I have expressed these sentiments at every chance I get to these two special people, Juliet Harvey and Susan Moran, and now on the ten-year anniversary of finding, meeting and choosing them as my teachers, mentors and guides as a Pilates Instructor, I am saying it again,
thank you, thank you, thank you for changing the life I had to the life I now own and lead.
You both are my life changers.
Ten years is quite a long time. It feels fabulous to look backwards and realize the accomplishment of doing something worthwhile for ten years. The sense of value is only increased when I think about the numbers of individuals, bodies and lives that I have helped to change, as a result of the impact these two women had by touching my life, mind and body in such a deep and resonate way.
Yes, I had made a shift and change from a corporate lifestyle when I chose to pursue building a Private Personal Training business (see the blog entry about Rich Smyth) almost two years earlier, and I sought to build a two-tier approach to managing the business (as well as re-forming my own body after the body-building regimine) with Pilates Training. I signed up for Beginner and Intermediate Mat Certification and was actually flunked out of Beginner Mat Certification with Susan and Juliet in November 2002.
I was strong as hell, tight as a drum and while my arms, shoulders and abs were cut to pieces I emerged from the training frustrated, embarrassed and hurt as I was unable to understand or execute a rollup or teaser without my lower back screaming – loudly!
Truthfully, I wasn’t alone. There were quite a few of us using topical analgesics and cursing Susan at the end of the day. I remember exiting the workshop hating Susan so much because she was so good at what she did and as a result it made me feel so terribly inadequate.
Susan was the master teacher. The program design was her creation. She built and co-owned the certifying agency, Power Pilates. She had been doing this forever; was a former ballerina that trained with and was certified by Romana Kryzanowska. She clearly knew her stuff and I had to get past her to make this my own. She made it all look and sound so graceful and easy, and at the same time, disciplined and specific. She refused to waver an iota from the perfection she seemed to seek of the group. Plus she did it all seven months pregnant!
I approached Juliet at the end of the workshop and receipt of my certification failure. She assisted Susan thru the whole workshop, and I knew she could see I was struggling and simply asked, “What do I need to do differently? I am not getting this!” She stated, let’s do a couple of private sessions together. That was the beginning of a personal training relationship that started out only with Mat Pilates (at my request, to support my desire and need to pass the Beginner/Intermediate Mat certification) but quickly led to using the apparatus and actually working out in semi-private sessions with other senior teachers and occasionally Susan herself. Juliet and I worked together for about four years.
Susan was more like the “mama-bear” of the business, traveled the world teaching, speaking and setting up Power Pilates studios and teachers across the globe, Juliet was an equally tough, spirited and exacting Senior Teacher that had a distinct style that I respected and admired greatly.
The more I trained the more I appreciated the method and both of them. The more I realized the importance as a teacher, the need to know, appreciate and experience the work in one’s own body before it could possibly be shared effectively with another. The more I trained, the better I felt physically the more confident I became and the more I appreciated the discipline Susan and Juliet were exacting from me and everyone they touched, as a client or prospective teacher.
Alison, Carrie, Dana and Bob were definitely favorite instructors and great influencers in all of the lives of teachers-in training under their tutelage, yet it was Susan and Juliet that served as the glue for me. Ultimately, it was Susan’s blessing and certification as a Pilates Instructor that I received in March 2006.
While the wonder, beauty and healing of the Pilates method definitely brought about a shift and change in the course of my life and direction, it was the level of integrity, excellence and modeling that both Juliet and Susan exhibited in that very first workshop that pulled me into a new way of living and moving.
Thank you gals. I love you deeply. You are the best life changers.
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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.