Practice what you teach: Breath and concentration can do wonders..

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Breath and concentration (two of our Pilates principles) can do amazing things!  I woke up on New Years day with a pesky pain in the muscles between my shoulder blade and spine.  It was nothing horrible, just a “I must have slept wrong” kind of pain.

My usual routine in the morning is to start my day with my Pilates Mat work and even though I was feeling a little tight and twingey by my shoulder blade, I wanted to start the year off right and get my day started with some movement.  I grabbed my foam roller as that spot in my upper back really just felt like it needed a good massage.  I spent a few moments just lying on the foam roller in different positions and massaging near the spot- which helped although it was still there.

I decided to go through my mat routine and make my focus breath and specifically breathing into the area that was bothering me.  Throughout my routine whenever I felt that spot I took a deeper breath and really envisioned my breath expanding into that area.  Even though I tell people all the time to try techniques like this I am always re-amazed when I use them on myself and they work!  I love to be reminded of how amazing our thoughts, our bodies and our ability to create change in our body is!!

#PracticeWhatYouTeach (1)Needless to say I felt soo much better after getting my Pilates Mat work in.  The spot by my shoulder blade had not completely disappeared but it was so much better AND what happened the rest of the day was even better.  When I found myself feeling that tightness I went back to my practice of breathing into that space and it was better.  By the time the Hawkeyes were headed onto the field for the Rose Bowl I wasn’t feeling the pain at all!

[tweetthis]Movement is healing! #breath #concentrate #Pilates #practicewhatyouteach[/tweetthis]

Better than tricep dips…

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Want to tone and strengthen your arms without the wrist compression and pain that can often be associated with a traditional tricep dip?  Grab a Pilates Magic Circle and try this super effective Pilates exercise!!

[tweetthis]If your wrists hurt when you do tricep dips – try this! [/tweetthis]

Your neck shouldn’t hurt during Pilates!

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One of the first things I tell new clients when they are starting Pilates is,” Pilates should not hurt!”.  If something hurts then we need to adjust the exercise in your body in a way that it can be effective and help you create balance and strength so you can continue to progress without pain.

upperabcurlOne of the most common places people find their neck hurting is while doing any exercise called an upper ab curl.  This movement specifically involves lifting your head off of the mat and curling toward your body as you roll to approximately the tips of your shoulder blades.  This movement is fundamental in many traditional Pilates exercises, although can be modified as needed for individual bodies.

If someone is brand new to Pilates and they jump into a large group class without any specific training on how to do this movement properly in their body, they end up feeling like they are straining their neck and not feeling the work of the movement throughout the rest of the body.

[tweetthis]Does your neck hurt during upper ab curls? STOP and read this![/tweetthis]

Since Pilates movements are designed to integrate the whole body, figuring out where you need to work more or less so you are not in pain is often not as easy as simply changing an exercise to an “easier” version.  Often times just changing how you think about an exercises or what you focus on can change completely how an exercise feels in your body and make it more effective.  This is where working one on one with a trained instructor can be highly beneficial.  An instructor can help you try different variations or even just change your focus on an exercise and this can completely change how you do an exercise.

If you’ve tried Pilates and have experienced pain consider working one on one with an experienced instructor.  Often times just one or two sessions can give you enough insight into how to improve your body movements that you’ll be able to continue your practice without pain and with a better knowledge of your own body and how to adjust it.

 

 

 

Cartwheels, Handstands, and Teaser during pregnancy!!

Cassie & Carey

Cassie & Carey

I was super excited when Cassie sent me a note to tell me she had scheduled a session with me in a few weeks.  Cassie has been a student of mine for 6 plus years, including going through the fully comprehensive Pilates instructor training program with me and taking lessons with me throughout her entire first pregnancy.  Needless to say I feel pretty comfortable teaching Cassie.  Even though she’s moved across the state and I don’t teach her as often as I used to, I usually have no problem helping her fine tune her awesome Pilates practice.  As her instructor for so long I feel like I “know” her body pretty well and that always helps me.

