I got the moves!

On monday, I was working with my instructor and decided to do some of those famous inversions.  Pretty insane really.  It is where you are on the cadillac and flip upside down in a ball shape.  Sounds easy...until you do it.  It is scary to think that if you let go, you fall on your head.  I will try to find some pics but not sure if I can online.  To say the least, my arms are STILL sore.  BY sore I mean, that I cannot press my arms back behind me, have difficulty closing the car door, really scrubbing my hair is out of the question cause after about 5 seconds with my hands above my head and my arms just give out.  I was very proud of myself but I still have a lot to work on before I am actually doing it correctly. 

Then, yesterday, I did headstands with my other instructor.  You do headstands as part of the "secret section" on the reformer, after short spine.  It was awesome.  It really makes you feel so much taller and makes you concentrate on using that belly so you won't compress the neck.  Awesome.  There is another headstand that comes next and I will hopefully get to try that when I master this headstand.  This is why I LOVE PILATES.  You think that you have learned it all and BAM! There is a whole new exercise, plus you always have something to work on as you "find" your body...

Duet Clients

I had my first client last week and really enjoyed everything.  It was a duet so at first it seemed very intimidating.  Two guys who had never done anything that resembled Pilates.  We did the mat work and some bosu ball exercises.  I noticed very tight hamstrings, limited flexibility, but they worked with me well and we got thru all of the basic 10 Pilates exercises.  After that, we did some balancing on the bosu balls, along with standing arm series on the bosu ball.  That went well, but dang, those bosu balls make you realize how unbalance we all are.  Most of us cannot "find" our feet without looking at them.  We focus a lot on feet at the studio, often doing the foot corrector or rolling the soles of the feet with tennis balls (a bitter-sweet feeling)!. 

Anyways, they duet came back yesterday, and we did tower.  I think that this went very well.  I had them doing some of the exercises that we did on the mat but this time with springs which actually help.  Still tight hamstrings and low backs so we did a lot of stretching to end the session.  Overall, we are doing great, I am feeling more comfortable "getting the correct words out" and finding the sequence while managing time.  

First teaching

I have been practice teaching with one of the other instructors a few times and tomorrow I get to practice teach on my case study, AB!!!  I am excited and hope that all goes well.  I think that we will do the reformer or the cadillac.  I have been working with AB doing mat at home and there has been much progress!  I am spreading the love of Pilates!

Before and After

It is said that you will be in the best shape of your life when you get thru the teacher training program because of how much time you put in!  I am excited.  I am going to be making a "try out" video which will be me on the reformer going thru the repertoire.  I am a bit nervous but have been doing the list of exercises and I think that I can effectively get them done in 50 minutes.  

I can already tell a change in my body.  My posture is getting much better and I am so much more aware of my body.  Throughout the day I think of things like "are my knees locked, why am i crossing my legs, am i standing up straight"...  Also, while at work or around a lot of other people I am trying to assess their posture or body connection.  This is hard to do unless you are a people watcher like me!

BAD Blogger

OK, so learning to teach pilates and planning a wedding, and working is a lot!  I am here to devote more time to this blog.  I want it to be used for its purpose and not forgotten!  I will be updating it very soon with all that I have been doing!

I did teach pilates yesterday in the studio, on the reformer for the first time!  It was nerve-racking, but I MADE IT THRU!  I taught one of the instructors which was good and got some good feed back as well as learned a few pointer tips!  It was fun but very different coming from the angle of a teacher instead of a student.  More to come!

Beginning equipment class

Today I did the reformer class, it is for beginners but it was a great way for me to step back and look/do what is "used" to be like!  It was a great class and nice to do  just the basics.  I am going fri,sat,sun for our workshop.  It is going to be intense and I am soooo excited!  Will update on my soreness/all that I have learned! 

Mat Class and Observation

My normal private today had to be changed because I had to get my hair done.  So, instead I went to advanced mat.  Which, as you know that I have said before is in my opinion the hardest in Pilates.  Today in class we did the bosu ball, hand weights, and topped it off with the plank.  It was intense and I definitely worked up a good sweat.  I am trying to get over the fact that you don't have to sweat to burn calories/tone your body, but I still like it when I do get sweaty! Anyways, it was a great class and I can still feel the elongation of my spine and feel much more energized.  

I watched an observation of a very complex client.  This client has some spinal issues and has had knee surgery so there were many props and modifications to the exercises.  I took notes and afterwards I felt like I have SO MUCH TO LEARN!  I am sure that I won't get clients that are this complex for a while, but it was eye-opening how much you can do with someone who has decreased spinal mobility.  It is amazing how when you work with someone for a long period of time the amount that they can begin to do and in quote the client said "I feel so much better, this is my favorite time of the week"!  That is so rewarding!  

Update on shoulder:  Last night it was killing me.  I wasn't able to make it to group equipment and I could feel how awful my shoulder felt after a long day of work.  I had to put the heating pad on it and fell asleep with it on until I woke up later and turned it off.  Today before getting out of bed I used the heating pad again and it is feeling better. After mat class I did a few extra shoulder stretches and now it is feeling better.  Pretty evident that Pilates definitely helped it! 

