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It’s time again for another Pilates on Call, our open Q&A with Pilates and movement experts. Liz Koch, an expert on the psoas, has kindly volunteered to answer any and all of your questions about this deep, important muscle. For a general background on the posas, you can read her article Intro to the Psoas.
If you have questions about how the psoas relates to Pilates, now is your chance to get answers. You can leave your questions for Liz in the comments section below or email editor@pilates-pro.com. Liz will get to them as quickly as possible, but might need a day or two to respond.
ABOUT LIZ KOCH
Liz Koch is an international somatic educator and creator of Core Awareness™ focusing on awareness for exploring human potential. With over 30 years experience working with and specializing in the iliopsoas, she is recognized in the somatic, bodywork and fitness professions as an authority on the core muscle. Liz is the author of The Psoas Book, Unraveling Scoliosis, Core Awareness: Enhancing Yoga, Pilates, Exercise & Dance, and The Psoas and Back Pain. Approved by the USA National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork (NCBTMB) as a continuing education provider, Liz Koch is a member of the International Movement Educators Association (IMA). Learn more at coreawareness.com.

Posted on Wednesday, October 20, 2010 at 03:35PM by Amy Leibrock in Anatomy, Education, Liz Koch, Pilates On Call, psoas | 32 Comments

By Liz Koch
Feeling vibrant within your core ultimately depends upon a healthy, juicy and responsive psoas. The psoas (pronounced so-as) is your core muscle and an integral aspect of a centered and functional body. As a major player in back pain, knee injuries and tight hip sockets, it is often the exhausted psoas that disrupts range of motion, as well as digestion, bladder functioning and sexual pleasure.
WHERE IS THE PSOAS?
Your psoas is located deep within your core, growing out of the spine at approximately the twelfth thoracic vertebra (the area called the solar plexus), and moves through the pelvis, crossing over the ball and socket joints into the inner thighbones at the lesser trochanter. Being the only muscle to connect your spine to your legs, the psoas moves through the core like a pendulum synchronizing the free swinging of the leg when walking.

Posted on Tuesday, October 19, 2010 at 03:30PM by Amy Leibrock in Anatomy, Liz Koch, constructive rest position, core, psoas | 2 Comments

It’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month, so we thought we’d spread the word about “Passionately Pink! Pilates,” a free Pilates resource for breast cancer survivors. This hour-long video was produced through a collaboration between Peak Pilates Master Trainer Clare Dunphy and Naomi Aaronson, an occupational therapist, certified cancer exercise trainer and Pilates instructor. The video is divided into two sections (seated and supine) and is appropriate for women 6-8 weeks post surgery. “Clare, the model [Lissa Silk] and I all donated our time, energy, and spirit,” said Aaronson. “We put a lot of effort into making it safe and effective.”
Feel free to share the link to this video with clients or anyone recovering from breast cancer, or watch and get some tips for your own teaching.

Pilates & Breast Cancer Recovery: Q&A with Pink Ribbon Program Founder Doreen Puglisi
Pilates for Breast Cancer Survivors

Posted on Friday, October 1, 2010 at 04:37PM by Amy Leibrock in Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Clare Dunphy, Education, Naomi Aaronson, Teaching Strategies, breast cancer, breast cancer recovery, pilates for breast cancer survivors | 1 Comment

By Amy Leibrock
It was a full house at the Ailey Citigroup Theater in New York Monday night as members of the Pilates and dance communities gathered to pay tribute to Kathleen Stanford Grant (1921-2010), a first-generation Pilates teacher who studied directly with Joseph Pilates and taught the Pilates method for more than 50 years. The celebratory evening was filled with laughter, dance, music and stories about the life and spirit of this multi-faceted woman who “dedicated her life to making all others dreams come true,” as Sarita Allen, one of her students, said. The celebration began with an African drumming processional and was followed by a mixture of dance performances, video footage and almost a dozen speeches from family members, students, colleagues and friends. For those who weren’t able to make it, I’d like to share some highlights from this special evening.

Posted on Thursday, September 30, 2010 at 12:50PM by Amy Leibrock in Arthur Mitchell, Blossom Crawford, Carola Trier, Dance Theater of Harlem, Dancers, Ella Thompson Moore, Instructor/Studio Profiles, Kathleen Stanford Grant, Kathy Grant, Linda Tarnay, Pilates History, Pilates history, Tisch School of the Arts, dance | 3 Comments

By Anne Samoilov
Welcome to the second installment of my Pilates Mentors series. I’m passionate about supporting my fellow Pilates instructors and passing on the nuggets of advice that I receive from my own Pilates mentors. I am so excited to share with you my conversation with Marguerite Ogle. Marguerite is best known for her work on About.com as the Pilates Guide. She has built an extremely thorough site which provides information for Pilates students as well as instructors.

