Pilates Teacher

Community Highlight: Edwin Carvalho de Oliveria

What Three Words come to mind when you think of Polestar?

  • Community
  • Movement
  • Quality

What do you love about teaching Pilates?

ECO: I love the possibility to offer people a better and more active lifestyle.

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

ECO: I am going through the comprehensive teacher training in Jacksonville, FL with Polestar Educator Lynn Peterson.

Why Pilates?  How did you find the practice?

ECO: I started to practice Pilates when I was performing in a dance company with my Pilates teacher, Selma França, an educator from Brazil.

Why Polestar Pilates?  How did you come to join the Polestar Community?

ECO: I used to practice Pilates and many other systems of movement we had to in the dance company. In our schedule, we had Pilates three times per week. Years after practicing with Selma at Bale Jovem de Salvador, I started going to Physio Pilates Ondina with Alice Becker to watch and assist her classes.

What do you hope to convey in your teaching?

ECO: Hope and reliability.

What is your favorite Quote? 

ECO:

“Choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life”.

ECO: I apply this teaching 4 days a week, I also move my body every day. I love what I do.

What is your Favorite Apparatus or favorite way to move?

ECO: I love Mat work because of all the possibilities it offers, it also gives you autonomy to practice no matter where you are!


You can find Edwin on Social media @edwiincarvalhoo

For more information on Teacher Training visit our website polestarpilates.com

A Yoga State of Mind

Christi Idavoy has dedicated her life to movement.  As a young dancer and philosophy student at NYU she found an instant affinity with the science and practice of yoga.  The Himalayan Institute of Yoga Science and Philosophy in NYC was Christi’s second home as she studied the traditions of Swami Rama from 1999 – 2001.  On a voyage to share her passion for yoga as a healing art she moved to Costa Rica where she taught yoga and furthered her studies as a graduate student at the United Nations University for Peace.  In 2005 she stumbled into a Pilates studio in San Jose, CR where she started her career as a Pilates instructor. 

Today Christi has lectured and taught yoga and Pilates in many Latin American countries thanks to her role at Polestar Pilates Education.  When she met Polestar founder, Brent Anderson in 2009, she knew she had found the organization that would allow her to bring together her passion for international relations and development with her career as a movement practitioner.  With her extensive experience as a Polestar Senior Educator, Ambassador, and Examiner Christi is a truly a “teacher’s teacher”.


What if yoga were a mindset, a state of being, a way of identifying with ourselves?  What if we could bring this yogic identification into all of our activities, classes, and relationships? 

In celebration of International Yoga Day, we will have a look at what yoga is, how we can benefit from it and bring into our everyday lives. 

There is a universal order to which all things belong.  When we contemplate the natural rhythms of day and night, the way a seed becomes a tree, the rise and fall of our breath and heartbeat, we can see that there are patterns that repeat themselves, which are not dependent on our knowledge or understanding of them.  If we reflect on human development and the processes of the natural world we will find again and again a series of innate, unconscious living patterns that our lives depend on and yet, they do not depend on our cognition.  The observation of living organisms is what gives rise to many ancient schools of thought, including classical Hinduism. 

Just as these universal patterns inhabit and animate us, so are we able to witness and observe them with the right stimulation, guidance, and focus of the mind…this is where the yogic state of mind comes into play.

We often think of yoga as a series of movements and breathing exercises and while physical movement and breath is a part of the yogic system, yoga is actually a philosophical school of thought that addresses all aspects of life.  There are six schools of classical Hindu philosophy that originate in India, one of which is yoga.  The Indian sage Patanjali systemized yoga circa 200 BCE in the Yoga Sutras. 

Although references to yoga already existed in older Hindu scriptures, it is believed that the ancient texts were very varied and too complex for the general public.  It is also believed that Patanjali authored the Yoga Sutras by compiling the already existing teachings into a simpler and more concise format.  The Yoga Sutras are the most commonly referenced yoga text, making Patanjali the father of yoga in the eyes of many.  A sutra is a literary aphorism, or a small amount of text that contains a universal truth.  The word sutra literally means thread or string.  The Yoga Sutras are a series of brief statements weaving together universal truths, namely truths that are self-evident.  

Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra 1.2, defined yoga as the cessation of the fluctuations, or whirlings, of the mind.  We see here that the central focus of yoga is not the body or the breath, but rather the mind.  What is really interesting is that yoga is a verb. When we look at the etymology or origin of the word yoga, we find that the word yoga comes from the root ‘yuj’ meaning to yoke; to unite or bring together.  

It is something that we do.  So the question becomes, what is it exactly that we are bringing together?   