This upcoming session is no different EXCEPT for the fact she will be 25 weeks pregnant and I’ve only taught her once pretty early on in her pregnancy.  The process of pregnancy is so amazing and so complex that it really challenges me as an instructor even when I’m seeing someone on a regular basis.  So I know that this week’s upcoming session will challenge me as an instructor to create a safe, appropriate workout for Cassie and maybe give her some ideas of things she can continue to “play” with from a movement perspective throughout her pregnancy.

Even though I haven’t been working with Cassie on a regular basis through her pregnancy I have been keeping up with her Pilates pregnancy journey on her weekly blog and it’s given me some ideas for our session.

“Sometimes I dream of doing handstands, cartwheels, and teasers. Never mind that I’ve never done a cartwheel in my life; I find myself daydreaming about them. It’s as if my body craves movement. “

IMG_7681As soon as I read the words above in Cassie’s blog I knew what our focus would be!  NOT handstands, cartwheels or teasers of course (that would be sooo unsafe!!)   Our focus will be finding safe movement that allows Cassie to feel movement throughout her body!  I remember that feeling. It’s the feeling of just wanting to move like you used to be able to move and not necessarily knowing how to do it in your changing body.  Luckily the Pilates method is the perfect tool for finding that safe, amazing, feel good movement in your body.

Be sure to check in next week to Cassie’s blog to find out a little more about what we did and how it felt!!

Cassie’s Current Pregnancy Blogs:

Cassie’s first pregnancy blogs (these are in reverse chronological order):

[catlist name=”pilates-and-pregnancy” numberposts=30 pagination=yes instance=1]

What does a Pilates practice really look like?

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2016Happy New Year!! I don’t know about you but there is something about a new year that I love! I love to take a little time and just see where I am in life, be grateful for what I have and set some goals and focus for the year ahead.  This year as I was taking a little time to think about what I wanted 2016 to look like I decided that I wanted to continue to do more of what I love in life.  Like most people I have a tendency to get caught up in my to do lists, the day to day stuff that needs to be done and the little things that quite frankly don’t matter so much.

On the top of my lists of what I love to do are Pilates (and movement in general) and writing.  So I decided to commit myself to writing a weekly blog about my own daily Pilates practice.  Here’s a few reasons why I’ve decided to share this journey with you:

  1. Personal growth.  I’m not going to lie, this is a pretty selfish endeavor!  Committing myself to writing about my daily Pilates practice over an entire year is going to commit me do digging deep and exploring what I am practicing, why I am doing what I’m doing and will without a doubt make myself a better instructor in my professional life and a better person overall! Pilates is an integral part of my health and my career but I’ve never taken the time to look so closely at my own practice and share it with others!
  2. Realism.  (is that a word??)  I want to share what a Pilates practice looks like with the world.  Every time I turn around there is a barely dressed, super-model-looking-woman doing super advanced Pilates exercises on Instagram, Facebook and  everywhere online.  I want people to know those pictures are not what having a Pilates practice is about. I’m super passionate about the Pilates method of exercise being able to change lives for the better and I want people to have a realistic view of what it’s like to incorporate the method in their life! I’m pretty lucky to be able to teach Pilates as a career but just like everyone else I still have to find time to fit in my own Pilates practice throughout my days.  There are days when I get a full mat or equipment workout in and there are days when I sneak in various exercises in between clients, and taking kids to activities and folding laundry!  A Pilates practice doesn’t have to be perfect to be effective!!
  3. Inspiration.  We all need to be inspired some days and I’m hoping that sharing my Pilates journey over the year might encourage someone to start their own practice, have the courage to walk into a Pilates studio and try something new or maybe just restart something they used to do.  I’m hoping it will encourage everyone to not be so hard on themselves when they don’t do something perfect in their own movement practice and realize the amazing benefits to creating a Pilates practice in their life wherever they are!

#PracticeWhatYouTeach (1)Be sure to check in with me each week as I give you some highlights of what my Pilates practice looked like, how my body was feeling, and how it affected the rest of my life!  I’ll be using the hashtag #pilates #practicewhatyouteach throughout the year!