The secret to New Year Changes!

2021 is almost here and I have to tell you I love the beginning of a new year! I love to take time to reflect on my previous year and write goals and intentions for my upcoming year.  Last year I tried something new when writing out my goals.  

I wrote goals that started like this: “I want to be a person who…”    A few of my health goals were:  

  • I want to be a person who drinks their body weight in water each day,
  • I want to be a person who eats vegetables for lunch,
  • I want to be a person who walks outside daily,
  • I want to be a person who runs 3 times a week for 30 minutes

I have to tell you there was something about this mindset change around my goals that changed things for me.  My focus changed from short term goals to long term habits.  When I didn’t feel like doing one of my goals I would just remind myself of who I wanted to be as a person.  I reminded myself a lot when I started running that if I wanted to be a person who ran 3 times a week I would have to suck it up and do it even when it felt really hard, even when I didn’t want to do it.

I reminded myself (and still do) that to stay hydrated sometimes I need to chug water even if I’m not even particularly thirsty.  When I had a day when I didn’t quite reach my goal I gave myself grace and reminded myself that a person who does these things wouldn’t just give it up because life threw them a curveball.  They would adjust and figure out a way to do the things.

The best part of writing my goals like this…I accomplished them all and now all of these things don’t seem like such a challenge anymore…they are just part of who I am and what I do on a regular basis.

Our Couch to Pilates Strong Program starting January 9th is designed for anyone who might be saying to themselves…I want to be a person who practices Pilates 2 or 3 times a week. I want to be a person who loves their workout.   I want to be a person who is taking care of my body.    I want to have a regular movement practice that helps me feel taller, move easier and makes me stronger!

If you are ready to commit to yourself this year we would love to help you get started. “The Couch to Pilates Strong” program includes 2 weekly live Beginner Classes and a bonus on demand shorter class (15-30 minutes).  The live classes are recorded so if the time of class doesn’t work for you, you can take class anytime on your schedule.

 Sign up for Couch to Pilates Strong!

Healthy Feet Workshop

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If you have ever had foot pain you know how debilitating it can be and how it can affect your whole body.

In this #Livebetter workshop we’ll talk about some basics of why the feet are so important in relationship to the rest of the body’s movements and in our daily life. You’ll walk away with some easy exercises that can be incorporated into your life to keep your feet healthy, flexible and strong. 

You don’t need to have foot pain to benefit from this workshop but if you have dealt with or are dealing with Plantar Fasciitis, bunions, hammer toes, heel pain or any foot discomfort you will especially love this workshop!!

To Register — click here!

Get to know Len!

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Note from Carey: Prior to the 2020 pandemic, Rivercity Pilates clients raved about Len’s classes when he would spend a day as a guest instructor at our studio. When we started doing virtual classes during the Pandemic — I asked Len if he’d like to teach classes at Rivercity Pilates and was excited when he said yes! Len teaches our virtual Tuesday Beginner Pilates Mat and our Thursday Pilates for boomers classes! This Saturday, Len is teaching our #LiveBetter workshop this month — The Pilates Principles. This workshop is going to be a shortcut to more results for everyone who practices Pilates, whether you’ve taken 1 class or 100 classes!

We asked Len for permission to add a blog he wrote to our website about his Pilates journey. Here it is!

My biggest Pilates achievement is becoming a Nationally Certified Pilates Teacher at age 60.

They say that 50 is the new 40, but this wasn’t the case for me! When I turned 50, I began to notice signs of aging; stiffness, less flexibility, more aches and pains, not being able to do things I did when I was younger. I figured that if I felt this way at 50, what would life would be like at 70 or 80? My excuses for not exercising disappeared when a new fitness center opened where I worked. One day a personal trainer encouraged me to try a Pilates class. I entered the class reluctantly but left it feeling like I’d come home. I had discovered a way of exercising that felt right; for my body, mind and soul. I felt stronger, breathed deeper and stood taller. I had more energy and my flexibility improved. The stiffness I’d attributed to “getting older” had gone and I was more confident about maintaining a great quality of life. I soon developed a thirst to find out more about the Pilates method.

I found a local studio and delved even deeper into the Pilates world. The more Pilates classes I attended, the more I wanted to attend! I started thinking about teaching Pilates but didn’t know how I would be able to do the training and work full time. Sometimes, fate works in strange ways.

