Artistic Language

In an observed teaching I was participating with yesterday there was a discussion between myself, my teacher and our instructor about the art of language.Good Communication is the most important tool I believe a person could have on their tool belt. I have talked before about how in Pilates the cues we give one client may not work for another client.  Having a progressive, dynamic word bank helps achieve the results in any client and in my mind could help to increase your clientele in many directions.

Why am I talking about this? I have had the pleasure and pain of acting as the body for a few of my peer Pilate's trainees. I say pleasure because  I get to move my body for free , listen to whats being asked of me as an educator , and learn allot about the things i need to work on within my body. I say pain because  some of what you hear is brutally honest and sometimes brings into light things you were not aware of ,which at first can be hard to deal with. Example: I never in a million years thought my inner thighs were weak or that access to my pelvic floor was difficult because of my weak lower abdominals. When you leave a lesson hearing the words weak, non accessible, difficult...it can leave you feeling deflated and unsuccessful. I mean granted in this program I have to take those things with a grain of salt and work through them for in the end all of it, is what gives me the joyful wisdom to become a great teacher to my clients and myself.

 Artistic Language may be defined in many ways and is a very general term. For instance someone yelling profanities on the street could be considered artistic language, a soft, sweet, love song, deliberations, sounds of lovemaking, interpretive dance, in my mind they all are forms of artistic language.The basic fundamentals I believe that make up a good artistic linguist are the words chosen to complete the sentence/s. The second most important fundamental in my opinion( and this is all in my opinion readers) is knowing awareness of your audience or client.

 Just recently I had a light bulb go off when I realized that I used the word "tight" quite often with one of my clients in relevance to overused muscles. Realizing the negative effect it was having on her i opted to change the word with something that would provide a positive spin on the way it was being used, so I simply said "overworked". It's amazing what one little word can do for a persons emotions but since I switched it up she has been able to work through that tightness in a more desirable approach.

 An artist who looks at a blank canvas looking for inspiration from the vast emptiness of the white cloth  carefully or maybe with aggression makes the first stroke and from there builds to achieve the image that he wants, so does the musicianwho strums many a chord looking for the right tune to match his lovely words, the photographer who sits for hours looking at the same scene, waiting for the perfect light, it might take these artists years to accomplish something their actually proud of, truly, truly but they keep waiting, stroking, and strumming until they do. Just as you and I can keep practicing using our words perfecting our artistic language.

Knowing who your talking to is the second fundamental tool important in using artistic language effectively. I have clients that range from doctors to surfers, to computer nerds ( i use the term nerd endearingly here i love a nerd i think their sexy as hell) there is no way that i can speak the same speak with all of them, they just wont get it. Some minds are more analytical than others so I always feel with those clients I better have my answers ready. With the event planner who just wants to move and feel things just because i may know big words for the human body she may not want to hear them, which is fine its not about one upping my client showing off my brain, its about feeding them in a way that is useful and beneficial to both of you.

So I take it to the streets...Just as it is in the studio to be mind full of your words so it is in real life, they hurt be careful . Know who your talking to, are you talking to a long time friend or someone you just met, not everyone is going to get you and you may not get everyone at first, but I believe if you practice  art in the form of language the world and everyone in it is your oyster.

I am NO where close to perfecting this skill and I make word choice mistakes all the time, but perhaps  a third fundamental tool to practice is awareness for when the mistakes been made acknowledgement, apologize if necessary and be more careful the next time.

My favorite word in the whole world of words is " Perseverance", whats yours?



 Wikipedia has its own definition for artistic language which is an art in and of itself but feel free to review.

Have a colorful Day!

Sweet as the PSOAS.

First, before minds are being blown by the Psoas knowledge, my apologies to all my beloved readers for taking a month off. Short and sweet version why?... New job, new people, new distraction, new places, new lessons, new bedtime...That's heaps of news which in itself creates a hell of allot of Fun! So there you have it, no excuses just been getting down like the beats they spin underground.

  Through all my playfullness and good times I have had some amazing breakthroughs in my Pilates practice. Completing a straight leg tendon stretch was seemingly an impossible task to me three weeks ago but voila, now its the reverse, side leg, tendon stretch that seems to be blowing my mind. Teaser another movement that causes a huge sigh to escape from my lips has become interesting in my body in a way that causes experiments in the movement instead of giving up on it. I have become slightly addicted to the feeling of my psoas muscle running along the front of my body acting as my internal suspender straps, thus my theme for this post.

  A little background on the Psoas muscle, the iliopsoas is perhaps the most misunderstood of all the muscles we commonly speak about in the human body. I say ‘that we commonly speak about’ because there are many other muscles that we don’t know that much about either. Coming into my training program I had no idea what my Psoas was or what it did for me and that's with an undergrad in Sports Medicine and ten years of being in the field, my bad or was it never addressed in dealing with body language. The psoas muscles are the bridges between the upper body and the legs. They are the only muscles that directly link the spine to the legs. The psoas attach directly from the lower spine to the top of the inner thighs at the lesser trochanter of the femur. They do not attach directly to the pelvis, but influence it through their connection to the iliacus muscles, which are attached to the walls of the inner pelvis.The psoas is a combination of slow and fast twitching fibers. The Psoas is responsible for flexion and external rotation in the hip joint. One of its orgin points is T-12 of the thoracic spine, which is why with psoas connection and control your low belly is fired up! Most of us dont think twice about picking our legs up but think about every step we take we HAVE to pick a leg up and everytime we do we stand on one foot, think walking up stairs. I'd take a bet half of america hauls from their superficial hip flexors and overdeveloped quads thus causeing in the long run back pain and knee joint sorrow. 

   Try to find your psoas.
      Take a seat now take yourself on the backside of your sits bones...Do you feel your low belly? From that position try and and lift one leg and then the next...suspenders? If you felt that awesome in me it feels oh so good, if you havent had the sensation keep trying sometime the nervous system has to be shaken up quite a bit to get the cells to fire their signals effectively. 
  

Utilizing the Psoas Teaser and Breastroke.

The crave that is Kombucha!

AH! They are my weakness and the lack of control that comes with tasting just one is a bit terrifying. 