The human mind has the ability to travel in time.  We can spend countless hours reminiscing on the past or dreaming of what the unknown future has to bring.  Although it may not feel like it at times, our will determines where our mind goes.  We can choose to travel down the endless corridors of the imagination and we can also choose to think about how we feel in any given moment.  What we are yoking together in yoga is our mind with the present moment. 

The body and the breath are tools or vehicles that allow us to practice and embody presence.  Presence is the state of existing, fully immersed, in mind, body, and breath, in a present moment.  Realizing that you are not separate from your experience, but rather you are the essence of an experience. 

You are the agent of all that occurs because without you there would be no occurrence.  In order to simplify this concept let’s recall a moment when we experienced great bliss, happiness and joy.  So much so that it felt as if time and the world around us ceased to exist.  All we experienced and can remember to this day is that enormous sensation of joy that ran through our entire being, to the extent that the mind became fully immersed in that particular moment.  This absolute consumption of mind and body in the present moment is a yogic state of mind.  Sometimes it occurs during confusion or exhaustion. 

For example, have you ever been in a movement class where you are so focused on what you are feeling that your mind just doesn’t have the opportunity to jump out of that particular moment?  Or that when it does you are able to notice the wandering mind and bring it back to the moment when cued by the teacher?  Here you are moving in and out of a yogic state of mind.  

In order to ‘cease the fluctuations of the mind’ or practice yoga, you do not need to do any physical exercises.  Yoga as a mindset is achieved through the same non-judgmental observation our ancestors engaged in.  The accepting and curious mindset is the one that arrived at the axioms that form the foundations of the modern world we enjoy today.  Perhaps our greatest power lies in our ability to observe and listen.  To guide our mind into our body and feel how we expand as we take a slower, deeper breath.  To guide our minds, without judgement or the need to classify sensations and perceptions as good or bad, right and wrong, but rather simply accept what is, opens us up to endless possibilities.  When the movement of the mind is centered on anything occurring in the now moment we feel can feel presence.       

As movement teachers and practitioners we have endless opportunities to bring ourselves and others into presence. 

How one acquires this skill takes time and is quite simple.  Notice your body and breathe.  Acknowledge how you feel. Do this over and over again until it becomes a habit.  When you are in a Pilates class, notice where your mind is, are you wondering if you are ‘doing it right’ and if so, pause and shift your attention into noticing what you feel, what you are doing, and how you are breathing.  Keep asking your mind to notice, acknowledge and accept what is, for here is where every now moment is occurring.  


You can find Christi on Social Media @christiidavoy

Community Highlight: Polestar Mentor Valentine Hilaire

In your own words describe “the Spirit of Polestar”:

VH: A benevolent environment. It helps you to understand that the most important thing is not only about what you do but how you feel. It has guided me to connect with myself.

What three words come to mind when you think of Polestar Pilates:

Observation

Freedom

Serenity

What do you love about teaching Pilates?

VH: I love Pilates mostly because the practice isn’t about the person adapting to Pilates, but Pilates adapting to the person. Polestar Pilates gives you a sense of observation which helps you to understand each person individually. I did my training in Paris with Alexander Bohlander, Birgit Scheffe and Yaelle Penkhoss. They all helped me train my eye.

What are your current Inspirations?  

VH: I love to explore movement. As a dancer I learned how to move with music, now I love to move with my own rhythm, to find fluidity and connection between exercises, and to create a harmony that makes sense with how I feel in the moment.

Why Pilates?  How did you find the practice?

VH: I began Pilates when I was in a professional dance school. I was 14 and it helped me to find both mental and physical balance. Since my first Pilates class, I felt that something had changed not only in my body but also in my way of visualizing my body.

Why Polestar Pilates? 

VH: My Pilates teacher told me it was surely the best Pilates training. I came to the Pilates studio, took a class, and knew it was where I wanted to be.

What do you hope to convey in your teaching?

VH: That everything is possible! I remember one of my clients who came to me because he had pain everywhere; low back pain, hip pain, and shoulder pain. At the time he told me “I thought I couldn’t do this anymore” speaking of a specific movement. Today he can, and he’s free of pain. I hope to convey that there’s always a way to feel better.

Do you have a favorite Quote? 

Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s about learning to dance in the rain.

Vivian Greene

To me this means to remember that the most important thing isn’t what happens to us, but what we do with it.

What is your favorite apparatus or favorite way to move?

VH: Of course I love each apparatus, but If I had to take only one apparatus on a desert island it would be the reformer because of its fluidity and its ability to adapt to all our needs.


