Trouver la bonne adéquation entre votre professeur de Pilates et vous

 

 

Finding the right student-teacher connection is as important as finding the right mind-body connection in Pilates.

I’d been taking Pilates classes for 6 years and had learned the mechanics of Pilates and thought it was a lot of fun, but none of my teachers could explain why, after so many years, I still couldn’t do a roll up. Some said it was because I had a tight psoas, others said it was my body proportions, I had this, or I had that – and none of these explanations seemed logical or coherent to me!

 

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying they were bad teachers. It’s just that I hadn’t yet had that “aha” moment where I found that internal connection in that movement. I was also frustrated by the lack of progression – 6 years of Pilates exercises and I couldn’t do a roll-up? I had the nagging feeling that there was more and that I was just scratching the surface. Initially, I decided to train as a Pilates teacher – because I wanted to have a deeper understanding of my own body.

 

When I started practicing Pilates, I didn’t even know that Pilates was a person, let alone that its name wasn’t patented, and how great a difference there was in the quality and styles of Pilates teaching.

 

Of course, now that I’ve done a lot of further training in Europe and the USA, and am continuing to perfect my training, the fact remains that in Switzerland, anyone can take a weekend certification and set themselves up as a Pilates instructor, fully covered by insurance. . I believe that a teacher with good Pilates training can make or break a student’s experience. I suppose it’s like learning anything as a child or finding the right hairdresser, it takes time to find the right subject or person that touches you personally, and that’s the connection I hope to make when teaching my students.

 

It’s important to get the right feeling from your Pilates teacher. They are there to take care of you and your body, and to help you discover your own body.

 

At the Institut Pilates de Genève (now Fitspro), I began my mat work qualification with Iva Mazzoleni, which led to an 18-month Lolita’s Legacy mentorship during which I began to make those vital mental connections I’d been missing. I began to appreciate the depth of the Pilates method, which I had previously only experienced as a series of exercises.

My mentoring led me to study in Florida with Lolita San Miguel, the founder of Lolita’s Legacy. She trained directly with Joseph Pilates, and I thus entered the direct lineage of Pilates teaching.

 

Passionate about Pilates and extremely curious, I also continued to deepen my knowledge of training techniques with other international master trainers: Pilates Elder – Mary Bowen, Michael Fritze, Ton Voogt, Blossom Leilani Crawford, Kathy Corey, MeJo Wiggin, Deborah Lessen, Brett Howard, Alan Herdman, Anthony Lett, Madeline Black, Wendy LeBlanc-Arbuckle and Philip Taupin.

 

Thanks to these master teachers, I’ve learned in depth about breast cancer and its cure, Pilates and children, the use of Spiraldynamiks and Pilates functionality, combating muscular imbalances and scoliosis and how to improve athletic advantage with Pilates.

 

When I teach my students, I am constantly reminded that even if they are on the same path of discovery, they will have come from different starting points and will end up with their own destination.

 

I’d be interested to hear about your Pilates teacher training experiences, the good, the bad and the ugly!

 

Listen to what I have to say about my learning experience with “Pilates elder” Lolita San Miguel: