Brent Anderson

Do You Really Understand Pelvic Floor Health?

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Watch #PilatesHour episode 110 “Pelvic Talk” with Brent Anderson PhD, PT, OCS, NCPT and Pam Downey PT, DPT, WCS, BCB-PMB.

BA: Do you cue for pelvic floor activation? 

PD: The good and the bad is that there is a lot of buzz around the pelvis, and pelvic floor. Then, like everything else, it gets a little diluted or a little “translated”. I always like to come back to what we really mean by certain things. That’s one aspect of what I’m really trying to put out there now. Let’s all try to have a similar vocabulary and understand really what we are after.  

There are way more people coming via the internet, with more open-mindedness about how women are during the birth experience. For example, people are seeking services after delivery with different health professionals. Most people are coming into the system because of excellent trainers picking up on dysfunctions and referring them appropriately. That’s what I get really excited about. It’s not really a medical model, but it’s out there with educators. 

BA:  It’s such an important aspect, that continuum of care that we’ve always talked about. A lot of times people get very territorial. It’s like, “the pelvic floor is my territory, my profession, my training”. What we don’t realize is it’s a continuum of health just like everything is. At some point, clients are going to be doing at-home exercises, going to the gym, and attending movement classes. The more people are aware of that whole spectrum of pre, during, and post-rehab, the more able we are able to achieve our ultimate goal. To allow people to participate more wholly in life.

We’re dealing with things like incontinence, vulvodynia, weak abdominals, and hernia of the abdominal wall postpartum. These are all things that significantly impact people’s well-being. This is what I love about my relationship with you. When I’m screening someone, I completely understand the impact that pelvic floor pathology can have on intra-abdominal pressure with someone with low back pain, but when I rule out pretty much everything that has to do with the physiology and structure of the spine, I can say “I really think this person needs a pelvic floor consult, can you look and see if there’s something missing.”  

PM:  You touch on something that’s really important in the healthcare model. A lot of our healthcare professionals seeing patients on the front line have just minutes with their clients.

BA: I’d love for you to talk about the latest research out there on dealing with stress incontinence. What are some of the latest research? Do we know what is not working? What are some things you do as an internal therapist to be able to understand that better? 

PD:  From a functional standpoint we still don’t have a lot in the literature that is functionally driven, I’ll put that out as a disclaimer. A lot of this is still in case study format, not random control studies. But what we can talk about is just like anything else. People assume. That’s the big part, the assumption when they are told to do a Kegel (and what does that really mean?).

Arnold Kegal designed a perineometer, a device inserted into the vagina that was flexible. Women that had stress incontinence were given this device. It looks like a blood pressure cuff device, and the needle would go off when you had a good squeeze. So instead of pushing it out, which would not register anything on the device, you would get biofeedback from getting a contraction. Arnold Kegel really focused on strengthening the pelvic floor universally to help with stress urinary incontinence. Usually at the level of the urethra.

On the pelvic floor, there are layer one and layer two muscles. We have the pelvis and these small muscles, and on the other side is collagen that is very strong and not very elastic. When the pelvic floor is strong it can act like a trampoline and rebound with the intra-abdominal pressure that is coming down to meet the bladder and other organs. This is the endpoint the anatomists say. The levators are our main postural muscle; which holds our innards up as we walk around, and gives us continence.

So coming from where he identified squeezing these muscles, which led to improvement in stress urinary incontinence, we’re now fifty-plus years later still talking about Kegels. So I really call them a pelvic floor muscle exercise, because there are a lot more dynamics to it. At Herman and Wallace, where I’ve been teaching for many years, we teach an exam to look at these muscles from the vaginal side and the rectal side. We also gather a bunch of other information regarding diagnoses, moving beyond this simple squeeze and release.  

We know the pelvic floor is mostly slow oxidative fibers, 70-80 percent of it. So if you’re just teaching a quick on and off, even in a cueing situation, you’re not doing the majority of what these fibers do for a living. A squeeze also has a quick component. You have to be quick to get the intra-abdominal pressure. In our practice, I would say I’ve become way more interested in identifying what part of it. It all squeezes together, but with proper tactile and verbal cueing, I can get the person to understand it functionally.

