Why Is Continuing Education Important?
As I prepare the finishing touches on my presentations for Pilates On Tour (POT) Scottsdale, I am thinking about the importance of continuing education, not just in my life, or my students’ and colleagues’ lives, but in our movement industry in general. Presenting at a POT has been a dream of mine for years. Being…
Finding and Keeping Your Own Time: Teacher Tips
Why is it that so many people become teachers because they love movement and then our own workouts go out the window? I remember when I first felt called to teach. I had been trapped in a self-made prison, unhappy in my 225 pound, deconditioned body. I worked my way to health and I was…
Why do we feel pain?
The experience of pain is multifactorial. Pain science teaches us that it takes more than tissue damage for a person to experience pain. There need to be 3 separate factors in place for a person to experience pain. These factors may include stress, anxiety, catastrophizing, feeling loss of control or diminished agency, and fear. There…
Is Flexion Really “Bad” for the Spine?
In some schools of thought and training, flexion is not good for the spine – ever. This would include spines with osteopenia or osteoporosis (which we will call bone density loss from here on) – and healthy spines with no pathology whatsoever. The rationale given is that the spine is not built – or meant…
Party Tricks versus Pony Tricks
As an instructor, being clear on the “why” behind every exercise is essential to tailoring sessions to clients’ needs. In my article for The Pilates Journal, I discuss how exercises serve four main purposes: improving life quality, strengthening, supporting physical skills, and enjoyment. I emphasize assessing risk versus reward to keep clients safe and focused…
The Benefits of Planking
Discover why planks are one of the best exercises for building total-body strength and stability! In my article on The Core by Balanced Body, I share practical tips on how to modify planks to suit any fitness level or physical need. Read the full article and learn how a few minutes of planking each day…
Activities of Daily Living in Pilates as Motivation
Activities of Daily Living in Pilates as Motivation by Gwen Miller We all know that Pilates is great cross-training for many activities, working on balanced muscle development, core strength, mobility and stability that are crucial for long-term health of all the joints in the body – including the spine. All of these things are facts,…
When Staying the Same is Good Enough
By Gwen Miller Years ago, I was teaching a lovely couple in their late seventies. At one point, attempting to be cheerful, when changing sides for an exercise I told them to “hop off the long box or just spin around to the other side.” The gent snorted and said something to the effect of…
Common Myths About Working with Hypermobility – Part I
by Gwen Miller Hypermobility is often used as a descriptive term for someone who has greater than “normal” range of motion in some or all of the joints of their body. Someone who is hypermobile does not necessarily have pain or instability. Hypermobility Syndrome and Joint Hypermobility Syndrome are diagnoses that are now referred to…
Muscle Loss – You Can Beat It!
Have you ever heard of sarcopenia? It is a term that means muscle loss. In middle age, or after about 40, people begin losing muscle strength and mass. This loss occurs for several reasons: hormonal changes, inflammation, loss of motor neurons and muscle fibers, and other factors. It is a normal part of ageing, but…