During my private session with Brett this week, while we were working a particular Wunda Chair series exercise, he told me to do something specifically and I stopped in the middle and asked, “why?” In his direct, yet humorous style, he gave me a sigh and said,“because I said so.”
I followed his instruction and we laughed with the comfortable acknowledgement of two things: 1)always have respect for the master teacher’s wisdom and instruction and 2) use of the familiar phrase and attitude we both learned from our mother’s. Our respective mothers were strong, black women that each raised children and allowed little room for debate or back talk. “Because I said so,” was all you needed to know.
It was Mother’s Week. I call it that, because my mother and great-grandmother were all born the same week of Mother’s Day. Brett’s use of the phrase in this manner was not uncommon with me or anyone. He says it a lot, and usually with a smile and wink.
Nor was my question, “why?” uncommon. I told him that my mother told me it was actually my first word. Not her moniker, “mommy,” but the question, “why?” It’s not that I wanted to question the authority of either of them, I just wanted to know why the action was chosen or required.
He got it. I get him. It’s one of the reasons I love working with him so much.
Oh and the exercise? It was Pumping One Arm, leading into Side Plank and Twist. I added a little too much “extra” to the side plank movement but did execute the Teaser Twist to his satisfaction. 😉
Related Posts:
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.