Moving into a little anterior tilt, I can say “sit in neutral, perform the pelvic floor lift, feel where that feels in your body. Is it more rectal? Is it closer to the midsection of the perineum near the sitting bones, or do you feel it up front? Then take a moment and lean back in your chair, almost with a posterior slump and squeeze again. Now, where do you register that portion of the contraction?” Remember, it’s all contracting the same but your sensory awareness is going to be different. Then finally roll forward toward the front. I give a cue like “pick up a blueberry with your vagina”, “lift the clitoris”, or in men, “lift the penis”.

If you’re looking up front, you’re going to feel perhaps the three different areas of the pelvic floor. Stress incontinence could be affecting more upfront so we can give it a more anterior cue. It has nothing to do with breath, it just has to do with the squeeze and the isolation of the squeeze. 

BA: You bring up really important points. The one that’s the biggest is how little we know about our pelvic floor anatomy in general. I’ve read a couple of papers now regarding how many women have no idea what their genitalia look like, and don’t want to know.  It’s sort of like a taboo, and heaven forbid you to say the words clitoris or vagina in mixed company. One thing I would love to have you explain a little bit more is the relationship of the sphincter muscles, both the anal sphincter and urethra sphincter, in comparison to prolapse and a vaginal wall breach.

We are realizing something interesting after looking at hundreds of ultrasounds. It’s not that they don’t have an active contraction of the pelvic floor. It’s that they think the vagina muscle is lifting the pelvic floor. So you might see a little bit of activity in the vaginal wall but you wouldn’t see the pelvic floor lift up. In some of them, we would see the glutes squeeze because they weren’t quite sure where the pelvic floor was or what the muscle was that they were lifting. Others were in their own minds thinking things like stopping the flow of urine.

Thinking of that integration you’re talking about, I would love to have a little more explanation on the relationship of the urethral sphincter to incontinence. What is its relation to the pubococcygeus and pelvic floor? How does it relate in the sense of incontinence, or “continence” if we look at it in a positive way? 

PD: So what we really need to know is that part of the musculature is under autonomic control. This means that our urethral area is on “close” or tightened. That is mediated through loops going up to the brain and when we go to the toilet or decide to squat and pee we tell the brain “ok go ahead and relax”.

Through that complex system, the autonomic releases the intrinsic sphincter and we also release our volitional sphincters. It’s a very coordinated effort. That’s why potty training takes so long for human children and what’s important to know is that the autonomics are working to keep us continent. We don’t think about contracting them all day long. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be able to function.

What we do have control over is the override.  In the volitional set, we can delay urination at any point, or with that cueing I just mentioned, getting more where the urethra is, more to layer two where all of that pouch is. Through this, you can elicit a more direct contraction and really tighten and reinforce around the urethra.

This could be utilized if you’ve had damage from an obstetrical tear, a decade of chronic coughing due to allergies, COPD, pulmonary issues, or bronchitis where you’ve blown out a lot of things over weeks. So you can reinforce the contractions and help what’s already happening in the autonomics by adding to this deeper layer, the volitional muscle set versus the autonomic set.

Watch the #PilatesHour episode 110 “Pelvic Talk” here.

How to Motivate your Clients to Keep Moving

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Article by By Polestar Educator Carlos Marin Burguillos

Polestar Pilates celebrates 30 Years of Movens Mundi “Moving the World”. Make this year amazing for your clients by motivating them to keep moving!

The definition of adherence to treatment, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), is:

“the extent to which a person’s behavior — taking medication, following a diet, and/or executing lifestyle changes — corresponds with the agreed recommendations from a healthcare provider.”

Adherence to an exercise program or a certain activity, in this case, Pilates, is something fundamental to ensuring the healthy objectives the practice generates are obtained. For this reason, we are going to explore the possible influences, variables, and tools we can implement in our teaching to make this happen.

It should be noted that adherence to physical activity is influenced by the motivation of the subject since it is a psychological component that controls the direction, intensity, and permanence of the behavior (Murcia,2007).

In fact, motivation determines the initiation, maintenance, and completion of behaviors in which we are involved, and its analysis can help us to understand how people begin and continue in physical exercise (Deci and Ryan, 1985). The Theory of Self-determination (Deci and Ryan, 1985), an explanatory model of human motivation, directly relates self-determination to intrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation is what drives us to do things for the simple joy of doing them. The execution of the task itself is the reward. To be intrinsically motivated is to take on a problem as a personal challenge. It is to face it just to find its solution, with no hope or longing for an external reward for doing it (Jiménez, 2007). 

