Practice What You Teach: Pilates Anytime Inspiration…

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My favorite workout this week has a little story behind it! My story starts with Shelley, one of the trainees in our Comprehensive Teacher Training Program coming in for her private lesson.  When I asked Shelley how her body felt and if there was anything in particular she wanted to work on she said she was hoping to do Reformer as she had just watched a couple of Amy Taylor Alpers‘ classes on Pilates Anytime and really had some “aha” moments!  I was asking her about what she watched and we excitedly talked for a a few minutes ( OK..maybe 7 or 8 minutes because as Pilates instructors this is exciting stuff….).

We talked about some of the ideas Amy was incorporating, how she taught certain exercises and how it changed how Shelley saw certain exercises.  One of the key ideas that Shelley was talking about was an idea I’ll call  “standing in your feet” throughout all the exercises.  Shelley kept saying,” I know you’ve told me these things, but for whatever reason how she said it just clicked!”.  This is one of the many reasons you should try to take lessons at least occasionally with different instructors: we learn different things from different teachers and sometimes just hearing something a different way helps ideas or movements make more sense in your body!!

Our conversation made it easy for me as an instructor to decide what Shelley would be doing that day in her session with me.  I had Shelley do an intermediate Reformer workout (one she knew well as far as order of exercises) and we focused on “standing in her feet”!  I took the idea that she had been introduced to and tried to incorporate it into every exercise she did and really incorporate it into her body.  Needless to say our focus and my cues and interpretation of this idea really changed how Shelley was thinking about each exercise and made her fine tune each exercise in a way that she hadn’t done before(aka- everything was more work!).

IMG_7354It just so happened that the very same evening Shelley and I were both at the studio and I ended up having an unexpected break due to a cancellation and Shelley did too as she was supposed to observe that session.  So I told Shelley it was a sign that I should work out (and she should teach me!).  I told her we could do some Reformer and she could be as picky as she wanted with me! So I did a intermediate Reformer workout and Shelley taught me giving me lots of cues about “standing in my feet” and just fine tuning my alignment.  It was a great workout that had me, just like Shelley earlier that day, working harder and moving better just from changing how I was thinking about each exercise.

If you practice Pilates or are a Pilates instructor and are unfamiliar with Pilates Anytime– you should check it out!  For a very small monthly fee (like what you would pay to take one Pilates class!)  you’ll have online access to hundreds of amazing classes, workshops, and tutorials with some of the best instructors in the world.  One of the things I love about my Pilates practice is that it is always evolving and it’s a continuous process of learning and incorporating things into my body. Every teacher that I have taken classes, sessions, workshops or continuing education classes from contributes to the evolution of my understanding of movement and the Pilates Method in my body and my teaching.   The video classes and workshops on Pilates Anytime allow me to learn from incredible instructors that I wouldn’t normally get to take sessions or classes with on a regular basis.

As a teacher of Pilates instructors I encourage all my trainees to use Pilates Anytime as well.  Our trainees have to get in quite a few observation hours as part of their training process and we allow some of those hours to come from watching classes and workshops on Pilates Anytime.  Although very different from observing a live session I do think it is so important for trainees to get exposed to different teachers and different teaching styles to help them learn things best in their body as well as learn how to teach it to others.  When you are in small town Iowa there aren’t a ton of options for finding multiple instructors to observe, so I really find Pilates Anytime an invaluable tool for training future Pilates instructors.

Are you a Pilates instructor or practitioner who watches Pilates Anytime?  I would love to hear about some of your favorite classes and what you’ve watched lately!!

Practice What you Teach: Neck Pain and Practicing Swan

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I woke up Sunday morning and my neck hurt!  I could tell immediately after I woke that I had slept on it funny or something and it was not happy.  In general my body feels pretty great and I don’t have a lot of aches or pains, so when I get one it drives me crazy! (and I’m a little impatient!)

So my Pilates practice started this week with lots of neck and upper back releasing as I attempted to get rid of my pesky neck pain.  I got out my foam roller and used some small balls to do some focused release and breath work and it did help although the pesky little pain didn’t completely go away until the end of the week!  I did a Reformer workout one day and a Tower workout another and really just focused on balanced work in my body and specifically not overworking or engaging in my neck and upper shoulders.  The movement always made me felt better and by Thursday the pain was completely gone(thank goodness!)

I ran across a great video this week of Pilates instructor Brent Anderson fine tuning someone’s Swan and it inspired me to do some extra play time with my own extension.  Brent gives some great explanations in this quick video!  (It’s a must watch especially if you don’t like swan!!) Throughout my workouts I took time to really pay attention to my extension movements and incorporate some of Brent’s teaching.  One of the things I love about the Pilates work is that something as simple as watching someone else teach and listening to how they explain something can spark  fine tuning in my own practice and movements and help me get more out of what I’m doing.

Practice What You Teach: after MarchMATness…

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I’m not going to lie…I’m kind of glad MarchMATness is over!  As much as I LOVE the daily celebration of Joseph Pilates Mat exercises I was getting a little bit tired of creating daily video, pictures and blog posts!  My Pilates practice in March definitely revolved around March Matness.  Much of my free time at the studio was spent doing the daily exercise, getting pictures and video of the exercise of the day, blogging about the exercise and also playing with ways to incorporate the daily exercise into my classes and sessions(that was my favorite part!).

