Practice What You Teach: Thanks Joe & Clara!

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I was sitting at dinner this week with some of my “Pilates friends” and my stomach muscles were hurting…not from Pilates, or the Pilates paddle boarding we had just done, but from laughing so hard! The older I get the more I appreciate those moments hanging out with friends just laughing….laughing so much it makes your stomach hurt and your eyes water. It was a fun evening! It reminded me of something I had heard last year when I got to hear Pilates elder Mary Bowen speak at the Pilates Method Alliance annual meeting.

Mary started off her talk by saying we should all be thanking Joe and Clara. And simply stated, “How different would your life be without them? How many of your friends and experiences would have never happened if it hadn’t been for them creating and doing the work they did?” In a room full of Pilates instructors there was a lot of thoughtful agreement that day. At the moment her words were a powerful reminder to me and I often come back to those words in my life.

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My friend Cassie from Northwoods Pilates with Mary Bowen!

First of all I think that it is crazy empowering and amazing that one guy could start an exercise system that could change so many lives over so many years. So many times when we think of people who change the world we immediately think of world leaders, genius scientists and Oprah(is it just me who thinks of Oprah? I love her)! But Joe was a pretty regular guy with a passion for movement and health. He was doing something he loved and sharing it with the world because he knew it could help others. During his lifetime he worked with a lot of clients and had an amazing impact on so many lives. Joe never really had the chance though, to see how what he was doing would continue on to inspire millions of people! Whether you are a Pilates instructor, a school teacher or a doctor I think it’s a great lesson in following your passion and having trust that what you are doing is perfect and that your reach is probably much further than you could ever imagine.

Second, isn’t it kind of incredible how much just one person can impact your life experience?   It’s hard for me to look at my life right now and imagine what it would be like without my Pilates friends, my studio, my clients over the years and my Pilates experiences.   I can’t even begin to count the ways that Pilates has brought incredible people into my life and incredible experiences that bring me happiness! In the crazy busyness of life it’s so easy to forget the impact that you can have as one person. It’s so easy to forget that by doing something simple like being yourself and sharing things you love, you can have a profound effect on others, their life path and their happiness.  And those simple things like those connections with others, those life experiences, those moments you share… are really what make life fun and meaningful.

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Joe & Clara Pilates

Thanks Joe & Clara for all the many ways you impacted my life and so many others! Thanks Mary for being part of my Pilates experiences and reminding me of the impact of just one person! And for all of my Pilates friends in my life know that I am ever so grateful to Joe and Clara for starting it all so we had a chance to connect!

P.S. If you want to learn a little more about Mary Bowen, Cassie wrote a great blog about what she learned from Mary after last year’s conference and you can click here to find it!

#PracticeWhatYouTeach: “Not Working out in the Studio Guilt”

scenery3Without even realizing it most days I find myself taking my Pilates practice outdoors.  As a Pilates teacher and studio owner who often ends up spending 8 plus hours at the studio I think that being able to take things outside allows me to get away from my work environment and have some “me time”.  After a full day of teaching the last thing I want to do is stay at the studio and workout. Not because I don’t love the studio or not because I don’t feel like moving, but more so because I need a change of scenery! Many days I come home from the studio wanting to take a walk, play with the kids outside and some days I just throw a blanket on the deck and do some mat work.

I was reflecting on how I used to feel a little guilty (ok a lot guilty!) about this.  As a studio owner and an instructor I used to believe that for me to be a good example for my clients I needed to be working out at the studio or taking classes or sessions at the studio on a regular basis.  Then I started looking at it in a different way.

scenery1I hear from my clients all the time…”I know I could do this stuff on my own, but I don’t.  It’s hard to get motivated to do it at home.  There’s something about coming to the studio that keeps me more committed and keeps me excited about doing it”.  Just like me they need a change a scenery!  The change of scenery gets them away from their day to day environment and into a space that allows them to focus on themselves, enjoy some “me time” and get their movement time in.  I get it…the studio for them is like the outdoors is for me.

If you are an instructor who has ever dealt with “not working out in the studio” guilt I’d love to hear from you!  What did it take for you to realize that being a great example for clients doesn’t have to happen in the studio walls?  Where do you go for your “me time”?

 

 

Practice What You Teach: Learning to not worry..

