• After teaching for 25 years I’m still NEVER bored with seeing people tap into the depths of their bodies with thoughtful movement! Here, you can see that it doesn’t take many repetitions at all for Annabella to improve her alignment and feel the work very deeply. Our daughter is very hyper flexible and alignment can be difficult for these body types because the sensation is less with so much mobility in the joints. She wants to get stronger to protect her joints since she is getting back on the ice for figure skating. For someone who is on the other end of the spectrum, very stable and less mobile, they might need a different cue. When I dove into the world of creating content for on-demand classes, I had one goal in mind - learn to teach on video in such a way that someone at home can get almost the same benefits that a private class can give. When I teach my online classes I have so many body types in mind and as I teach, I am giving cues that can be adapted by all types. Private training is a luxury that some cannot access for many different reasons, but it doesn’t mean that quality has to be sacrificed. When I have had clients move or when a friend or family member in another location is seeking an instructor, I give this advice: Look at their education - they should make that easy to see. AND THEN - what NEXT? Was that it or did they and do they currently pursue more education? Working the body thoughtfully has PROFOUND effects. It changes lives and I don’t only mean how someone looks in a bathing suit. It can relieve chronic pain and improve quality of life. Releasing stuck fascia and strengthening the core and legs for better posture can change the way someone sees the world and the way the world sees them. Even though I am returning to teaching limited privates again, the shifts the pandemic brought has lit this new passion inside of me and I am LOVING building a library of classes around this concept and am SO excited about new class styles to come! 💫 Membership is just $19/mo and includes: ✨Pilates and Barre focused classes ✨Fascia care classes ✨24/7 on-demand access Your first week is FREE! Link in bio to register!
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    After teaching for 25 years I’m still NEVER bored with seeing people tap into the depths of their bodies with thoughtful movement! Here, you can see that it doesn’t take many repetitions at all for Annabella to improve her alignment and feel the work very deeply. Our daughter is very hyper flexible and alignment can be difficult for these body types because the sensation is less with so much mobility in the joints. She wants to get stronger to protect her joints since she is getting back on the ice for figure skating. For someone who is on the other end of the spectrum, very stable and less mobile, they might need a different cue. When I dove into the world of creating content for on-demand classes, I had one goal in mind - learn to teach on video in such a way that someone at home can get almost the same benefits that a private class can give. When I teach my online classes I have so many body types in mind and as I teach, I am giving cues that can be adapted by all types. Private training is a luxury that some cannot access for many different reasons, but it doesn’t mean that quality has to be sacrificed. When I have had clients move or when a friend or family member in another location is seeking an instructor, I give this advice: Look at their education - they should make that easy to see. AND THEN - what NEXT? Was that it or did they and do they currently pursue more education? Working the body thoughtfully has PROFOUND effects. It changes lives and I don’t only mean how someone looks in a bathing suit. It can relieve chronic pain and improve quality of life. Releasing stuck fascia and strengthening the core and legs for better posture can change the way someone sees the world and the way the world sees them. Even though I am returning to teaching limited privates again, the shifts the pandemic brought has lit this new passion inside of me and I am LOVING building a library of classes around this concept and am SO excited about new class styles to come! 💫 Membership is just $19/mo and includes: ✨Pilates and Barre focused classes ✨Fascia care classes ✨24/7 on-demand access Your first week is FREE! Link in bio to register!
