Articles
Pilates & Balance
Standing Pilates® moves are quite hard to achieve, but it is worth the effort because they provide immense benefits. Like Mat Pilates, these moves create resistance through the body’s weight in relation to gravity; however, the muscle recruitment is quite different when standing because the base of support is so narrow: it occurs in the [...]
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The Challenge of Teaching Various Abilities In One Class
Pilates became a part of my life through dance. This background and training has given me the distinct advantage of coming into the discipline with a pre-established awareness of my body, alignment, and muscle groups. I realize, however, that while certain personalities are interested in the more fundamental side of Pilates, not all people enjoy [...]
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Collegiate Pilates
The University of Oklahoma offered its first Pilates course in 1996. At that time, this Matwork class was a largely unnoticed addition among the numerous dance department listings in ballet, jazz and contemporary movement. Fast-forward to today and Certified Pilates Teacher, Jennifer Sheppard, must gingerly step through a maze of over 30 blue foam mats [...]
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Asthma-Pilates as a Therapy
When I was asked to write this article I was concerned that it may come out sounding like an article that is about me and how I coped with my fitness restrictions with Asthma. I feel strongly that by sharing my experience, I hope I can encourage other asthmatics that they too can benefit from [...]
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Pilates 2.0
In tough economic times, the tough have to get going and blogs/social networking are a great way to advertise your studio. My studio, Pilates SF, has been in business for over 10 years. I operate from the entire first floor of a 3-story townhouse on a quiet cul de sac in San Francisco. I have [...]
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How Prenatal and Postpartum Pilates Can Be Empowering
Labor and birth are transformations during which both a baby and a mother are born. Labor is a true rite of passage for women who choose it, and it is an opportunity to know oneself on a profound level. A woman can experience a sense of accomplishment if birth is something they did and not [...]
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Recession-proof Pilates
In the slowing economy, many Pilates professionals have turned to creative concepts to keep the flow of business. Groups work well, as do “special” pricing, open houses, and public speaking events. However, I have found that in my area, reaching out to my community via city municipalities has proven successful. I have contracted at the [...]
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Pilates & Client Feedback
From 1999-2001, I was in the Masters program at the University of Georgia studying magazine journalism. In my first semester, I immersed myself in media theories while adjusting to a new environment. I fit in exercise when I could, but I had no routine. By my second semester, I was physically and emotionally tired and [...]
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Pilates with a Feldenkrais® Perspective
I was introduced to the idea that Feldenkrais® could enhance my Pilates teaching in 1996. I started teaching Pilates in 1990, became certified through the Physicalmind Method in 1995, and was running a full time Pilates studio when an opportunity arose to pursue Feldenkrais® training. It was a busy time as I would have one [...]
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Pilates and Eternal Youth
Rome, September 2008 I deduce that I have it—eternal youth, that is. What other conclusion can I draw from my recent experience at a Roman Pilates Studio? So I am in the “Eternal City”– and I decide to do what I couldn’t easily do in New York: visit a studio that discredits PMI and me. [...]
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Pilates and the Face
So on the second day of a week-long advanced Pilates workshop, one of the teachers inquired nervously about the final exam. Sensing her concern, I suggested a question/answer session on the last day; she and the others seemed relieved. The day arrives and predictably her hand goes up first; her question, however, surprised me: “Could [...]
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Pilates and Computers
“I must be right. Never an aspirin. Never injured a day in my life. The whole country, the whole world, should be doing my exercises. They’d be happier.” – Joseph Pilates When Joseph Pilates made that statement in 1965 at the age of 86, he never imagined the need for Pilates for our current lifestyle. [...]
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Pilates & Master Teachers
Perhaps it is my failing memory, but I had actually forgotten my first attempt to market Pilates way back in the 1970s! What triggered this recall was reading that Stott Pilates is 20 years old. It is true that Moira Stott had a studio in Toronto in 1988. She not only had a studio, it [...]
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Life After Hip Replacement
It has been three years since my Total Hip Replacement Surgery. Through the practice of Pilates I have been able to rehabilitate my body from years of over compensation and retrain my neuromuscular transmitters to fire in proper order. I have regained my active lifestyle and enjoy the added benefits of knowing this form of [...]
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Teaching Strategies For Adult Learners
Fundamentals and the adult learner Beginner Pilates instructors often struggle with the evaluating the amount of information to give to a new client, especially when teaching the fundamentals. It is often tempting to give a client as much information as possible but this may lead to confusion. When train- ing clients it is important to [...]
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Evolution of a Teaching Style
When I first became a Pilates instructor, I taught Mat classes in commercial health clubs. The client demographic in these gyms was under fifty and injury free. I could pace the classes accordingly without making lots of modifications. I grew comfortable with my Mat class format and kept to the same set of exercises with [...]
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Pilates and Trauma
Our understanding of emotional trauma is still beginning. Only since 1980 has the Ameri- can Psychiatric Association included a classification for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which defines the most severe side effects of trauma induced by war or violent crime. How- ever, those with PTSD only represent a tiny fraction of those living with trauma. [...]
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Pilates for Dressage Riders
My introduction to Pilates was a direct result of my experiences as a dressage rider. I began taking lessons with Virginia Davis to improve my riding and to address several physical issues. What I found took me on a new course in my riding and eventually led me to my Pilates Certification. For those not [...]
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Pilates and New Motherhood
New moms embrace many new life changes in a matter of 9 months but embracing a post-pregnancy figure is usually a temporary matter. Thanks to classes like Baby & Me Pilates, moms don’t have to part from their wee ones for a moment to get their body back. At Sweet Pea’ s Yoga Studio in [...]
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Flying Trapeze and Pilates
She takes a deep breath, and on the exhale draws her shoulder blades down, draws her abdominal muscles up and in, bends her knees, and.. jumps off a platform two stories in the air. The art of flying trapeze places a variety of unique stresses on the body, and the benefits of Pilates training are [...]
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Parkinson’s Progression and Pilates
Parkinson’s, a neurological disorder in the area of the brain called the thalmus nucleus, is a result of insufficient Dopamine, a chemical that controls our movements and even the function of our organs. My client, Sharyn, age 42, diagnosed in 1987 with Parkinson’s started Pilates 9 years later when the need to strengthen the posterior [...]
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