Some people like to keep separate things separate. They don’t want their broccoli to touch their mashed potatoes. They’re good at sorting laundry. Their work is work and their play is play. This is a perfectly useful and valid way to be in the world, but it’s not mine.
What this means for my clients is that my personal training clients get a little Pilates and my Pilates clients learn from my personal training practice. I know what I know, and I apply the knowledge that best meets the current situation.
Recently I listened to a talk about the legacy of Joseph Pilates. Since he left this plane of existence, his students and their students in turn have interpreted his work in different ways, sometimes peacefully and sometimes less so. The people giving the talk spoke with lots of Pilates elders and with folks from multiple Pilates schools and practices. What they found was that we have more in common than not.
What we all do, as teachers, is respond to the needs of the body in front of us, whether it is our own body or a client’s body. We come in with a plan, but we stay present with the human working, adapting as needed to give that person a positive experience of movement.
I hope that as my clients see me change what we are doing to meet the needs of the day, they learn to adapt themselves to their own circumstances. We live in flux. We need to stay aware and flow along. Even if sometimes the broccoli and potatoes touch.
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