The Breath As A Tool – Katrina Hawley, NCPT, Polestar Educator
I was once at a Polestar Pilates Educator meeting in which we were working hard to create content for the Internet to communicate to the world, “Why Pilates?” And “Why Polestar?” The answers I found to these questions were easy. Why Pilates? Because Pilates keeps every person doing what they want to do! Whether that is hiking mountains or pulling weeds, running marathons or playing on the floor with grandchildren.
Now Why Polestar? That’s an easy one. Polestar Pilates allows me to be creative within a system of principles. Rather than teaching me a series of exercises that become a rote script for a beginner, intermediate and advanced Pilates class, Polestar provided a structure within which I could be creative. This meant that I could use the same tools to teach an 85 year old grandfather as well as a ten year old boy. I wasn’t taught a recipe of exercises but a systematic approach and theory. The amateur chaos theory mathematician in me was stoked!
The Polestar Pilates system is based on six principles (Polestar Principles of Movement) that are designed to guide the critical thinking of a Polestar Pilates Practitioner. In this post I want to describe the first one.
The Breath Principle
Now, we don’t specifically choreograph when one should inhale and exhale. We study the anatomy and physiology of the breath and we also learn the “biokinematics” and the “arthrokinematics” of breath. All of this information within the principle allows us to decide how to best use breath as a tool for movement facilitation. When we study the breath principle we choose to ask the question how can I use the breath to create the best movement. Will an inhale help facilitate healthy movement, or is an exhale better? Or we might ask, how can I use this breath to challenge the mover in front of me to create greater integration of movement.
The Polestar Principles encourage client-centered inquisitiveness – Can our understanding of the breath shed light on any other physiological questions? How might I use breath to improve posture? Create more flexibility or space in a joint? Create axial length or facilitate thoracic mobility?
Why do I love Polestar Pilates? Because Polestar gave me a plethora of information and then said, “okay kid, take this and run with it! Have a ball, and most importantly help people move”.
Experiential:
The breath is a system and tool we can learn to control (and teach our students to control as well). Try “Box Breathing” for stress reduction, grounding and activating the parasympathetic nervous system.
• This breath practice can be done anywhere! Wherever you are, sit or stand in a way that you feel grounded (weight distributed evenly between the feet or sits bones) and lengthen the spine as if your head was being pulled up by a thread.
• “Box Breathing” consists of the same number of counts during your inhale as your exhale with an added pause at the peak of the inhale and valley of the exhale.
Try It!:
A. Inhale Four Counts (1,2,3,4) – (Pause Four Counts – 1,2,3,4)
B. Exhale Four Counts (1,2,3,4)- (Pause four counts 1,2,3,4)
C. Try Repeating this Cycle 4 times.
• This rhythmic breathing practice can help activate your parasympathetic nervous system (the one that makes you feel calm). Experiment to find the number of counts that works for you – it should be easy, steady and grounding. Breathe On!
Katrina Hawley PMA-CPT, Polestar Educator and Affiliate is the owner of The Pilates Studio Hadley providing expert instruction in private and small group sessions as well as group mat and apparatus classes.The Pilates Studio creates goal-based programs that empower clients to increase strength and flexibility as well as improve posture, coordination, and balance. Join Katrina for the Fall Comprehensive teacher Training in Hadley, MA.
The Polestar Principles of Movement: Breath, Axial Elongation & Core Control, Spine-Articulation, Organization of the Head, Neck and Shoulders, Alignment and Weight Bearing of the Extremities and Movement Integration. Start the The Teacher Training Journey and Learn more about Polestar Principles Online Course Here: Principles Online!
I was once at a Polestar Pilates Educator meeting in which we were working hard to create content for the Internet to communicate to the world, “Why Pilates?” And “Why Polestar?” The answers I found to these questions were easy. Why Pilates? Because Pilates keeps every person doing what they want to do! Whether that is hiking mountains or pulling weeds, running marathons or playing on the floor with grandchildren.
Now Why Polestar? That’s an easy one. Polestar Pilates allows me to be creative within a system of principles. Rather than teaching me a series of exercises that become a rote script for a beginner, intermediate and advanced Pilates class, Polestar provided a structure within which I could be creative. This meant that I could use the same tools to teach an 85 year old grandfather as well as a ten year old boy. I wasn’t taught a recipe of exercises but a systematic approach and theory. The amateur chaos theory mathematician in me was stoked!
The Polestar Pilates system is based on six principles (Polestar Principles of Movement) that are designed to guide the critical thinking of a Polestar Pilates Practitioner. In this post I want to describe the first one.
The Breath Principle
Now, we don’t specifically choreograph when one should inhale and exhale. We study the anatomy and physiology of the breath and we also learn the “biokinematics” and the “arthrokinematics” of breath. All of this information within the principle allows us to decide how to best use breath as a tool for movement facilitation. When we study the breath principle we choose to ask the question how can I use the breath to create the best movement. Will an inhale help facilitate healthy movement, or is an exhale better? Or we might ask, how can I use this breath to challenge the mover in front of me to create greater integration of movement.
The Polestar Principles encourage client-centered inquisitiveness – Can our understanding of the breath shed light on any other physiological questions? How might I use breath to improve posture? Create more flexibility or space in a joint? Create axial length or facilitate thoracic mobility?
