The Wunda Chair Project: A New Online Workshop

Hey there!

Lately, I’ve ventured away from the Reformer and gravitated toward the piece of apparatus that often gathers dust in my studio. Sad, but true…

Maybe this sounds familiar?

It’s the Wunda Chair I’ve been consistently spending more time with and, oh boy, is it making me smile and use my powerhouse!

Joe Pilates and the Home Workout

Well before Covid-19, Joe Pilates knew you needed a piece of apparatus perfectly designed to use at home, even in the smallest of New York City apartments.

Enter the Wunda Chair.

Each August, Joe closed his studio to escape the oppressive heat in the city. In my understanding, Joe would encourage/badger/force his clients to purchase his Wunda Chair to exercise at home while the studio was closed.

Joe selected a handful of exercises appropriate to the client to help them maintain their workout until September when they could return to the studio.

It’s this story about Joe (plus a new amazing book on the Wunda Chair) that was the inspiration for my current Wunda workout (book review coming soon!).

I Smell a Pilates Project…

If you’ve been reading and following me for a while you know that I am quite the crooked sister.

No one is perfectly symmetrical and imbalances provide a challenge: do the exercise on one side and then on the other side. This gives you a ton of information about your body, right?

In daily life, I find I don’t stand evenly on my feet. Instead, I shift my weight mostly onto my right side when sitting or standing. Especially standing.

It’s amazing how much I don’t stand on my left side (insert eye-roll emoji here)…

But wait.

I could create a Wunda Chair workout to address this issue!

Excellent…

I LOVE a good Pilates Project! Read about a few of my previous PPs here, here and here.

My Wunda Chair Pilates Project includes about 20 minutes of exercises done standing with one or both feet on the pedal. As a warmup, I’ve added the Hundred and Footwork, and since feet are on the pedal in the Footwork series I’ve also included Footwork 1 leg.

Wait this sounds familiar…

As a teacher and/or practitioner of the Pilates System, you learn over time which exercises you do well and which exercises present the most challenge to your body.

Maybe you’ve also learned these challenges to the body are traditionally addressed in the latter part of a Pilates session in a part I like to call ‘This is for you.’

Think of the ‘this is for you’ exercises in your own workout.

It’s these exercises that are your personal responsibility; these are the exercises that may not make you feel proficient in your workout, that point directly to your weaknesses, and that you love to forget about and do all the other “fun” exercises instead.

But wouldn’t more proficiency in your worst exercises make the “fun” ones better too?

Yes, YES and YES!!

So suck it up and join me for some ugly Pilates!

Using the Wunda Chair exercises below, I’ve created a new Pilates Project, for my precise ‘this is for you’ situation.

The Exercises

• Hundred
• Footwork
• Pull Up
• Pull Up 1 leg
• Side Pull Up
• Table
• Table 1 leg
• Tendon Stretch
• Tendon Stretch – 1 leg
• Frog Facing Away from Chair
• Frog Facing Away from Chair – 1 leg
• Frog Facing Chair
• Frog Facing Chair – 1 leg
• Standing Pumping Front
• Standing Pumping Side
• Standing Pumping Crossover
• Going Up Front
• Going Up Side/Side Mountain Climb
• Achilles Stretch
• Mountain Climb
• Down the Mountain
• Star

Watch the video at the bottom of this post to see the first version of my Wunda Chair Project.

You can do it too!

In September, I host an annual Pilates Party in my home studio, just north of San Diego. The week-long party includes lessons, open studio group classes, and a new workshop. There’s also a lot of eating, drinking, and socializing after long days in the studio.

This year, it’s unclear what September will bring, and gathering a bunch of people together in person doesn’t seem like the best idea.

But, let’s party on anyway, virtual style!

This September I hope you’ll join me each week on Thursdays for a 90-minute exploration of the most challenging exercises you need, the greater Pilates System and the Wunda Chair.

Join me this September

The Wunda Chair Project will meet 4 Thursdays in September 2020: September 3, 10, 17, and 24.

Class will meet 9am-10:30am PST

There will be homework!

Maximum 10 participants.

Prerequisites for this workshop include:

1. A Wunda Chair
2. Pilates experience

Use this link to snag your spot:

Yes! I love the Wunda Chair!

Thank you.

I look forward to sharing this new workshop with you.