Doesn’t that worry you?

Client: I felt the spine stretch in reformer rowings during our last session!  Doesn’t that worry you that it’s taken me two years to feel that? I am the world’s slowest learner?

New Pilates Teacher: My client CANNOT do rolling like a ball.  What am I doing wrong?  ( after they have only seen this client 4 times…)

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No these questions do not worry me at all.  Although I have to admit as a new teacher they might have.  Years of teaching movement have taught me that if someone is being safe in their body and they are clear on what they are trying to accomplish eventually they will get there.  The thing about movement is you have to practice a movement to get better at it.  I’m sure I could dig through some scientific studies and tell you all about the neurological connections that have to happen, the muscles that need to be strong enough and flexible enough, etc….but the simple answer is to get better at something you have to practice.

Sure, it helps to have a great teacher who explains things in lots of different ways and uses physical and verbal cues to help you find positions and movements in your body….but so often it boils down to practice.  Movement teachers can tell you what you need to do to execute an exercise or movement better, but until you practice it you’ll never actually do it.   And by practice I mean try it 100 times or more, not just 3 times!!  :)  Changes in our muscles, tissues and bodies in general happen over time and it is a gradual process.

As a teacher this means that equally important as me knowing how to teach you the movement is me making it interesting, fun and beneficial enough that you want to keep coming back, keep practicing!!