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)
