Practice What You Teach: The Power of Words

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This week I did a Tower Class workout on Pilates Anytime with Pilates instructor Benjamin Degenhardt(which was amazing!) During and after the class I was reflecting a little on how much harder I worked during my workout just because of the words and imagery Benjamin used.  The exercises themselves weren’t anything new to me yet I did some of them differently just because of how he taught the exercises and the words he used.  Sometimes a cue he used would have me doing “more” or getting “more” out of that exercise than I would have been doing had I just been practicing on my own.

A cue he used a couple of times that really worked for me was to roll through the space behind your heart.  I usually think about IMG_7013rolling through my upper back but there was something about the heart cue that immediately gave me a sense of more movement in my spine. As a bonus, all week long I could hear his words when I was practicing on my own and it really helped me move better!

As an instructor this reminded me of how powerful our words can be in helping others find movement or create change in their body.  As a student it made me grateful for the opportunity to learn from a variety of instructors over the years. I feel like each teacher shares their own gifts and their own words and they are all important in keeping my movement practice evolving, which in turn keeps me healthy and happy!

 

Does this scare you?

This picture showed up on my facebook feed today.

I opened up my Facebook to find this picture and I just had to laugh.  I’m guessing if you have back pain and are lacking flexibility and strength in your body you are not going to look at this picture and say, “Wow I want to try wrapping myself up like a pretzel in those straps and hang upside down! I bet that will get rid of my back pain!”

In fact just the thought of trying to get yourself into one of those positions might scare you (and it probably should!!) I’m a Pilates instructor who loves to move, play and try new things…but the thought of just trying to put myself into these positions at home just makes me laugh as I can envision myself falling on my head or getting hurt trying to get there!!

Teaching movement for many years has taught me so many lessons and today I want to share one of my favorites!

Effective movement and exercise that gives you results such as more strength, more flexibility, more balance in your body and less pain does not have to be complicated or scary. In fact, the simpler the better.

Of course there is nothing wrong with wanting to get to a place where you can do movements like those in the above picture, but it is not at all necessary.  I find that most people just want to feel good in their body and be  able to live their lives with ease and without pain.  They want to have energy to experience life and all the movement that is built into our lives.

One of the reasons I believe the Pilates method of exercise is so effective as a movement program for so many people is because instructors are taught to teach bodies how to move correctly starting with the simplest, most basic forms of movement.  Teaching people basic concepts like how to engage their core muscles, how to stabilize their hips and shoulders, how to breathe more efficiently and how to use the mind to control their body’s movements. These are skills that make your workout or exercise time more effective whatever type of workout you are doing and these skills are translated into our everyday movements throughout our life.  Learning these basic skills and then practicing them is where the Pilates magic happens!

By taking some basic movement principles and incorporating them into your movement life you will start to see and feel changes in your body.  AND the good news is learning these skills does not involve bending yourself like a pretzel, hanging upside down, doing the splits or any other movement or position that seems scary and completely undoable in your body.  When you are learning Pilates we’ll be using movements you probably do all the time in your day to day life and we’ll show you how you can apply the Pilates principles to those movements to move better.

If you’re interested in learning how to move better, create a balanced body that is strong, flexible and moves with ease…schedule a complimentary session where we’ll introduce you to some simple movement concepts that can create big changes in your life!

Eve’s Rules of Teaching Pilates….

Eve’s Rules of Teaching Pilates

  • images-1Your personal problems along with your street clothes should stay in the dressing room where they belong.
  • If your client doesn’t understand or can not do what you are asking them to do – it’s not the client’s fault, it is yours.
  • You should teach your clients so well that they no longer need you.
  • In order to be a good teacher, you have to be a good student. Never stop learning!

I never had the chance to work with Eve Gentry, but ran across these teaching rules from her the other day ago and couldn’t agree more!  I might add to this list:

  • Only teach what you know and know in your own body

I would love to hear from other instructors on any other “rules” that might follow!!
Just click on comment and let us know your “rules”!