Valentine is a Mentor for Polestar Pilates France – You can find Valentine on Social Media @valentinehilaire

Educator Highlight: Claire Sparrow

Describe “the Spirit of Polestar”:

CS: Polestar is a true community that empowers people from where they are to grow and succeed. Not without challenge but by providing a safe and positive environment that makes it easy for people to move forward in new ways.

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

Community

Creative

Empowering

What do you love about teaching Pilates? 

CS: I love that moment when people discover something new in themselves that feels like an uncovering or unravelling of their truth, their inherent movement – like it was something that was always there they just didn’t know how to look for it or find it. My first Polestar training was at my own studio in Leeds with the amazing Alastair Greetham. We were a small group new to Polestar in the North of England and were overwhelmed by the generous and knowledgeable teaching from Alastair.

What are your current Inspirations?  

CS: I recently took up mediation and I love how this restores my mind and body. I am also doing business coaching because I think it is possible and important that we strive to build our industry as a viable sustainable business. I feel a responsibility to do what I can to build a solid foundation for the future of our industry through the quality of teaching and approach to business that doesn’t sacrifice our values and ethics.

Why Pilates? 

CS: I was studying dance at university and suffered knee injuries preventing me dancing for almost an entire academic year. I was blessed to have a Pilates studio on site and spent my days there on the Reformer and assisting the teacher. I wasn’t a fan at the time and then when I returned to dance and felt the results in action I knew I would love Pilates forever. I always say that Pilates isn’t here to help us get good at Pilates it is here to help us get good at life and all we want to do with it!

Why Polestar Pilates? 

CS: I had trained with many other schools before discovering Polestar. I had looked at Polestar over the years and never pursued it because I was scared of the physio influence and that it would be over my head. It turned out to be exactly what I needed to answer all the questions I had. I am creative, lateral thinking, and intuitive so learning scripts, teaching rote, and not knowing the why behind what we were doing really never worked for me. Polestar allows us to be creative, to be who we are as humans, and teach from there.

What do you hope to convey in your teaching?

CS: There are no boundaries. There is always something you CAN do!!!

What is your favorite Quote? 

CS: Wow this is tough! I am a real quote person and there are so many. I even wrote a series of blogs about my favourite Joseph Pilates quotes. I have some great Brene Brown and Maya Angelou ones and right now it is actually this quote that I have kept with me throughout lockdown.

“Time is like a river that carries us forward into encounters with reality that require us to make decisions. We can’t stop our movement down this river and we can’t avoid those encounters. We can only approach them in the best possible way.”

Ray Dalio

When we accept that in our lives there are going to be many things that happen that are out of our control and we know they will come, we can bring our attention and focus to how we respond and work with these situations and events. We can ride the wave rather than trying to swim against the tide. In our movement and our Pilates life we can accept that we may develop inefficiencies, imbalances, or even injuries and that it is normal. We don’t have to berate ourselves or diagnose – only accept and move from there with the support of ourselves and the method. I also love the part about carrying us forward, we are in a time that only moves forward and I don’t like to look back and use energy comparing me today with me in the past and the same in my relationships with others. We have to forgive and accept ourselves and others to stay healthy and move forward “in the best possible way.”

What is your Favorite Apparatus or favorite way to move?

CS: I come back to the Reformer because of the moment you lie down it’s like a hug and the soothing rhythm and sound of the springs as you do footwork immediately brings me into myself.


You can find Claire on social media @Clairesparrowpilates and @polestarpilatesuk

Educator Highlight : Roxana Molina-Lopez


Roxana’s extensive training in Rehabilitative Pilates and the John F. Barnes Approach to Myofascial Release gives her patients a unique healing experience. She is trained in Pilates Rehabilitation from Polestar Pilates, as well as certified by the Pilates Method Alliance (PMA). For several years, she taught at Polestar Pilates Studio in South Miami, FL and she is an active educator for Polestar education. As a practitioner, Roxana goes above and beyond to educate, heal, and guide her patients and clients to attain and surpass their goals so that they can live a life of maximum potential, free from pain and dysfunction.

In your own words – describe “the Spirit of Polestar”

RML: It is the spirit of living our best life and sharing it with those around us. The Polestar spirit connects us all as one, all over the world as movement specialists and as novice observers. It is an openness to learn from every experience with an open heart and mind in order to continue growing in the journey of self-discovery and improvement.

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

Inclusive

Intelligent

Empowering

What do you love about teaching Pilates? 