Me and Kombucha

I fell in love with Kombucha before ever moving to Cali. I had just moved back from overseas and an old friend that i lived with for a spell happened to be brewing it in her kitchen. I remember the first taste was not very pleasant but my palette turned to like it, then to love it, then to kinda crave it. 

Me and Chocolate (sweets in general)

 I get it from my father and his father and probably his father father. It is a need that seems to be never met. No matter how full or un hungry i may be there is always room, always. 

Me, Kombucha, and Chocolate

  Living on the east coast the introduction to Kombucha was slow going I suppose, therefore making it harder to get your hands on, and the flavors not so plentiful. Moving to the west coast however changed the availability completely and wherever I turned there was the beloved bottle and a new flavor i had yet to try, so inevitably I went on a Kombucha kick for months. Everyday I would at least have two, morning and afternoon, sometimes evening. A very interesting thing happened that i didn't realize until this very afternoon, as i walked home through the park, it hit I HARDLY HAD SWEETS when I drank the stuff on the regular, my body did not crave the sweets!

 Now I arrived to this kind of conclusion that Kombucha kicked my eating sweets habit after two different conversations.

  The first one was last night while talking to my friend Jeni, we spoke of how we hadn't had regular Kombucha intake in a month, like seriously I realized at that moment I hadn't spilled the sweet fermented liquid down my throat in a month at least. My next realization that sweets and Kombucha were linked was talking to my teacher today. I was speaking to her about how i felt yucky because I had been eating allot of sweets lately, like allot. Brownies, Cookies, bars, ice cream, apple crisp, graham cracker chews, ugh its gross really. Then as i was walking through the park it hit me , like a rogue wave to the face " Drinking Kombucha on the regular totally killed my sweet tooth cravings!".

Now, this all seems pretty logical but i needed some back up in case anyone was gonna second guess my miraculous finding so here are a few links that give me some back up and why I am certain that it works for me the way it does. Looks like i wasn't the only one to find this out.

http://www.kombuchakamp.com/2011/02/sugar-and-kombucha-faq-top-10.html

http://robbwolf.com/2012/05/23/crazy-kombucha/

http://www.rawliving.eu/blog/tag/kombucha/

For me I drank the stuff because i knew it was somehow good for me and yes i liked the taste and it gave me energy, but knowing what I know now makes me appreciate the stuff even more and will certainly be not taking too many more extended vacations away. If you one of those people like me (uhhum Dad) then I would highly advise you to take the thirty day Kombucha challenge. Sugar is one of the highest reasons we as a nation are so obeist, sluggish, and lazy so go one see how you feel and then tell a friend. There is a reason for every Craze.

                          By the old gods and the new gods I do declare the stuff wondrous! 

Game of thrones anyone:)

Using our Hands in a Digital Age.

Today my teacher spoke of wrist/hand movement and the importance of using our fingers in such a way that we can become connected in our whole body.

I have spoke often of the feet and the importance of noticing how we walk, stand, run, etc...Like many of you reading this you probably don't pay much attention to your hand positions as until today i didn't either. Equally as important to our feet however is our hands and wrist,when you think about it , duh , how we could we not pay attention to these imperative extremities that can give us so much strength and health.

We have taken ourselves out of our yards and gardens where we tilled the ground with our hands weeding and digging in the hot sun using the strength from our fingers and for arms to harvest the earth. We have become lazy in the way that now we have bread makers and fancy bakeries to take us out of the kitchen and away from the exhausting task of kneading our bread. We no longer wash our clothes by hand down by the river, or sew our own clothes, on a continuous everyday basis and if you do I apologize and want to extend a huge "GOOD FOR YOU", keep it up!


No alas most of us have found ourselves glued to a computer screen or sitting behind a desk or traveling around in a car for most of our days. This is evolution, this is inventions, and progression the world changes we must change with it or be left behind but that is no excuse to stop paying attention to our bodies and how we use them in our ever changing lives, Kabeesh!

To continue  I would like you to do this EXERCISE with me. Place your hand flat on a surface of any kind, perhaps you are also laying flat on your back hands to your side. Now just notice your body, notice how your upper back feels, your shoulders, your arms, your belly. Now with intent press your thumb further down so your really using the finger pad, and repeat with each finger, taking notice of what turns on, and any other sensations you will find... beautiful is it not?

What you are feeling is the connection that each finger gives us to the rest of our body, two very important ones being the thumb and pinkie, finger, PINKIE very good to get in the habit of using! There are no real muscles in the wrist so using out finger pads and palm muscles is key to any weight bearing activity you are doing.  Your finger pads and palm have a direct correlation to your arm muscles, rotator cuff, shoulder girdle and core. Along the front fascia line of the arm/shoulder girdle
 your thumb connects the radius -> corcoid process-> pec-minor-> and ribs. Along the back fascia line your pinkie finger connects ulna->triceps->scapula->rhomboids->rotator cuff
You might have felt one or perhaps all of these turn on as you changed the pressure application to each of your finger pads. There are countless more angles we could travel into this discussion together but i just ate ice cream and am now sleepy :)

 SO in conclusion while our hands are wrapping around the rolling pin or your grasping your heavy suitcase handle use your palms press your finger pads so you can find a whole body connection. our bodies are designed so that not one muscle or group of muscles has to do all the work, in taking out the old fashion ways we used to live we have taken out the old fashioned ways we used to move.Let's evolve but lets do it healthfully with a connection to not all thats around us but with all that is in us.

Sweet Dreams my little fireflies may you sleep sound.

Brew that is good for You!

Do you find yourself cramping up on long runs? or maybe when working the foot in a new direction? or perhaps right before you drift off to sleep?
You could be in need of Potassium and I know a great brew that could give you just that and much much more.  Okay here we go so simple, so easy, and the abundance you get can be frozen to save or give away to help a friend.

What you need:

•  The SKIN from three potatoes (scrub the taters but lightly as to keep the potatoes minerals on the skin)adding the potato whole by the way creates a much to much starchy brew, so just the skin.
•  1 onion cut in half leave the SKIN ON
•  2 whole cloves of Garlic SKIN ON
•  Carrots I use 3 cut into large pieces
•  Celery again 3 into large pieces
•  Mushrooms I like shitake and at least 8 whole
•  Ginger to your liking again SKIN ON
•  Lots and Lots of KALE and I mean LOTS

Cover all ingredients just so with water bring to boil then simmer. You can simmer for forty minutes if your in a hurry but i like to simmer for at least a couple if not a few hours. Strain into mason jars, let cool and then place in fridge or freezer.

