Just a quick note to all the recent Graduates of the Reformer 1 course. I must complement all you guys who sat your assessment the quality of your work was fantastic.  So heres wishing you all the very best of luck with your new skills ! 

Also a big contrats to the Level 2 Refomer Graduates – as you are aware the learning curve between the levels is quite steep – and again you did not disappoint the quality of your personal performance of the sequence was wonderful – again I wish you the very best of luck with your new found reformer skills 

yours Joyce

And the above heading is a direct quote from her, and is the topic of a letter written by Susan Pepper of Swissbody Pilates Academy.

Recently  Susan and I spoke  on this very topic – that students / instructors are not training with Pilates daily and in some instances are not upkeeping their skills by attending further workshops / courses. The end result is instructors who are not developing their own internal stamina, not developing the technique within their own bodies and as a result end up having very little understanding of this wonderful method and its expansive range

Below is a letter Susan has published and has kindly allowed me to reproduce for you. During our converstation Susan told me of the huge reaction received regarding its content mostly from like minded professionals who agree and understand that Pilates is not fitness but a method a system that we must nurture within our selves and within our profession in order to encourage  the public to become our clients and participate in this wonderful system – this expression of all that is strong and healthy

Joyce The PROGRESSIVE Pilates Academy @ BODYFIRM Studios

Dear Pilates Colleagues,

Happy New Year to you all!

This time last year we were all wondering how the financial crisis would affect us. It seems that most of us survived and some of us came to the end of 2009 with the same growth in income as any other year. What is the secret of the success of those who continue to grow their client base? What are they doing that keeps new clients coming but, most importantly, what encourages the old clients to come back year after year?

I was watching a film on television recently and this was part of the dialogue:

« Do you do Pilates? »

« No, what’s that »

« Oh it’s expensive stretching »

If your Pilates training was a good one, this probably made you laugh. I did, but then I got extremely worried. Is this how people see Pilates? What are the teachers teaching? Is this what we want people to think of this wonderful physical training?

Another comment that I heard from a recently trained Pilates teacher stands out in my mind:

« I would like to follow courses for advanced Pilates exercises on the equipment where you don’t have to be an acrobat to be able to do the exercises »

What do teachers want?

Do we want to teach Pilates (the exercises taught by Joseph Pilates) or do we want to teach « expensive stretching »?

It’s easy to teach expensive stretching.

It takes time, years of personal training, teaching experience and continual training to understand the Method so as to teach Pilates!

There is no harm in breaking down the exercises so that they are more accessible to all, or adapting the exercises for specific client needs. This is part of « adapting the method to the client and not the client to the method ».

The risk is that Pilates teachers no longer do or know the original exercises. They don’t know how to train healthy, fit bodies into even healthier and fitter bodies. We’re not talking acrobats, just fit and strong people who want to challenge their minds and muscles. Achieving the hardest Pilates exercises can be seen as the measure of extreme well being.

Have you ever asked yourself why there are so few men in Pilates studios? Why the average age of most Pilates clients is between 35 and 40?

Lolita San Miguel wrote: “One of the biggest dangers in Pilates are teachers who don’t have teachers”

So if we love our job and want to encourage new clients (young and old, men and women) to come to us and stay with us year after year what can we do about it? CONTINUE TO STUDY!!! Train your own body (Lolita San Miguel says daily), do classes with other teachers regularly, go to continual education courses with experienced teachers and yes, learn the advanced equipment work and no, it is not only for acrobats. Once you learn where the strength comes from to do these exercises and how to do them properly, you will open new horizons for yourselves and your clients and we will no longer hear comments like: « Oh, Pilates is expensive stretching ».

Let us all stand together to uphold the quality of the Pilates Method. In this way we will all have work forever.

