Wisdom of Change: Pilates

The leaves have fallen and it is snowing. I love Colorado because of the seasonal changes. Change in life is good and inevitable. Conscious change is difficult. It often feels as if one is stepping into a void. All things that were held precious disappear, often with pain and despair. The impetus to press forward can only come from a deep catharsis. Joy and freedom can follow.

Snakes experience ecdysis intermittently as they grow and thus the symbol of wisdom. Quetzalcoatl was worshiped as the serpent god by the Aztecs. Good teachers are bearers of wisdom from deep reflection. Good students continue the process to become the next generation of inspired teachers. When the snake can no longer change it dies. It is better to embrace the wisdom and bequeath our knowledge to others with generosity.

Joseph Pilates work is about change for every body. His First Generation students and teachers changed to meet a contemporary world.

Last week, was Unit I of Pilates Conservatory®, a comprehensive Pilates teacher training. The knowledge of the study deepens with every round of teaching. The students are new or they are revisiting the foundations of Pilates from many lineages of movement. The students wriggled out of an old skin like the snake.

Eric Franklin taught at Pat Guyton Pilates, Inc. in 2007. The Franklin Method ® Level I Teacher Training was hosted in 2009. This education is an invaluable tool for reassessing the functional movement and the intension of the Pilates exercises. The Franklin Method® persists and thrives on change. Upon observation, a reformer class at Pat Guyton Pilates, Inc. would not look much different on the surface. The voice of the teachers is precise and the clients enjoy the information. They also perform better with encouragement and knowledge.

Snakes wriggle across the dunes and leave a path in the sand. May the path lead us to the destination.

RIDING THE CADILLAC IN GENEVA

I arrived in Geneva last week. It was so good to see Susan Pepper and Markus Siegenthaler again. We took a boat ride to Yvoir and caught up on our lives. Markus is enrolled in Franklin Method® Level I Teacher Training. We had good conversation regarding the integration of bone rhythms into our Pilates teaching. Susan and I shared the process of education and our vision of Pilates in the future.

The next five days were beginning and intermediate Cadillac. Susan and I have very similar styles of teaching and how to look at the inside of the “engine” of the Cadillac. I come home with new inspiration.

Pilates is very alive outside of the USA. The international teaching community is growing in expertise and embracing excellence. I am leaving tomorrow with a respect for the autonomy and individual identity that every culture brings to this work. When I started, there was no information that was easily discovered in the USA. The USA has had the opportunity to grow the industry into other countries. Now it is time to honor and acknowledge that we have planted seeds and they have grown into experts within their own worlds.

It is with great joy that I said goodbye to our Cadillac students. They will be better teachers, continue to study, and to bring Pilates into the community in which they live.

Pilates Conservatory® at Core Pilates, Louisville, Kentucky

Looking Front – Working Back, a PMA 12 hour CEC workshop was a fantastic experience. I know more about the shoulder girdle from teaching this workshop in 2009. Yuuko Igarashi, from Alycea Ungaro’s Real Pilates, came as my assistant. Bear, Jo and Dawn provided a beautiful studio, great hospitality, and a group of teachers and students who were eager to learn. I love teaching this workshop because it relates to every aspect of Pilates performance on mat and equipment. The Franklin Method™ Training has given me new perspectives on Pilates. I am a missionary for movement education and I am more competent because of my continuing education.

This is the first workshop where I took SOS straps and had my book Shoulder Girdle and Arm Work as an adjunct for the workshop material. It is an overwhelming feeling to be signing my book. I wrote the initial material in May of 2008 and now the product is available from OPTP.

I am going to continue with this workshop in 2010 since I enjoy teaching the material. If anyone would like to book this workshop contact me.

Thanks to Core Pilates…it was a great opportunity to share my work with other professionals who were very well prepared.

Pat: Franklin Method ® Educator Level I

Three weeks and 21 days of fantastic information was presented at Pat Guyton Pilates, Inc. by Eric Franklin and Morten Dithmer. 37 students worked very hard. And with great courage, nerves on edge, and fellow student support, they presented individual topics taught within the Level I training.