 

Joy of Movement

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IMG_0462Like many of my male clients, Murray got talked in to Pilates by someone who loved him and knew that some mindful movement and breath done safely could help him feel better in his life. At 92 though, he definitely wasn’t my regular studio client and I’m sure that the little time we worked together taught me way more than I taught him.

Murray’s daughter had been a regular client of mine for awhile and since she was a care taker for her dad she often had days where she ended up needing to miss her Pilates sessions at the studio because it didn’t work out for her to leave him home alone. Since Becky lived closed to me I offered to come to her house for her Pilates sessions so she could still keep up with her Pilates practice. (If you are or know a caretaker you know it can be a LITTLE stressful and being able to have a mindful movement practice can be an amazing tool at keeping yourself healthy…this is a whole other blog…).

So I got to know Murray because he would often be sitting in his chair having coffee when I came over for Becky’s session or sometimes he would come out of his room part way through our session just to watch.  (He especially enjoyed watching when both Becky & Mike were working out and loved to give Mike a hard time about why he was sweating!)  We often joked with him about wanting to join us but he just said in a very Murray kind of voice…NO!

One day Becky sent me a note to let me know that Murray agreed to do 5 minutes of Pilates with me…maybe just some Pilates breathing.   I often get excited about new clients, but I have to tell you I was super excited to work with Murray as I knew that we could do some pretty basic simple things that would probably make a big difference in his life.

The first day I was there for a session Becky had Murray in his chair so he could do some Pilates with me. I could tell that he didn’t really want to do anything but was being nice for my sake (and Becky’s). We started with some Pilates breathing. Murray had COPD, so anything we could do to help his body breath more efficiently was going to help him feel better. I had brought some squishy 4 inch balls over for him to squeeze to help with movement and strength in his hands. I may have given him a few ideas of how to improve his posture and engage his core muscles….but honestly I just wanted him to get to know me better and see that what we were doing was not so bad and might actually help him feel better.  This is how our sessions continued. Usually we didn’t do much more than 5 or 10 minutes tops and I really just tried to get him doing some gentle movements that would help him strengthen and maintain flexibility and functional movement.

My favorite session with Murray was a day after we had more than a few sessions under our belt and he was getting more comfortable with me and more willing to try different things I suggested. We had been using a small playground ball for some inner thigh strengthening and then I was having him hold the ball in front of his chest and straighten/bend his arms keeping his good posture. Some how I got him straightening and throwing the ball to me just in front of him and him catching and pulling it back into his chest…we were playing catch! Murray had the biggest most genuine smile I had ever seen from him (or maybe anyone) and I knew at the moment I would remember that smile forever. I remember thinking at that very moment that is why I teach movement….joy of movement. He was having fun and playing catch and his smile could light up a whole room.

joyofmovementJoy of Movement…that moment when you are moving and smiling and enjoying yourself…not worrying about counting calories or which muscles you are strengthening or how many calories you are burning. Kids are great at finding Joy in movement…dancing, climbing, playing with no worries. As adults I think those moments are much harder to come by.

As a Pilates instructor I love knowing how the body moves, I love using movement to create balance in the musculature, I love teaching the Pilates method to bodies of any age, size, and shape…. But more than that I love helping people find Joy of Movement in their lives….

 

 

Practice What You Teach: Don’t take the rules too seriously..

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Do you ever wonder if your Pilates instructor just comes in and hangs from the Cadillac or maybe hangs over the high barrel to stretch their spine when no one else is around?  We do!!  ItIMG_7456‘s the day before our Pilates Day celebration and I had an hour break before my last client of the day and I have to be honest I really just wanted to take a nap!  I got up at 3am this morning to come into the studio for some news coverage for our Pilates Day event and by the afternoon my body was feeling tired and tight!