This is why being aware of the achievements obtained and the mere enjoyment of the sessions are two essential factors to facilitate motivation and therefore adherence to the pilates program. In this order of things, our work as Pilates professionals gives us a multitude of options to promote the intrinsic motivation of our students and thus improve adherence to the method. 

To facilitate its practical application, I would like to divide these endless elements into two large groups: the development of the program and the pedagogy during the sessions.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE PROGRAM:

In this section, we will cover topics from the selection of objectives to planning the “base exercises” integral to achieving each of these objectives in a session.

In order to maintain and improve the intrinsic motivation of the student, it is important that the exercises chosen are within the student’s comfort zone and close to their limit, allowing for an achievable challenge with determined effort.

As teachers trained in Polestar Pilates we have two tools developed with this purpose in mind:

Polestar Fitness Screening(PFS): A tool through which we can precisely determine the functional objectives for a specific client, to be best able to adapt to their needs.

Polestar Program Design & Sequencing Guide: A tool in which we define the essential exercises of the program according to the objectives determined in the PFS and the ever-changing capacities of the student throughout the program. This we combine with the categories of movement which facilitate developing the program by integrating all planes of movement, positions, and apparatus.

In short, it is about the program being adaptable enough to change instantly to meet the physical and mental state of the student, not the other way around. 

This is most easily achieved in individual classes, where we can modify the pre-established program in a very efficient and immediate way; but how do we achieve this in group classes, regardless of how small they are? 

When working in a group setting, each student presents different characteristics and objectives. Because of this, a personalized adaptation of programming is diminished and we need other tools to give the sessions a certain “mobility”. 

In addition to the basic progressions and regressions of each exercise and the option of creating homogenous single level groups (which is not always possible), I propose three ideas that have been very useful for my study:

  • Before the student joins the group and after the “evaluation of movement ”(PFS), invite them to do at least a couple of private sessions to lay a foundation that at the very least reviews potentially dangerous movements and movements requiring the most modifications for said student. This allows the student to feel more comfortable when joining the group, autonomous, and therefore safe when just by saying “Antonio, the shoulders”, the client knows exactly what you mean, and you can continue the group class with this individual cueing. 
  • Evolve each exercise almost “from zero”, even if it is one repetition for each modification. This will help your students to “enter the movement” and become aware of the state of their body in that precise moment for that specific gesture, to feel the progression in the effort, need for control, coordination, etc., and decide with criteria where to stop or how far to continue with the progression of the exercise.
  • Carry out a collective evaluation once every season (or determined number of weeks) in which each student scores themself, without the intention of “qualifying”, but rather to determine the progress and the points still to be reinforced at the individual level, and mark some general guidelines or “keys” that facilitate the most deficit movements. It will serve as positive reinforcement for the students who already have them integrated and give a boost to those who need it.

PEDAGOGY DURING THE SESSION:

Pedagogy is a general theory of learning that studies the laws of the general process of education and training with an emphasis on creating a learning environment that is suitable to multiple learning styles. I include in this group everything related to the way of teaching during Pilates sessions, which has an influence on the intrinsic motivation of the student.

It is essential to keep the student’s attention focused on the session so that learning can occur. Although many of the factors that influence this process are endogenous to the student, we can significantly influence this process.

LANGUAGE: Let’s divide language into “verbal” and non “verbal” to analyze the way in which it influences attention and student motivation

NON-VERBAL: Non-verbal communication is defined as a process where we transmit information to another person without using any type of word, spoken or written.

Nonverbal communication includes:

  • Gestures
  • Facial expression
  • Eye contact
  • Body language
  • Posture
  • Clothing
  • Spatial distance
  • Physical appearance
  • Rhythm
  • Intonation, and tone of voice

Playing with these variables offers endless possibilities and therefore can significantly influence the perception of the exercise by the student.

