And Breathe

Pilates teachers often feel we have to teach too much all at once. It's common to over-teach, trying to mold the client into perfect form and technique with proper breathing, all while deeply understanding the roots of the method before we even let the client press out on the reformer. But embodied understanding comes from experience and mistakes. Clients need to feel their bodies in movement in order to understand what our various cues mean. What does it mean to push in both directions, or to use the feedback of the springs to someone who has never tried it? How are we expecting them to figure it out without trying?

We're not bad teachers if we let our clients make mistakes. We're not bad teachers if we don't layer on every cue all at once. We're not bad teachers if our clients have a foot slightly turned out when we asked for parallel or if the shoulders are a bit elevated that day. The body is different every day and we can only focus on a couple of things at one time, especially for more novice movers.

There are clients who have decades of experience in Pilates and still have no idea how to breathe properly with the movement, and then there are clients who just started and seem to adapt to every cue we give. As teachers, we need to realize people come to us to feel better, to heal something physical or emotional, for connection, and for movement. Being the "perfect" teacher doesn't matter as long as we're teaching as best we can to what this person needs today.

Often if we just get people moving, of course safely, but just get moving, the person will connect to the method, and maybe with time, they'll want to learn more about the roots of Pilates, the different muscles that make up the "true" core, how to breathe in sync with the movement of different styles, and how to articulate through the levels of the spine. But when people start out they may simply want to move and feel slightly better, and that's ok. We guide them safely, how they need, for their unique bodies. And with time they'll deepen their practice. Just let the client move!

Let them move. Let them breathe. We don't want to be that teacher who won't let the client move or will stop the class every few minutes to correct everything. It takes a few repetitions for the body to figure it out. So if we continually stop and correct them immediately, we're not allowing them to figure things out to embody the practice for themselves. Instead of creating self-efficacy for the client to be able to figure out the movements and feel their own body working through it with our guidance, by over-cueing and over-correcting we will create a reliance of the client on the teacher. The client then learns they can't move through a practice themselves, that either it's dangerous or wrong and they might get injured because they don't know what they're doing. We don't want to teach our clients to rely on us, but rather to become embodied and resilient in their own movement understanding and use us for guidance.

I remember a client coming to my studio for the first time and telling me that she had done Pilates for years, but that when she first started she thought she hated it because that individual instructor wouldn't let her get on the reformer or do any of the exercises until she was breathing "properly". I was surprised to hear that at the time, so I asked her to get on the reformer to start moving, and while she was moving I gave her cues and breathing tips to think about simultaneously as she was able to do, to layer on the ideas while continuing to move. Years later, she continues to enjoy Pilates and the physical benefits she feels after her sessions. Most clients' goals are like hers, wanting to move, wanting to feel better, wanting to have an enjoyable session. It's different if we are teaching a training program for new teachers to learn breathing methods in specific exercises, or a deep dive continuing education workshop on the techniques and anatomy of breathing. In those cases, we should be very analytical, picky, and specific. But with a client, especially when they first come to the studio, we must let them get moving.

Some teachers are afraid of letting the client move until they have the proper foundational breathing technique that we all learn in our teaching programs, but seeing how someone naturally breathes can actually inform us of the struggles and challenges for them, as well as what is easy for their body to accomplish. By watching the client's movements and struggles we learn what they can do, and what they need.

Essentially, breathing is an advanced addition to any exercise. As a client becomes more comfortable in the movements and choreography of what we're teaching, we can then begin to layer in other cues through various methods to assist them in finding a better flow, improving embodiment and organization throughout the body. But as a client is beginning their Pilates and movement journey, or when they're learning a new exercise, I tell them to just breathe naturally. Often, as they are working with effort, clients will tend to hold their breath and so I will just say "and breathe" to bring their awareness to their holding or gripping patterns. Then, just by reminding them to find a breath the whole body will ease into the movement and organize the movement in their body in a more efficient and effective manner.

And that's really our overall goal, to guide someone in a way to discover better movement. It's not about strict protocols or specific cues that are "right or wrong". But maybe we teach a client the movement and ask if they feel x, y or z afterward. Or, after they do an exercise ask them to think about a specific cue that we noticed while doing the movement again, and then ask how that felt different than the first version. Allow them to notice the work in their own body, which teaches that resiliency and awareness. Through their experience in that way, they are learning the "pillars of Pilates", becoming more centered and focused, more precise with the flow, breathing with movement and control, without our sitting them down and listing the original goals of Pilates. They'll then have an embodied knowledge of Pilates guided during movement, instead of being dictated to while waiting.

My goal as a teacher is to create a positive learning experience to let the body adapt, for the client to find joy and relief in adding movement to their daily life, and to help them feel better overall. In every session, I'm curating an environment that is appropriate for that unique client to guide them in the way they need. I connect to them on their level of understanding, and I aim to meet them where they are that specific day in matching their energy and personality. This relies on my being very present with them in order to notice what they're needing which is definitely challenging. It means I must allow myself to be present and vulnerable, but with experience also maintain my own boundaries to protect myself from taking on every client's issues throughout the day. It is definitely an ongoing practice to be able to give to our clients while taking care of ourselves as practitioners, but it all starts with breathing. Take a breath while we're teaching in order to center, refocus when we start over-teaching and connect to where the client is in that particular moment.

Just start moving and remember to breathe.