Such a good brew and so good for you, kinda looks like urine but a great replacement to morning coffee or tea, add spinach to it for a healthy lunch or dinner. I like to sometimes add soy sauce or sesame oil to drink as a aperitif to dinner or snack, reminds me of Miso that way.

  The amounts of things to due with this killer potassium brew are endless, give a whirl and your body will live for it, promise!

 Its not that complex, so go ahead brew your blues aways!!

JellyFish

 So Im one day away from the first of 8 exams in my program! I had a rough week last week but the bounce back has been nothing short of magnanimous. I have amazing teachers who understand because they have been there, they get it, I have friends who keep lifting me up, I have my family, I live in such an amazing place with strangers who remind you that the universe
is here to build you up not tear you down so let it unravel its mysteries in time. Everything has a time and place wait for it and the magic reveals itself, try pulling at it or forcing it and the magic retreats like the setting sun behind the horizon. Do you believe in Magic? I do.

  Right now just take notice of your shoulders...where are they in space? are they shoved up to your ears? rotated forward? tight? loose? just take notice...Many of us suffer from tight necks and shoulders, you might have noticed. With all the activities that we do where we lean forward with our shoulders acting as leaders and our bodies following, such as bending over, cooking, washing dishes, sitting at a desk, driving, and typing its easy to understand why our shoulder girdle area can get tight, sore and over and under developed. The good news is a regular practice of Pilates from the studio to the streets can help strengthen these areas resulting in strong shoulder girdles and decreased pain and tightness.

Our shoulder girdle is compromised of bones, muscles, ligaments, nerves, and blood vessels. The bones  that compose the shoulder girdle are the scapula (shoulder blades) and clavicle ( collarbone). Its primary function is to help move the humerous to support activities that the hand performs, such as holding, pushing, pressing, throwing , drawing, typing, holding, etc...If we have weak shoulder girdles it is hard for body to stay connected ex keeping your arms plugged into your back as you paddle or row your boat or as you climb a tree or swing from the nearest branch, i swing from branches whenever i can lucky for me I can do it properly now:)

As a little girl my family and I used to listen to this one radio station I forget the station now but once a week maybe a sunday they had request night and I always requested the song "Your neck bones connected to your back bone..." I loved that song!! Now as an adult it means so much more to me, everything is connected and we have to take care of those connections because if one point of contact fails so do all the rest and the spiral continues. Such as in life we can remember the same rules apply practice is on going to reach some version of success. Even the most advanced Pilates instructors still have shoulder girdle work to work on, its a life long practice and again so is life, we will never be perfect but we can continue the good work in hopes to elevate pain and be granted ease fulness in our day to day journeys.

Ease full ness

When you move like a jellyfish        

Rhythm don't mean nothing 

You go with the flow 

You don't stop 

lyrics by Jack Johnson

Getting It.

 "There is a light at the end of the tunnel"
 " There is bad so you know good"
 " keep your chin up"
 " It can only get better" 

and many many more to enlighten us as we push on through to whatever side we are headed. There seems to always be a breaking moment ,at least in my world, a point where the whole entire universe is crashing down on my head and my legs are breaking underneath of the weight.  My heart is heavy with emotion and my brain is weak from trying to support the universe, a daunting task for any non super hero. I wonder to myself "why?". When life is going great, things are starting to look up, things are working out and lives a cruise "why?" then do we get the big plunder? For whatever reason it happens , maybe its a reminder to us that we are not actually super heroes or gods but humans and although we are built amazingly smart we are fragile are skin and bones will crush under weight and pressure , it is important we always remember to equalize.

  I have much to say as much has occured since I last wrote in this space but I feel as though this week I have succumbed to the swamps of Sadness and fear if I revel in that place i most certainly will drown. So in saying that i finally get the metaphor used in one of my favorite movies The Neverending Story" don't let the problems of your day or even your week/month /year get you down, have a cry, do what you have to do then MOVE ON. Leave it be , pick yourself up and GO ,climb onto your luck dragon and fly high for if you don't you will most likely find yourself with bed sores on prozac, FYI I do not have bed sores nor am i on Meds, but i was sad/mad. My pill is Pilates and I need more of it and i need to find a way to make that happen. Stability and Pilates are my prescription for moving on and i am the only one who can fulfill that prescription,just as you are the only one who can fulfill yours.

Never give up and good luck will find you.

From the Studio to the Streets.

I had an enlightening lesson today while teaching a practice client, and not just any client my sister. I was trying to move her through an exercise that I had previously taught my client before her and had had,  success. My sister is one of the smartest people I know yet the words I used on my previous client did not resinate in her body, therefore the exercise was causing significant frustration for her and myself.  As a trainee i am finding my own words as a teacher but also regurgitating what I may hear from my own teachers, words are tricky and can carry different meanings for different people. I also know how frustrating working with your body on such an intense level can be.

My mistake today however, was that while my client stepped away for some air and to gather some fresh perspective, I neglected to leave my position on the exercise. Looking back I needed to figure out new words or even take her away from the frustrating exercise and allow her to feel what I was looking for in a new, more constructive way, to put it simply approach from a different perspective.

She is a brand new Pilates student , I am a trainee teacher  together we are beginners in our own right here to help each other reach maximum potential in our study. Bringing it out of the studio and on to the streets how many times do we keep approaching the same old problem from the same old angle? how many times do we fail to find a change in pattern? . Walk away change your words, everybody is fed information differently. You can say something to one person and then the same thing to someone else getting two very different sets of feedback. So try something else, a different image, different words, different actions, and bi- golly I bet you ten sets of teasers you see a change.

I thank all  my clients for their patience and willingness to work with such a young Pilates mind, I thank them all for the lesson they teach me from the studio to the streets, all lesson are meant to be carried on.

                      I had a meditation guide in India tell me once that in the guided practice you are safe, its only when you leave the meditation room and head out into the world that the real meditation practice occurs.  Studio to the streets, everytime is the perfect time to practice.