Why do I love Polestar Pilates? Because Polestar gave me a plethora of information and then said, “okay kid, take this and run with it! Have a ball, and most importantly help people move”.
Experiential:
The breath is a system and tool we can learn to control (and teach our students to control as well). Try “Box Breathing” for stress reduction, grounding and activating the parasympathetic nervous system.
• This breath practice can be done anywhere! Wherever you are, sit or stand in a way that you feel grounded (weight distributed evenly between the feet or sits bones) and lengthen the spine as if your head was being pulled up by a thread.
• “Box Breathing” consists of the same number of counts during your inhale as your exhale with an added pause at the peak of the inhale and valley of the exhale.
Try It!:
A. Inhale Four Counts (1,2,3,4) – (Pause Four Counts – 1,2,3,4)
B. Exhale Four Counts (1,2,3,4)- (Pause four counts 1,2,3,4)
C. Try Repeating this Cycle 4 times.
• This rhythmic breathing practice can help activate your parasympathetic nervous system (the one that makes you feel calm). Experiment to find the number of counts that works for you – it should be easy, steady and grounding. Breathe On!
Katrina Hawley PMA-CPT, Polestar Educator and Affiliate is the owner of The Pilates Studio Hadley providing expert instruction in private and small group sessions as well as group mat and apparatus classes.The Pilates Studio creates goal-based programs that empower clients to increase strength and flexibility as well as improve posture, coordination, and balance. Join Katrina for the Fall Comprehensive teacher Training in Hadley, MA.
The Polestar Principles of Movement: Breath, Axial Elongation & Core Control, Spine-Articulation, Organization of the Head, Neck and Shoulders, Alignment and Weight Bearing of the Extremities and Movement Integration. Start the The Teacher Training Journey and Learn more about Polestar Principles Online Course Here: Principles Online!
I had been working in technology sales for more than ten years and was getting very bored. My current position was winding down and I hadn’t started looking for anything else. At the same time, I was seeing a career psychologist to help determine what I should do next. Just the same it never dawned on me to leave the corporate world. Then, a personality profile that I had completed with the psychologist showed that I would make a good teacher. Of course, I thought. You don’t work in technology sales without being able to teach clients why the new expensive tech solution is something they need when none of their competitors are spending money on it. But, did that mean I could teach people why Pilates could help them stay strong and flexible while enhancing their ability to do just about any other activity they were interested in doing?
Weeks passed and I kept going to my two private Pilates sessions every week. My instructor brought it up again. I questioned her about why she thought I would be good. It turned out she was seeing the same things that the personality profile showed. I started to connect the dots and thought this might be something to consider. I did a little research into different teacher training programs and quickly decided that if I was going to do this I wanted to be comprehensively trained from a school that qualified for PMA certification. I wanted to make sure that I was well qualified to teach; I was going to do this right.
Even though I live in Philadelphia, a major metropolitan area, there were not many options. I had long believed in the therapeutic healing properties of Pilates. It made sense to me that a school founded by a physical therapist would take a scientific approach to Pilates. My logical mind liked that. This led me to Polestar. It was also the school that my teacher had been trained by. I considered other schools and really wanted to find an option that would not require a hotel or long drive. In the end, I chose Polestar and took the training in Burlington, VT. It was a long drive, but it was also where my husband grew up and his parents still lived there. In the end, I did have a long drive, but I would not have a to stay in a hotel.
The training was intense. I was surprised by how much there was to learn. After all, I had been doing Pilates for 8 years. I thought for sure I knew how to do the exercises. Turns out it takes a lot more than knowing the exercises to be a Pilates Instructor. In addition to learning how to cue and formulate a workout, Polestar takes the time to make sure you understand why you are doing what you are doing not just how to do it. A lot of time is spent prompting the student to think through their decision-making process to ensure that when they graduate they can work with people in an effective manner that helps them reach their fitness goals.
The educators and mentors truly care about the students in a way that makes you feel like family. As I planned my Pilates career and determined that I wanted to open a studio I knew that I also wanted to work with Polestar to bring Comprehensive Teacher Training to the Philadelphia area. In the fall of 2017 it became a reality. Now I am the instructor asking my clients to consider becoming Pilates teachers.
Surprisingly I have not missed the corporate world. It used to be that every couple of years I would get bored with my job and start looking for something new or different. Now, I truly believe that I have found what I was meant to do. Several years have passed and rather than becoming bored, I have become more obsessed and engaged with Pilates and the Pilates community.
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Brent and Polestar graduate Hadar Shwartz also found about 45% of participants applied the same pressure to the pelvic floor when they observed over 250 women in the supine position. When asked what to do about relieving tight pressure in the area, Christi said to relax. She recounted that she had too much tone in the pelvic floor, and as a result, was not able to have a vaginal birth. Her colleague Pamela Downey, adjunct professor of Physical Therapy at the University of Miami, recommended her a particular squat exercise. First, assume a deep squat with the support of a pole or door frame. Slide down into the squat while holding your support. Next, allow your pelvic floor to relax as best it can without forcing it. All the while you visualize slow release of that tension.
