In a recent conversation, I was once again made aware of doubts that can creep up for our students. "Will I ever get my body to do what I want? Will I ever be able to learn all these exercises? Will it be worth it? I don't think I can do it."

Do you remember when you first learned to drive a...

How can you help more students get exactly the results that they want? And better yet, how can you help more students without burning yourself out in the process?

Most Pilates instructors that I talk to are compassionate and empathic people, and I'm sure that's true of you, too. I know you wish...

I'm sure you've found yourself in a situation in which you uttered: "Just because I know how to do it, doesn't mean I can do it, or I do it all the time."

This sentence perfectly describes two different ways of learning and memory: declarative and procedural, or understanding and practicing.

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How does movement work? Let's consider a metaphor. 

Imagine you’re cooking a meal - your favorite dish. I personally like stew, so I’ll gather my ingredients: celery, carrots, potatoes, meat. Some of these ingredients are bigger, some are smaller, some are dense, others lighter....

I bet you're aware that your spine is an important part of your body. Not only is it located along the centerline of the body, but it is the channel for your spinal cord which transfers all electrical nerve impulses from the brain into the organs and muscles.

Chiropractic recognizes this and...

I like ice skating because it requires some skill and grace, which is something that I enjoy given my dance background. When I'm getting ready to skate, it's a no-brainer that wearing skates that fit well is essential.  If I choose skates that are a size too big or too small,...

How do you go from being a good Pilates teacher to a great one?

In your teacher training, you learned the form of the exercises. You learned how the movement should look and what body part should be moving where when. And that's great- that's exactly where you need to start. 

But...

Do you have Pilates students who struggle with the Roll Up, no matter how much they practice it? Maybe they roll up a few inches, struggle, and finally give up before rolling back down. Everyone wants to be able to get through an exercise, so after a couple of failed attempts to roll up,...

When you're fairly new to teaching Pilates, you might think you need to come up with a new and creative way to describe movement in each class. You try to be creative and precise. You don't want to "steal" other people's cues, imagery, or variations.

Does this sound...

Push-ups are a fantastic exercise to improve coordination of all the shoulder stabilizers and build upper body and abdominal strength. They are found in just about every method of fitness. Unfortunately, many people perform Push-ups with poor form. The most common mistakes in Push-Ups are:

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