  • 💫Long Stretch into push ups 💫Up Stretch is such a marker for me as an instructor! When clients can consciously choose to use spinal articulation and have developed the abdominal strength to move back in flexion and then make the clear switch to using hip articulation to move back with an elongated spine, I’m a happy teacher! 💫The time it takes each individual to gain body awareness and strength to do this varies from person to person. It is more difficult to execute when one doesn’t have feedback from the floor as you do in supine (lying on your back face up) and of course there are the added elements of springs and a change in relationship to gravity. 💫It translates into healthier movement patterns and better seated posture awareness and core engagement. You might notice whether you are slumping and rounding in the spine and make the switch to an elongated spine and clear hip flexion instead. . . . . . . #pilates#pilateslife #pilateseveryday #healingwithpilates #pilatesworkout #barreworkouts #barrefitness #onlineworkouts#onlinestudio #coreworkouts #charlottefitness #onlineworkouts#fascia #pilatesreformer #pilatesapparatus #reformerworkout #reformerpilates #reformerflow #reformerworkout #ondemandworkuts #strongarms #healthyshoulders #functionalfitness #pilatesonline
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    💫Long Stretch into push ups 💫Up Stretch is such a marker for me as an instructor! When clients can consciously choose to use spinal articulation and have developed the abdominal strength to move back in flexion and then make the clear switch to using hip articulation to move back with an elongated spine, I’m a happy teacher! 💫The time it takes each individual to gain body awareness and strength to do this varies from person to person. It is more difficult to execute when one doesn’t have feedback from the floor as you do in supine (lying on your back face up) and of course there are the added elements of springs and a change in relationship to gravity. 💫It translates into healthier movement patterns and better seated posture awareness and core engagement. You might notice whether you are slumping and rounding in the spine and make the switch to an elongated spine and clear hip flexion instead. . . . . . . #pilates#pilateslife #pilateseveryday #healingwithpilates #pilatesworkout #barreworkouts #barrefitness #onlineworkouts#onlinestudio #coreworkouts #charlottefitness #onlineworkouts#fascia #pilatesreformer #pilatesapparatus #reformerworkout #reformerpilates #reformerflow #reformerworkout #ondemandworkuts #strongarms #healthyshoulders #functionalfitness #pilatesonline
  • 💫Kneeling series on reformer ■ Clips 1 & 2 - I like to warm up the internal and external shoulder rotators before doing larger movements with the arms, especially when using resistance. I’m using the lightest spring on these first two clips and making sure to KEEP MY WRIST STABLE - no flexing and extending. ■ In draw a sword, I DO let my wrist flex, then elbow in succession with control on the drawing out and the return so that my shoulder can stay relaxed down into position with no unnecessary tension. Anyone familiar with Bartinieff Fundamentals work can relate this to that controlled softening. ■ In side bend press, I am focusing on keeping that wrist and elbow stable.(I’m doing a better job with my wrist than elbow here!) Try it out. See if you are extending your wrist when you do these. If you keep it straight, you’ll feel much more effective triceps engagement. ■ In kneeling twist, I focus on the shape of my ribs coming around in length rather than the shortening side. It keeps my torso more elongated. * * * * #pilates#pilateslife #pilateseveryday #healingwithpilates #pilatesworkout #barreworkouts #barrefitness #onlineworkouts#onlinestudio #coreworkouts #charlottefitness #onlineworkouts#fascia #pilatesreformer #pilatesapparatus #reformerworkout #reformerpilates #reformerflow #reformerworkout #ondemandworkuts #strongarms #healthyshoulders
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    💫Kneeling series on reformer ■ Clips 1 & 2 - I like to warm up the internal and external shoulder rotators before doing larger movements with the arms, especially when using resistance. I’m using the lightest spring on these first two clips and making sure to KEEP MY WRIST STABLE - no flexing and extending. ■ In draw a sword, I DO let my wrist flex, then elbow in succession with control on the drawing out and the return so that my shoulder can stay relaxed down into position with no unnecessary tension. Anyone familiar with Bartinieff Fundamentals work can relate this to that controlled softening. ■ In side bend press, I am focusing on keeping that wrist and elbow stable.(I’m doing a better job with my wrist than elbow here!) Try it out. See if you are extending your wrist when you do these. If you keep it straight, you’ll feel much more effective triceps engagement. ■ In kneeling twist, I focus on the shape of my ribs coming around in length rather than the shortening side. It keeps my torso more elongated. * * * * #pilates#pilateslife #pilateseveryday #healingwithpilates #pilatesworkout #barreworkouts #barrefitness #onlineworkouts#onlinestudio #coreworkouts #charlottefitness #onlineworkouts#fascia #pilatesreformer #pilatesapparatus #reformerworkout #reformerpilates #reformerflow #reformerworkout #ondemandworkuts #strongarms #healthyshoulders