Spinal Mobility

Today during symposium we discussed spinal mobility.  We focused on keeping the head on the neck.  Envision if you were wearing a pair of long dangling earrings, you would want them to touch the area right by your collar bone.  Many of us go thru the day looking down which in the long run will give you that "hump" on the back of your neck, like you see with the older ladies.  Anyways, if you really think about where your head is- is it in alignment with your spine??? you will understand how easy it is to keep your chin down instead of flat.  This is something to think about throughout your day.  And I promise that you will feel more connected to your body rather then your head bobbling.  One thought is to watch where your gaze is, if you look down a lot then your head follows your gaze.  We went through a few different exercises that will help strengthen these muscles in your neck.

We then discussed flexion, extension, rotation, and lateral movement and how each one of your vertebrae must work together to keep from stress being created in many different spots.  We did a couple of roll downs by articulating each vertebra onto the mat, each is important in supporting the one above it.  Many of us find this difficult and it takes tons of concentration, for me at least it does.  It is good to see progress though and I know that I have made some during my practice, although still have lots more to learn and master!  One of the things that Joseph Pilates really puts at high priority is to do nothing half-hazardly.  Do it with precision.  This really makes it important to focus on your body the whole time, keeping it all collected in one space.  

I then did 2 observations after this, both of the clients did tower.  I took tons of notes, of course, we all know how I am at taking notes!  I reviewed over them and have a few questions to ask the instructor.  Then, I did chair class and while my shoulder is feeling somewhat better there were a few exercises that I just knew that I shouldn't do.  I hate that, I like to do it all the way, but I know that it doesn't need added stress.  The plank didn't feel good, but I did it!

Anyways, that is the summary for today!

Breathing Symposium

Last week was our first symposium.  These will be weekly and cover one topic for an hour.  Last week we discussed breathing.  It may sound sooo simple, but correct breathing is soooo hard to do.  As I mentioned before, I am the worst at breathing.  I think that it is from all the sports that I did where I would hold my breath until I got to first base or until I finished the lap!  Anyways, during this hour session we did a lot of breathing techniques and let me tell you, when we finished, I felt dizzy because so many cells had been energized that technically never get energized because I breathe shallow.  It is what Joseph Pilates called "The internal shower". It did feel like an internal shower!  Anyways, just an update and I am looking forward to today, will post info later on what we discuss.

My shoulder is still bothering me.  I think that it is a muscle tear or it is out of place?  Not sure, but it doesn't help that I often wake up at night and I am laying in some weird position that I know is not good for it.  This happened back in high school when I was over-using it by pitching and cheerleading.  The cure? Rest!  Which I am not good at, I am hard-headed and tried to do a push up today with it.  DUH, I know that I should not have done that, but I did, and not just 1, I did like 15.  Anyways, so I am still icing it and rubbing it with IcyHot.  We will see how it goes, I am doing Chair today so that involves a lot of shoulders and legs, so I am going to try the best that I can and "keep the shoulders in their houses" That is one of the favorite sayings in pilates-it keeps you from shrugging your shoulders up close to your ears and keeps them in their comfort zone where there is no added stress.  

The above picture is the Chair apparatus.  It is one of the most difficult pieces of equipment, in my opinion...  Mat is by far the hardest though!

New Day

This blog is designed to keep track of my experience as I become a Pilates Teacher.  Pilates has always been an addictive exercise for me.  I began doing mat back in Auburn at Moore's Mill Country Club.  I became so addicted that I started doing privates with Robyn on the Reformer, chair, and cadillac.  I continued when I moved to Birmingham, but didn't start here right away.  I couldn't find time when I began my nutrition internship so I stopped for about 8 months.  I felt awful, my back felt misaligned, my shoulders ached, my body had changed.  I wasn't happy with just going to the gym, doing spin classes, treadmills, etc.  I knew that I needed to get back into pilates.  I went to Pilates on Highland and found what I was looking for!  They had the best instructors and I felt like a new person on the first day that I went.  I started doing some privates and group classes.  It was great!  I have a very addictive personality and started going whenever i could possibly make it-even if that meant being late to class/work!  haha.  

Now, after a lot of training, I have decided to take it to a new level.  I want to teach others how they can feel aligned, energized, and have a good self-esteem of their body!  This program, designed from The Pilates Center in Boulder, teaches a very classical approach to Pilates.  

It will take about 12-14 months before I am certified.  However, I start teaching before then as an Apprentice.  I cannot think of a better way to spend a year!

I am going to use this blog as an "log" for what is going on with my teacher-training program.  I have a certain number of observation hours, practice hours, teaching hours, etc that must be completed as well as testing along the way.  Might be very boring sometimes if you are not obsessed with Pilates like I am but, I hope that you will at least try pilates from a certified teacher and not just one at a gym who got a certification in one weekend!