PROS N CONS

To be free of time is to be free of the psychological need of past for your identity and future for your fulfillment"

 Sometimes the hardest decisions are the best ones to make. Sometimes emotions can shadow what is really the truth and some times those truths conflict with the raw emotion of feelings. Yeah, i know its hard for me to wrap my head around too. Truth. You don't know that you have made the right decision until its been made and its funny much like finding the love of your life some say"you just know".

 Last year i made a very hard decision choosing my Pilates Teacher Training program leaving my land of pleasant living and moving to one of the most expensive cities in the country. Best decision I have ever made in the past three years... moving to New Zealand five years a ago was a pretty damn good decision too.

Today I made another hard decision, it went against everything i had put so much faith and energy into but I know it was right because a lightness swept over me like I was free, free to be me and love me just the way I am without worry. Evolution, although our fancy medicines have stunted our evolutionary growth as a species we as individuals are constantly moving on the up and up or so we can only hope.

In my symposium today we broke down the pelvis and hips, fascinating area of the human body. Most fascinating is becoming aware that the shape and the way our femurs sit in our hip joint while standing on two feet resemble closer to a quadruped. Giving way to the thought that we as a species have not yet fully evolved to our maximum potential and because of modern science probably won't for millions of years to come, pros and cons.
 .
As a choice i decided long ago that modern medicine isn't for me, and yes I am aware that there are circumstances but while I am still healthy, strong, and with a sound mind and because I love the thought of change I give myself to nature, pros and cons.

With everything there are pros and cons, I try to always make the best decision based on the analysis of which one bears more weight, and when in doubt go with your gut it never lies!

I really like this visual and can imagine i am this fluid with a super stable pelvis, my femurs deep in my  antebellum , making my way through the jungle to a secret surf spot where I will magically leap on to a board and ride some sick ass wave! 

"It is better to be direct"

"It is better to be direct" are the words used by a french photographer , the words were spoken to my beautiful sister Lydia. Lydia shared the story which I now forget the context the phrase was used in, but i believe the words are powerful enough no matter the context.

In life there are all sorts of things we need to communicate about from "please take the trash out" to " find your hamstrings not your quads", to" take I-90 all the way then make a right at the end of the road". Communication is everything. If there is a lack of communication anywhere in a relationship, whatever that relationship is feelings, thoughts, actions, are free to be whatever the translator allows. People can not actually read minds, energies yes,  be direct and be confident in what you have to say. An assuming mind is a dangerous mind, its like wild fire spreading through a dry wheat field if its not contained or controlled it heads right into the dry pine needled forest and is lost to us for a very long time, assuming minds go no where fast. As a good communicator I feel one can not assume and if one finds ones self on the assuming end, be direct ask the question/s that you are only making the assumptions about.

I recently made the mistake of assuming that one of my flatmates understood a conversation we had together the same way I understood it. We had a conversation, I took it one way he took it another way,nothing was said I assumed we were on the same page actions took place and BOOM come to find out it was not what I had assumed at all and we had to re visit the conversation in a very different way. Coming back to my original point tonight "it is better to be direct", my mistake in this whole mess was my lack of directness, i asked a question which I assumed was understood in my native tongue of hannahisms, but it was not... Of course not, this person doesn't even know what hannshisms are let alone how to interpret them, foolish lion.

Being direct does not provoke being mean. Don’t be afraid to communicate your beliefs and values as you see fit in the right place and at the right time. If you disagree with something said, let that person know. You can do it in a way that honors and respects them and yourself. There’s no need to get into an argument or be condescending. If you are to be direct you must open yourself up to directness as well,by becoming less ego-sensitive to what the other person is saying,we are all different everyone.

Being direct comes in all shapes and sizes, from the home to work to your hobbies. In Pilates directness is very important, at the home, at a picnic, I mean how else are you going to get a pickle on your sandwich, in our jobs when asking for the raise or reminding your boss what your actual name is. Okay funny story time. I was yelled at while at my new job the other day for forgetting some big shots name on the guest list, who i met for like three seconds before being introduced to the next big shot. So the GM of the restaurant ( who I've been working with for 2 weeks) gives me hell to pay, while he's doing so he is calling me "Heather "the whole fucking time! So finally i say to him "My name is Hannah" in a very direct way, that did not go over well. In the end he apologized and things were ironed out , ah the irony of it all.


I now consider "Being Direct" a part of my self care habit. It is the safest way to find answers, gain understanding, move in a forward direction, even if the answer is "No" which is often what im afraid of at least there is an answer so that now there is a direction. My dad always says "Always forward never late I just like to motivate!"

Diplomacy is a great virtue but so is clarity, and diplomacy without our clarity is just undiplomatic B.S. Have the courage to be direct. It means taking charge, responsibility for your life, we should embrace that. 

Wined and Dined

Busy Busy bee buzzing around from one flower to the next, spring in San Francisco rocks the sock off any monkey!!

Along with the crazy but amazing Pilates schedule I keep, I have started a new job opening a restaurant with celebrity Chef Michael Chiarello owner of Napa Style home designs and Bottega restaurant in Yountville. It is an AUTHENTIC Spanish style restaurant down on the embarcadero over looking the bay bridge, Pier 5 magnificent location!! For the last few nights I have seriously been wined and dined, tasting very expensive Spanish and Napa Valley wines and eating very yummy, foodie, Spanish cuisine dishes.  I was quite surprised at the menu place being so used to Americanized foods from different cultures around the world, i was surprised by how genuine and authentic this menu actually is, and were not just talking food menu here.  The menu although for everyone, is not for the weaker pallated people of the world, allot of crudo, a whole dungeness crab, crispy shrimp with the heads still on them, octopus,baby squid, homemade sangria sauces, raw egg pea puree', etc...Everything is to die for but again quite adventurous as well, even the drinks are bold and brazen.

    Photo is from an actual restaurant in Madrid, but you now could find the experience down at Pier 5.


Life is a buzzing from teaching and practicing Pilates, to understanding the culture and cuisine of Barcelona, Madrid, and San Sebastian, its all go in the pulsing city of San Francisco. In a very fine lined way, I do believe I have managed to find the heart beat, the rhythm of my new home. Now, if i could only find a way to fit a surf in there somewhere, I would have it all.

