Can you touch your toe to your forehead?

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First of all let me start this blog by saying never will you come to a Pilates session and get asked to touch your toe to your forehead!  It’s not something we ever do or even try to do.  That being said I have a story about how trying to touch my toe to my forehead gave me some new goals for my 2016 Pilates practice!

During a semi-private session one of my clients said to the other something like, “I can’t believe you can’t touch your toe to your forehead!”  She then grabbed her foot and put her big Toe on her forehead.  We all laughed and I mentioned how impressed I was!  She said,  “You can do this right?”.   Hmmmmm….I didn’t think sooo and surely wasn’t going to try it right then.   But of course after I got home that evening I had to try it.

I was sitting reading with my kids and asked them if they could do it.  They easily grabbed their foot and put it on their forehead( not surprising really).  I grabbed my foot and tried really hard to getIMG_5784 it to my forehead…….it did not go easily but I was close.  So I curled my spine toward my foot a little bit more and I could get it there( although for merely a second!) My abdominal muscles were working so hard to curl my spine forward that they started getting a cramping like sensation!! Maybe I needed to try the other foot.  I should have know that I naturally grabbed my less tight leg/hip to try it the first time and there was no way my right foot was getting to my forehead.

I’m a little bit competitive (especially with myself) and really don’t like to not be able to do things. So immediately my brain went to, ” Why is this so hard for me and why is it soo much harder for me on my right side?”.  A quick scan of my body and I knew that it was hard because of tightness in my legs and hips and imbalances between the two sides.  I know my right side is my tighter side and when I am thinking of it or focusing on it I do try to find ways to balance it out (but maybe I need to do that more often?).

Soo what’s a Pilates instructor to do?  I have a new goal for 2016….. lengthen, stretch and balance so that maybe I can touch my right toe to my forehead.  Helping others create balance in their bodies through movement is what I do on a daily basis, so how fun and fitting that one of my own goals is to balance out my body!!  I snapped a picture of my toe touching forehead attempts, again not because I want to impress you or want you to try this, but because I want to use this as a small marker of how I’m doing at creating balance in my body as the year progresses.

Why you should learn Pilates so you never have to go to a studio!

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One of the things I love most about my own Pilates practice is that I can do it anywhere (and I do)!  I love that whether I have 40 minutes or 5 minutes I can find some movement sequence to do that makes me feel better and energizes me.  I don’t need to rely on going to class, watching a video or anybody else.  Of course I also love to go to class and get instruction but I don’t need to.

I always love it when I see this phenomena happening in my clients because I feel like it means I’m doing my job well.  I get excited when I hear things like,” I didn’t make it to class this week but I did my Hundreds at home everyday.  OK…not a lot of people tell me this one….but I can pretend!  More likely is, “I did my rolling like a ball and shoulder bridge in the living room during the Big Bang Theory!

To me, this is what having a movement practice is all about! The reason to take sessions with a knowledgable instructor is so that you can learn about your body and learn how to create a movement practice not just in the studio but in your life.  There will always be times in your life when you can’t make it to a studio to take a class or get your private session in but that doesn’t mean you can’t get some movement in!

As you progress in your Pilates practice you’ll find yourself thinking about movement in a whole different way! You’ll start seeing movement as a way to feel better in your body and you’ll probably crave it!  You’ll start paying attention to your posture at work and maybe sneaking in some of your favorite exercises during the commercials of your favorite TV shows!  As a bonus, you won’t feel bad when you can’t make it into the studio for your session or class!  You’ll feel comfortable knowing that you can practice your favorite Pilates exercises on your own and still get a great work out!

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):

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