Post-workshop on Saturday afternoon, 5pm-ish…driving south towards I-5 after first procuring a treat for the trip back to San Diego. It’s been nearly 7 hours of Pilates, friends…
Someone needs a cookie.
The left side of my ribs, the weaker, gimpy side, is definitely sore. It’s been beaten into submission. Both sides of my back happily fold into the car seat.
Something has happened. Something deliciously good.
Some of it might have happened on the Short Box. Some of it even happened in the Short Box on the Mat.
Without a strap!
And all of it leads to my newest fascination: Where exactly does my head go? I mean: How to Make the Neck a Part of your Spine. Sheesh. That’s a topic for many more posts to come…which leads me to Pressing Reason #1:
1. To learn important stuff that’s barely on your radar at the moment
We all get feedback in our regular lessons. So we know what works well, our strengths, and also the challenges we have.
For now. But our journey includes change.
Pilates is hard and challenging because it works. It changes our bodies, our minds, even our lives. Change is never easy. Last year I changed all of my bank accounts to another financial institution and unexpectedly discovered how visceral was my attachment to Bank of America. Bank of America??!! So imagine how long it will take to consider my neck a part of my spine…with which I undoubtedly have a deeper relationship. Sigh. As we change and progress there is always more to be had.
2. To remember what it’s like to be a student
We sometimes find ourselves with a new client whose impatience is palpable. They want it all now. Perfect physique. Free of any issues they have. They want to be killed by you. Immediately. In an hour. Soon they will understand more and realize they actually do not want to be killed and indeed that their Rome will not be built in a day. How many years have they been in their current iteration?
Thanks Joe.
‘Keeping faith with yourself.’ I love the sound of that. I have to admit there are times… I am swayed…
We must become students again to serve our clients in the best possible manner. If only to remind ourselves – “Hey, this stuff is hard…” and foster some renewed empathy and compassion. A client of mine recently remarked “So when you workout, everything is easy for you, huh?”
Right.
3. To gain new insight about the old favorites
The Hundred. Stomach Massage Series. The Elephant. The Short Box. These “beloved” exercises have been with us since our very first lesson. How exciting to feel them change as our bodies change. How helpful for our teaching to find a new gem of information about exercises we teach every day.
Progress can be measured so tangibly as we do our familiar exercises. Maybe today will be the day you achieve the most beautiful Elephant ever. Pilates is exciting. What will you learn today?
It’s no secret that I am a great lover of all things Short Box. Cynthia had a fantastic piece of information that was a fun combination of ideas I currently work on plus the genius of Joe Pilates (love that) plus new way to view the exercises I have been doing for over a decade. It was a wonderful moment of clarity. I may even learn to Side bend more properly, or at the very least I have a new plan.
4. To remember the exercises you’ve completely forgotten about
Semi-circle on the Wunda Chair anyone? This time I figured out why and when I might teach it to a client. Wunderbar!
Also part of this Pressing Reason is #4B To try those fancy, scary exercises you’ve never done before.
The Headstands. The Backbends. Gondola. Control Balance Stepping Off…and getting back on again. If it scares you then Continuing Education is a perfect opportunity to learn the exercise with expert guidance. Seize the moment to work on exercises that are beyond the scope of the training program.
5. To connect with colleagues and see new and familiar faces. I am a big fan of the group lunch as well.
Arizona. California. Las Vegas. San Francisco. New York. It was a wonderful diverse group.
Thanks Trish, it was a great event.
Bonus #6! Up Your Game
I relish the times to reinvigorate my education. Teaching long hours for months at a time creates in me a real longing to be a student again. When will it be time to focus fully on myself and find new and deeper elements in my Pilates workout?
The value of education to motivate and re-inspire cannot be underestimated.
My colleagues and I remember back in the day when we would workout and make great preparations for an upcoming Continuing Education Seminar with Romana. We pushed and willed ourselves into top form in hope that our greater strength and aptitude would inspire Romana to take us to the next level and introduce further challenges into our repertoire. Romana could then take us deeper into our understanding, our proficiency and beyond.
4 Responses
I absolutely love the way that you write! It’s interesting that I read this today because so much of it has been on my mind. I was just telling a client today how there is constant change in the body and endless opportunities to deepen the work. Thank you for this wonderful post!
Kelly, thank you so much for your kind words. I love when serendipity strikes.
You are so right, it’s never the same exercise because the body is different each and every day. Thank you so much for reading 🙂
Andrea!
You captured it! I loved being there on Saturday with you and the whole group- it was so inspiring:) Cynthia has such a balance between- “yes this is really hard so you better work” and “hey this is fun so come learn this exercise you’ve never done. ” I learned to much and I love how with out really doing anything “new” your clients say to you after a CPE “wow that was such a great session”. My tool belt definitely got a bit heavier. Thanks for the blog and the great form to aspire to.
Juliet,
It was a pleasure to meet you and be with the whole group on Saturday. I agree – I thought Cynthia had a kind of ‘tough love’ like “It’s gonna be hard but oh it’s delicious and it’s so good for you.” I could listen to Cirque stories all day long I think 🙂 We shall meet again…and thanks for the nice words about my form, sometimes I get lost in how hard things are on the inside, LOL.