When a Pilates teacher becomes derailed….

When planning my next article I was inspired to write about a student’s excitement in class. She declared with such thrilled delight to her classmates that for the first time in years she was able to comfortably execute a particular exercise in class, no adaptations, no modifications just as Pilates himself would have wanted it done. I smiled. I always smile at theses revelatory moments. In class my job is to give people as many colours in their palette as possible, as much knowledge and as much information about their bodies and its ability to move as possible but my bigger role is to engage confidence. This delighted declaration said it all. During a recent workshop with a highly regarded teacher her approach was a little different, teach the Pilates exercises as they were originally intended to be, if this proves too challenging (which it usually does) then modify them but not before your client has had the chance to aim for the highest bar. In other words assume nothing about your student’s potential.

This thought has continued to resonate with me ever since and whilst I might not be willing to share the full classical 100’s with my beginners just yet; I thought the point itself was interesting. How many times do we ere on the side of caution and never really push our own limits? And then last week whilst challenging my own limits I managed to completely derail myself. For the first time in 25 years of moving my body for a living I injured myself, and so a piece written about others achieving success by realising their own strength and knowing when to push through boundaries suddenly became very personal. No form of exercise is risk free, no one could have predicted or prevented the injury I sustained and yes it was through Pilates!, the point is however, how was I going to manage it and what next…

I heard myself repeating in my head as I often do to clients ‘don’t panic!’ but not being able to put your shoes on is tricky, finding it difficult to get in and out of a car is challenging.  Of course once something is done it can’t be undone but how we manage the unexpected turn in the journey is entirely within our control. I’m currently reminded daily how fortunate I am to have discovered a system of exercise that applies to the whole body but also why some people get so frightened when they don’t have a system of body awareness to fall back on. I have realised how important the strength and flexibility in my limbs has been when I haven’t been able to use my back as much as I would instinctively, and slowly and surely each day things get a little easier.

So this is the gift of Pilates, it teaches us that whichever paths our lives take and however many physical challenges we might endure the greater the confidence we have in our bodies physical strength and our minds ability to be flexible and heal the faster the recovery.

So whilst I might not be able to do roll ups just yet suddenly the fact that I can do a simple cobra gives me great deal of confidence that normal service will be shortly be resumed.