Tag Archive for: Pilates practice

Practice What You Teach: Practice, practice, practice

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This weekend I had the chance to workout with one of the trainees in our teacher training program.  I often make the offer to trainees and other instructors that if they want someone to workout beside and practice their traditional order and reps to just let me know. What I love about this type of workout is that having someone beside you going through the sequence and exercises motivates you to stay focused, yet it’s really your workout.  We don’t talk and I definitely don’t teach exercises, we just workout side by side.  It’s not a class where you are waiting for instructions from your teacher, it is truly your movement practice and you are simply practicing the exercises in your body at your level.  After our workout I was reflecting a little on how important it is to create this type of practice time for myself and alspractice-makes-better-gray-free-downloado for my clients.

As a Pilates teacher I spend a lot of my time and focus helping people learn how to move properly and helping them fine tune good movement patterns.  But I
have to remind myself that to be an effective teacher means after making sure someone is being safe and understands the movement, one of your most important jobs is getting them to practice and keep practicing.  The only way to get better at a movement is to practice.  The only way to keep getting stronger and continue to create more balance in your body is to practice.  If someone continues to practice…they will improve their movement, they will maintain and gain strength, balance and flexibility and they will keep progressing.

This conversation reminds me that as a student of the work, more important than mastery or perfection…is the practice.  As a teacher it reminds me that motivating and inspiring clients to stick with their movement practice, to practice on their own, to incorporate it into their life….is just as important as knowing how to how to teach proper mechanics and technique of the exercises.  It all comes down to practice, practice practice!

 

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: 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!

 

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: Something is always better than nothing…..

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I was chatting with my Mom the other night and catching up on her day, which quite frankly was a crazy, busy stressful day that would have exhausted anybody!  She mentioned how she loved my blog announcing I was going to be blogging about my daily Pilates practice all year long(she’s always my biggest supporter so this was no surprise!!). She mentioned it was her goal to start doing her Pilates everyday too and how it just didn’t happen today.  She was going to watch and workout with a DVD in the morning but started working on other things that needed to get done and the day got away from her (we can all relate to that!).   This conversation is exactly why I’ll be sharing my personal Pilates practice all year long….

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Today’s blog inspired by Mom!

I want to change the way my Mom and you think about movement!  Sure it’s great to go to the studio and take a class or put a 30 minute DVD on and workout, but it’s not always realistic!  On those days, instead of beating yourself up because you didn’t do anything I want you to start thinking of how you can incorporate your Pilates movement throughout your day.  Can you do 10 squats standing in your kitchen after you loaded the dishwasher?  Could you lay on the floor and take 2 minutes and do your Hundreds exercise?  How about just doing some stretches while you are watching the news?

Could you take 7 minutes to do a mini Pilates workout? ( you probably don’t even need to change clothes…)  The video below is me teaching my favorite mini Pilates Mat workout.  It’s really just the first sequence of a classical Pilates Mat routine.  I make a daily deal with myself to always do something even if it’s just the Hundreds( and yes some days it’s just the Hundreds!!).   Many days though I continue on and do the workout below or some version of the Pilates Mat sequence.  Once I get started it feels good and I enjoy it.

[tweetthis]Adding Pilates to your life is easier than you think! #beinspired #practicewhatyouteach [/tweetthis]

If you are creating a Pilates practice at home you might find our little YouTube videos are much more convenient than a DVD.  You can easily put the YouTube app on your phone or tablet and bring up the Rivercity Pilates Channel so you can watch them anywhere, anytime.

I don’t know about you but just the thought of finding the DVD, getting the TV set up to watch it, and finding the time to watch it when I won’t be distracted is enough to make me not watch it or put it off to another day.  On the other hand I don’t mind starting to watch a YouTube video on my phone when I have a few minutes as it’s portable and I can sneak into a clear room and follow along and if I don’t get through the whole thing I know I can continue with it another time.

I’m super excited to share my Pilates practice journey this year and even more excited to hear from you and how you are incorporating your Pilates practice in your life!  Be sure to comment below or on social media and share your story!

 

 

Am I going to Pilates class or practicing Pilates?

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If you know what Joe's favorite outfit to workout & teach was - you are definitely practicing Pilates!

If you know what Joe’s favorite outfit to workout & teach was – you are definitely practicing Pilates! If you don’t know, ask at the studio, or google Joseph Pilates!

There is definitely a difference between trying a few Pilates classes to improve your health and having a Pilates practice in your life.  For those who get to the place where you have a practice, you know what I mean.  Pilates becomes part of you and almost feels like belonging to a super cool exclusive club where you’ve had to earn your way in.  For those of you that have a Pilates practice in your life…I think you’ll relate to this list.  For everyone else these are some of the things you can look forward to:

Top 10 signs you have progressed to practicing Pilates.

  1. You see your instructor coming toward you and you connect your shoulders.
  2. You know what your instructor is going to say before she says it.
  3. You know the next exercise before your instructor tells it to you.
  4. You have a foam roller in your living room (or a magic circle, or some other favorite prop!)
  5. Exercises you’ve done at least a hundred times get harder every time you do them.(How is that possible??)
  6. Changing one little, tiny, minute detail (like what your toes are doing) changes the whole exercise. How can that make SUCH a difference??
  7. You hear your instructors’ voice in your head when you are slouching at your desk at work (roll your shoulders down your back, bring your head into alignment…)
  8. You do belly up and in when you’re pulling weeds in the garden, shoveling the snow or maybe just sitting at a stoplight in the car.
  9. You start sounding like a Pilates Evangalist!    You are teaching your friends Pilates and talking about how good Pilates has been for you!  It’s too good not to share!
  10. Your body misses it when you don’t do it .. even though a roll up, a teaser or maybe just rolling like a ball is incredibly challenging – you finding yourself wanting and even craving to do them even on your own! Crazy huh?

[tweetthis remove_hidden_hashtags=”true”]Top 10 Signs you are #practicing #pilates![/tweetthis]

We’d love to hear from you!  How many of these rang true for you?  Can you add to our list?