things i know to be true

i wrote this in february of 2006 and a friend of mine said that people should print it out and put it on their fridge… so here it is again with a few bits removed or edited for context: . .rainbows are always worth staring at .lying is never okay (will consider amnesty for customs… Continue Reading

accidente!

okay, y’all are asking about my accident. i was waiting until i scanned in some photos from just before i started pilates so you guys could see the difference but i can do that some other time. three people have asked me in the last maybe ten days which implies that it’s time. Continue Reading

captain kirk i presume?

i have this thing that i do when i teach, where i talk about star trek because almost everyone on earth has seen something regarding original star trek. sort of like how i haven’t seen logan’s run but i know the punch line because it’s referenced in tons of popular culture. anyway, i have this habit of saying things like:

“okay so your pelvic floor is captain kirk and your hamstrings all the way into your arches are mister spock and your quads are the red shirted ensign that everyone knows is going to die before the first commercial break!” Continue Reading

we’ve stopped

this post was actually written by dr. brian dower, chiropractor who works out of park road healing arts.  since i found myself nodding in agreement through the entire read i asked permission to post it here and he was kind enough to grant it. *** We’ve stopped. As a species, we’ve stopped moving. Over the… Continue Reading

and i say pardon?

lately i have been returning from a period of being remiss with my own workouts; this happens on occasion and doesn’t worry my overly much as long as the breaks aren’t too long. in this case the return after the holidays just wasn’t quite happening and it turns out that this particular break was amazing.

i got inspired, randomly, one saturday morning when my last client had unexpectedly cancelled; so i worked out by myself. it was delicious, i did a pile of my old homework and some simple and yet deeply satisfying things like footwork on the reformer…. Continue Reading

pilates goals

It’s not too late to get back to your News Years resolution about improving your health. In fact the majority of people have put off their resolutions or never got them started or kind of started but then stopped. Welcome to mid-February. It’s a month so ugly spelling it is difficult and requires a day of love and family to get through. I didn’t bother making resolutions in January. Never do. Because it’s the worst time to seek change. The holidays and their after effects will get in the way.

Our first pilates class of 2011…brutal. The first Monday in January no less! We even joked about how if this had been someone’s beginner pilates class based on a resolution they would have really struggled. Maybe even given up. Our small group, including instructor Angela Barsotti, moaned and groaned through our routines…. Continue Reading

self love

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…. Continue Reading

inspire

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…. Continue Reading

pilates on horseback?

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…. Continue Reading