For example, the act of walking around the room and placing yourself in different points can influence the students feeling of integration, even more so if you look at each student, nod or smile, or approach and speak privately to a specific student with a lower tone of voice if the moment requires. Take into account the response of each student to these gestures, as not all students feel comfortable when they receive special attention or see their personal space “invaded”. Again the adaptability of your non-verbal language to each concrete learner is the key to success to maintain their focus and motivation.

VERBAL: Verbal communication uses words to convey a message. I propose several ideas that cover various objectives that will influence the intrinsic motivation of your students:

  • Words are associated with connotations beyond their own meaning. For example: “Trying” to do something implies the idea of ​​failure if it is not achieved. This can frustrate more competitive and less skilled students. I propose the word “explore”, where each action becomes part of an exploratory process with no glitches or errors, but movement options.
  • Talk about what you do want your students to do. Sometimes we try so hard to say what “could go wrong” that we are unintentionally pushing our student towards that option, or posing “success” as something so unattainable that it blocks any intention of movement. Look at the difference between these two instructions: “lift your leg and try not to move your pelvis at all ”, vs “raise your leg and feel how your pelvis rests heavily on the mat ”.
  • Use language that is accessible to your students. Using technical language does not elevate your status as a teacher, and what’s more, it could create a gulf between you and the student, making it difficult to communicate. This can generate frustration if the students are unable to understand the exercise when it is supposed to be something within their reach. What’s more, I suggest that you use colloquial words, and from time to time use a joke to break the tension, grab the attention of your students and generate an atmosphere of trust in the session.
  • Teach simply. Sometimes we want to say so many things about the exercise that after two minutes of explanation we still have not transmitted what movement we are asking our students to perform. I propose a simple scheme avoid falling into this error:
  1. Describe the initial position (if it coincides with the end of the previous exercise, eliminate this step).
  1. Define the base movement of the exercise (if it entails any real risk for the student, now is the time to comment. Otherwise, it gives rise to error, because experience is where you learn).
  1. State the objective of the exercise (you do not have to do it explicitly, just state what you want the student to achieve).
  1. Propose some guideline or technical indication that facilitates the achievement of the objective.
  1. Observe the execution and decide if it is necessary to make any correction (touch or verbal), reinforce some part of the exercise, or reward a specific gesture.
  1. If necessary, create a loop between the previous two, or add modifications in the exercise returning to point 2.

TYPE OF INSTRUCTION

In the same way that you can decide what kind of teacher to be (the serious teacher, the authoritarian, the joker), you can choose the way to approach an exercise. Apart from the general teaching guidelines which are more concrete, I propose some fun options:

  • Games: When playing a game, you are able to grasp the attention of your students and help them tap into a more playful feeling. This facilitates interaction between students and creates a bond between them that favors adherence to the method. A simple way to incorporate a game is to have students maintain a certain position that requires balance and have them pass various objects to each other, such as balls with different weights.
  • Simon Says: Once a specific exercise has been explained, modify some aspect with each consecutive repetition. This will keep the student’s attention, in addition to challenging their ability to react to external changes. For example, during one-legged footwork, alternate between one leg and the other, toe or heel of the foot, place of support on the bar, etc.
  • Give it a Turn: Create a sequence of fluid movement in which each gesture links with the following, and when they have it fully integrated, reverse the order of execution, or vary the order of the parts.
  • Improvise: Give specific guidelines that determine the essence of the exercise according to its objective, and suggest that they move the rest of their body freely and even randomly. You can put on music and give them time to express themselves and explore freely.

I hope that this small compilation of ideas has been interesting and especially useful if you decide to put them into practice. – Carlos Marin Burguillos Educator for Polestar Pilates Spain, Valladolid.

REFERENCES

Jimenez, M. Intrinsic motivation. Competence, self-determination, and control. On:

Fernández-Abascal, E .; Jimenez, M .; Martín, M. Emotion and motivation: Human adaptation.

Madrid: Ramón Acelles S. A. Study Center, 2007.

Deci, E .; Ryan, R. Self-determination theory: A macrotheory of human motivation,

development, and health. Canadian Psychology, v. 49, n. 3, p. 182-185, 2008.

Murcia, J.A., Gimeno, E.C., & Coll, D.G. (2007). Analyzing motivation in sport a

study through the theory of self-determination. Apuntes de Psicología, 25 (1), 35-51.

