Polestar Pilates Teacher Training

Educator Highlight : Misty Woodden

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I am a Licensed Physical Therapist Assistant, Certified Pilates Instructor, and Certified Kinesiotaper. I graduated as a PTA in 2004 and began working for Diamond Peak Physical Therapy. I am a Colorado native and enjoy hiking and running with my dog Champ, traveling, taking Spanish classes and of course doing Pilates! I love my job and enjoy learning. I have been able to enhance my clinical skills by taking continuing education classes. Some of my favorites have been myofascial release, muscle energy techniques, manual therapy of the spine, kinesiotaping and, the one that I am most passionate about, Pilates. I began my Pilates training in 2008. I chose the Polestar method, as it is taught by Physical Therapists and draws on the sciences of anatomy, physiology, biomechanics and motor control. I quickly discovered that Physical Therapy and Pilates truly compliment one another and have been merging the philosophy and teachings of both to improve function and well being of my patients and clients.

– Misty Woodden PTA, PMA®-CPT

What do you love about teaching Pilates?  Where did you take your training and who was the educator?

MW: The joy of teaching is in seeing the excitement as a new movement or concept is understood by the client or student.  I enjoy being a part of that journey. I took my Polestar comprehensive training in Denver, CO.  I was fortunate to have two wonderful educators, Lise Stolze and Pamela Turner.  I was honored to mentor under Pamela, Lise, and later on Dannielle Holder.

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

MW: Two of my inspirations are Runity and the Oov.  These two trainings align with the Polestar principles and have given me new avenues to explore movement and enhanced my rehab “toolbox.”  Runity has given me assessment and teaching tools to not only help my clients with their running, but has also improved my own running.  It has also made me more conscious of being varied and spontaneous in movements and approaching exercise more playfully.  After the Runity program, my husband and I started entering Xterra competitions. I have kept my focus mostly on the trail running events, and I am enjoying running more than I ever have! The Oov has been equally inspirational.  The emphasis on eccentric control using the Oov has proved to be very effective in being able to create new motor patterns.  It has also been awesome in several of my clients’ home programs.  

Why Pilates?  How did you find the practice?

MW: I found Pilates through my work in Physical Therapy.  I took a Lumbar stabilization course as continuing education.  We learned a handful of what turned out to be basic Pilates exercises.  These exercises were effective with my clients, but I soon found myself asking “what do I do with my patient after they have mastered these exercises?”  In my search for Pilates teacher training programs, I came across Polestar.  The incorporation of science and critical thinking in their training program made me choose their course.

What do you hope to convey in your teaching?

MW: The joy of movement.  More important than what you call the movement that you like to do, i.e.: pilates, yoga, running, biking, kayaking etc, it’s the simple fact of moving and enjoying yourself in the process.  I hope my teaching inspires the desire to get the body moving, appreciating the many different ways we are able to move, challenging the body and also not taking it for granted or feeling the need to punish it.  

Where would you love to vacation?

MW: Ohh too many places to list!  I enjoy travel, whether within beautiful CO or abroad.  I recently went to Cuba and immensely enjoyed the people, geography, and learning the differences and similarities of our ways of life.  Wherever I travel, I find myself preferring to be outside and exploring the terrain, rather than in the city.

What is your favorite quote?  How do you embody or apply this?

MW: Many quotes have inspired me at different points in my life.  So many, in fact, that I have a notebook full of them.  On a day when I need a little motivation or reminder of how I want to live my life, I can flip through the pages and read the words of some great minds. 

Two of my long time favorites are:


“Physical fitness is the first requisite of happiness.  Our interpretation of physical fitness is the attainment and maintenance of a uniformly developed body with a sound mind fully capable of naturally, easily, and satisfactorily performing our many and varied daily tasks with spontaneous zest and pleasure.”  -Joseph Pilates

I partly love this quote because of the word zest.  Such a great word!  This quote reminds me of the connection between my mind and body and the ability to find joy in our everyday movements and tasks.

“A true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination.”  -Albert Einstein

This quote reminds me that I don’t need to know the answers to everything, but to use curiosity as a guide to problem solving.

Describe your movement style.

MW: Thoughtful, varied, and playful.

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

MW: I am blessed to have so much beautiful equipment to work with at our clinic, so many options of ways to support or challenge every movement.  I have a lot fun with the equipment, but I love the mat.  I enjoy the simplicity and accessibility that the mat provides. 

What are you reading or learning about?

MW: Just finished reading Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain.  As if I didn’t think running was great already, this book looks at the physiology of exercise, in particular cardiovascular, on the brain, and learning.  Great read. Things I am learning:  the Spanish language (poco a poco!) and how to mountain bike.