Instead of sitting at the computer being unproductive and tired, I went to my favorite place- the Cadillac and did all my favorite “feel good” exercises.  I hung in Half Hang( for quite awhile..), did some nice stretchy Roll Downs and did a few of my favorite Rolling Back exercises.  I went to the High Barrel and did Ballet Stretches.  Today’s Ballet Stretches consisted of me rolling down through my spine over my outstretched leg and just hanging out and breathing. Then I hooked my feet on the high barrel and just extended backwards over it.  I also flipped onto my front side and just hung over the barrel in flexion. When I got done….I felt better and more energized- ready to tackle the rest of my day!

You might wonder why I’m telling you all this?  As a Pilates instructor I find myself teaching movement that seems like it has lots of rules…..Pull your belly in, don’t scrunch your shoulders, inhale here, exhale there.  The ideas and concepts that seem like rules are really what help people learn how to move better, more efficiently and help them start thinking about movement and alignment in their life, but many times people take the rules too seriously.  People think they have to be lying on a mat doing things perfectly to be practicing Pilates or any type of movement.  They think they have to follow the rules and the order… and the rules all the time!  I like to think of the “rules” as guidelines for how to move better not as an “all or nothing” rules to movement.

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Instead of focusing on all the rules of my Pilates practice I like to focus on all the tools my Pilates practice gives me.  One of the biggest gifts of my Pilates practice is probably just being able to pay attention to my body and then being able to use movement to make me feel better(like I did today!).  I find that one of my biggest challenges as a Pilates teacher is convincing and reminding clients that they have the ability to change how their body feels through movement any time!  The tools they are learning at the studio can be used practically anywhere( at your desk, on your living room floor, in the car…).  You don’t always have to move at 110% effort, do the hardest version of an exercise or do an hour workout for movement to be an effective health tool in your life!

[tweetthis]You can use #movement anytime to help your body feel better! #practicewhatyouteach[/tweetthis]

 

Why is there Yoga on Pilates Day?

If you are looking at our line up of events at Pilates Day this year you might be surprised to see we are offering not only FREE Pilates but also a FREE Yoga class.  During our open house time (10 am to 12 pm)  we will also be offering Tasting Stations that include not only Pilates but Yoga, Barre, Health Coaching and even Neural Reset Therapy and Massage.  Let me take a moment to tell you why we are letting all of these other mind body movement types and health care modalities we offer at Rivercity Pilates be part of our Pilates Day celebration.Visit our Rivercity Pilates Tasting Circuit to learn about & try Pilates, Barre, Yoga and Neural Reset Therapy and earn a Sparkle Bag of goodies!! (1)

I’m pretty passionate about Pilates as a method of exercise that can make an amazing difference in the way you live your life, but I have to tell you one of the biggest gifts I’ve received in my own life from my Pilates practice is the realization that: Joseph Pilates didn’t just teach exercises.  He taught a way to live your life.  In Joseph Pilates’ books he not only talked about exercises, but also things like getting fresh air, eating for health, how to sleep best, and how to maintain your health.

As a student of the Pilates method of exercise I can tell you that this method of exercise encompasses much more than just your workouts.  The exercises are truly a catalyst to start looking at how you can be empowered to take your health into your own hands by exploring a variety of movement practices, health practices and body work designed to bring your body back into balance.

Rivercity Pilates has grown over the years from a single Pilates instructor teaching the Pilates method of exercise into an oasis of empowered, health driven instructors and practitioners of movement, body work and healthy living.  To me this is what the Pilates Method is truly about.  So as we celebrate the Pilates Method and the amazing impact it has on all of our lives this Saturday we’re also excited to share everything we offer at the studio because we believe that there is no one right way to learn the Pilates ideas and concepts in your body.  We’re hoping by sharing everything we offer with you and the community we might inspire you to try a new movement method, start some new healthy habits and find some movement and health care practitioners who can help you along your journey!!

We’d love to have you in class or have you stop by our Open House on Saturday!!