Practice What You Teach: Chair, Chair, Chair

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This weekend I’ll be teaching the Body Precision Instructor Training Chair Module, which means I’ve been prepping for the workshops all week long( and last week too…).  My favorite way to prep for teaching is to start by re-reading through the training IMG_6953manual and then doing each exercise along the way.  At this same time I always dig out my original notes from when I went through the training program and read through them as well.  And for Chair one of my favorite reference pieces is the Chair book from the Pilates Center that features pictures of Joe doing all the exercises himself.  My manuals and notebooks are covered with notes and nuggets of wisdom that I’ve learned over the years.

This process of prepping for the workshops is almost as much fun as teaching the workshops for me.  And it never fails I always learn something  and re-remember somethings I haven’t taught or used in awhile.  I also rediscover exercises in my personal practice that I really should be doing on a more regular basis and start adding them in!!  I find myself taking notes as I go through the exercises for clients( things like this would be good for this client, great for balance work, try this with client so and so this week..).    If you are a client of mine and we’ve been doing a little more chair than normal this week….this might be why!!

The act of preparing to teach this material to other students of the Pilates method really re-lights my passion for what the Chair can help someone do in their body as well as my own.  It reminds me of my love of not only the Pilates method, but of teaching movement in general.  I’m pretty thankful that my work time and my Pilates practice time this week included playing on the Chair!!

Practice What You Teach: A little bit each day…

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“The question is: Did you know you can practice a little bit of ‪#‎Pilates‬ everyday and really change the way you feel? ‪#‎JustSayin‬‘” ~ Gina Jackson

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My Pilates friend Gina Jackson posted this quote on her Facebook page this week and it really spoke to me.  Probably because it had been one of those weeks that just kind of flew by and even though I was doing Pilates every day it wasn’t ever a full 30 minute or more workout.

It was a sneak in 5 or 10 minutes before my next client, stretch and play on the floor while I watched my daughter dancing in the living room kind of week.

 

careyOne of the best things about this kind of week is that the little bits of Pilates I did throughout my days really did change the way I felt.  I always felt better after I moved both physically and mentally!

The reminder this week from Gina was just what I needed to change my attitude from I wish I had time to fit more in to…wow, I’m grateful to have a consistent Pilates practice in my life that makes a difference even when it’s just a little bit each day.

The idea of incorporating Pilates into your life and making it part of your daily routines is something I talk to clients about all the time so when I have those a-ha moments in my own life about how amazingly effective and helpful it is… it just makes me smile! #Practicewhatyouteach

 

 

Do you know your Pilates instructor well enough to say this?

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As a Pilates instructor one of the things I love about teaching is getting to know my clients and getting to be part of their health journey.  So many of my clients have been with me for years and I think that is so amazing!  As an instructor I can tell you that like any relationship the instructor/student relationship definitely evolves and matures as clients get to know me,I get to know them and as they progress in their Pilates practice.

One of the funny things that happens as clients get to know me better is that sometimes they say the things that are going through their head during their session or class.  You know….that stuff you’ve been thinking since your first session but just finally feel comfortable saying! 

Here’s just a few of my favorites:

  • Are you making that up?  (I mean did Joe Pilates really create all of these crazy exercises and how could she still be teaching me new things after I’ve been doing this for more than a  year…?)

    I have to admit that on occasion I make up a movement or variation of an exercise if I feel like it would help a client.  In fact in my own workout(aka play time) I often experiment with different variations of a traditional Pilates exercise that might help someone learn a Pilates concept or movement better or in a new way. So it’s possible I would answer this with a yes!
  • What the he** are we doing?   Most Pilates students have thought this at one time or another. Maybe you felt this the first time you did Short Spine or when we asked you to Roll Like a Ball, but only those who know me well will actually say it out loud when I ask them to try something new or different!
  • Are you bored?  This one goes hand in hand with did you make that up?  It’s true I do like the creative, playful side of Pilates and like to mix things up on occasion…variety is the spice of life right?
  • Are you kidding me?   This one usually comes out when I ask them to do something they don’t think they can do like maybe Upside Down Push Up on the Chair or Monkey on the Cadillac and then they end up doing it beautifully!!
  • No….   When I ask if they want to try an exercise or movement sometimes I get an upfront No, not really….usually I’m not really giving them an option and then they end up doing it anyway…but those who know me well aren’t afraid to try to get out of it…
  • Rolling Eyes..(no words needed)….  This response is common when I say things things like,”This exercise is like a built in rest in the middle of your Pilates mat work or guess what fun thing is up next?…” 
  • Stop being so picky!    Admit it….some days you just wish your instructor would not remind you of all those little details… are they really that important anyway?
  • Really???    This usually gets said at that moment when you are slightly tired and I ask you to do 2 more, or maybe try just a slightly more challenging variation….
  • Do you really think I can do that??  My answer is always, “Of course I do or I wouldn’t have asked!!”
  • Anything else?  Pull your abdominals in, keep your legs together, no scrunching those shoulders and then coordinate your breath with your movement! ….  The Pilates method can seem pretty demanding and sometimes you feel like your brain and body can’t possibly put all those pieces together at the same time.
  • Time for Seal??  If you have been practicing Pilates you know the exercises that come at the end of the order and you have to admit that it’s kind of a relief when you hear your instructor announce those exercises.  For those who know me well they are not shy about asking for those exercises( even if we are only half way through our workout!)

So now it’s your turn!  I would love to hear what goes through your head and what you actually say to your Pilates instructor!  If you are a Pilates instructor I’m sure you can add to my list of what you hear from clients!  Share this post and be sure to comment with your favorites!!

