The PilatesOver60 Chronicles. Sometimes the light bulb shines really bright; random thoughts rush in. I get them in the silence of my thoughts and observations. Last week, it happened while riding my bike. I realized what a big deal it really is that I can say, live, model and talk about a #PilatesOver60 lifestyle and all the non-traditional ways it has manifested itself. Maybe I should do so more actively.
As a result of the responses I received on my pre-Memorial Day IG post, I amused myself with the thought that what it is and has happened to me may be of use to others. Potentially. At a minimum, chronicling my observations with an eye toward sharing a few of my “teachable moments” as they occur, and continue to unfold, will give me something more positive to do for the friends, students, teachers and family that might be listening, and may provide support for one or the other.
I have this black/white picture of my parents hanging on my “ancestors wall.” It’s the wall that holds all the pictures of the parents and grandparents and great grandparents. My parents were married on Memorial Day in 1956 and in this image she is sitting with her legs draped across his lap in my grandmother’s living room on a flower-upholstered couch (that probably had plastic on it) with a flowered-motif on the wall and linoleum floors in Elizabeth, NJ.
She is wearing a white satin A-line skirt with as much lace and frills as the curtains at the windows behind them. On a table next to the couch, I see her high school graduation picture. I know she was 22 years old and he was 28; eighteen months later, I was born. By the time I was 30 years old, she would be gone and all of the best things I have done in my life, were never shared with her.
So, yes, I maybe it is a really big deal to have chronicles of things to share at this point as a woman, a black woman, an older woman, an independent, single, older, black woman that still feels very fit, very fly and very happy. Much like she she seemed in that picture, all those years ago.
It’s been 10 years since I opened my first private training Pilates studio at 53. I am now 10 years older than my mother was when she died at 54, which means I have been at this work, exercise and movement therapy, for more than 30+ years. Darn right it is a big deal!
Doing It Different
The changes in life that the pandemic brought to each of us don’t need to be enumerated again or rehashed out by me. That is certainly not my intention; and it would be boring as hell. I do think it’s the anomaly of my seasoned age and my personal choices of — doing a few things differently — at this age — that is perhaps the “really big deal” and worth a share.
I started (or have rekindled) a few new practices this year that I will continue to offer thru my blog observations in the process of learning, while living and enjoying them. So without judgement, follow me in this new chapter of movement therapy. As I am planning to “live life like someone left the gate open.”
Pilates is my “traditional” method of practice. It is my goto for strength, flexibility and stretching. I am committed and invested in the method. I am equally invested in using a few more ancient, (non-traditional to the general consumer) mind-body movement modalities to compliment my work.
You will find me back on my Roller Blades and continuing my regular 10-15 mile bicycle rides along the river, working with Sticks and Clubs, diving to and pushing away with the Shena Board and hanging from a silk hammock. I can be found using alternative tools and Movement Modalities to work all the parts of the body in all the ranges of motion and movement to stay lifted, strong and healthy.
“Live life like someone left the gate open.”
I am also planning to openly share and talk about my intentional work and use — that started pre-pandemic — of nutraceuticals, vitamins, amino acids and medical marijuana as Alternative Supports for de-stressing my mind and body.
That’s the plan moving forward. Doing it different. Wild and free.
Gina Jackson, is a classically trained Pilates Teacher and has been teaching along the Gold Coast of Hudson and Bergen County, NJ for the past fifteen+ years.
Certified by Power Pilates of New York, Gina has trained with Master Teachers Bob Liekens, Susan Moran and Brett Howard; loved workshop training with Cary Regan and Blossom Leilani-Crawford and has particularly enjoyed listening to the personal stories as told by Pilates Elders, Kathy Grant and Lolita San Miguel.
An active teacher and blogger, Gina manages a private personal training business supporting a myriad of clients, teaching all to honor their health, strength and life with the principles of Pilates at its core.