I had an epiphany this weekend as I was teaching a group of Pilates Teachers about client assessment, and how to teach the body in front of them. Inevitably as we were talking about protocols for assessing, comparisons between our approach as Movement Educators and that of the medical community inevitably arose. What came out …
An Ode to my Favorite Muscle
So, I have a favorite muscle. Is that weird? Do other people have one favorite muscle or is it just me? I guess if you can be especially fond of a physical feature like your eyes, your legs, or whatever else, why not give special honor to a part that no one sees? Well, the …
Do you mean what you say?
“Be mindful when it comes to your words. A string of some that don’t mean much to you may stick with someone for a lifetime.” Rachael Wolchin As teachers of movement, in whatever capacity, we use our words in the form of “cues” to help our clients find a movement, a position, a shape, stability, …
How do we get them to stay? Exercise adherence and client retention
We have all had those clients that come to us in agony with the goals of getting moving and staying moving. In their first session, they say that they realize that the reason for their pain is because they haven’t been moving enough or not in the right way. If they could just get back …
How do we get them to stay? Exercise adherence and client retentionRead More
Mind-Body or Mind(minus)Body
As a child, I learned that one must not speak of politics and religion in polite company. The weather was always a safe choice. The past year has been a challenging time both in the US and around the World, and I am finding myself in unfamiliar territory. I realized early on in my career …
Between the Cues: The Magical Sound of Silence
Whether you are teaching a private session or group class, there are so many moving parts to observe, assess, and instruct. As teachers, we all have different strategies to manage this, whether through the use of cueing, hands-on adjustments, or breaking down movements into incremental parts. It is easy to get caught up in the …
Finding your Teaching Voice
Making your way through your Pilates Teacher Training program is an exciting and overwhelming time to say the least. There is an incredible amount of information thrown at you all at once, and you are expected to retain it all in a very short period of time. At a minimum, the initial certification part of …
The Core: Function over Fashion
Core Stability continues to be all the rage in the fitness and medical field. As Pilates Professionals, all of us have had new clients mention that Pilates was suggested to them by their Physician to improve core stability. Have you ever asked these clients what that means to them? The answers are often the same. …
You know how to move bodies, but do you know HOW the body moves?
The human body is an exquisitely complicated piece of machinery made up of a complex web of muscles and tissue that support and move its bony structure. Every single day, you work with bodies of all shapes, sizes, and abilities, but how well do you know the intricacies of how the body functions to produce …
You know how to move bodies, but do you know HOW the body moves?Read More
What would Joseph do? Navigating the Competitive Arena of Pilates
In recent years, Pilates has become as prominent in some cities as Starbucks. In smaller communities even, you can find a Pilates studio almost on every corner, in a number of iterations. In one neighborhood in my town, there are 7 studios in a two-block stretch, with 3 more rumored to be opening soon. We …
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Stop Chasing the Symptoms: Getting to the root of the matter
In our role as Movement Professionals, we all have the privilege of working with people that have some sort of pain, some much worse than others. They may come to us with a list of symptoms, and over time they may have developed preconceived ideas of what is “wrong” with them–many even refer to themselves …
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The Fear Factor: The Anticipation of Pain in Movement
As we all move through life, we don’t really think of the hundreds of coordinated movements that our body makes each day, let alone how they feel. When a person is in pain though, every single movement can bring on a landslide of feelings, both emotional and physical. When pain persists over a long period, …
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Clench it or Move it? That is still the question.
Since the exercise craze of the ’80s, we have seen many variations of the “Butt Crunch”, “Ab Crunch”, anything you can crunch–and the more the better, right? The action of a Butt Crunch is a repeated squeeze of the buttocks while sitting or standing–and squeeze and squeeze and squeeze. With the promise of a more …