to be vulnerable and how it affects everything in your life.  I could have easily walked away after watching that feeling empowered about the ideas that she shared and inspired to examine them more in my life.  But after the TED Talk the real inspiration came.

First of all, let me just say that I’m definitely an introvert, so the idea of talking about things like feelings and vulnerability in a group isn’t always my idea of a good time- but this was different.  I can honestly say the next 2 hours flew by and there was a wonderful sense of support and genuine caring from everyone in the group as we all shared in the conversation of the night.  The topic was giving authentically and Life Coach Julie Jack did an amazing job of facilitating the conversation as we all shared ideas, listened, and grew in our understanding of ourselves and each other. We ended the night with some simple questions we could ponder or journal about to take us deeper into the topic.

I truly enjoyed getting to connect with the other amazing women in the group and I’m super excited to meet again next month.  Next month we’ll be exploring creating a vision for our life in 2015! I’ll be there and I hope you can join us too!

 

~Carey

Inspiration of the Month Gina Luegering

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 GinaInspiration of the Month

October 2014

Gina Luegering

When did you start Pilates and what inspired you to start?

I’m so happy that I made the decision to start Pilates. It has been something that I’ve always wanted to try and  I have found all of these things and so much more after starting at Rivercity Pilates. I wish I would have started sooner after seeing the changes in my body and the energy I have since starting in August!

How often do you practice Pilates and what type of sessions or classes have you been doing?

My personal goal is to attend 4 to 5 classes a week, but with two busy teenagers I sometimes only get in 3 times a week. I love all of the Pilates classes and try to do at least one of each a week

What benefits have you seen by committing to a regular Pilates practice?

After a couple of injuries I really wanted to do something that was low-impact on my body while building strength, tone, and balance.

Do you have a favorite exercise or piece of equipment (or both)?

My favorite is the reformer classes.

What would you say to someone thinking about starting Pilates?

When I walk into Rivercity, it’s always a positive atmosphere, the classes are small, and the instructors are amazing. I would recommend Pilates to anyone looking to build strength, energy, and bring balance to their life!

Shoulder and Chest Stretch with the Theraband

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Carey Sadler, owner of Rivercity Pilates in North Liberty, IA demonstrates a simple exercise you can do to stretch the shoulder and chest with a medium weight Theraband.