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!