Playing well with others-Advantages of working in a semi-private or small class

I am now teaching group classes at Club Pilates on Morena Blvd. in San Diego

http://clubpilatessandiego.com/

I happen to love working with small groups and besides making Pilates much more affordable in this economic climate, I think there are some distinct advantages to this kind of training.

I discovered the beauty of the mat tower class while working at Real Pilates in New York. (www.realpilatesnyc.com) Owner, Alycea Ungaro has mastered the form, creating extremely challenging yet safe and diverse workouts on the mat using arm and leg springs, push though bar, weights and the roll back bar. While teaching there, I had the good fortune to take weekly “Teacher’s Only” classes with Alycea. I would then, shamelessly steal her ideas and bring them to my own classes each week. I am excited to bring these ideas to San Diego!

While there are obvious advantages to working in a private session with the instructor paying close attention to alignment and form, here are some things that are unique to a small group session. First, it can be very beneficial to see different bodies executing moves. I think there is absolutely no place for competition in Pilates. We strive to push ourselves as much as we can within the confines of our own unique structure, age, level of conditioning and flexibility and experience. That said, there is something very motivating about seeing someone next to you fly into a position that might feel impossible and there is something satisfying about seeing someone struggle with something you have mastered. This can be a reminder of the progress you have made and a glimmer of hope for progress to come. The beautiful thing about Pilates, is that if you show up, you will make progress. This is not true of everything in life. Within this one structured world of controlled movements, we can strive towards mastery and achieve –not perfection- but significant improvement. It is useful to see where others are on this path. There is also the benefit of flow. Flow is one of the key principles of Pilates and when in a group setting, the class takes on a rhythm; the flow becomes central to the workout. Finally, there is energy. Energy feeds energy. You may have none; your neighbor may have a lot. The group dynamic is such that there is always, somehow, energy in the room to feed off of. So, bring what you have to a semi-private and leave the rest to your fellow students and me. To quote Woody Allen, “80% of success, is showing up.”