Practice What You Teach: Pilates Detective Work

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One of the things I love most about teaching Pilates is the “figuring it out” part of the work.  I’ve learned over the years that by using movement to create balance in your muscles and your body often times you can get rid of pesky aches and pains throughout your body and you can just plain feel better in your body.  So when a client has something going on(whether its a tight low back, foot pain, or whatever) I love being a detective who looks for clues as to what might be imbalanced in the body and then figuring out what we can do from a movement perspective to create more balance.

This type of detective work is not always a quick process as often times the solution is not an easy answer…like we need to strengthen your bicep muscle.  Many times the solutions come over detectivetime as clients learn to pay attention to their bodies and notice their own alignment and movement patterns.  By regularly moving in alignment the whole body starts to realign and become more balanced. My goal is to give people a toolbox of skills so they can learn to use movement to work toward a more balanced body.

As an instructor I find myself not just cuing clients and helping them with this process in their session but often times I spend my own movement time playing with ideas and movements I’m teaching them so that I can better help them.  Which leads me to my movement practice this week.  All week long I have been playing with movements related to the gluteus medius and gluteus maximus.  During some “client detective work time” I started thinking that my client wasn’t activating these muscles properly and/or there was an imbalance and so I started playing around with the best cues and movements to encourage proper engagement and strengthen those muscles.

So I’ve been playing with movement specific to these muscles in my own body and also just thinking about how I use these muscles in everything I do so I can better relate that to my client.  The result….a sore butt( in a good way) and some awareness in my own body that I have some imbalances in my own gluteus muscles.  I know this as I have really been working on awareness and firing both sides together and my left butt has been much more sore than my right!!  #awarenessiskey #jobperk #PilatesInstructor  #PilatesNerd

 

 

 

Practice What You Teach: Getting outside my Pilates comfort zone…

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One of my goals in my own practice is to pick one new to me Pilates Anytime video and do it each week.  And I made a deal with myself that once I picked one and started it…I would finish it.  You see many times I find myself picking something to watch and workout with and if I don’t like it ( ie it’s not what I expected, it’s more challenging than I wanted that day, or it’s a style of teaching I don’t love) I just stop the video and do something else or maybe even call it good for the day.

I decided that there are so many reasons I shouldn’t do this like:

  • Getting outside of your comfort zone is good( as a teacher it’s a good reminder that this is what a new student feels like in my class…)
  •  The stuff we don’t like is often what we need most( following my own advice…)
  • There is always a takeaway, a lesson, something positive in any situation ( again…following my own advice)

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This week I happen to be scrolling through Facebook and saw Pilates Anytime had posted a new little clip of Portia Page doing Single Leg Stretch with a big ball promoting her latest class.  I thought….” I need to sneak a workout in and I do love a little Pilates Mat and Big Ball”.  So I opened up my Pilates Anytime app to check it out.   It was a 30 minute workout which was perfect for my schedule so I started it up on my phone.

Right away as the video started I knew it was not what I expected it to be.   We started with some standing squat like movements and Portia was talking about getting your cardio in, music and having to coordinate to the music(ahhhh…coordinating with music is not normally my thing!) I really wanted to stop the video and try something else. This was definitely not the style of class I was thinking it was going to be, but I could stand to get some cardio in and I had made myself that promise, so I stuck with it.

2 minutes later….This was not your traditional Pilates workout, and I clearly was not doing everything exactly right or getting all of the choreography(I’m a little bit20160519_112434 of a perfectionist so this drives me a crazy!!) but I was getting a workout!  My heart rate was up and once I just let myself not worry about being perfect…it was fun!  Portia is a great instructor and as I was doing the workout I was thinking that there were definitely some things we were doing that would be fun to add into my TGIF Mat class where we often played on the big ball.  I really loved her positive attitude and just plain enthusiasm to move and have fun!  The unexpected cardio and Pilates based movements ended up being a perfect workout to start my day.  Lessons learned and noted!

 

Our Muscles Obey our Mind…

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I was teaching footwork to a client this morning on the reformer.  I asked her to stop for a second and just pay attention to how her body and her backside felt on the reformer carriage.  I then requested she put weight into her left hip, and left rib cage and just notice the balance between the two sides.  She did what I asked, found a balanced place and then we started the footwork sequence again. Her movement was much more balanced and I could tell she was working more efficiently, with more ease and ultimately having to “work” a little more to find that balance.

joequote22After our session she was talking about what an amazing difference that made and how she could really start to feel that balance in her body.  She was amazed at how just thinking and “commanding” her body worked to help her create balance and work her muscles more efficiently.

This to me is a great example of how simply effective and powerful we are in creating change in our bodies by changing how we think.  It’s one of the things that I love about the Pilates work. By practicing Pilates you a learning a skill that will help you move better and feel better in everything you do in life, not just when you are on your Pilates Mat.  I also love that you don’t have to be at any certain fitness level to learn this skill and start implementing it into your life.  I’m not asking you to run a marathon or lift an absurd amount of weight….I’m asking you to check in with your body, think about how you are moving and maybe change how you are thinking….

IMG_0887In Return to Life, Joseph Pilates states,” Ideally, our muscles should obey our will. Reasonably, our will should not be dominated by reflex actions of our muscles. Contrology begins with mind control over muscles.”  Well said Joe!

[tweetthis]”Contrology begins with mind control over muscles.” ~ #JoesphPilates #ReturntoLife [/tweetthis]