Why face to face instruction works

There are a lot of Pilates products available today.  With all these books and instructional dvds you might be thinking that’s all you need to do Pilates.  Why bother spending money with an instructor when you can just use a book in the comfort of your own home?  There are many benefits to having lessons with a qualified instructor, probably the most important reason is that what feels correct or well aligned to you when you position and move your body is often not.
 
I have been observing bodies move for 4 years as a professional Pilates Instructor, and for 10 years as a Shaolin Kung Fu practitioner.  What I have seen is that most people are unaware when their bodies are positioned badly, because what has become habitual to them also feels correct.  Most of us have developed bad postural habits, the funny thing is that most of us are, to some extent, also aware of this.  It’s a common reason people give for wanting to do Pilates in the first place!  The problem is that even being aware of it doesn’t help when it comes to positioning your body because the habitual position will always feel more correct.  It’s been my experience both in my own workouts and as a teacher that most people are surprised when they are placed in a good position because to them it feels crooked.  
 
This is one of the most important things to keep in mind if you are trying to workout by yourself.  With no one to observe your body, how will you correct something that doesn’t feel like it needs adjustment?  I recently travelled to Sydney to have a session with my mentor, Cynthia Lochard.  After no more than a five minutes into the session she commented that I was carrying my baby on my left hip all the time.  She was absolutely right, I was carryign Evie on my left hip all the time, and doing a million other things with my right arm.  My hips were becoming quite crooked and it was starting to affect my freedom of movement.  I could feel that something was wrong, I just hadn’t been sure exactly what it was.  What might have taken me months or years to figure out myself took a 1 hour session with Cynthia and I was back on track.  
 
Even if you can’t get to regular sessions with an instructor, try and do a session with someone whenever you can, the results will be far superior.  If you are working out at home, the quality of those workouts will also improve. 
 
The better the quality of the instruction you receive the better the results will be.  I have included a couple of links in this issue to great sites that keep registers of authentically trained instructors all around the world.  They also have some other great information as well so take a look.        
     

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