Selecting a Pilates Studio

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You’re either new to teaching, you’re moving to a new city, or it’s time for a change, and you’re facing the big decision of either opening your own studio or finding an environment where you can teach. This article focuses on the latter: how to select the ideal environment in which you can thrive as a movement professional. Below are some helpful points to consider in your selection.

There will be various factors unique to you and the city you live in that you’ll need to consider, and this can help you get the process started. – Kate Strozak,

First consider the type of environment that would appeal to you most. Here are some of the typical options:

  • Corporate options: this entails working for a studio that is housed within a larger complex such as a gym, social club, hospital, or university. The benefits of these environments are that you’ll likely have support from an HR department, consistency with expectations, and you likely won’t have to concern yourself with your own extensive marketing. Protocol will have been established and there will be processes in place to support you in your work environment. Some instructors dislike this option because it might feel restrictive in terms of established processes and procedures, and you’ll have to adopt their specific corporate culture.
  • Small business: this option involves working for an independently owned business, and the sizes can vary. Some of the perks include joining a business that has a unique culture where processes and systems are evolving over time. Some instructors thrive in this environment as it may be more conducive to flexibility, creating your own unique identity, and being able to run your own business within a business. On the other hand, working in a small business might entail inconsistencies in terms of rules and expectations.
  • Franchises: these are an interesting mix between how I describe corporations versus independently-owned businesses. Franchises are typically owned by somebody local who has subscribed to the franchise model. You benefit from the consistency and procedures in place, but you will need to subscribe to the larger franchise culture, which permeates each independently-owned franchise. Franchises might feel as though you belong to a large community, which can be a satisfying experience for somebody.

 Second, consider the type of clientele you would like to work with. 

  • If you are passionate about working with a clientele with a specific condition or situation, you could either find an environment with an existing reputation for that specialty or you can find an environment that would support you in specializing. 
  • If research is of particular interest to you, it would be helpful to find a university or hospital-based environment that has existing resources to support you in your endeavors.
  • For sports performance-based specialization, see if you can collaborate with professionals already equipped and servicing this population. Some professional sports teams are building out Pilates studios within their training centers.
  • For the general public, you have a wide spectrum of options, and you’ll likely select your environment based on a multitude of other factors, including some listed below.

 Lastly, these are some miscellaneous recommendations to ensure that you’re being selective with your decision.

  • Spend time in the prospective environment at various times of the day and on a variety of days. Notice how coworkers interact with each other and with clients, and notice the clientele that come into the space. Does it seem like a supportive, collaborative, and positive environment?
  • If possible, talk with some instructors who have been working there to get their perspectives. What are their favorite attributes about the environment? What are their greatest frustrations? How long have they worked there? 
  • Is your goal to progress to a management position? This is a nice thought to consider early on, and it might be something you could begin with or work towards over time.
  • Do the requirements for the position seem rigorous? If you’re looking for a place to work that is focused on high quality and caliber, they likely have more stringent requirements for instructors coming on board. Continuing education benefits are more than just a bonus; they can indicate that an organization is willing to invest in their employees/contractors and that education and development are highly prioritized.

Ask the person you’ll be reporting to how they support you in building your clientele. It is helpful to know these expectations from the get-go. Do they expect you to market yourself and attract your own clientele? Are they marketing you and generating leads for you? Do they already have classes and clients established for you?

 This process can be challenging and lengthy. Everybody responds to changes differently, and considering that we spend so much time and energy on working, it certainly is a big decision to make. Above all else, be selective and go with your gut. Try to find an environment that will be conducive to your personal and professional growth and evolution.

You can find Kate on instagram at @katestrozak

Fascia in Pilates by : Kate Strozak
Pilates in Healthcare by: Kate Strozak

Efficiency: Should it Always be the Goal?

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Teaching Pilates has made me realize that the more I know, the more I don’t know. With any profession, hobby or skill set I am sure that’s the case. After ten years of teaching, I finally feel that I have a true understanding of the way the body works and how to help people achieve their goals. Regardless, I will always find a way to learn new things even in the most unexpected places. 

My current love is efficiency in movement. I have researched and experimented with how to make both my Pilates practice and life more efficient. Let’s say I am working with a client and we are doing feet in straps. The most efficient way to perform this exercise is to hinge from the hips and bring the legs up and down with ease and grace. If the client would tense up all of their muscles to do this relatively simple movement, they could potentially lose degrees of range and overexert themselves. It’s like cleaning my house in high heel shoes. I can definitely make it happen, but why would I waste time and energy walking around in those things when I can make my body work less to do the same thing in bare feet. 