When outsourcing eliminated my corporate job I decided to take the plunge and join the training program. It consisted of 750 hours of instruction, workshops, observations, and student teaching, covering the mat and all apparatus. The instruction helped me understand the exercises and get them in my body. Observations exposed me to different instructors and their styles. Workshops deepened my understanding of the method and taught me proper cueing. Student teaching helped me practice my skills. Tests on Pilates principles, anatomy, and exercise order ensured comprehension. Practice classes provided feedback and the final exam, performing the entire advanced reformer series, was like a rite of passage.

Fifteen months later, at age 60, I became a Pilates instructor. Quite an amazing transformation! Now, I enjoy enabling my clients to realize their own transformation. Working with “Baby Boomers” like myself, I feel I am best able to relate to their particular needs and concerns. It has been an incredible journey.

This year I celebrated my 7 year teaching anniversary and have never been happier. Joseph Pilates taught until he died at age 86. Many of Joe’s original students, collectively known as the Pilates elders, taught into their 80’s and even 90’s. I look forward to teaching as long as I can.

To register for “The Pilates Principles”, click here!

Are the results of Pilates like wearing a corset?

What can Pilates do for me?  Can it get rid of my stomach, tighten my butt, slim my thighs?

When you are in the movement, fitness, Pilates business these types of questions can always be expected.  So expected that I, like many teachers have some standard responses where I tell potential new students,  “of course it can”, followed by professional explanations of how the exercise method if done regularly can produce just the results they are looking for.  But I have to tell you…the longer I teach the harder it is for me to stomach saying these lines. Not because they are wrong, but because I really don’t believe the value in learning a movement practice like Pilates is in the results they are asking about.

I’ve been where these women who are asking me these questions have been…looking for the next best thing to help them get into a smaller pair of jeans or look how you think society wants you to look.  I quit obsessing about weight, worrying about what size I am or trying to fit into society’s ideals a long time ago. I do think my career as a movement instructor was instrumental in that process in my life and I’m forever grateful for that.  I have an eight year old daughter and even though I try to be a great positive body image role model for her, I already am finding that I can’t shield her from thinking she needs to be “skinnier”, go on a diet, or even “lose her stomach” (yes she’s 8 and actually mentioned to me she just wanted to lose a little bit of her stomach???!) and it drives me crazy! What I really want more than anything is for her to appreciate the amazing body she has, stay active and healthy by moving in ways she loves and not fall into feeling like she is always trying to “fix herself” to meet other people’s standards.

So when someone asks me one of those questions about losing an inch from their waist….my heart kind of aches because I can tell that they are still in that place of “trying to fix themselves” or get their body to some “ideal place” that doesn’t exist. Here’s what I want to say when someone asks me about losing their stomach, tightening their butt, or slimming their thighs:

The answer of course is yes — any regular movement program combined with healthy eating can accomplish those things…but is that really what you want?  You are beautiful and have a body that lets you live life.  It might not be perfect or what you see as ideal, but the reality is it is amazing!

If you make it a priority to take care of it by moving in ways you enjoy you will be happier, healthier, and you’ll learn to love yourself for the wonderful you that you are! 

You will feel better in your body and I think that’s what most people are really looking for.  What if you looked at learning Pilates as a way to do something good for your body, a way to grow yourself as a person as you learn more about how your body moves, and a health tool that helps you feel better in your body and happier in your life?

Need to work on balance? Try the Pilates Chair!

When you hear Pilates Chair what do you think of?  Do visions of the ab chair infomercial come into your head?  Does it sound like something elderly people would use so that they could exercise while sitting in a chair?

The Pilates equipment called the chair was named the chair because Joe’s original design allowed you to convert this mighty piece of exercise equipment into a sitting chair when you weren’t working out on it.  Personally I think this is pretty genius from a marketing standpoint!  How many people use their treadmill for a clothes drying rack at home?  Wouldn’t it be great if that treadmill easily converted into a couch when you weren’t using it?  Seriously though, if you are someone who wants to work on balance in your movement practice…you must try the chair!

Whether you are an elite athlete or simply want to navigate day to day life without falls and injury- balance is so important!!

