March MATness 2018: Join the Movement !

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Ready to join the movement? Fantastic! March is a particularly great month to embark on a Pilates Mat practice because the entire Pilates community is helping you get inspired and educated. Perhaps even
pick up a copy of
Return to Life through Contrology, the original Pilates book by the method’s founding father himself! We have some copies available at the studio.
To participate in the Rivercity Pilates #MarchMATness2018 daily challenge simply post a picture or video of you doing the exercise of the day and use the hashtag #MarchMATness2018 .  If you tag Rivercity Pilates we’ll enter you into our drawing jar every time you post and you’ll be eligible to win great prizes in our weekly drawing!!
We know not everyone wants to post something on their social media page and that is OK!  Here are all the things you can do to participate: 1) We still want you to watch our daily videos and work on your movement practice daily so you can join along in the fun! Comment on our post to let us know you practiced and get your name in our drawings  2) You can simply share our posts on social media.  3) Pick up a tracking sheet at the studio (available at the front desk) and track your daily movement progress at home and turn in your sheet at the end of the month to be entered into our prize drawing!
1. #hundred
2. #rollup
3. #rollover
4. #onelegcircle
5. #rollingback
6. #onelegstretch
7. #doublelegstretch
8. #spinestretch
9. #rockerwithopenlegs
10. #corkscrew
11. #saw
12. #swandive
13. #onelegkick
14. #doublelegkick
15. #neckpull
16. #scissors and #bicycle
17. #shoulderbridge
18. #spinetwist
19. #jackknife
20. #sidekick
21. #teaser
22. #hiptwist
23. #swimming
24. #legpulls (front and back)
25. #kneelingsidekick
26. #sidebend
27. #boomerang
28. #seal and #crab
29. #rocking
30. #controlbalance
31. #pushup
MarchMATness Tips
  • Note the date(s) for each exercise
To synchronize the campaign, the number on the list above corresponds with the day of the exercise’s turn; March 15 is The Neck Pull, for example.
  • Add hashtags
To connect with everyone participating, use the corresponding hashtag as listed above with each exercise. HINT: add #marchmatness2018 and your public social media post will appear in the live feed on the website!
  •  Spread the word!
Post on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, tell your friends! Be sure to tag us to get your name in the weekly drawing! Share with us at the studio how you’re doing!!
  • Practice!
Simply search the hashtags to get inspired and fall in love with your daily movement practice!
Want to learn more about the March MATness social Media campaign?  Click this website to read more and see live feed of posts throughout the month of March!

Stretch Anywhere and fight the perils of too much sitting

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Do you sit a lot at work or at home?  Is your back hurting from sitting?

Mayo Clinic research has linked sitting for long periods of time with a number of health concerns, including obesity and metabolic syndrome — a cluster of conditions that includes increased blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess body fat around the waist and abnormal cholesterol levels. Too much sitting also seems to increase the risk of death from cardiovascular disease and cancer.  Sitting in front of the TV isn’t the only concern. Any extended sitting — such as behind a desk at work or behind the wheel — can be harmful. What’s more, spending a few hours a week at the gym or otherwise engaged in moderate or vigorous activity doesn’t seem to significantly offset the risk.

The solution seems to be less sitting and more moving overall.   Here is an exercise that you can do multiple times a day anywhere.

Magic Circle Workshop

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Master the Magic Workshop w/ Cassie!

March 17, 2018 – 11:00 am

 
The Pilates Magic Circle is a fun and challenging way to add resistance and variety to your Pilates practice. In this workshop, you’ll learn how to incorporate the Magic Circle with Classical Pilates exercises to improve muscle tone and endurance while increasing body awareness and alignment. Whether you’re looking to tone your arms, legs, abs, or backside, the Magic Circle can help! Each participant will receive three mini Magic Circle routines to practice at home.
This workshop is taught by Cassie Cumings-Peterson. Cassie is a Pilates Method Alliance certified instructor who trained with Carey Sadler of Rivercity Pilates. Cassie has been teaching Pilates since 2012, and is currently the owner/instructor at Northwoods Pilates and Wellness in Ankeny, Iowa.
$20 per person

Dear Pilates Client, I love it when…

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Dear Pilates client,

It’s Valentine’s Day and in honor of this day where we celebrate the things we love, I wanted to write you a little love note telling you how much I LOVE getting to be your teacher!  I am a big believer in the practice of gratitude and I keep a running list of things in my life that make me smile, make me laugh and all the things I’m grateful that are part of my life. My clients and the moments I share with them are often on my gratitude lists! One of my lists I started keeping last year I’ve been calling the I love it when…list!  Basically I try to jot it down when I have one of those moments when I say to myself ,” Awww that makes me happy, or I love it when that happens…!”  

I thought you might enjoy reading some of the things I have wrote down over the past year:

  • I love that you really feel everything in your body and tell me about it! As a teacher it really helps me understand what’s going on in your body and figure out how I might help you better with your Pilates practice!
  • I love it when you sing along to a song during class! It reminds me that life is meant to be fun and playful and way too short to not sing along when a song you like comes on! 
  • I love it when you ask me what I have done for myself lately and when I don’t have an answer you give me suggestions!
  • I love that you are always pushing yourself to do something new, something beyond your comfort zone! This includes pushing yourself in the studio but also all of the amazing things you do in the community and in your life!
  • I love it when you show up for your class or session when you don’t really feel like it (it inspires me to move on days I don’t really feel like it and reminds me of the power of movement to change your outlook on the rest of your day)!
  • I love it when you do your own thing in class! It’s a huge success for me as a teacher when one of my students is confident enough in their movements and body to not do what I just instructed in class, but do a movement “their” way! 
  • I love it when you you tell me about how you used Pilates in your “regular” life and are soo excited about it! ( It gets me excited too!!) For instance, how cool is it that so many of you told me about how shoveling all that snow didn’t even hurt your back this year because of Pilates?! !
  • I love it when you make up an exercise variation! It’s so empowering when you are confident enough as a mover to create a movement that feels good or is good for your body and do it! 
  • I love it when we have a moment in class or a session when we have to stop moving because we are laughing about something.  True laughter is just plain good for your soul and what could be better than combining laughter and Pilates!
  • I love it when you take a photo of you doing a teaser or any Pilates movement while on vacation and send it to me!!!
  • I love it when you help a friend or loved one get set up to try a session at the studio.  I love it not because I care about it from a business standpoint, but because I can feel your care and concern and your wanting someone else to figure out that healthy movement can change your life for the better. 
  • I love it when you tell me that you enjoy or look forward to your session or class!  It’s always nice to know you are appreciated and are making a difference in people’s lives.  
  • I love it when you take the time to introduce yourself to a new person at the studio and really get to know them and make them feel welcome!  It reminds me of how grateful I am for all of our amazing, kind clients and the supportive atmosphere they create at the studio.

On this Valentine’s Day I hope you know that you are an important part of my life and I’m truly grateful for you every day!  Thanks for sharing your amazingness with me!

Love,

~Your Pilates Instructor, Carey

Couples Pilates: Check it out !!

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Take a look at a workout for Couples Pilates.

This is something you can do at home and is a sneak peak of what is in store for our February Life Inspired Event!

 

Do all the exercises (even the ones you don’t like!)

I am always preaching to people about finding an exercise method or type of exercise that you love. Being a movement professional for 20 years I know the importance of moving and I know if you don’t enjoy what you are doing you are not going to do it consistently in your life and that’s really what you need to get the benefits from it.  So when I say something like,”Usually the things you need the most are the things we don’t like!”, it seems kind of contradictory!  But let me explain….

I don’t care how much you love your Pilates practice I know that you have said (either out loud to your instructor or in your head) …”I hate this one..I just don’t like it because it just doesn’t feel good…it’s hard…”.    You might be careful about saying that to me or your Pilates teacher because I’ve learned over the years that the “I don’t like this” reaction is usually a tell tale sign that the movement is probably one that you should do more of and do it more consistently! 

So why do we not like certain exercises?  There’s a few reasons that I have found that consistently come up:

  1.  Our Ego (we are hard wired to feel this way!) :  Whether we like to admit it or not…most of us have a little bit of perfectionist in us.  We don’t like the feeling of not being able to do something. And this is a great thing!  Because when you want to be able to do something and you can’t it’s a great motivator to practice that skill and get better!  If we were not hard wired this way we would have never learned to walk, ride a bike or do any other skills we use to function in life!    It is human nature to not like something that we’re not good at or something the is hard for us! The key is to focus on overcoming this feeling of not being able to do something well and not just giving up doing the exercise because “we don’t like it”. 
  2. The exercise or movement is still new.  Sometimes what we forget that doing anything for the first time is not necessarily easy or comfortable.  Your muscles and nervous system are trying to do something they have never done before.  It takes time to actually get to the place where your muscles (the correct ones) are firing when they are supposed to so that you can do the movement.  One of my favorite qualities about the Pilates method is what I call the depth of the practice.  You can practice the same exercise for years yet every time you do it you fine tune your ability to do it well and in a way that is best for your body. Every time you practice that exercise you get more “comfortable” with how the exercise feels in your body and your ability to do it well. When something is new it feels completely opposite to that: uncomfortable and awkward! Nobody ever says to themselves,” I like to feel awkward and uncomfortable!”.  
  3.  We have to work really hard to do it well. When an exercise makes us work muscles that are weak or unbalanced in our body….it takes an incredible amount of effort and concentration!  For most people having to concentrate so much and engage those muscles that get tired quick and just seem like they don’t want to work…does not feel fun or good…it feels like work!  And let’s face it…work does not necessarily feel enjoyable! 

So the next time you find yourself saying “I don’t like this”, turn the table around and try to say something like:

“I really don’t like how challenging this exercise is for me.  I’m going to be really dedicated to practicing it regularly and see if I can change how it feels in my body!  My reaction of not liking this tells me that it’s probably challenging for my body and I should try to practice it more!”

Of course if something hurts or is causing strain in your body than that is not OK and you should let your teacher know so they can adjust it in your body!