The joy of helping a student find the “aha” moment has become an absolutely riveting experience for me. The fact that I continue to find as much fulfillment and excitement from it, as much as the the student, is the kicker! Every time it happens, I have an affirmation, a confirmation, a “Hell Yes!” that I am walking the right path. It’s been 20+ years and I still get juiced up when it happens.
I tell new students that it usually takes a little time for the new patterns, sensations, and conscious actions to catch and take hold in the mind and body. I help to dispel frustration and remind them to be patient with themselves to allow the mind and body to sequentially embrace the action such that it all becomes easy, natural, effortless and almost unconscious.
Yes, its easier said then done. And “can’t” is a word never permitted in the studio.
I tell students through in the process of teaching that, “being present, conscious and specific in the movement is a cognitive process and it is the consistent repetition of the movement that lays the new pattern – the mind/body connection.”
That is the addictive aspect of this movement therapy.
As we know, about 30-40 sessions later, the student notices that the lines of their body have changed, they know when, where, how and what to do when cued and the old “I don’t know why I do that” habits are minimal or eliminated. It is then that we have the find and feel the good “aha moment” of doing a swan dive on the Wunda and enjoying it.
It’s a testament to the power of Pilates. It’s an affirmation of the truth in the work.
Grateful to simply be one of teachers acting as a conduit in sharing this methodology.
“I didn’t create it or make it up, I just teach it!”
The man who created the methodology and the equipment we use to work our bodies in the method said,
“I invented all these machines back in Germany – lived there ’till ’25 – used to exercise rheumatic patients. I thought, why use my strength? So I made a machine to do it for me. Look, you see it resists your movement in just the right way so those long inner muscles really have to work against it. That why you can concentrate on movement. You must always do it slowly and smoothly. Then your whole body is in it.”
Joseph Pilates quote, “Pilates provides Dancers with Machine-Made Learning” by Frances Herridge, December 6, 1946, Critical And Amusements, PM Magazine.
As Joseph Pilates said,
“Correctly executed to the point of subconscious reaction, these exercises will reflect grace and balance in your routine activities.”
More Phrases & Imagry
- “Legs will feel like feathers that float when the abdominals are deeply engaged.”
- “Pull in and float up to Teaser.”
- “Use the breath. Move with the exhale”
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.