Core Strength in Pilates: What You Need to Know

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By Kristin Loeer, Movement Therapist & Polestar Pilates Practitioner @polestarpilatesuk

Is core strength your goal from Pilates? This is a goal many of my clients note on their intake form when they come to see me. Not surprising, considering Pilates is considered a discipline that improves core strength. Yet, every time I see “core strength” as a goal, I wonder what it means to the client. Truth is, this goal does not reveal as much as you might think. Here’s what you need to know before you start working on core strength with your clients. 

What Is Core Strength?

Believe it or not, core strength is not really a goal by itself. It is a concept, an idea, and a theory about biomechanical function. As a Pilates Teacher, you know all about core strength. Or do you? It is touted as a solution to many problems. A weak core can cause back pain and spinal problems. A strong core helps prevent injury and enables us to master challenging physical tasks. We talk about core strength as though we all agree on what it is. The funny thing is, we really don’t! We can somewhat agree that the core refers to the center of the body, and strength refers to muscular power or force. So let’s work from the basis that core strength comes from the strength of the muscles surrounding the spine in the center of the body. 

Hang On, Which Muscles Are Core Muscles?

Many professionals including physical therapists and some Pilates teachers have different views on true core muscles and global trunk muscles. This is where the first problem lies. While for some it is crucial that only four deep muscles of the trunk represent the core, for others it is six, and for others still, it is every muscle surrounding the center of the body. Whichever muscles you consider to compromise the “core” makes a huge difference in how you go about strengthening this area. If you believe it’s the four deep trunk muscles (diaphragm, transverse abdominus, pelvic floor and multifidus), you would use a different strategy than you would if your idea included more superficial muscles.

What we can agree on, is that these deep, postural muscles play a role in stabilizing the spine. As soon as we add movement of the trunk, we also start exercising the global muscles of the trunk. If the core is considered weak, the goal for some would be to strengthen the deep muscles in isolation. You might do minimal-effort stability exercises with no spinal movement. If you believe the core is the body’s center in general, and all muscles in this area play a role in spinal stabilization, you would do more classical abdominal, bracing exercises that feel a lot stronger, or work on a generally more functional level. 

What To Believe About Core Strength?

So to assess and prescribe movement effectively, decide what you believe about core strength. How do you make this decision? You could delve more into research on the topic, however, you will find equal parts supporting both theories. I recommend taking a look at the Paul Hodges work for some quality deep core muscle theory, and Stuart Mc Gill’s many books about the reasons behind his abdominal bracing theory. Be ready, you might also come across research that rejects the idea of core muscle strength altogether.

Those who reject it argue that the body does not create stable, healthy movement by contracting individual muscles like pulling strings on a marionette. Rather, movement and stability are created more along the lines of tensegrity, an architectural construct that suspends levers in an equally stretched and tensioned elastic network. So even with all the research and theories on what to believe about core strength and improving it, no one can definitively conclude what we are talking about and what we should be doing. 

What Do You Want To Achieve From Core Strength?

There is a time and place for all the different core strength ideas out there. To be effective in our assessment and prescription, you need to start from what you want to achieve from core strength. Do you want to eliminate pain? Improve physical ability or performance? Is it about a toned waist? Do you want it because others seem to? What do you really want to achieve from core strength? And do you really need it? The answers to these questions will give you a much better idea of the approach. The rest comes from observing movements, so you can see if and how the lack of core strength presents in the body. Such a deficit may present itself in different ways, which influences your approach. 

What It Means to Lack Core Control

To understand what it means to lack core control, I start from the premise that no one body part is more important than another. Our bodies have developed over thousands of years to be durable and efficient, with no flaws in the design. For varying reasons like sedentary life habits or medical history, some people lack core control. Core control refers to the efficiency and appropriate stability of the trunk during movement. Motor control is the coordination and stability of efficient movement patterns, facilitated by the nervous system. Both may impact spinal health or abilities. However the reason for this lack of core control is unique to each person, therefore your strategy to improve must be unique too. 