The Value of Details

okay so you know what I have sat in my chair for three hours today trying to write this blog with the subject of details to discuss and got NO where...I was to caught up in the details of details to get any where!!! If Alanis Morisette was to add a new verse to Ironic  this would be a contender for a fitting subject, sheesh. 

So as not to waste to much more of my day before i go to work  and as not to get you trapped in a maze of my details to details I will only say this...

Details are important. The smaller the detail the more weight it bears in importance ( i spelled bears like that with intent).  You can spend as much time on the big details of life as you want but in the end the deal breaker or gainer is going to be the smallest of the smallest detail that will be noticed. In my practice of Pilate's its the smallest movements created by calling on the smallest muscles that gives me the biggest feelings and most effective form of strength. 

In my one on on sessions with my clients I am challenged to notice the details of the body that may create the hip hike, or the shoulder shove, or why they hyper extend their knees when they stand, why their lumbar spine bends but the thoracic spine doesn't, why someone just struggles with deep breathes. All of those things I see regularly, what i am training to see and focusing my attention on now is the smaller details that create the big details, Vale? It is very hard,  first there needs to be the understanding of how the human body is made up, and as we know the body is beautiful and complicated with a million little details.  As with everything this learning and understanding will take time and patience, its a willingness to change, grow, and opening yourself up to the truth that you will be wrong sometimes and that is okay for everything is a educational experience. 

                                    Pay attention to small details, they create new life and can bring re-birth.

Moving Parts

Inhale to lift the ribs off the waistline, turn left at the intersection, exhale to pull organs up and under ribs making space in the spine, pick up milk for coffee , get coffee, catch bus, and begin to pump arms inhaling for five exhaling for five, sprint to job interview in five minutes, grab lunch, schedule moving truck, pay phone bill, figure out taxes,pick child up from school, oh wait did i take child to school, deliver flowers, schedule workshop, oh wait am I on an exhale or inhale... (Insert big belly laugh here). For many of you this will probably sound familiar and if not you must have super powers or your just bored and need to go out there and in the words of my girl Britney "DO SOMETHING"!

   I was talking to the man in my life yesterday and at one point he said "I know your stressed, overwhelmed...". I had to correct him because although I do have allot going on right now and I often feel like I am the ball in a ping pong match, I am handling it and more importantly having fun with it. In saying that if something else was to drop on my plate I might just melt down but for now I am holding the reins, squeezing my thighs and enjoying the gallop.

 In this training course we (the students) have started to begin our teaching hours, we need to complete 950 hours total of teaching, observation, lessons, personals, case study, and miscellaneous, tis allot. Now that I have started to teach, more and more its all starting to make sense. Looking at a persons body and the way it moves and why they do certain things is FASCINATING, its unreal sometimes. Finding ways to provide more space into the spine, deepen the belly scoop, guiding a person to breathe in general, helping them find space in their chest so the breath can travel further providing circulation into the tips of the fingers, guiding all their moving parts and building into their awareness so when they leave me they stay in it carrying it with them with each step they take.

Its a theme for sure with me but in truth it should maintain the magnanimous place i put it in, breathe. We have all these moving parts to deal with. One foot in front of the other, which phone call to place first, the order of the life list which bullet gets priority, how to deal with it all, can we deal with it all. The answer to that question is yes, yes we can. We must breathe, if you forgot you were on an inhale or exhale just breathe because I am certain nothing is getting done for you if you don't. This is one of those priceless lessons you can take with you, it may seem silly to you, but you would be surprised how many people i see often who just hold their breath, more people than not and I used to be one of them.


                At the end day with all your moving parts breathe and go find a good friend to HUG!

                              Octopus Hug, well their mating but talk about your moving parts!

Rolling with my Homies!

                 

  

Nothing beats California weather and the friendship of a seven year old. Pictured above is my buddy Parker and I taking advantage of some good ol climbing trees. I think we must have sat in those trees for at least and hour. We chatted about the view, our mutual love of trees and all the birds and the bees (actual birds and bees not the act of pollination:)) from his tree top perch to mine.   

When we finally climbed down from our perch , we became scavengers  and pirates of some one else's rubbish, we made out well! Parker came away with a bag full of money and jewels and I stepped away in a pair of Christian Louboutins, granted they were well loved before my feet ever hit them, but hey who's counting the steps in a four hundred dollar pair of shoes?

Rolling into the evening with my other homie, which so happens to be Parkers mamacita. Dinner then a show ensued. 

"Have we melted yet" was a show put on by one of my Pilates teachers Aura Fischbeck. This was a first for me seeing a modern dance "raw" performance. I can now say i am addicted.  This show to me was about the many layers of "us" of "you". We are all constantly growing and evolving into the  different  layers of our  selves. A quote that was used a few times in the show and one of my favorite books " Wherever you go there you are" brought that home for me. Aura danced a piece in the beginning shedding all her layers to us but in the end whatever layer was being showed at the time in the end it was still Aura. It had me thinking today, now even, about the many layers of my soul. How often I have evolved into different aspects of my already self, and thank goodness for it eh.  In the end though modern dance is like a Picasso painting, everyones going to get something different out of it, and thats the magical beauty of it all.

I believe in change. I believe that giving up something say for instance...can you think of something that you do, that you "think" is just who you are but it affects other people in a negative way? Instead of trying to change that behavior you find yourself saying "but thats just who I am". When does that not become okay? Why would you not want to evolve into a different version, unwrap a new layer of someone that you already are but haven't given the time/energy to know yet. In my opinion  its the unawareness of self and fear of losing self.  Knowing that you can change the patterned behavior into something that works better for you and those around you, a healthier, positively, better balanced existence calls on a pretty hefty belief system, but its there for the taking. If you find yourself saying "its just who i am" or maybe this one "I'm old, I'm not going to change", i challenge you to go against that step out on the ledge and continue to unravel the many layers of self,your never to old or to young. "Wherever you go there you are" you can give up as many of the bad habits as you want but you can never give up you. 

Its amazing what your body can do if you allow it to change and give it the chance. Imagine what your mind can achieve...

Alrighty ,thats enough for deep talk on a sunday morning:) Im heading out into the sunshine!