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When people first learn that I am a Pilates instructor or that I own a Pilates studio I often find myself having conversations about fitness programs and working out.  I tend to be a listener first, so many times I find myself just taking in what they are saying.  Many times the conversation ends up being about the latest fitness program or plan, fitness or weight loss goals, or even what is considered the correct amount of cardio and strength training per week for a person.  I think many people would be surprised to know that what I’ve discovered is that I personally am not a “workout fanatic”.  I very rarely plan workouts and I really don’t love to work to the point of extreme soreness or pain (ever…!).  I do LOVE to move, movement is part of my life and you will find me including a lot of movement in each day.

This past year has been eye opening for me as I blog weekly about my own Pilates practice. I’m finding that I’m blogging a lot more about movement in my life than I am a particular workoutaha moment.  My career as a Pilates teacher has allowed me to create a life where movement is just part of what I do and who I am and I don’t even really think about it!  The “not really thinking about it” part was kind of a “a-ha” moment for me this week!

You see I almost never plan ahead a workout such as a walk, a Pilates workout, a bike ride, play time with my kids, jumping on the trampoline,etc…yet I do those things on a daily basis without even giving it a second thought! Even better than not ever truly planning ahead for it is that I don’t worry about it!  Yep that’s what I said…I don’t worry about it!

So many times I hear clients talking about missing their workouts, needing to get back on track and finding something to get them moving more.  I can sense just from their tone that this concerns them, they’ve spent some energy worrying about and probably created some unnecessary stress in their life. Sometimes I even start to question myself and think is there something wrong with me that I’m not worried about that stuff? I mean I am a fitness  professional…shouldn’t I  be worried about my own exercise time and stats, my weight fluctuation, my minutes of cardio, etc.?

And then I remember back when I was younger and that stuff mattered to me.  I used to force myself to do at least 30 minutes of cardio (that I didn’t really enjoy) every day just because that’s what someone told me I should do. (I easily do that now but I don’t even think about it because it’s something I enjoy!)   I used to only do the entire Pilates Mat sequence or take a class to do Pilates because I thought that was what you were supposed to do.   I used to jump on the scale and then have positive or negative reactions because of the 1 lb difference from the day before.

aha3I’m not exactly sure at what point in my life I quit “worrying” about my fitness workouts and just made movement part of my life…but I’m glad I did.  Life is crazy, chaotic and stressful enough without spending my time and energy worrying about trying to control things that in the days end really don’t matter.  I love that my Pilates journey has brought me to this place of “not worrying” about my physical fitness and I love that I get to help others who may be on a similar journey.  This reminds me as a Pilates teacher that even though it is important for me to know the Pilates movements, know how to adjust bodies, know how to modify exercises, and know how to progress clients… there are often lessons much bigger and more important that I get to teach.

Practice What You Teach: Pilates on the Water

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What could be better than beautiful summer weather, getting out in nature and movement?  Twice this week I got to go play at the lake and do some stand up paddle boarding! The paddle boards are a fun way to cruise around the lake, but also stable enough you can pretty much do the entire Pilates Mat sequence on them!  The added instability is great for fine tuning your form and having to use your center to balance!  During our monthly Life Inspired gathering this week we played around doing both Pilates and Yoga on the boards and it was a blast!  Here’s a few pictures from the evening!

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Balance, balance, balance…

Saw with our paddle as a group
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Check out Dick’s great plank (only 9 weeks
after shoulder replacement surgery!!)		 Right before I fell in as Julie was guiding
me through a yoga pose
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Nancy was doing Pilates and Yoga in the canoe!! Rolling Like a Ball!! My favorite!
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Roll Ups with a beautiful
view of the sky!		 Mountain Pose is a lot more
work on a paddle board!

 

Practice What You Teach: Is Perfection required?

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It was a busy week.  After having the first month of summer off, my husband was back teaching this summer which simply means for us there is a little more juggling schedules when it comes to kids activities and kid care throughout the week.  This is really no big deal, but the first week of adjusting schedules is always a little more hectic and crazy.  This just happened to start on the first of the month (which is always a busy time from a business standpoint as we are doing our monthly newsletter, payroll, and lots of other first of the month tasks) and to add to the fun we had a pretty big event planned at the studio on Friday night.  So..by the time Saturday morning arrived, I barely had time to think about my movement practice this week, let alone write a blog about it!