As April begins I’m finding a new appreciate of just being able to work out, focus on the exercise at hand and not have to worry about how to present it on our blog and social media sites!  I’ve snuck in a few full workouts on the Cadillac and the Reformer which felt great! I really just did Pilates mat work all month long other than random playing on the equipment so I found myself missing those workouts!! We’ve also had some beautiful springs days where I’ve been trying to get out and enjoy the nice weather with walks and trips to the park with the kids!  Of course I always sneak in a little (creative, playful) Pilates at the park when we’re there!

 

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March Matness 2016: Swimming

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Swimming is one of the Pilates exercises I have a love/hate relationship for..maybe you can relate?  Because it is a challenge for me to lift my body off the mat into an extension from this prone position this exercise is really difficult for me and I feel like I’m not doing it very well because I don’t have a big range of motion with my arms and legs.  This is why I don’t like it…it’s hard for me!  At the same time I know that it is exactly what my body needs and so I am trying to love the challenge of doing it well and not be so critical of myself as I do it! I’m focusing on strengthening my muscles uniformly while practicing at a working level for my body.

If you, like me and much of the rest of the world live in a world of flexion( slouching at the computer, forward head staring at a screen) you can easily see how strengthening the muscles that help reverse all that slouching and poor posture would help:

  • maintain better posture and alignment in your body
  • and hopefully help you avoid problems like an achy sore low back and tight overworked muscles in your shoulders and neck

The Pilates Swimming exercise will help you do just these things!! These are the things I try to remind myself of every time I do this exercise(and every time I think about skipping it in my workout!!)

In today’s video I’m showing you my favorite version of swimming that I try to do on a regular basis.  I’m using a small padded barrel under my hips because it allows me to lift away from the mat and get just a little more range of movement in my arms and legs.  I like to start with just lifting into the swimming position and lowering from it.  Then I lift into position and hold as I swim- alternating legs and arms lifting.

Practice What You teach: March Matness and Rolling Like a Ball (what could be better?)

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It’s March and besides getting excited about spring time weather and more sunshine I love getting to celebrate an entire month of Pilates Mat work with fellow Pilates geeks all over the world!  I made a commitment to participate daily in March MATness and even though it makes life a little hectic, it also reminds me of how much I love the Pilates Mat work and the method itself.  My commitment to post videos and blogs about the Pilates Mat work all month long really forces me to schedule play time into each day( rough huh?).  I love the playful, creative side of the Pilates work and nothing could be better than “having to” spend time each day playing with movements and trying to decide how I want to share them with others!

Needless to say my “workouts” this week have been very playful and I’ve been getting a lot of mat work in! Today’s March MATness exercise is probably my favorite Pilates exercise ever!  I have a lot of favorites but Rolling Like a Ball(also known as Rolling Back) tops my list as I love how it feels, I love how playful it can be and I love how super challenging it can be no matter how many times you do it!!  I of course include Rolling Like a Ball in my formal Pilates workouts but it’s also my favorite “sitting” position if I’m watching a movie, running a staff meeting or just playing with the kids on the floor!

 

Practice What you Teach: Getting to be the student

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My Pilates practice started off great this week with a private lesson with Cassie at Northwoods Pilates and Wellness in Ankeny.  Cassie is a PMA certified instructor who trained with me and now has her own studio in the Ankeny, Iowa.   Cassie is an amazing teacher and nothing could be better than getting to sneak in an entire session just devoted to my movement practice. I’ve taken many of lessons with Cassie over the years but it’s probably been almost a year since I’ve taken a private with her since she’s relocated so it was especially a treat!

As a teacher of teachers I always find it fun to take lessons from my students.   It’s fun to hear your own influence in their teaching but also to see how they have created their own style of teaching.

There were some moments during our session where I often just laughed inside because I found myself doing things I see my clients doing all the time or I found Cassie saying things that I would often say, or I was just reflecting on what it might be like to teach me! Here’s just a few that might make you laugh too.

  1. During the Hundreds I couldn’t help thinking,” Are we done yet? Isn’t that a hundred? I obviously am not doing this many during my daily Pilates practice!!”
  2. Sometimes I need help concentrating!  More than once I found myself not following Cassie’s directions!!  I would be one or two reps into an exercise and realize I was not doing what she was asking me to!  She was very sweet and would just gently remind me until I realized and got it.
  3. Tensing my shoulders!(yes teachers do it too!)  When Cassie was teaching me something new or I was paying attention to other details of an exercise she would have to remind me (often by a simple touch of the hand) or verbal cue to soften my shoulders or connect them!
  4. Since Cassie is 32 weeks pregnant she often said things like,” you get to do this exercise that my body is sooo craving to do!”.  I can totally relate to that place in pregnancy where you are missing being able to move like you are used to!!
  5. At least a couple of times I heard Cassie say, ” Let’s try this “fun” version of an exercise!”. {my favorite phrase when it comes to movement! I’m not sure where she get’s that from!}
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Finn stretching his spine!!

As always my session left me feeling refreshed and energized and wondering why I don’t make a commitment to get over to see her and take more lessons!! I also got to hang out with Cassie’s son Finn and watch him play in the Pilates studio!  I absolutely love to watch as kids naturally move and play and do things that us adults are trying to recreate in our movement practice!  The picture of Finn just laying down and stretching his spine over the Spine Corrector barrel is a great example! (and he totally did that without prompting from anyone!)