                      

The Green Room

 When I get on the Ellen show I am going to take her through the green room! AH HA you want to know don't cha? Well good, because I'm going to let you in on a little secret , the GREEN ROOM is the best place to go if you are one of those people who have a hard time bending your spine. Upper or lower or middle for that matter you don't bend there. Well you do but it takes work, trust me.

Cathy Grant a student and protege' of Joseph Pilates, Grant taught the Pilates method for more than fifty years. She as I understand it was a teacher of magnitude that was so enraptured by the rhythm of her students in her classes she could make a dozen people change their body with one image, so she didn't have to talk as much, smart lady. Grant quite smartly came up with the "green room" and if your not familiar with the proper term it is a place where dancers or performers go to prep for the open curtain call. In Grant's "green room" it is the stuck or weak spot in your body, mostly we refer to it while doing roll downs, rolling like a ball, or any exercises really, that can create spinal flexion.  Try it now!!  My teacher for a whole hour pretty much, had me do this working through my three green rooms, yeah there are three rooms in my spine 3,5, and 7. So how about you get down on the floor in this position

 okay great so your here, now take a few deep breaths inhaling letting the ribs fill lifting the cage off 

your waistline, exhale keep the ribs lifted pull the organs in and up "scoop" allowing for space for the 

spine to bend and decompress. Thinking about your tailbone being one and the crown of the head 

being ten start slowly rolling down to your mat. Keep your head in the roll ...when you come to a tight 

spot that doesn't feel like bending stop . roll back up from there. continue again, slowly working down 

and back up stopping at each "green room". When you finish you will feel like gumby and on your 

way to a healthier, flexible spine, like me!

on a side note, Super Excited to go see my friend Auras show tomorrow night check it out here!!

http://www.aurafischbeck.com/Aura_Fischbeck_Dance/Welcome.html  

copy and paste into your url.

 yay AURA!

Full Expression

 I do apologize for the space that has been happening between my posts, sorry I will try to be more on top my writing game here. A little run down on my last two weeks quick and light...boyfriend came into town, house sat for some good friends, took some much needed down time(pros and cons), auditioned with my sister for the amazing race, lost job because of it ( a blessing i am no ones ass shiner butt my own, if ya know what i mean) , interviewed for better job feeling good about it, and now until i know have more time for what i really want PILATES. I cannot wait for the day when that is all i get to do for a money maker something I love, something I really believe in, something that helps you and me.

   Coming into weekend three after knowing how hard weekend two was for me was really daunting. My fellow classmates and i have been able to spend more time together recently in classes, skills workshops, and now lectures. Having their support and being able to see them move and talk about the challenges we come across in learning, practice, and teaching is so great to helping better understand the work and better yet the full expression of what Pilates can really mean for every individual.

I am so excited to be moving into level four work although some of my body still needs to be at a lower level its very satisfactory when you ask your body to do something it responds with readiness and a hopeful willingness. There is always the battle of the wits happening "i feel"anyway with your self or some of you might relate better to good guy, bad guy image, I urge you to put aside both and just listen to your teacher, and then talk to him/her and then listen some more.

Thats it for tonight ya'll Im feeling good, I am feeling light and blessed I hope my message finds you much the same. goodnight!

My heart!

Happenings

Today is I have no idea and when i think about it have no idea how i got here. Things are happening fast and at a speed i have a hard time keeping up with , which is surprising even to myself for I have always been a full throttle kind of a girl. I guess the pace of life has finally caught up to me or I to it?

I have officially started to practice teach a few close friends and will be adding to the list next week. Even though it has been friends the task at hand is daunting. There are many things happening in the human body in one single movement, so many things I could point out, that I want to address and then there is the whole" okay stop talking i just got to get them through this " moment.

It is fascinating working so closely with another humans body. To examine it as it moves and be so close to the sometimes pain it can create, then a little cue is given or changes in the angle of the foot are made and I watch how everything changes in the body at work, watch as the blood is circulated adding color and heat, the pain or tightness melts away, ITS AWESOME!

My friend and co -worker has agreed to be one of my practice clients. After meeting with her for the first time today i could not be happier to her teacher.We are embarking on a great journey together and it will be fascinating for both of us to see the changes that occur, I believe I can provide good guidance and practice to give life back to her feet and hands this is my goal.They say that scars are the road map to the soul... in life and in Pilate's the feet are the atlas to the body. What we do to and how we use our feet has a direct correlation to what happens in our bodies, often times and Ive said it before buts its the things that need the extra special attention that hardly get any attention. PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR FEET.

On another more personal note the man in my life came back into my life four days ago. Oh there is so much to say but like the feet its hard to find the time, the strength, the energy, to just put in that extra oomph to make it a little bit better for yourself. Where is the balance in this chaotic life ? Where do we let go? What do we hold on to ? How do we make another mind understand? My friend said to me tonight and I loved it . She said that just like Pilate's you have to be gentle , time is a must, and some days your body is not going to do or move as you wish but you focus ,you let go of the desire to force the control , you let go and breathe knowing tomorrow is another day. 

HUH?

Totally how i felt after just finishing up my second round of lectures for my Pilates Teacher Training program.

I am surrounded by all these amazing people who ask these pro-found questions, speak this magical anatomical language and whose bodies move in this beautiful arrangement of bones and muscles under skin, and then some where over in the corner wrapped up in her frustrated tight lil body is me. Now I know this sounds very self deprecating but hey truth is truth and feelings are feelings , right? I have been practicing Pilate's for what? four months now and at first because my body was so new to me it was like an exciting ball of wonder opening up every time i had a session. Four months in, that's exactly what i am IN. In my body to the point where every move i make consumes me. Where are my bones here? when i walk what are my toes doing? where is my head? how am i breathing? should i be doing this? could this make this better? etc.. you get the picture. I have never felt so completely self involved as i do right now.Self Involved. Good thing? Bad thing? or is it a thing at all? Perhaps i should  change my words "self involved" to awareness, or mindfulness... after all the mind is powerful how we perceive something makes a huge impact on how we react to that something, oh bother.

