Uncategorized

Yesterday I attended the Continuing Professional Education (CPE)seminar for Romana’s Pilates teachers held in Sydney.  The venue was great, we spent the day at the Bangarra Dance Theatre right down on the harbour.  I arrived at 7am and even though I have seen it many times before, I have to say it was a pretty impressive sight walking around the harbour, looking at the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge as the sun was rising.  I had to snap a couple of shots. 

The day itself was just what I needed.  Reconnecting with other teachers and having the opportunity to watching some very strong and flexible people doing their thing!  We were lucky enough to have Juanita Lopez there for the day.  Juanita is a Level 1 Pilates Teacher Trainer based in Chicago.  This is the second time that I have been to a seminar taught by her.  I thoroughly enjoy the way she is able to effortlessly combine her instruction on how to teach with advice on how to maintain your our personal health, fitness and enjoyment of Pilates as a teacher.   

The seminar was hosted by the Pilates Method Studio in Surry Hills who also put on a fantastic lunch.  The day was sunny and gorgeous and we all sat out on the pier watching groups of people walking over the top of the Harbour Bridge, jelly fish in the water and all the lovely yachts, ferries and other ships sailing by. 

During the day I was flipping back through my notes of past seminars.  I found it interesting to notice that each time I go to a CPE seminar I take less notes but seem to learn more.  When I first started teaching I remember  hearing my teachers talk about how important it is to understand an exercise in your own body to be able to effectively teach it.  I also heard more experienced teachers say that until you had been teaching for at least 5-10 years you were still a baby in terms of your understanding.  I have just reached the 5 year mark, and I have to say, I am just starting to understand how clever and truthful both those statements are:)  The Pilates Method is a form of physical exercise that requires a great depth of understanding.  The more you understand the movements through your own experience, the better equipped you are to help others, and the more fun you will have at pilates parties!

When I first moved to Tasmania I went along to a Pilates class at a gym.  The guy teaching the class told us during The Hundred that we should aim to engage our deep core muscles but keep the surface abdominals relaxed.  I was horrified!  If you are doing The Hundred well it isn’t possible to do that, and even if it was, why would you want to?  The Hundred is an exercise that strengthens your abs, so why leave half of them out?
 

Many Pilates instructors today have become distracted by the idea of ‘isolation’, with some so focused on the idea that Pilates strengthens the core muscles they have forgotten what it should be doing for the rest of the body!  They are teaching people, and being trained to teach people, to try and engage just one muscle, or group of muscles, and no others.  ‘Isolation’ is only a great tool to use if you understand that your body’s muscles never function in isolation. 
 
The fundamental approach of body movement that I learnt is that the weak muscles are isolated and made stronger in Pilates because you pay close attention to the whole movement of your body.  When you achieve a full engagement of all your muscles, making sure your position is square and your movements are even and controlled, your weaker muscles will have to learn to pull their weight.  The core muscles are strengthened so well because they are the centre and support of all the movements.  That is how muscles are isolated and made stronger through Pilates.  If you train your body by trying to engage just one part and nothing else you are not training it to function as a whole, which is what you need it to do for everything else in your life.    
 

When I was first training to be a Pilates Instructor, whenever my teacher was asked what a particular exercise was good for, she would often reply that it was ‘good for the whole body’.  Pilates is for the whole body. 
 

If you are persistent with this approach to working out, you will transform your workouts from something ordinary into real body changing experiences.  Using this one simple key you will be able to change your body fast, improve your posture, increase your muscle tone and experience the dramatic changes that Pilates is famous for.

Since my little girl Evie has started walking I have been looking around for some shoes that will protect her feet and allow the to move.  All that I have learnt as a Pilates instructor has led me to the conclusion that putting children’s feet straight into hard soled shoes isn’t a good idea.  Hard, stiff soled shoes don’t allow the muscles of children’s feet to develop well and I feel it is most likely contributing to bad postural and movement development.  The feet are made up of many bones and muscles and are designed to move so as to be able to negotiate uneven ground. 

All that said, I am very excited to have found some great little shoes made by a company called Beautiful Soles.  They are basically leather shoes with a soft suede bottom.  I think they are fantastic and a great way to protect children’s feet without hindering their development.  These pink sneakers were my most recent purchase.  All my dealing with them have also been great.  They are very freindly and proffessional which is awesome.

If anyone has any information about shoes for adults along a similar line I would be really interested to hear about it.  Shoes that protect your feet but have really flexible soles.