This brings me to a new thought… is efficiency always the right choice? I learned the answer in the most unusual place: checking the mail. When I get my mail the most efficient way to do this is to walk a straight line to the box, take the mail out, and walk back inside. However, when I ask my 9-year-old daughter to do this same task she takes twice as long, because she cartwheels, finds a rock to throw, balances on the ledge of the curb and opens the mail box with her foot. Now, we both executed the same task, but Hazel took more time and effort and had way more fun accomplishing the same function.

So translating this to yourself you have to, like all things, decide your intention in doing a certain thing. What is your goal? In exercise and chores, efficiency might be the answer. What about everything else? It would be more efficient to take a picture of something than to paint it. It would be more efficient to buy meat at the store than to go hunting in the woods. It would be more efficient to walk across the stage than to dance across. It would be more efficient to use a computer program to compose a song than to learn how to play the piano. If you are looking to do all things in life fast and easy, you could lose joy and zest. Efficiency is the right choice when you need it to be.

Becky Phares, NCPT is a Polestar Pilates Graduate, Practitioner and contributor to the Polestar Life Weekly Blog.  With more than 10 years of teaching Becky teaches at her studio The Body Initiative Pilates Studio in Lafayette, Louisiana.  Find Becky and her Studio on Facebook: The body Initiative Pilates Studio and Instagram @the_body_initiative_ .

Educator Highlight: Deborah Marcus

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We interviewed Polestar Educator Deborah Marcus! From Dancer to Pilates Instructor, Educator and Studio owner, read on to meet one of the best!


Polestar: What do you love about teaching / Pilates / Owning a Studio?  Where did you take your Training and who was the educator?
 
DM: I love being an agent for another person’s discovery of their own self efficacy.  Pilates is the perfect tool for this.  
 
I meandered into the Pilates world in the 1980’s New York City via teachers like Andre Bernard and Jean Claude West while pursuing a career as a dancer and choreographer.  I moved back to my hometown, San Mateo, CA after my first daughter was born and opened a studio, now called Movement Refinery Pilates.  I found my way to the Polestar Teacher Training in 2008 where I studied with Sherri Betz in Santa Cruz, CA.  It was an eye opening and transformative experience for which I am forever grateful!   
 
Polestar: What are your current inspirations?   What do you love about them?
 
DM: Many things inspire me every day: my clients who never give up, all quadrupeds, birds that fly solo and birds that fly in groups, human acts of bravery and kindness.
 
Polestar: Why Pilates?  How did you find the practice?
 
DM: The continuum between assisted to resisted movement, closed chain to open chain, breath as a tool….these and other pathways inherent in the Pilates studio repertoire allow an individual to find her/his way from pain and dis-function to movement ease and function at any level of fitness.  Personally, Pilates has eased my way through this journey before and after multiple surgeries.  But what originally attracted me to Pilates was the specificity of the movement forms.  I have to go back to my experience as a dancer trained in the style of Anton Decroux.  It was incredible movement training that gave me an appreciation of how form and function are intimately intertwined in the health and well being of every human. 
 
Polestar: What do you hope to convey in your teaching?
 
DM: The most powerful thing you can do for your own progress is to be in the moment.  Easier said than done!
 
Polestar: Where would you love to vacation to?
 
DM: Antarctica and Japan.  I have a second  cousin who moved to a village deep in the Alaskan wilderness.  I’d love to visit her.
 
Polestar: What is your favorite Quote?
 
DM: I don’t have one.
 
Polestar: Describe your movement style?
 
DM: Depends on the day and the place.  Somewhere between sensuous and sharp, like the precision in a Bob Fosse jazz number .  I recently had a Watsu treatment and I loved giving up to that movement state.
 
Polestar: What is your favorite apparatus or favorite way to move? What do you love about it?
 
DM: I enjoy the Chair.  It takes up so little space and gives you the biggest bang for your buck with regards to gravity.
 
Polestar: What are you reading or learning about?
 
DM: I just finished Haruki Murakami’s surreal 1Q84.  Another great read from him is What I Talk About When I Talk About Running: A Memoir.  Right now I’m half way through Aroused: The History of Hormones and How They Control Just About Everything, by Randi Hutter Epstein.  
 
Polestar: How does Pilates inform your profession?
 
DM: Pilates as a profession is evolving on every level.  The opportunity to learn more is always there thanks to organizations like the PMA, Polestar Continuing Education, and Balanced Body to name a few.  I also am grateful for the privilege of being a Polestar Comprehensive Educator where I get to share my expertise gathered during many years of practice and learning from talented teachers.  And, of course, teaching is learning.  It never stops!

Deborah Marcus is Currently a Polestar Educator and the owner of Movement Refinery Pilates Studio in San Mateo, CA.  Check out her post “Helping and Healing Through Pilates“

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