I believe in this practice so much. I have seen the meaning behind the exercises that Joseph Pilates created to help us all lead healthier , happier, more fulfilled lives and I want it, ewww I want it bad, but it is the hardest thing I have taken on since , well since ever. Even all the tears I shed on the beach while learning to surf, just getting myself out past the break doesn't even cut into this cake. Surfing happened for me after a year of crying , getting back out there, getting broken down, and swimming out again, it came to me and changed my life, pilates is now my surfing.

They say the things that are worth it never come easy, or something like that, well darn if it isn't true. I have finally come to place where I have allowed myself to love again, after re finding the self love i needed to move on from a painful past. Now is where all the love unfolds accepting of love, imperfections and finding the strength to carry it on, in every aspect of my life and in yours. Walking away is easy but what do you get? Emptiness. Patience and persistence are harder but what is gained? Everything!

At the end of the day though, really and truly all you have to do is BREATHE. My very good friend reminded me of this after a very hard last day. My bitch hiccup was lasting way to long so we hopped on the reformer and after breathing through the first five exercises i was able to stand up and be me, and just be with acceptance that this is where i am right now, and its okay. So ill say it again because its important. At the end of the day, JUST BREATHE.

so many quotes come to mind, but there is only one word I need PERSEVERANCE.

Hannah Lioness in Training

BELLY

I stopped to observe a squirrel on my walk home today, oh how badly I wanted to be that squirrel. Observing it at a fairly close distance, I could tell it was happy bouncing around the tree squatting in a sunny bark patch checking me out as I checked it out. I cant tell you for sure maybe it was the rough lesson i had just gone through, or the fact that I feel like a mole these days, but I felt jealousy for that nut chaser.

Ah yes, the rough lesson. I have been practicing on the regular since the end of October, Pilates I mean. I came in with a body strong and smart but not very connected. One of my weakest findings or connections I will better state is my abdominals. Looking at my abdominals I dont think you would think i am weak in that area but its all superficial strength the real strength comes from deep within.  I have a hard time getting there and its mostly because my breathing habits have been how shall i say it...productive to the utilization of reaching deep.

The motion inhale draw the rib cage up and out fill the cavity with air, exhale keep the ribs in place squeeze the air from the lungs every drop as if your wringing out a sponge, naturally the ribs will be pulled down, not in down and the organs will be squeezed like the end of the toothpaste tube up underneath the ribs. While this breathing pattern is going on you are moving in and out of the exercises Joseph Pilates formulated for us to begin our transformation into a uniformly developed body, ITS FLIPPING HARD!  Funny enough too the simpler the move the harder the inner body works and finding connections is some of the hardest brain work i have done to date.

My teacher and I worked on my belly and breathing allot today and what I discovered in myself is that I feel allot above and below my belly but when it comes to feeling my mid section its hard, its a hard numb platform. So my amazing teacher gave me some homework from this day forward I am my belly. My thoughts will be formulated from my belly not my brain, my vision is from my belly, not my eyes, i feel, move,and breathe my belly. 

Irony

Funny enough the day after my last post about control, i was tried by the universal court.

The next morning i was feeling run down, pre-menstraul, and my nose was itching. Everything went astray. My bike tires were flat, people honked at me, the bart was crowded and sneezing, the bus was complicated and late, and I actually shed tears on the bus, nothing was in my control and I just wanted it all to be perfect. After, shedding my tears, I exited the bus, hopped on my bike and started laughing as I pedaled towards to my class. After all what am I to do?

When feeling trapped and unmoving in your daily life, try this. Turn your face to the sun and breath deeply, then relax your shoulders and ground your feet.
We are like the flowers, delicate and proud all we have to do is let go and there will be new ground to be opened.

Control

 "I dont fucking care what they think, I need 750 dollars and I only have 350 !!!", the guy next to this crazy sad girl wearing too much makeup and stripper shoes for days mumbles something under his breath and it leads to this..." Fuck you I dont fucking care ,when you get mad you slap me up so what the Fuck!!!" word for word this is what I heard on my peaceful walk through the Golden Gate park. Before on that same walk there was a tender moment i witnessed as i was walking next to the childrens park. A father and son were sitting away from the others watching a squirrel, "how cute" I thought to myself. It was cute right up unil the point where i noticed that they were watching the poor squirrel eat a PLASTIC bag. Um hello dad golden opportunity to teach, I looked at him shook my head and headed on my way.

While on this same walk after witnessing a golden moment missed and crazy stripper shoes girl lose her shit, it had me thinking. So many of us want to be in control of something right? correct me if im wrong. We try to control all the things we can't, therefore leading us on a short road to misery, unhappiness, always reacting, reaching, feeling as if were barely hanging on, etc... We put so much energy into trying to control the man in the lane next to us so he wont cut you off, or the person in your life who never seems to say the thing you want to hear, or the flatmate who takes 45min showers and leaves a dirty mug in the sink. Those things listed above, they do not matter but everyday i see someone get so rattled that it takes over their entire existence,myself included but i can say its not as usual as it once was.

What if we put all that wasted energy into the things we absolutly had control over? could we live better more sustainable lives? The only thing any of us have complete control over is ourselves. What  we put in our mouths, how we take a shower, what we wear to bed, how we react to situations, how we make love, how we fight battles, what we choose to do with our bodies (lay around, exercise, mutilate) all of that we can control everything else can be embraced like the wave that takes you down or the speed bump you didn't see coming and your going 30mph, it happens, we move on.

In my opinion Pilates feeds the need to control because there is one rule well for the record its not really a rule but for this purpose thats what im referring to it as, you have to be in control to complete the move properly. If you are not using your brain and maintaining a constant focus on what you are doing it is pointless you might as well be that girl completely out of control gaining nothing or the man letting an educational moment slide, nothing was gained. In Pilates you gain everything when you stay in control and practice that control within yourself no one else, not your surroundings just you and you are rewarded.

Healthy mind, Healthy body you cant have one with out the other.

A complete Day Off

 What a day!
 A sleep in, cup o joe, everything bagel with cream cheese and I was off like a boomerang. I use the metaphor boomerang because thats exactly how i spent my day back and forth and forth and back again.
 It was a complete day off! I shut down my mind from work, Pilates (well not totally from this), commuting and anything else that sometimes becomes daunting.
 I ran errands made some purchases, took care of some much needed business but out of all the things I did today there were two things that filled me with LOVE.

