Ugly Duckling Pilates Toronto

self love

posted in grooming, love, Pilates, self esteem • comments »

i teach a lot of women (a lot of men too, in fact my numbers are about fifty fifty which is very rare in this business and comes, i believe, from my extensive sports background; i speak jock rather than dancer) who hate themselves. in fact i have very few female clients who can look in a mirror and be happy with what they see.

for me this is totally baffling because i have never actually met an ugly woman. i’ve met women who were ugly on the inside but very few who were ugly on the outside and in the case of my clients i’ve never actually seen one who wasn’t deeply attractive in her own way….

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inspire

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inspire: verb (without object)

to give inspiration.

to inhale.

it means a lot of things but that’s the meat of it.

i love that the word for breath (inspiration and expiration or inhalation and exhalation as you wish) and the word for illumination are the same word. one meaning involves divine inspiration and has a religious connotation to it but that is certainly not the only one or the most important to me….

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pilates on horseback?

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i went with a client to watch her ride her horse the other day. now, just to be clear, everything i know about riding i learned from black beauty, black stallion (every book) and a zillion historical romance novels (i know, i know) or my clients who ride. and when i say ride? i don’t mean once a year on a trail ride, i mean ride and jump and show and train with trainers and things. heck, they wear HAIRNETS! you take your stuff seriously if you wear one of those!

so, in other words, a riding instructor i am not. what i am is a teacher of movement with a keen eye and a deep fascination for anatomy and body mechanics….

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sugar sugar

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i always have some variation of the following list in my home: dark chocolate, raw almonds, eggs, granola, toastable bread, candy, homemade soup/stew, and popsicles. mostly this stuff is there for me to be able to have quick snacks between clients if i’m having a crazy day or the like. a couple dozen almonds and a few squares of dark chocolate feels like lunch and makes you happy. it’s protein and a little sugar and food that makes you feel good.

do you have it for lunch EVERY day? um no, but it sure is nice when you have thirty seconds, three more clients and low blood sugar….

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"ugly duckling pilates because sex matters"

posted in Pilates • comments »

as originally posted on matt mernagh’s blog but it bears reposting: [incidentally matt is a marijuana activist who has found cannabis to be the only useful pain reliever for his fibromyalgia. i believe it also makes it easier for him to move at all but i'm not a doctor and my opinion is just that, an opinion]

The best Christmas gift I received last year was an Ugly Duckling Pilates session. With my Rosedale pilates instructor Angela Barsotti’s assistance I’m feeling mostly fantastic. Sans fibromyalgia flare ups, scoliolsis pain and recovered shattered shoulder grief. Tonight (Thursday, Dec. 2) on Sex Matters, Angela will be discussing Sex, Breath and the Pelvic Floor. A topic she recently taught at Come As You Are….

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picking teachers

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posted in Pilates • comments »

several years ago i convinced my sister, who was then suffering some pretty serious repetitive strain issues in her neck/shoulders, to try pilates. since she was living in another city she found a local studio and off she went. this teacher started her off with the hundreds and the roll up, she walked out in more pain than she walked in and eventually found an amazing yoga teacher who helped her immeasurably. she found her by looking for someone who talked about the work the way i did rather than concentrating on their “method.”…

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Marie-Jose Blom

posted in health, movement, Pilates, teaching • comments »

Ugly Duckling Pilates is delighted to present Marie Jose Blom for two workshops over three days (friday april 22nd to sunday april 24) in lovely downtown Toronto, Canada. Workshops: The Essential Role of the Shoulder Girdle and Thorax in Taking the Weight From the Shoulders (sunday – 8 hours) Embrace the Curves and Unravel the Mystery of Scoliosis (fri/sat - 16 hours) Instructor: Marie Jose Blom Location: Ugly Duckling Pilates Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada 130 Rosedale [...]

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hey i’m on sex matters tv!

posted in Pilates • comments »

Hey get this!

I’m on CP24′s “Sex Matters” on Thursday December 2nd at 10:30 pm!

Don’t worry if you miss it, they repeat it on Saturday at 1030pm…

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yeah

posted in Pilates • comments »

not too much happening.

i was struck amused by something today. someone said that i seemed like a really active and busy person what with all the stuff i was doing and i realised. i am!

for example today, i went and took a class at my favourite studio with my favourite teacher and only one other girl showed up so we worked on some really crazy stuff that ‘she wouldn’t teach to beginners’ like our psoas muscle. it was damm fun let me tell you and I am worked out in a couple of places that really needed it….

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lost minutes

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posted in Pilates • comments »

This is one of the first “pilates teacher blog” moments in my old personal blog; to be found here if you’re curious. there is some great stuff there but as i used to say at the jcc “if i said it more than three months ago i probably don’t think it anymore.” opinions grow and change, so do writers, people and the universe…

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