RML: I truly love to teach, as I feel a sense of great satisfaction when sharing my knowledge with others. I also learn so much from teaching. There are many times that I have unexpected “aha” moments and continue to grow with each experience. I approach life as an apprentice and I learned from an early age that there is always more to learn. This year has taught me patience and resilience. In 2019, my family and I moved from Miami to Palm Beach and along with my business partner, we opened our first Pilates studio and Physical Therapy Clinic in December. Our grand opening was on February 27, 2020, the week of state closures due to Covid-19. It has been a challenging, but tremendously growing experience. I am very grateful to be part of the Polestar community because in this trying time, it has helped me stay focused and grounded. I was trained by Polestar and happy to become an educator after 6 years as a mentor.

What are your current Inspirations?  

RML: I am inspired by people like Mother Teresa who dedicated their lives to helping others in need. I’m also inspired by my grandmother. She was a self-proclaimed nurse. I have vivid memories of her spending her time visiting the local monastery in Cuba and aiding the sick. These women were humble, selfless, and sacrificial.

Why Pilates?  How did you find the practice?

RML: As a teenager, I enjoyed fitness and dance. I was trained in modern dance and was a cheerleader. I had an inclination to sports rehabilitation early on in my career and one of my good friends, Michele Gust, insisted I learn Pilates. I took Pilates fitness classes in my local gym and started adapting some of the exercises as treatment for my back patients. The patients loved it and I had very positive results.

Why Polestar Pilates?  How did you come to join the Polestar Community?

RML: Michele continued to insist that I should be formally trained through Polestar. It took me 10 yrs to finally register and complete the Polestar Education Program.

What do you hope to convey in your teaching?

RML: In my teaching, I hope to convey freedom of expression, understanding of purposeful movement and how movement impacts the body.

What is your favorite Quote? 

“Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.”

Dalai Lama

I try to be kind to everyone I come across because life is full of challenges and if you can bring some light into someone’s day, it can influence their mood.

What is your Favorite Apparatus or favorite way to move?

RML: I love the Trapeze Table because it allows much freedom of movement. You can hang upside down, twist and turn, and it feels like a playground.


You can find Roxana on social media at @myofascialhealing

Become a Pilates Instructor with Roxana in Juno Beach, FL

Polestar Pilates Highlight : Ana Bolt Turrall

Ana Bolt Turrall is a Polestar Pilates practitioner, dancer, mentor, fitness & dance educator in Jacksonville, FL with Revive Rehab Clinic and Optimal Performance Pilates Jacksonville.


What do you love about teaching Pilates?

I love that I get to share how amazing Pilates feels and is for the body. I have the opportunity to share the importance of movement longevity, to create change, and encourage people of all backgrounds to enjoy this treasure. It is wonderful to hear my clients responses when their minds and bodies are challenged and they get an understanding of the ‘self-awareness sensation’; I delight in describing personally what that organic connection feels like to me “a symbiotic helical effect”.

Sometimes I say to people, “Pilates it’s like eating live food, for a nutritious source of energy.”

Where do you teach in Jacksonville?

I am at two locations: The Revive Rehab Clinic, which has given me the opportunity to learn and work alongside knowledgeable PT, OT and MFR therapists to create beneficial wellness programs, assist in rehabilitation, and share the legacy of love for movement. I am also, the Pilates Director and co-owner at Optimal Performance Pilates, where my mission is to develop programs that will enhance people’s lives.

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

I did my comprehensive Polestar training in Miami with some amazing women including Cristi Idavoy, Shelly Power, and Beth Kaplanek who is my mentor till this day.

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

My current inspirations are to build programs for the MS population and people with disabilities. I currently work with Parkinson’s clients and survivors of domestic abuse. Every person I come across that faces movement challenges have some emotional struggles and I want to serve them.

They inspire me through their drive to find quality of life and the stories of survival. Hidden emotions can become an entrapment and occasionally we all do it for self preservation or a defense mechanism. Therefore, as the body moves there are layers of emotions that are released and the feeling of letting go happens. Sometimes words cannot express that feeling but Pilates can offer these individuals that freedom. I am constantly exhilarated to grow and continue this journey to provide positive movement experiences for better care and long lasting movement performance.

Why Pilates?

Pilates like dance is a journey – you never stop learning!

With Pilates I unearth my meditational zone, internal dialogue that leads me to listen deeply and also find the artistry and relationship with the beauty of dance.

With Pilates, there is a special focus: a strive for precision, coordination and fluidity through movement integration that feels like choreography in motion.

Pilates is also like dance because it is ‘a movement art form,’ a discipline that ties in with a holistic sense of balance and your daily living. It is the kind of movement that drives you from the inside out essentially with focus and sensibility about your body.

How did you find the practice?

I found Pilates while dancing in college at New World School of the Arts. I began Pilates as a somatic/healing movement practice after I survived domestic abuse. After a period of time, I was determined to become an instructor and turn the physical damages sustained into movement discovery and self empowerment.