  For those of you who know me, you are aware that my bedroom is always made into this magical place, almost like I have created a far away country within its four walls. Today I did just that after about four hours of just plugging away at my room. I would have to say the feeling I get is somewhere between Morocco and India, and I am in love.

As the sun was cresting in the sky i grabbed my longboard and headed out into the beams for a mighty fine skate around the lake. I don't think  I have ever felt as content and satisfied as I did this day.No worries, No problems just me doing me.

EPICness!

 January has been such an epic, amazing, and giving month.

Epic day, EPIC! So I get into work today and the big boss man wants a meeting, insert huge GULP here. Okay, here it is I thought up or down because he's no round and round man. He starts talking about what it means to be a supervisor and looking at me with those piercing blue eyes waiting for a reply, meekly I come to the conclusion he is referring to me and what he now expects out of me since I am now the supervisor!  I leap for joy, I mean how nice is it to be recognized for hard work and be rewarded, it felt great . I am so thankful I work with people who recognize a good employee when they have one.
and on another not the rest of my day went like this:

I left my job feeling fine walking down the street in a straight line

Stopped for a taco got me some chips ordered a beer and took many sips

Called a friend she was selling her bike told her Ill be right there and started the hike

For fifty bones I got a sweet ride and now I'm no longer in a bind

Boarded the train with bike and bags  its hard with flat tires the bike zig zags

Bike on the escalator not so smart almost toppled over not a great start

Arrived at my stop bags and bike in hand around the lake I go its better than i planned

I see the lights from my apartment calling I am the opposite from stalling

My body heat is rising which is not very surprising

Home I have arrived Im feeling quite alive

this poem is getting shorter perhaps next for sure ill hire a porter

What a wonderful day it has been I must lie down to rest my chin

Good night sweet dreams until the sun beams 

Trial and Reward.

After completing five full days of living, breathing, and dreaming pilates, I am spent. My brain is mush, my body is" unfurling" (my new favorite descriptive word), and I feel different.


Walking back from the studio tonight i was thinking as I was walking, always a good thing as not to get lost or mugged. I was pondering how i could make my walking easier? I was carrying a very heavy shoulder bag and could feel it pulling me in a direction I had just worked to come out of. I was standing at a light and decided to try actually standing in my feet, and GUESS WHAT!? It worked. As i consciously stood my feet into the ground my whole spine decompressed and i was lifted a significant amount onto myself. At that moment the pain in my back released , my abdominals kicked in, and my legs of all things felt lighter. Now of course i still had a mile to go and i was in and out of that ease the whole way but when I had it. it was amazing, the difference my body adjusted I felt lighter, like bones  instead of muscle and tissue were walking through Golden Gate park. 

  I go back to my retail sales job tomorrow where for eight hours I stand and stand and then stand some more, well sometimes i run up and down stairs. I often sneak into the dressing rooms to do spinal roll downs, and on my lunch without fail I stick my legs up in the air and lay on my back, no spider veins for me, not if i can help it anyway. After, exploring and playing with my body at that stop light and during my walk home, i am just curious...Can i practice that same awareness while suiting up a posh princess in a ski "outfit". I feel I am in this never ending story of doing really great work with my body and then I revert back into this tightwad of super fascia muscle tendon tightness, agh.

I can't help but wonder...Why is it so easy to lose the practice of the things that benefit us the most?

Hot Bath

My muscles seemed to have melted right off my body as I eased myself from the tub, what a relief.

 It has begun, everything counts, the count down has begun, the journeys road has taken the steep climb up and up, the sun shines down and my breath guides me, its all I want.

So some of you might be wondering why this topic of Pilates is so important to me? I feel I do owe you an explanation of why this route I decided to take in my thirtieth year of life is important and perhaps why you should read my words. My decisions as I stated in a previous post have always been sporadic, impulsive, and out of a lust for something different and perhaps dangerous. I am not saying i regret any of those decisions, no, those decisions led me to meet so many unique and wonderful people, have a huge diversity in employment, circumnavigate the globe a couple of times, and fall in love...a few times. What my meaning is the only thing in life is the constant change we all go through. Some allow this change to happen without ever noticing, some resist, some push harder for change to occur, and some I would dare say the lesser half of our human race mindfully and openly become more aware that the change is in fact taking place.

What does this have to do with Pilates? ( you may be asking yourself)
 Pilates was the change that was taking place in me without me realizing it. I am not referring to Pilates in the physical act of doing here but more of what it stands for (for me anyhow), sorry that might have gotten to heady but bare with me. I am not a person lacking in energy much like the body there is always energy being created right?  where does all that energy go? If there is no guidance that energy is wasted or unused. Much like I lived , all this energy no clear direction or focus on where to put it just bouts of AHHAHAH WHOO HOO THAT WAS SO MUCH FUN, WHATS NEXT!

I taught fitness classes for along time and don't get me wrong I loved that job and loved my peeps who took my classes, but much like my bouts of energy there reached a point with me that I started to feel a dis connect from the fitness its self , my body, and the people who were in my classes body. My energy was calling me to recognize it for something more than just a powerful source of energy for others, it was calling me to go deeper, and go deeper i did when i started on the regular with my pilates practice. I remember the first session i had with one of my wonderful teachers @ the Pilates Workshop. I had been saying to myself "Im strong, i got this no problem" hahah yeah strong in all the superficial points in my body. Pilates for me has become such an eye opener in to the women I hold inside myself and for along time could not access because i had all this superficial strength pulling me outside of my body. For sure its not just the pilates but the other mountains I've climbed and the many wonderful teachers i have had along the way to get me to where i am now, but Pilates is that complete balance. It feeds me and nurtures me, bringing me into to a place where I am quiet yet energized with a clear path for that energy to flow.

Year of the Snake

what it could mean for you?

I am embarking on this training in the year of the snake as a leo born in the year of the dog, side note I think its cool Im a cat, dog :)

Here is a link to help you maybe figure out where your head should be this upcoming year. I am fascinated by all of these studies and find that it really does make since and always more light is spread on a facet I am working on or need help understanding, besides it just fun.

Link www.fengshuistore.co.uk

Have a Colorful Day!