With love and passion

Susan Pepper

The PROGRESSIVE Pilates Academy

Mat and Reformer Pilates (assessment based ) Course Schedule August to December 2010

MAT WORK Course schedule____

PPM1. PROGRESSIVE Pilates Method Mat Instructor Level I & II

Cost: €750 course material DVD & exam included 3 Day intensive course for qualified movement instructors i.e. yoga, fitness,personal trainer, dance etc  New for 2010 1 day teaching module

EXTRA DATE

Hosted by the Killashee Hotel & Leisure Club in Kildare

bookings through Deidre Webster 045 981600 @ Killashee

or BODYFIRM studios 01 868 4600

Dates: Aug 31st/Sept 1st/2nd Tue/Wed/Thur – Times:9-5.30pm

Teaching module Fri Oct 29th 9-3pmExam Sat Oct 30th 9am start

(these dates are held in Dublin @ BODYFIRM studios)

___________________________________________________________

Dates: Sept 17th/18th/19th Fri/Sat/Sun – Times:F/S9-5.30pm Sun 9-4pm

Sept course Teaching module Fri Oct 29th 9-3pmExam Sat Oct 30th 9am start

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Dates: Oct 8th/9th/10th Fri/Sat/Sun – Times:F/S9-5.30pm Sun 9-4pm

Oct course Teaching module Fri Nov 26th 9-3pm/Exam Sat Nov 27th 9am start

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PPE2 PROGRESSIVE Pilates Method Intermediate Up Skill for PPE level 1 instructors

November  2010

1 day intensive course for qualified Level 1 instructors taking Pilates to the Intermediate Level

Dates: Nov 13th – Times: 9am-5pm

Exam: Jan 2011 tba

Cost: Fan member €295 – Non Fan member €325 Comprehensive course manual / DVD  & assessment included

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REFORMER  Course schedule____

PPR 1PROGRESSIVE Pilates Method Reformer Level 1  Group Class Instructor 10 hr intensive

September 2010

Course material for beginner / improver group reformer class programming suitable for Mat Level I/II instructors- new teaching module

Dates: Sep 10th/11th Fri/Sat  – Times: Fri 2pm-6pm Sat 11am-6pm – Exam: 12th Nov

Cost: Fan Member €375 – Non member €400  (Comprehensive course material & exam included )

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PPR 2 PROGRESSIVE Pilates Method Level 2 Reformer Group Class instructor

October 2010

1 day intensive for Reformer qualified level 1  instructors

Dates: Oct 15th – Times: 9am-5pm

Exam: Jan 22nd 2011 

Cost: Fan Member €295 – Non Fan member €325 Comprehensive course manual & assessment included

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First, let’s start with what Pilates is not!!! Pilates is not exercise. That is to say it is not exercise in the traditional sense.

Pilates is a movement system or technique, with its essence in postural balance. Pilates choreography or a sequence of flowing Pilates movements work the body uniformly to bring it back into alignment.

Joseph Pilates (1880/83 – 1967) Joe was still instructing in his 80s

Developed by Joseph Pilates (Joe Pilates) in the early 1900s, it has in the past been described as the ‘thinking person’s exercise’ because of its focus on movement with precision.

By performing each ‘Pilates exercise’ mindfully we can create a body that is strong and ‘in balance’. The increased muscular endurance achieved through Pilates workouts has a functional carry over that assists us in the Activities of Daily Living (ADL’s).

Combining the concepts of core control, spinal elongation and focus, each wonderful movement is bolstered by a relaxed flowing breath that unites body and mind.

Pilates movements with names such as Elephant, Snake and Open Leg Rocker Seal can be performed on either a mat or specifically designed Pilates machines with equally exotically names like The Pilates Reformer, The Pilates Trapeze, The Pilates Wunda Chair.

‘Exercise sessions with Joe were not meant to tire, but rather to invigorate’

While Pilates was designed for and traditionally taught on a one-to-one basis on specific Pilates equipment and machines in dedicated Pilates studios, most people today participate in group Pilates mat work classes, which are now held throughout the country in church, school and community halls, gyms and other health and fitness facilities.

Joyce

If you have any questions about Pilates or would like to learn more about our training, phone us at 01 868 4600, or drop us a line to training@bodyfirmpilates.com

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