Pilates is often promoted as being great for ‘core strength’ or ‘reducing back pain’, both of which it certainly can do. (I know, as back pain was the main reason I took up Pilates in the first place). Through personal experience and in teaching clients in private and group settings, I now know that Pilates has consistently supported me in managing my own anxiety. The practice can be instrumental in supporting the positive mental health of others.Read More
Polestar Pilates
How To Make Your Movement Look Good And Feel Good With Dynamic Alignment
Say the goal as a dancer is to look good in the mirror. What if it also feels good and is also efficient? Learning how to create that would be the goal. I’ve had conversations with people saying “Ballet wrecks your body”, but I disagree. Ballet can be a great exercise but you have to work on achieving those forms with good function and in dialogue with whoever is trying to achieve them. Read More
How To Maximize Neuroplastic Processes: Keep Your Clients Focused!
As Pilates teachers, how do we make what we do in one or two hours a week potentially influence a positive neuroplastic change? We know that one or two hours a week may not be enough to influence this. What else needs to happen, and what needs to be influenced in that one or two hours a week? Read More
Fascinating Neuro-Concepts You Need To Know As A Pilates Instructor
Neuroplasticity is the nervous system forming, adapting, or reorganizing in terms of its structure and function. Neuroplasticity describes the actual structural changes that can occur to a brain when it comes to learning and adapting, and also in terms of function and how we relay and communicate information “out” (from the brain). It does occur throughout all stages of life however it certainly seems to slow down with age but that’s not to say that it doesn’t continue to happen, it’s just the process can be a little bit slower or requires increased thoughtfulness to facilitate the process. Read More
The Expert of Their Pain – Listening to Our Clients’ Stories
People who are not as afraid of their pain anymore are now prime candidates for the most powerful thing to change pain, which is movement. People in pain are afraid to move. They fear that they will undo their knee or hurt their back and their alarm system is on full alert while the back is healing. Tissues heal, right? It’s the education model designed to facilitate people to move that is where we really want to get them, that’s where the therapy happens. They are just afraid to move. Read More
The Influence Of Imagery On Neurobiology is Powerful
A lot of the research in motor imagery supports that if you rehearse the movement before you do it, afterward it’s better. That is very interesting, but what about going further back even into the emotional aspect? What about working with the limbic system and how it affects all that movement and working directly at the endocrine and cellular level and doing imagery there. So instead of just looking at the results and then trying to find explanations, go directly into the tissue with imagery and see if that’s measurable. No one has ever done that, why not? Read More
