The Movement Studio Pilates

As we enter this second phase of training it feels as though I have a lot to catch you up on. at the end of September, Michelle and i started on a journey of self discovery and intensive exploration of human anatomy… we had no idea what we were in for!!! the normal rules no longer apply… and its soooooo good!!!Having taken numerous trainings over the years, i think i had an expectation of how it would work. i would be told this is this and that is that and this is right and that is soooo wrong… I was beautifully surprised.The women who created this have designed a training so wholly developed and inclusive of alternate aspects of movement related theory and analysis that, once the eight months are done, I’ll have enough reading to keep me inspired for eight years!I have been introduced to Laban, BMC, bartenieff, and more, and the information is always delivered with the supportive undertone of “here is what others have said, now go explore it in your body”.I wonder if there has ever been a Pilates training that was so inclusive and so detailed?We have covered the fundamentals and are now delving into assessment, something I have been secretly dreaming of for years!Learning how to look at a body, watch it move, and know what active steps to take to help it become more efficient and balanced to relieve it from pain… magic right?Nope, Pilates. crazy!!!Most days I’m overwhelmed with what’s coming at me and i go home and try to explain it to others, just to find myself babbling about what a gift this training has been for me, not only for creating such an exciting future career, but for answering thousands of questions.Also, the changes in my own body and life and surreal; who knew that by creating clearer boundaries in your body, your life would follow suit? I am learning about holding patterns that have existed since my childhood and am moving in new ways daily.I am sooooo loving this experience and hope to be able to do it some justice in this blog over the next few months, so that you may get a taste of what is happening here.Maybe it will inspire you to join in for the next one, or at least to come down and meet the people that make up this studio…I honestly could not have dreamed this up, and I am a certifiable triple-time professional dreamer!!!

Breath provides a way to focus our mind and keep it from wandering into the past and future. Counting the inhalation and exhalation can be especially helpful for that. Breath can calm our autonomic nervous system. It is an access to sensing the self through its movement. There is a big difference between thinking what is happening or what should happen, and sensing what is happening or what wants to happen. Sensing is not about doing. It is about listening. Sensory information comes to the brain for processing. The brain is only the interpreter. I often find that new students need to learn how to listen to sensation before they can make effective movement changes. If we are interpreting what is going on without sensation, then we are making up stories without asking the source, possibly to serve our schedules, belief systems, will power, or habits.

Breath gives us a sense of inner space. From the place of inner space, we can start to pay attention to our signs and symptoms and what they are telling us without expectation or judgment. From this place, with patience and curiosity, we can start to honestly ask ourselves some questions.

What do I feel?

What do I want?

What do I really want?

What wants to happen?

Fatigued? What kind of activity would give me recuperation from the activity I have been doing today?

Hungry? What kind of food would give me the best nourishment?

Thirsty? What kind of drink would best replenish my fluids?

In a mood? Is this true for me? Do I need time to really feel what I am feeling?

Feeling stressed or anxious? How do I know this? Where do I feel it in the body? What is happening? What is the quality, the density, the movement, the colour, the texture, timing, weight? Is it changing? What would it like to do? Where does it want to go?

This may seem rather tedious perhaps even odd, but if you stick with it, you may be surprised how much information and change transpires, and how just paying attention can help bring a more natural rhythm back into your day.