Luckily I had an hour break after my morning clients and my 9 am Return to Life Mat class and I decided just to work out and see if anything came to me! First of all, let me tell you I really kind of wanted to do a Reformer workout (no particular reason…it was just what I was feeling like.)  But… I was also feeling a little tired and uninspired to teach my morning mat class so I decided the best thing I could do is to do my mat work.  As a teacher I find that doing the Pilates work in my own body before I teach is often enough to help “inspire my teaching” and simply helps remind me of the work and the feel of the work that my students will be doing.

Before I started, I decided I would just flow through the work letting my body do what it knows how to do. In my mind I was telling myself…Just move and don’t worry about what it looks like or doing things perfectly! So that’s what I did.  I put on my favorite Pandora station, and ran through the entire mat sequence from Footwork to Pushups with Big Twist thrown in at the end!   The whole workout took me about 25 minutes and I had two takeaways definitely worth talking about.

imperfect1. Moving is more important than perfection!  As a Pilates teacher I spend so much time teaching people to move better, that I think I forget sometimes that it’s the movement itself that is so effective as a health tool not the perfection of the movement.  As long as you are being safe in your body and not injuring yourself the best thing you can do is just show up and move!

2. Flowing movement and breath without breaks means you are getting your heart rate up and sweating (at least for me).  I felt “worked” when I got done but honestly more than that I felt kind of refreshed and definitely more energized for the rest of my day.  As a teacher this reminded me of the importance of working toward more flowing workouts with clients where ever they are in their body.  The concept of flowing movements in the Pilates method definitely ties together all of the concepts you learn in your Pilates practice and is a great way to keep challenging your body in a safe way.

Hope you had a great week and had some time to sneak in some mindful movement time into your life whatever you had going on!    As always I would love to hear from you and what you’ve been doing in your personal practice!  What did your movement time look like this week?  What did you take away from from your movement practice?

 

 

Practice What You Teach: Appreciating the Hundred

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100_0I’ll be the first to admit that the Hundred is not my favorite Pilates exercise.  My body or my brain doesn’t ever go, “Wow, I feel like doing my Hundreds!” It’s not like Rolling Back or Short Spine that I find myself craving to do if my body is tight or just needs to move more.  But, I was reflecting this week on how I do really appreciate the Hundred as an exercise and all the things it teaches me on any given day.  Here’s a few of the things that I appreciate and keep me doing it (even though it’s not my favorite!):

1.  Everything is engaged and working in a balanced way: I feel like the Hundred is a shining example for putting all of the Pilates concepts and ideas into one exercise that takes just a minute or so.  Moving from your center, whole body engagement, coordinating breath and movement, concentration, control, persistence….you need them all to get through this one exercise! Even if I do just this one exercise…I feel the work!

2. Check-in Tool: I’ve found that I often use the Hundred exercise as a tool to check in and see how my body is feeling on any given day.  Because the Hundred is an exercise I do most of the time in my Pilates workouts, I have done the exercise thousands of times in my lifetime.  I know where my working level usually is, I know how my body likes to compensate for my imbalances and I have a good sense of what my body normally feels like during the exercise.  So when something feels different, slightly unbalanced or maybe just tight I can usually feel it as soon as I start.  For example, if my hamstrings and low back are feeling tight I usually adjust my working level of my legs and bring them up to 90 degrees with flexed feet so that I can start to lengthen and stretch them.  Then I use that awareness to add other things into my workout that day to try to focus on stretching and lengthening what is over-tight that day.

hundreds3. Feeling Progress: Again, because I consistently do this exercise it easily allows me to feel when I am changing things in my body and making progress.  Some thing are obvious like noticing if my working level of my legs is more challenging or making it through all 10 breaths instead of 6 or 7 and other things can be more subtle.  As an example, I have a tendency to shorten my left side and I can always feel this in the Hundred. When I shorten I feel like I am putting more weight into my left hip and then have to correct by shifting weight into my right hip and lengthening my left side waist.  Lately I’ve been finding that I don’t have to make this correction as often and naturally I’m finding and maintaining the balance in my body better- yeah for progress!

I would love to hear what you have to think about the Hundred!  Do you love it, hate it? What are your takeaways from this exercise?