Posted on Monday, September 27, 2010 at 02:00PM by Amy Leibrock in Anne Samoilov, Business Ideas, Instructor/Studio Profiles, Marguerite Ogle, marketing, social media | Post a Comment

There has been a lot of talk about core stability lately, prompted in part by the publication of Professor Eyal Lederman’s paper The Myth of Core Stability and other rumblings in the media about the validity and safety of core training.
On Aug. 10, Peta Bee wrote an article in the London Times (requires payment) stating that the founding principles of Pilates are flawed. Glenn Withers, founder of the Australian Physiotherapy and Pilates Institute, followed up four days later by posting an excellent, detailed response on the APPI website. All of these are worth reading to educate yourself on the arguments.
But what does this all mean to you? As a Pilates instructor, you instinctively know that the work is incredibly valuable if taught correctly. But clients who have read these articles may have questions. Nuala Coombs, a founding director of the Pilates Institute UK and owner of The Pilates Consultant, tackles this issue below. We also invite your ideas on how to talk to clients about this issue in the comments section.

Following the publication of the article by Peta Bee, I received several emails from teachers wondering how they would respond to their clients should they refer to the article. My advice was simple. If they don’t mention it, there is no point in bringing it to their attention. For those clients who did not read the article, it will only create confusion. Of course for those clients who have questions, we need to be able to give them clear, satisfactory answers.

Posted on Monday, August 30, 2010 at 01:41PM by Amy Leibrock in APPI, Core Stability, News/Research, Nuala Coombs, Peta Bee, neutral spine | 7 Comments

by Jonathan Urla, MFA, CPT-PMA
It seems that I hear about a “new” fitness term or trend every week. These words usually come from the scientific community, but they often take on new meanings when the media and general public start using them. I started noticing that most of these words could be used to describe Pilates exercise, so I decided to dig a little deeper.
I compiled a list of the terms that are currently in fashion in the fitness world and media and looked at the relevance that each has to Pilates training. I hope the result is as illuminating to you as it was to me. This exercise reiterated to me that the techniques of Joseph and Clara Pilates are still proving to be years ahead of their time. As instructors in the health and wellness field, it is important for us to be aware of these trends and be able to explain to students how they relate to Pilates.

Posted on Tuesday, August 17, 2010 at 04:44PM by Amy Leibrock in Career Development, Jonathan Urla, News/Research, corrective exercise, fitness industry, fitness trends, functional fitness, multi-planar exercise, progressive exercise, tri-planar exercise, yogilates | 2 Comments

Continuing education is such an important piece of your Pilates career. That’s why we have a Pilates Workshop calendar that lists Pilates training programs, workshops and conferences around the world. It’s a great place to start when you’re looking for something new to learn, or when you have your own workshop to promote.
We’ve just streamlined the listing submission process, dropped our prices for multiple listings, and we’re including more info with every listing. So if you’re hosting or teaching upcoming programs, consider listing with Pilates-Pro.com. Your workshop also might get mentioned in our active Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn streams!
You can find pricing and listing information on our Workshop Listing Order Form. If you have questions, please email workshops@pilates-pro.com. Happy Learning!

Posted on Monday, August 16, 2010 at 04:15PM by Amy Leibrock in Education, Pilates Workshops, continuing education | Post a Comment

On Monday, September 27, a memorial service will be held in honor of Kathleen Stanford Grant at the Ailey Citigroup Theater in New York City. Kathy, a first-generation Pilates teacher who taught for more than 50 years, passed away in May 2010.
The organizers of the memorial, Blossom Leilani Crawford, Cara Reeser, Keith Sabado and Sarita Allen, cordially invite the Pilates community to join them in celebrating and remembering Kathy Grant. If you would like to share a memory, they will be creating an album for Kathy’s family. At the memorial they will be collecting any copies of photos or written memories you would like to contribute.

Posted on Friday, August 13, 2010 at 10:05AM by Amy Leibrock in Kathleen Stanford Grant, Kathy Grant, Pilates History | Post a Comment

If you’re a student of movement, a parent or just baby crazy, you’ll love this video montage of baby Liv as she learns how to use her body. Without even realizing it, you’ve also just watched what you would do in a Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement Lesson. The video is part of The Next 25 Years, a video project that aims to demonstrate and explain the Feldenkrais Method in a simple, effective way. Moshe Feldenkrais, like Joseph Pilates, studied how babies develop and move and used those observations as a foundation for his method.
Even more so than Pilates, Feldenkrais is difficult to explain to the uninitiated, and it suffers from a “strange” name. Irene Gutteridge, producer of The Next 25 Years and a Feldenkrais practitioner in British Columbia, Canada, is trying to make it more accessible and bring more recognition to the method. If Baby Liv’s video is any indication, she may succeed. It’s been on YouTube for just over two weeks and already has over 10,000 views. We’ll be keeping our eye on this project - maybe she can take on Pilates next?

Posted on Tuesday, August 10, 2010 at 11:27AM by Amy Leibrock in Baby Liv, Education, Feldenkrais, News/Research, The Next 25 Years, Video, YouTube | 2 Comments