One reason I enjoy taking photos of students as they work in the studio is the visual evidence and feedback the image provides to the viewer. Not only for the student, but for next person that seeks a “virtual” experience to affirm and embrace the potential for themselves. Of course, the story of the individual is equally powerful and universal. For as we all know, there is nothing new under the sun. We are all mirrors of each other’s experience.
As a Pilates teacher, I often find my work must embrace the real-life issues and challenges of each individual, relying not only on my technical experience, skill, but also on my own instincts, empathy, honesty and authenticity to “extract” the best work, best energy and the mental willpower from each individual. I am always grateful, each chance I am given, to be a witness to the power and beauty of Pilates as it touches, moves and changes someone.
Melissa, began training within the studio with the desire and goal to achieve more depth and core control of her body. She and her wife have one small child and Melissa wants to have another. Following a few
miscarriages she had a “sense” that Pilates would help her develop the core strength she needed to support a healthy delivery.
I learned that she hated the gym and rarely used it. Yet, she was aware and not particularly pleased with her body or its condition. She came to me with a goal and a timetable as well as the support and encouragement of her personal coach. She hit the ground running with determination as she knew her “clock was ticking.”
She did gracefully accept and enact the suggestions, reminders and adjustments I offered to support the changes Pilates training could bring about in her life. Afterall, Pilates, and the healthy lifestyle it can create and/or support is full, complete and holistic. A “house can’t stand on a weak foundation,” I tell everyone, and you also cannot expect the ‘new wing’ of the house to hold up, if the original wing is propped up on crates.
Melissa embraced the challenge and my metaphor of “fixing the whole house” and took note of the need for cardiovascular training and started running. She sought out private sessions training, 2x week and supplemented it with a mat class 1x weekly. Nutritional and dietary adjustments were brought to the table and, as is generally the case, with consistency, everyone began to notice the changes in her body’s lines and form.
Being a Witness
On the very morning that these images of Melissa were taken, my yoga teacher provided an admonishment of “being a witness” asking us to “step outside of self and to look inside and make the adjustments necessary” for our own practice of growth.
While I don’t speak in such a way during my client sessions, I was, however, aware in the middle of my downward dog asana, that the images I took two hours earlier of Melissa, did provide a form of “witness testimony” of her hard work as well as a form of “teaching feedback” for the adjustments she needed to make as she continued refining her own bodywork.
The act of giving attention to our internal thoughts (mental acuity, focus and concentration) and allowing the external body to follow the intention, adjustments and movement necessary is why Pilates, and frankly Yoga, are such powerful forms of exercise. One may approach either discipline with a singular external body goal or intention (e.g., lose weight, build abdominal strength, stretching, etc.) only to find somewhere along the path, that fully involving the mind and life in the pursuit of the goal brings about a fuller, richer and all encompassing experience. This usually results in the undeniable change.
Melissa’s healthy lifestyle and conscious practice is changing her life, mind and her body. Pilates is helping her to mold the external form to mirror her internal strength. She feels and looks fabulous and I expect that at some point in the future, there will be more images showing the evidence of that desired new form taking shape inside of her.
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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.