By understanding and embodying the Pilates principles my limitations became possibilities.

The Polestar Pilates method helped me modify and strategize movement differently, and to dance again was my new beginning. Until this day I strive to improve and mentoring is another wonderful way to enhance the practice and evolve. I have realized that the graces of aging have led me to an intriguing journey of new discoveries where change is inevitable, but acceptance of these changes can be rewarding.

What do you hope to convey in your teaching?

Through my teaching, I let people know that I want to learn about them, motivate, encourage, share love and compassion, and in that process of learning with them – to also enjoy the fun that comes with Pilates!
I also teach the importance to invest in our bodies that God created so beautifully for long lasting and happy lives. I convey that Pilates in so many ways is a form of your own ‘physical mobility health insurance.’

Where would you love to Vacation to?

Spain where I lived growing up. I want to watch and feel the flamenco, take classes and dance to the folkloric music traditions and rhythms.

What are your Favorite Quotes? How do you live, embody and apply them?

A quote I created, that relates to me presently is:

“This body still has music left to play! The graces of aging just add a little more flavor”

Also a statement from Rudolf Von Laban:


“Movement is, so to speak, living architecture”

I teach movement and functionality for healthy living. My works have taken me to Canada and New York where I have the opportunity to collaborate with amazing movement artists with a heart for service. I see the Body as the ‘Temple of God’ – a living architecture created for amazing works. It is with gratitude that I share the gift of movement through dance and embody my work through teaching. Throughout my efforts, I help build connections in individual bodies and minds which also result in spiritual understanding of the ‘self’.

My goals are to create mindful movement programs for people to engage in exercise, and also for dancers/movement artists to enjoy Pilates through an integrative choreographed form with a flair of ‘movement architecture!’

Describe your movement style?

I feel that my movement approach serves with purpose, is thoughtful, dynamic, and depending on the class I teach, I add the dance artistry. I have studied a variety of movement modalities and danced many styles helping me become versatile and creatively engaged. I feel strong teaching with athleticism and tailor my classes to the needs of my clients.

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

I don’t have a favorite apparatus. I find all the equipment to be a mindful playground where I can stick to the original/classical exercises, or be adventurous to create with endless possibilities for movement performance and exploration. As a movement artist I love moving in different planes to keep me curious and movement engaging.

The Kinesphere by Laban is a fascinating concept that I appreciate and use further in “Kinespheres for movement therapy” with certain populations such as Parkinsons (the body is challenged within a point to reach out into multi-directional dimensions which engages the zest of the core and has enriched gestural choreography for my dance works).

What are you reading or learning about?

I read about two or 3 books at once that correlate to the work that I do. I am presently reading “The Artisan Soul” by Erwin Raphael McManus to continue my sense of wonder, evolvement and creative processes.

For constant guidance and tuning, I read “Alignment Matters” by Katy Bowman, and Beth Kaplanek’s manual “Pilates teachers perspectives of Lower Extremity Pathologies & Joint Replacements” (Beths’ manual is like a bible for me!) and I am learning more about the Oov!

After taking the fundamentals and apparatus course, I am hooked on practicing the depths to where this tool keeps stimulating strategies to find balance and stability; yet the body is always challenged in a de-centering mode. My brain literally, goes into a rollercoaster, there is an internal dialogue that suddenly yields revelations, and it is then where for a few seconds I feel- ‘internal silence and almost a sense of center’ – just in time to start that rollercoaster again- this is seriously is pretty magical.

How does Pilates inform your profession?

I was a dance, theatre and fitness educator in the school systems for 20 years. As I continue to teach in these fields, Pilates is part of my curriculum. Hence, the Polestar method informs my profession all the time, even through the quotidians’ of life. It has provided me with a stronger foundation in all forms of education in movement performance for fitness enthusiasts, dancers and seasoned dancers. As an older dancer who continues to dance, Pilates informs my body with functional technique and safety. Therefore, I choreograph, and teach dance technique with a cognizant perspective by cross training with the Pilates Principles for Movement Artistry. I believe that institutional dance forms can benefit from and enhance the longevity of dancers with these principles. I apply them to myself and in my artistic development.

Fun facts about me:

I love taking care of orchids because they are so difficult to keep alive! I was born in Nicaragua, and I am 34% percent Indigenous Native from Central America from my father’s side. I have coached track & field, and Love to play the Djembe. I am not good but I enjoy the rhythms I create and it happens all in private 😉


Meet Ana on Social media @anaboltturrall and on Facebook at: The Bolt Movement . Visit her website www.theboltmovement.com