When MORE is not better - The Pilates Way of Mindbody Wellness
Dear Pilates V Fam,
If you’ve been following me for a while you know that I’m an OG in the PIlates world.
I started my Pilates education back when Pilates studios were small, dungeon-like spaces found in less than a handful of cities, and the way one found out about them was strictly word of mouth.
I’m eternally grateful that I found Pilates (in a tiny studio at the end of Union street, thank you Madeline Black) many years before Madonna and Oprah got on the Pilates bandwagon and changed the face of the practice forever.
Back then, Pilates and consequently, the Pilates studio, was a reflection of what we now call “Classical” pilates; the practice was pure in form, and an art.
The studio had sort of a dojo vibe; meaning that every movement and act, from the time you stepped into the studio was mindful, reverent and orchestrated.
At that time, in its purest form, there was no separation of mind and body.
We used mantras like “ as much (effort) as necessary, as little as possible” to deepen the experience of moving mindfully and deeply embodying our deeper selves, from our core.
Pilates instructors were an elite bunch and we took ourselves and our work seriously, with our standard uniform of all black, all the time. For 25 years, I had a mostly black wardrobe.
When the Fitness Industry found Pilates we started hearing words like Fusion, and PiYo, and in no time Pilates became mainstream; many studios adopting the mantra of “faster, harder, more”, the opposite of what Pilates is meant to be.
During my 35+ year Pilates career I was blessed to work in the same 2 studio locations for 15 years with mostly the same students the entire time. I watched their kids grow up and graduate college, and then grandkids, and we all did our Pilates practice to ensure we could get down on the floor to play with them when the time came, and we did.
Even though we’d been together pressing the edges of our advancing Pilates skills for years, at the beginning of every New Year we started at the beginning level of Pilates, all over again, learning the basics of Pre- Pilates. (I’m betting you’ve never heard of Pre-Pilates); breathing, and working the mind-body connection through practicing the Pilates principles.
Breath, Concentration, Control, Precision, Imagery, Flow - we lived, embodied and taught these principles daily.
We would laugh at ourselves that after 15 years, we were still astounded that the smallest micro movements with absolute focus and attention to breath were harder than the advanced work we’d been doing. The first 7 weeks of the year were the hardest as we worked our way through the fundamentals, again.
These days, I’m on what I call my “legacy tour”. I’ve been gifted in this life with the ability to study and mentor with the best in the industry, to develop national Teacher Training programs, to author a book on the subject, and to present and speak as an industry ambassador.
Now, I’ve settled into this dream position with Pilates V studios that allows me to bring my legacy to life and return Pilates to the real gem that was lost to the fitness world.
You'll often find me responding to feedback from our student base, a lot of which is centered around the idea that our classes should be of the “harder, faster, more” variety, and the idea that some of our instructors need to be more highly trained so you can get a “better” workout, so I wanted to address this here today.
I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that, when our students say they’ve been “doing” Pilates for a long time and they need someone who can give them a challenging workout, us seasoned Pilates instructors recognize this as faulty thinking and lack of understanding of the Pilates Method, because we know that, for a serious Pilates practitioner, a v1 class can kick ANYONE’S ass, regardless of the instructor.
That led me to think that what we REALLY need is to focus back on the basics, the fundamentals of pure movement and mindfulness that are the very core (pun intended) of The Pilates Method.
All of this to say I want our Pilates V Fam to know our entire team is currently engaged in up leveling our skills, from learning and teaching a deeper understanding of the Fundamentals, to upgrading the v3 skills, to delivering outstanding Specialty classes.
Annie, our Director of Education, has been delivering team skill building sessions and we’re tracking progress toward a new and deeper delivery of your Pilates experience.
We’re putting the Pilates principles into practice into our daily lives by engaging in our own Team Mental Fitness Program (coming to the studios soon!) and we’re fueling our passion for helping our team and our students flourish in 2022!
So, when you start to feel you need more challenge, listen a little more closely, breathe a little more smoothly, slow down and set your attention on smooth and precise movement with breath, and that should get you feeling the “core” of Pilates. Our instructors will show you how!