How to Influence and Improve Core Control

There are so many ways to influence and improve core control. Connective tissue experts like Thomas Myers and Robert Schleip have helped increase awareness of the degree of interconnectedness of the body. Connective tissue, or fascia, interwebs our muscles, organs, and bones from foot to brain. The idea that we should isolate one or few muscles by trying to contract them individually and locally, is unrealistic and according to the research, unnatural. Sometimes we may lack core control because of a local weakness or injury, but how are we going to work a muscle in isolation that is entirely inter-webbed with others? We can use the inter-webbed structures in our bodies to improve core control. To do this, it helps to reflect on how we first learned to move and control our center of gravity; it started with crawling and walking.

We engaged with our environment. We used the feedback we got from the floor, from gravity, and from furniture we leveraged to pull ourselves up. It makes sense to apply the same strategies to maintain and improve core control at any stage of life. Think of it as re-engaging with our natural instincts to learn how to move well. The Pilates apparatus, such as the reformer, trapeze table and combo chair are fantastic tools for this. The machine gives you a unique experience of movement. It gives you subtle resistance and support. It provides feedback while enriching the neurological connections into your muscles. It lets you explore movements in different relations to gravity.

Goals in Pilates

Whatever is aiding core control inside your body is getting lots of stimulation here. It is a Pilates teacher’s job to not only guide movements with the use of machines but to observe the quality of clients’ movements in all areas of their body. Look out for the alignment of lower extremities, the head, neck and shoulder organization, and the articulation and control of the spine. All of this is valuable information about core control ability as well as the many other elements that play a role in healthy physical movement ability. 

Core strength, if it exists, is not a one-size-fits-all solution. Start with what your client wants to achieve, and what they want their body to be able to do. What do they want to change, and what will life look like when they achieve it? Some idea of core strength might indeed come into play. But it will be unique to that client and their goals. I hope these insights will help you come closer to understanding and achieving core strength goals for you and your clients.

Author: Kristin Loeer, Movement Therapist & Polestar Pilates Practitioner. Ready to Learn More? Try our Pilates Hour Episode “The Science and Myth of Intra-Abdominal Pressure”.

Meditation & Pilates

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Polestar has been a major force in the introduction of Pilates to the medical and academic world. Through partnering with major universities, hospitals and institutions, we have successfully introduced Polestar’s Pilates curriculum to thousands of professionals in over 60 Universities throughout the world.

Polestar provides many services to the academic community, including free online and in-person lectures and masterclasses to heighten the awareness of the clinical applications of the Pilates Method. Our Pilates Immersion program allows for an in-depth experience for students who want to learn the fundamentals to incorporate Pilates into their profession. 

Polestar’s full Pilates comprehensive teacher training has become embedded and implemented in the dance department at Rutgers University for over 5 years in the Mason Gross School of Performing Arts.

One highlight of our collaboration with Rutgers is the “fingerprint project” introduced by Kim Gibilisco NCPT, MFA. This project empowers students in the teacher training to take ownership of their future by completing a research and development project that highlights their perspective of and goals for the application of Pilates through the lens of parallel modalities.

The following excerpt from “Meditation & Pilates” by Kelly Robertson was part of her “fingerprint project” required for the culmination of the Polestar Pilates comprehensive teacher training at the Mason Gross School of Performing Arts at Rutgers University.

FINGERPRINT PROJECT:

Excerpt from “Meditation & Pilates” by Kelly Robertson

Carol Davis in Patient Practitioner Interaction writes: “Newtonian physics taught us that the basic elements of nature were small, solid, indestructible objects. However, quantum physics taught us that atoms, the building blocks of all matter, actually consist of vast regions of space in which very small particles move.” She then writes: “Given this quantum interpretation, solid objects are no longer perceived as solid …. we are more like a mass of energy set in constant motion.” “Mind and body are united in a whole nurtured by the flow of vital energy, or chi” (pg.129).

This “mass of energy in constant motion” as Davis puts it is something that I think we can all feel as true. When I bring my awareness to my body, I experience this sense of “flow”. This flow is always increased for me after a positive movement experience. 

Risa Kaparo in Awakening Somatic Intelligence sites the “Old Paradigm” as:

1. We function as relatively fixed objects.

2. We are separate from everything else.

3. Gravity is a force that needs to be overcome by effort.

… and lists the “New Paradigm” as:

1. We function as self-sensing, self-organizing, self-renewing energy beings.

2. We are interconnected with all that is.

3. Gravity provides an opportunity to sense and liberate us from our patterns of habitual tension.

She goes on to write that if we move away from the “Old Paradigm” we can sense our bodies in a new way and “learn new ways of functioning that are congruent with non-self-limiting beliefs” (pages 30-31).