  • You can try today’s tip in your next Pilates class to help you learn to better recruit your upper and middle back extensors in swan. It gives awesome feedback when you feel the ball roll slightly forward and teaches us how to engage these muscles more clearly instead of full speed ahead to the lumbar extensors. 💫 This is also a great one to warm up if you know your yoga practice is going to focus on heart openers or more advanced backbend poses. You can play with where you place the ball on the sternum. As you move it, you will feel it activate different regions of the thoracic extensors. I am adding in arm movements to warm up internal and external shoulder rotation and then to activate lower trapezius and rhomboids. These movements performed on a mat may not be accessible to someone with excessive kyphosis or a current or past shoulder injury. These might be better performed on a more narrow weight lifting bench. WHY is such a small movement lesson good for our bodies? Because it’s SO easy to overuse and overextend in the cervical and lumbar spine without a spread of extension throughout. This can eventually lead to injury and a loss of activities we love so much. It certainly doesn’t make for an attention-getting Instagram photo or video, but it’s a damn good warm up before you take one! 😀 * * * * * #pilates#pilatesbody #pilateslover#pilateslife #pilatyesmat #pilatesteacher #pilatesstudio #pilateseveryday #josephpilates #spinalextension #thoracicmobilitydrill #healthyspinehealthylife #happyspine#wheelpose #yogabackbend#yoga #yogapractice
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    You can try today’s tip in your next Pilates class to help you learn to better recruit your upper and middle back extensors in swan. It gives awesome feedback when you feel the ball roll slightly forward and teaches us how to engage these muscles more clearly instead of full speed ahead to the lumbar extensors. 💫 This is also a great one to warm up if you know your yoga practice is going to focus on heart openers or more advanced backbend poses. You can play with where you place the ball on the sternum. As you move it, you will feel it activate different regions of the thoracic extensors. I am adding in arm movements to warm up internal and external shoulder rotation and then to activate lower trapezius and rhomboids. These movements performed on a mat may not be accessible to someone with excessive kyphosis or a current or past shoulder injury. These might be better performed on a more narrow weight lifting bench. WHY is such a small movement lesson good for our bodies? Because it’s SO easy to overuse and overextend in the cervical and lumbar spine without a spread of extension throughout. This can eventually lead to injury and a loss of activities we love so much. It certainly doesn’t make for an attention-getting Instagram photo or video, but it’s a damn good warm up before you take one! 😀 * * * * * #pilates#pilatesbody #pilateslover#pilateslife #pilatyesmat #pilatesteacher #pilatesstudio #pilateseveryday #josephpilates #spinalextension #thoracicmobilitydrill #healthyspinehealthylife #happyspine#wheelpose #yogabackbend#yoga #yogapractice
  • Continuing on our thoracic mobility theme this week, today I’m showing you an easy way to regain some lost movement and glide in your scapulae or shoulder blades. ✨ WHY would you want to do this? The muscles and fascia that attach to the medial or inner border of your scapula and run up into your cervical spine and onto the base of your skull can get stuck in long or short adaptations to your posture. This can restrict healthy thoracic spine mobility and rib movement. This in turn can cause a multitude of symptoms like neck pain or stiffness, headaches as well as changes in function all the way down to your feet. I’m using a Slings Myofascial ball that is spiky but very squishy. You could use an older tennis ball, one of Jill Miller’s awesome Yoga Tune Up therapy balls or whatever you have on hand. I have a link for these in my store. Just don’t be aggressive or dig in too hard if you “find a spot”. You can hold and breathe but being kind to your tissues delivers better results. I’m only working the middle and upper part of the blade in these videos but be sure to do the whole length of the medial border. Roll a bit, then hold in different spots, pinning the tissue, and move your arm around in various ways that feels comfortable for you. More demos coming this week! 💫
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    Continuing on our thoracic mobility theme this week, today I’m showing you an easy way to regain some lost movement and glide in your scapulae or shoulder blades. ✨ WHY would you want to do this? The muscles and fascia that attach to the medial or inner border of your scapula and run up into your cervical spine and onto the base of your skull can get stuck in long or short adaptations to your posture. This can restrict healthy thoracic spine mobility and rib movement. This in turn can cause a multitude of symptoms like neck pain or stiffness, headaches as well as changes in function all the way down to your feet. I’m using a Slings Myofascial ball that is spiky but very squishy. You could use an older tennis ball, one of Jill Miller’s awesome Yoga Tune Up therapy balls or whatever you have on hand. I have a link for these in my store. Just don’t be aggressive or dig in too hard if you “find a spot”. You can hold and breathe but being kind to your tissues delivers better results. I’m only working the middle and upper part of the blade in these videos but be sure to do the whole length of the medial border. Roll a bit, then hold in different spots, pinning the tissue, and move your arm around in various ways that feels comfortable for you. More demos coming this week! 💫