I was a freelance group exercise instructor in London in the early 2000’s and Pilates was beginning to come into the health clubs. My mum had done one of the first Polestar trainings in the UK. I thought I would do it to so that I would have another class to offer. Little did I know that through the Polestar approach to Pilates it was so much more than I thought it would be. The approach was refreshing and made sense to me. It also allowed for Pilates to be accessible to everyone through the rehabilitation aspect of the course. From this point I knew that Pilates was so much more than a set of exercises. It worked for people and their fitness goals and would allow for an organic and sustainable career path for me to follow.Read More
Teacher Training
Graduate Highlight : Justin Shipley
I was a wreck when I found Pilates, and thus the name @shipwreckpilates ! I had been in pain all day, every day for a couple years at that point. After a year plus of daily Pilates, stretching and as much Rolfing as I could manage, I started to feel strong in my back again. I had studied a little kick boxing as a teenager and had always wanted to get back into it. I found a local teacher I really liked named Jeet Kune Do, so during my Polestar education I started training a little martial arts in my free time too.Read More
Couch to 5K (no, this is not about running!)
How can I get this client to take a normal human function, such as lying prone, and put it back into her vocabulary? Well… I load her slowly.Read More
Pilates Beyond Muscles & Bones: The Autonomic Nervous System in Motion
Many people turn to Pilates to help them recover from injury, overcome chronic pain and physical limitations, and improve posture. With those goals at the forefront it can be easy for Pilates practitioners to focus in on muscle tissue health, biomechanics, and, of course, movement quality. That is what Pilates teachers know a lot about and tend to utilize in helping their clients improve and in reaching their goals.Read More
Selecting a Pilates Studio
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. Read More
The Breath as a Tool
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 […]Read More