This education has given me a new insight about my form of education which is Pilates. This does not mean that the choreography of the Pilates method has morphed into another syllabus. The information changes the anatomical understanding of functional movement. It gives the teacher new concepts of teaching from imagery that is functional anatomy. My past experience in Pilates, dance, weights, etc, often suggested cueing that was not anatomically accurate. I struggled to get people into a “correct position”. With the Franklin Method, the position will come naturally when the client is able to embody the feeling and purpose of the movement. This process has motivated my clients to work toward better form. They want to do what makes them feel better in everyday life.

It is not about the “burn”, it is about the “learn”.

BREATHING IN AND LETTING GO

A baby does not require an explanation of how to breathe. Treading the path of life may change this process. It may require reevaluation. Events and circumstances can alter the natural flow and motion in respiration. Accidents, trauma, illness, social conditioning, poor choices of health habits (such as smoking) and imposed training may change the natural acceptance of the breath of life.

My Franklin-Method Teacher Training is answering questions that have been whirling in my brain. I am in process of integrating this information. I do not have a final answer and I am open to changing my mind and body as I grow in awareness.

My first teacher of the mechanics of breathing was Dr. Ed Stiles, DO. It was Ed who educated me about “Bucket Handle Rib Motion, Pump Handle Rib Motion, and Caliper Motion and the importance of breath within Osteopathy. I have taught this information to others for years. It is not new and does not belong to any community of medicine or discipline. It is how the body works. The interpretation of how to accomplish good breathing habits is defined in many different ways for many different reasons.

My exploration has been shared and exchanged with three good friends who also were exploring breath in motion. Alvin Giam, Pilates Bodyworks in Singapore, shared his experience with breathing and health. Alvin’s story is not mine to share, but I listened. Briala Silva, Briala Bodyworks, Lancaster, Pennsylvania also had a transformation of breath within her teaching that was inspired by many diverse sources. Stacey Dreisbach, Physical Methods Pilates, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, was generous with her research. These three were not in communication with each other or me regarding their process. Like many, they were just breathing and noticing.

This is an invitation to breathe without too much mental effort. Fragrant perfume, good health, and ease float upon the air…let the breath in and let go of all preconceptions.

Franklin-Method®, Level I: June 15 - 21

Eric Franklin was incredible. This course of study is not easy. I learned anatomy out of a book or in Power Point presentations. This is an anatomical view of how movement works in the body. In the first year of study we get into the bones and I am grateful to say that my whole view of teaching has changed and the way I look at the Pilates exercises has been transformed. Yes, the stomach massage still looks the same way on the outside, but the knowledge of how to teach from the inside to the outside is an exciting shift.

The 37 students will finish in September. This is a three year course and a huge commitment that is worth the time and the cost.

If any readers have not experienced this work, go to www.franklin-method.com and find a list of workshops in your area. If you have finished Level I, you can sign up for Level II which in 2010. That information is also present on Eric’s website.

Move your spines!

Kokyuu-ta-mo-tsu – Keep Breathing

June was a busy month for me in many ways! Early in the month Yuki Kato and Misako Oba organized a group from Japan to come to Pat Guyton Pilates, Inc. It was quite an experience for me to teach from a wheel chair and I am grateful to Yuki and Yuuko Igarashi for the assistance and support that they gave to me. Yuuko was the translator. The students were attentive and respectful.

I have been working on my breathing for the last three months. My surgeon has tattoos and runs marathons! She explained to me that the patient is strapped onto the table. (It is good that the patients are under anesthesia at that time.) Then the table is tilted for the advantage of the best field for the procedure. In my case, the table was tilted down and to the left, leaving the right side open. My lungs had to work uphill and under assistance so that the ribs and diaphragm need to be retrained.

My students were fantastic under the circumstances and I am looking forward to my travel to Japan in 2010. I hope to be standing and to Kokyuu-ta-mo-tsu.
Thank you to everyone who came despite the flu!