2012. Technically 2011.
My year of The Work started in October of 2011 in the best of all possible worlds: The Mat. The mat exercises are the foundation of the Pilates Method. To perfect our mat we have at our disposal: (1) all the other apparatuses in the studio and (2) time. Considerably less time may be necessary since Joe so generously gave us the Reformer, the Cadillac, the Barrels, et al.
Wait, there’s MORE
Thanks Vintage Pilates for a jam-packed year of hard work, sweat and Pilates. Upon completion of The Work (in my case with the marathon Chairs and Barrels workshop) the education I received far exceeded my expectations. With Jay Grimes at the helm you’re surely gonna learn something…but my eyes were opened to a vast new territory of Pilatesland that I am overjoyed to explore.
Practice Practice Practice
The super-objective of The Work is to cultivate and digest the Pilates exercises into your own body. There is simply no better way to teach the work to others than to possess the fullest possible understanding and execution of the exercises. My workout changed considerably as I resumed a weekly lesson for myself for the first time in several years. Now I remember what made me want to become a Pilates teacher in the first Place – I love this stuff!
Q: What’s this exercise for? Joe Pilates’ A: “The Body.”
Under the direction of Jay Grimes, Vintage Pilates has created a program of study that extends the premise of Pilates (whole-body exercise) into a roadmap for effective and efficient teaching. I now strive to teach Pilates in a much more wholistic way. We only have one exercise. Every exercise has the same actions, or oppositional forces, working toward an individual goal. I know the exercise is called Thigh Stretch, but what am I busy doing to accomplish that goal? And how am I doing the same actions in the next exercise, Neck Pull, even though my body is organized into a different position and the goal or “result” of the exercise is different? And so on and so on until my body learns. Repetitio Est Mater Studiorum: Repetition is the mother of all learning (Study).
Vintage Pilates Est Mater Studiorum.
There may soon be a 2nd installment of Another One Bites the Dust… It’s amazing how a formidable exercise becomes delicious when you learn to do it properly…and don’t worry, it’s not Pulling Straps on the Reformer 🙁