I also believe that the view of the body as a fixed, solid object is limiting and even arrests the possibility of change when we think that way. I will integrate this idea into my teaching for my final because I believe it is an important step to get students into the right frame of mind for change.

Chopra writes about how freeing it is to see our bodies as movement, capable of change and healing,

“If you could see that your physical body is an idea your mind is stubbornly holding on to, an enormous breakthrough would take place. You would no longer be imprisoned in a lump of matter. Best of all you would be free to adopt a much better idea of your body” (page 20).

He describes that our bodies are a cloud of energy and that changes in that energy can cause genuine physical effects. “You can bring healing to any aspect of your life by shifting an unhealthy energy state into a healthy one” (page 44). This goes back to Chopra’s explanation of how awareness creates positive change in the body. He believes that awareness changes the energy and that energy changes the body. Awareness-Energy-Body. 

Similarly, Brent Anderson PT, Ph.D., OCS, NCPT in his SRG Energy Medicine Lecture (Polestar Online) “As we heighten our awareness of what flows and doesn’t flow, where energy fills up or doesn’t fill up, that helps us as well to increase that flow and get a nice healthy flow of energy”. Anderson goes on to say “There is a wealth and plethora of energy and truth out there and our job in life is to balance ourselves so we can resonate with it”.

Anderson goes a step further and discusses how this knowledge directly applies to our work in Pilates or in other healing practices. He points out that as “healers” we need to be aware that the “healing process involves many kinds of communication” and “That is what energy does, transfers communication”. 

Bio-Energetics is a subject included throughout the Polestar Principles of Movement manual. In each chapter, there is a Bio-Energetics section addressing how each principle affects our energy systems. For example in Chapter 4, Organization of the Head, Neck & Shoulders, the Bio-Energetics section reads: “Balanced strength and flexibility on all sides of the shoulder enable a balanced flow of energetic pathways”. A combination of Pilates and meditation is a great way to not only achieve the alignment of the body but also to heighten awareness of the energy changes that come with correct alignment. 

Interested in bringing Polestar Pilates education to your University or Institution? Click here!

Graduate Highlight : Steffi Jauw from Jakarta, Indonesia

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Pilates is for EVERYBODY! I love how Polestar teaches us to adapt our cues & teaching to fit our clients’ needs. Whether our client is post-injury & in need of a little extra attention, or you have a client who is very athletic & is using Pilates to enhance their performance – Polestar Pilates provides! – Steffi Jauw

What Three Words come to mind when you think of “Polestar Pilates”

Attention

Compassion

Safety

What do you love about teaching Pilates?

SJ: I love how my clients are much more aware of their bodies now. They are able to move better, and it’s so satisfying when they come into the studio and tell me how Pilates helps them in their day to day lives, and how they can now do certain things they weren’t able to do before, or how after a few sessions a lingering pain that has been there for a long time is suddenly gone. It is always so fulfilling to see how in the beginning they weren’t able to do a certain exercise, and after a few sessions they were able to do it with confidence!

Where did you take your Training and who was the educator?

SJ: I took my training in Bandung, Indonesia. My educator was Sansan – she is such a lovely and knowledgeable teacher! I have learned and hope to continue to learn much more from her!

What are your current Inspirations? What do You love about them?

SJ: I want to be able to help as many clients as possible. I am excited to learn more about bodies and how to help them move better!

Why Pilates?  How did you find the practice?

SJ: Initially I taught group fitness for a mega gym. I used to teach up to 15 hours a week – that destroyed my body, because when I taught I had to move with the members as well. So I was doing up to 15 hours of intense cardio and weightlifting exercises a week. It was so hard for me to get up in the morning. It reached a point where one day I said to myself, I need to find a more sustainable career path… I’ve always been intrigued by Pilates, especially with Pilates equipment. They all look so intimidating yet curious.

Where I live – in Jakarta – There are many Pilates schools and some are infamous for being a extremely difficult courses. I was quite intimidated by the demand to know all the anatomy & the names of the muscles off the top of your head so I started asking around about other Pilates schools, started doing my research.