Like all of the Pilates equipment, the Pilates chair is designed to help you find a quicker, more efficient way to get stronger and more balanced in your body quicker.  The chair design is simply a small seat with a spring loaded paddle below the seat.  Many exercises have you positioning and balancing your body somewhere on the seat and then using the loaded paddle to challenge your balance.  The size is just big enough to give you some support, but small enough to challenge your balance and of course your core strength!

Other exercises have you standing on the floor pressing into the spring loaded paddle.  Many of these exercises challenge you do do the exercise with one arm or leg while you try to keep balance in your body.

Interested in seeing how Pilates and the Pilates equipment can help you improve your balance?  Schedule a complimentary private session at Rivercity Pilates today!!!

Having a Knee Replacement?

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Are you thinking about a knee replacement or maybe you’re finally fed up enough with your knee pain that you decided to get it done?  Congratulations!!  As a Pilates instructor I see lots of bodies and lots of different things going on in the body.  As a general rule, I’m a fan of “do everything you can first before resorting to surgery” in many instances but I’ve really changed that attitude over the years when it comes to knee replacements.  I have had the opportunity to work with a lot of clients pre and post knee replacements and all of them have said something like this,” I’m so glad I did it! I can move and be active and not have pain in my knee! I wish I had done it sooner!”

I can also tell you that the clients who I taught Pilates to before their knee replacement swear by the benefits of their Pilates practice in helping them get through their recovery period with much more ease and speedier recoveries.   These clients always come back and tell me how their physical therapist is so happy with their quick progress and can’t believe how amazing their recovery is compared to others following the same journey.

Someone I know told me she was going to have a knee replacement soon and when I asked her if she wanted to come in and do some Pilates before the surgery to prepare her she said,”I have 12 exercises they gave me and I’m doing them twice a day.”  My response,” That is great- you should continue doing those exercises, but just doing the exercises won’t give you the same amazing benefits of doing Pilates before the surgery. I don’t know what exercises she was given but I am sure they were all great exercises designed to strengthen the muscles in her legs and hips, as well as keep those muscles flexible and mobile.  Since she was already doing these exercises I told her we would start her Pilates practice intro by just going over those exercises and applying the Pilates principles to those exercises so she could get more out them.

If you’ve never practiced Pilates before you might be wondering what is so great about Pilates?  What makes Pilates exercises different from the exercises the PT gave me as preparation?  Here’s my best attempt to explain the difference:

1.  Each Pilates exercise is a whole body exercise.  We are not just strengthening the leg muscles or the hip muscles! Yes the Pilates exercises will strengthen those leg and hip muscles but each exercise will also have you engaged,connected and working your whole body.  This comes in very handy when you are trying to figure out how to safely and effectively move your whole body around after your knee replacement surgery.  When the nurses come in to get you up and walking after your surgery you will appreciate your core strength, your upper body strength, and your ability to efficiently move all of your body, all thanks to your Pilates practice!

2. Pilates teaches you to initiate movement from your center.  Having strong core muscles that support your body and just knowing how to engage those core muscles is so helpful when you are recovering from an injury that is causing the rest of your body to compensate.  By having this knowledge and strength of how to engage those core muscles you will be able to support your body better whether you are using a walker or crutches and you’ll take some of the strain off of the rest of the body.

3. Body Alignment:  Pilates is considered a corrective exercise as we are continually trying to create balance in our body by doing movements in alignment and strengthening in alignment.  Creating balance in your body is important for everyone, but if you are recovering from an injury or ailment that causes you to compensate in the rest of your body it could save you from chronic pain, tightness and even injuries in the rest of your body long after your knee has healed.

When’s the best time to start Pilates if you are contemplating a knee replacement? Of course the sooner you start the more prepared you’ll be, but honestly even getting a few sessions in before the surgery with an experienced instructor can teach you some basic concepts that will help you immediately before and after the surgery.  After surgery you’ll want to talk to your doctor and physical therapist about the timing of starting regular sessions again.  The great thing about the Pilates work is that it can truly be adapted to any body so it is possible if you are working with an experienced instructor you can start incorporating the Pilates movements into your recover process sooner than later.

Want to see the benefits of Pilates before and after surgery?  Check out this video below of Pilates Instructor Nancy only 2 weeks after her kee replacement surgery: