Practice What You Teach: Pilates in the Chaos!!

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My favorite Pilates workout this week happened in complete chaos!  In our basement living room area my husband was running on the treadmill, my daughter was playing with her American Girl doll horses and my boys were kind of sitting on the couch and their favorite gaming chair.  And by kind of sitting I mean when Big Bang was on they paused where they were and watched and then when a commercial came on they grabbed their Nerf guns and tried to pelt each other.  And the dog was running around “herding” the kids (she’s a Collie), carrying around one of my foam rollers in her mouth, and licking me whenever she could!IMG_6175

I don’t watch a ton of television but I do have a few shows I like to watch and Big Bang is one we often watch as a family so I try not to miss it! Since I hadn’t snuck in any dedicated movement time for myself that day I decided I would multi task and get some mat work in while I watched!  I know what you are thinking……”How can you possibly get any good mindbody exercise in among all that chaos?”

While it’s true that my Pilates mat workout was not taking place in a serene environment where I could wholly focus on me, my body and my breath…. I found that having a little bit(OK a lot) of chaos almost made me fine tune my concentration and focus skills even more than usual and I got a great workout!  As a bonus my kiddos often tried exercises with me or made up their own version of an exercise and I got lots of dog kisses!

Workouts in the chaos make me really appreciate my Pilates practice!  I love that I can essentially be anywhere and be able to do a safe, super effective workout that keeps me healthy and strong.  I love that I can fit my workouts into my life whenever and wherever I need!

Pilates for your heart!!

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As you may know February marks American Heart Month, a month dedicated to bringing awareness to heart health and what you can do to keep your heart healthy and strong.  Did you know heart disease is the leading cause of death for men and women in the United States? Every year, 1 in 4 deaths are caused by heart disease.  Did you know that Pilates can play a big part in your life to helping you keep your heart healthy and happy?

It turns out some of the most common causes of heart disease include:  lack of exercise, being overweight, high blood pressure and stress. All things that a regular Pilates practice can help you with!

Long before heart disease was a common household term Joseph Pilates was talking about the benefits of his method of exercise (which he called contrology) in terms of heart and whole body health.  In his book Return to Life, Joseph Pilates states,”Contrology exercises purify the blood in the bloodstream and whip it into instant action with the result that the organs of the body receive the benefit of clean fresh blood carried to them by the rejuvenated bloodstream.”   He also stated,” you should be exercising every muscle in your body in order to improve the circulation of the blood so that the bloodstream can and will carry more and better blood to feed every fiber and tissue of your body. These exercises induce the heart to pump strong and steady.”

So how can the Pilates method help you keep your heart healthy?IMG_6884

1.  Pilates can get you moving!  The Pilates method of exercise can be adapted to ANY body and can give you the tools you need to add more movement into your life!  Adding safe, efficient movement into your life can help you lose excess weight, get stronger, feel more energized and better condition your entire body.  Movement is a key component to creating a healthy body and a healthy heart!

2.  Improve circulation!  Joseph Pilates specifically designed his exercise method to increase blood circulation and improve whole body health.  By learning to breath properly and coordinate breath with whole body movements you will stimulate your body to work more efficiently inside and out!

3. De-stress ( and lower that blood pressure!)  Exercise is a natural de-stresser and a mindful movement practice like Pilates that combines breath and movement can be especially effective in helping you create a sense of calm in your life and your body!

Want to learn more about how Pilates can help your heart?  Schedule a complimentary Pilates session today!

 

I need to get into better shape before I start Pilates again…

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I’ve been teaching Pilates long enough that I have clients that have been seeing me for years which quite frankly I find pretty amazing!  I adore that clients have found a love for Pilates and incorporate it into their life and am super honored that they continue to choose me as their instructor throughout their journey.

Recently I had a client come back in after being away for awhile.  This is a client I knew quite well and who I knew had been battling some health complications over the years I’ve worked with her.  When she came back in we had a pretty honest talk about why she hadn’t been back in sooner and I really appreciated what she told me.

She mentioned that she kept telling herself that she needed to get in better condition before she came in.  She said she was embarrassed at how far out of shape she had gotten and quite honestly didn’t want to disappoint me.  I can tell you she’s not the only one who has thought something like this or told me this.