One of my best friends – who was in the process of taking her exam – introduced me to Polestar. She raved about how great it was and highly recommended it to me.

I took the Gateway Mat course – with doubt at first. But what cleared my doubts was the way Sansan made everything so easy to understand, and with her humble & approachable persona, I wasn’t afraid to ask her questions…Also, during my Gateway course, I was having a very bad case of low back pain due to overtraining. By the end of the course it had gone – amazing!

What do you hope to convey in your teaching?

SJ: I want to spread awareness to my clients. I want them to know how important proper movement is. I also want them to know Pilates is not scary – with the right tools, all movements are achievable and beneficial.

What is your favorite Quote?  How do you live, embody or apply this?

SJ: “If your spine is stiff at 30, you are old. If it is flexible at 60, you are young.”

I have friends who are in their 20s and yet move as if they are in their 80s… It pains me to see that their bodies are not making full use of their potential. I try to do as much self-practice as possible. I do a lot of clerical work, and I still teach group fitness (about 4 hours a week) – so if I don’t incorporate a little Pilates practice once in a while, my body gets stiff and at times even painful…


What is your Favorite Apparatus or favorite way to move? What do you love about it?

SJ: The Oov! I just did the Oov course and it was MIND BLOWING. I love how it can be used for both corrective exercises and to train for performance as well!

Learn more about Polestar Pilates Asia here!

Polestar Pilates Educator Highlight : Noelle Dowma, Kansas City, KS

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What do you love about teaching Pilates and owning a studio? 

ND: My favorite thing about teaching Pilates is when someone has an “ah ha” moment.  This is when they realize they did something correctly either with awareness or the movement become effortless, with automatic ease.  This summer is my crossing into 27 years in Pilates. 

Where did you take your training and who was the educator? 

ND: I started as a dancer physical therapy patient who felt the efficiency from doing Pilates and was sold.  I continued to study, did my first certification in a classical program, and then started to teach at the Polestar Pilates studio in Miami.  While teaching, I had the opportunity to go through the Polestar rehabilitation series with Cynthia McGee and then trained to be an educator when onsite.  I have loved teaching for Polestar as an educator across the US over the past 15 years.  

What are your current inspirations?  What do you love about them?

ND: I am currently inspired by how much of our past influences the current and future.  How we handle these past situations dictates how we respond at the moment and how we will move into the future.  The more awareness and courage we can have to delve into these things, the more we appreciate the journey of life.  Similarly, I am currently interested in our reflexes and how they integrate or maybe don’t in our movement patterns.

What do you hope to convey in your teaching? 

ND: I think little things like having proper posture with the demands of our sedentary, device-driven world are crucial.  I love to try to tie the feelings of the Pilates work to function, so to help people continue to embody the work as a way of life vs. just ending when our session is over. 

Life is about efficiency and this is what Pilates teaches.  

Where would you love to vacation? 

ND: The Caribbean is my favorite place.  I am currently in search of my favorite islands. 

Describe your movement style: 

ND: I love investigating people’s desires for movement based on their past experiences and current desires.  Some people don’t feel like they have worked out unless their heart rate increases and they sweat, others need to stretch, and others need to “feel a burn.”  I personally don’t feel like I have exercised unless I have moved my spine and limbs.  As a dancer, I love the feeling of a stretch DURING movement vs. just a static stretch, and I do love to “feel a burn” in my targeted muscles.  I also enjoy variety, so Pilates, Oov, ballet, and weightlifting all are my rotated workouts.

What is your favorite apparatus or favorite way to move?  What do you love about it? 

ND: Selecting my favorite apparatus is like someone selecting their favorite child—how do I do that?  But, if I could only select one piece to bring with me on a desert island, I would choose the Reformer because it is so versatile.

How does Pilates inform your profession or recreation outside of Pilates? 

ND: The mindfulness of Pilates is what is so helpful for all aspects of life.  I love reaching a level of automaticity so to have the quality of movement Joseph emphasized, however we still need to have the mindfulness in our movements, especially when doing something less common like moving furniture and heavy yard work.  Forethought in these activities can go a long way in preventing injury.  

Follow Polestar Educator Noelle Dowma at: kinespherephysicaltherapy (facebook) and kinespherept (instagram)