My heart kind of sank when she said these things. All I could think of is that just like I tell my kids, “I’ll love you, support you and will be there for you no matter what”…..I have the same sense of non judgmental support for my clients.  Part of what I love about my job is being part of people’s health and wellness journey no matter where they are in their bodies or their life.

Mindful movement can be so healing, energizing and life changing in so many ways.  Movement can help you from a physical and spiritual stand point when you are going through “stuff” ( you know… the stuff that happens to everyone at some time like injuries, illness, family problems, life problems, etc).

As an instructor I love showing people that you don’t have to be doing the hardest, most grueling exercise for it to be an effective tool in your life.  Learning to move safely in your body where you are at any given day is a gift that can change your life.  Learning to listen to your body and find movement that feels good and is effective can change your health and your happiness.

So I have to tell you some amazing things happened within just a week of this client starting Pilates again.  First of all the second time I saw her, she was moving amazingly better and was already feeling a difference in her body (and I could see the difference!).  By the second week it was a dramatic enough difference that she sent me this note:

WE received a compliment tonight!  My husband has been really busy the last couple of weeks. He has been going to work really early and coming home super late.   The first thing he said to me tonight when he arrived home was, “Wow, you are moving so much better since you started Pilates.”  Yeah for us!

(I love those type of notes by the way!) You might be wondering what kind of amazing exercises and sessions we did to get such great results?  Well, we had done three 25 minute sessions( which included some talk and discussion time) over 2 weeks.(Yep…that’s it!)  We did a lot of breathing, fundamental Pilates movements and some exercises using the Pilates equipment.  We started with the basics and did exercises that helped her body find a sense of ease of movement while working in a space she was comfortable.  Nothing crazy or out of the ordinary…but the difference it made in her body and her life was pretty amazing.

So if you’re feeling like you need or want to get back to your Pilates practice but maybe you have some similar thoughts going through your head about why you’re not coming back in……know that I would love nothing more than to help you get started again wherever you are in life and in your body!

P.S. If you’re reading this and I’m not your Pilates instructor I can tell you that your Pilates instructor feels the same way I do!

A Love Letter from Your Pilates Instructor

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Pilates instructors are very passionate people who LOVE what they do and they love the people they work with.  In honor of Valentine’s Day,  this letter was written to show you how much we care!

Dear Devoted Pilates Client,

1.  You are amazing!  I am amazed and inspired daily by your devotion to your Pilates practice!  I know, as much as you love your Pilates sessions, that it is not always easy to get to the studio.  Life happens and there are a million excuses you could use to not come in- but you do.  Your devotion inspires me in my daily life.  Thank You!

2. You are making amazing progress in your Pilates practice and in your life every time you practice.  As instructors we are often giving you feedback on how to improve your practice because that’s part of our job.  I probably don’t spend enough time telling you how far you’ve come and how great you’re doing.  One of the wonderful parts of my job is that I get to see people create positive changes in their bodies on a daily basis. Keep it up!

3.   I love to celebrate the little milestones with you!   Can you pick something off the floor without your back hurting?  Can you sit comfortably on the floor with your kids or grandchildren?  Are you sitting taller at your desk or has your posture improved?  I love to hear about and celebrate these moments with you.  I practice and teach Pilates so that I can help others live life to the fullest and it makes me happy when I hear your success stories!

4.  Please don’t feel bad about speaking up and telling me something doesn’t feel good in your body.  I know that not every exercise or movement is right for every body and it does not bother me at all if you tell me that something hurts or doesn’t feel right. In fact- I LOVE the opportunity to find something that does work for you.  Changing, modifying and creating exercises designed specifically for your body is what I am trained to do and I LOVE to do it!  It makes me cringe to have a client work through the pain.  I believe and know that exercise does not have to hurt to be super effective.  If you are in pain, then you are not getting the benefits of the exercise and you might be doing more harm than good to your body.

5. Thank you for choosing me to share your Pilates journey with you!  Working with amazing, nice, thoughtful clients makes me happy!  I know there are lots of choices when it comes to instructors and I truly value you as a dedicated client.

With Love,

Your Pilates Instructor

Practice what you teach: Sometimes I surprise myself…

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As someone who teaches movement for a career I have to tell you sometimes I am honestly surprised at how strong, flexible and functional my body is.  I’ve been keeping track of my Pilates practice since the beginning of the year for this blog and I have to tell you I don’t workout in the traditional sense very often.  It’s pretty rare that I take a class or spend an entire 40 or 50 minutes doing Pilates.

plankoffThe other day ago I challenged my 12 year old son to a plank off as our staff was trying to do some extra planks as part of the studio’s 6 week Challenge designed to motivate clients to move more.  I managed to hold a plank with pretty good form (or so I think) for 3 minutes and 48 seconds.  If you’ve held a plank before you know this is not easy!!  Considering how little I actually “workout” in the traditional sense…I was pretty happy with that and it made me really look at what I’m doing for my movement practice and why it’s so effective.  Here’s what I decided….

I play….. a lot.   I sneak in little sequences of movement through my days doing things like practicing what I want to teach to clients, laying on the floor while hanging out with my kids and sneaking in some exercises or movement, I go for walks and runs with the dog and my kids, and sneak in occasional squats or planks leaning on my kitchen counter and of course I teach Pilates 5 to 8 hours a day (which if you are a Pilates instructor you know does not mean I get to workout 5-8 hours a day!!)  My teaching time is kind of like the rest of my life…play time.   I’m generally teaching with my words, walking around clients giving feedback and cues and occasionally am showing a movement or exercise.

IMG_0887So what’s my secret?  Here’s what I discovered by accident!  Last week I had a day where my teaching schedule included Return to Life Mat Class ( a class that goes through Joseph Pilates’  mat sequence as he laid out in his book) and also some private sessions.  As I was teaching a private client later in my day I had a moment where I got that intense feeling of work in my abdominal muscles much like I get when I’m doing the work myself.  At that moment I had a little aha moment where I realized how much I often “do the muscles engagement and probably sequencing of muscle engagement” part of the movement with my clients as I’m teaching.  When I’m teaching I often find myself trying to put myself into my clients body in my mind so I can help them figure out how to move better and obviously as I’m doing that I’m engaging muscles with them.  When I’m teaching a class I often use my body to show a movement without actually getting down on a mat and doing it.

This is just a theory, but I have to believe that this engagement of my body while I teach only helps to strengthen my body and also just plain helps me make moving a continual part of my life.  It also reminds me of how lucky I am to be able spend my days doing something I love that keeps my body healthy and strong!  #jobperk

P.S. I would love to hear what other instructors think about how their teaching hours effect their overall health, strength, etc.!!

Practice what you teach: I need to take more classes!!

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I got to start off my week taking a Pilates Mat class this week and it reminded me of all the reasons I should take more classes with other instructors even though I practice Pilates on my own on a regular basis!!

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Side Leg Kicks….my favorite!

1. 50 minutes of me time!  It’s pretty rare that I take a full 50 minutes to do my Pilates workouts!  Often I flow through a workout in 20 or 30 minutes tops and sometimes I do smaller 10 or 15 minutes workouts when I can fit them in.  There is something very therapeutic about knowing for the next 50 minutes the only thing I get to do is pay attention to my body, breathe and move the best I can!

2. New cues and fine tuning.  Listening to someone else explain an exercise or give alignment cues helps me fine tune more and work deeper.  It makes me think differently about how I’m doing each exercise and I really get more out of each exercise.

3. Energy of the class.  I love being in a room full of people who are doing mindful movement.  It’s kind of hard to describe, but it definitely motivates me, keeps me focused and is just fun!!

4. Client perspective.   From a teaching standpoint being a client and taking a class reminds me what it’s like to be the student!!

5.  I do more than if it were just me working out!  Like most people I’ll admit that when I’m working out by myself I’m less likely to push myself or I occasionally skip things I don’t love!  (Which as I tell all my clients…the things we don’t love are often the things we need most!!) Case in point….side leg kicks.   The side leg kick series is sooo good for my body but they are also really challenging for me to do well!  So….. I often don’t do as many of them or I skip them.   In a class though, the energy of the class and my competetive nature kicks in and I do way more than I would on my own!!!

That all being said I’m going to try to take more classes this year!  Maybe I’ll see you in class this week!