pilates poster girl

A simple suggestion boosts the strength and self-confidence of a sister in need

Charmian Christie

The model leans against a foam roller, her long, wavy hair blowing off her shoulders. The orange tank top complements her skin and reveals sleek, toned muscles. I eavesdrop as clients enter the Pilates studio and admire the poster on the door. I don't tell them the model is my sister Allison. Instead, I secretly delight in their attention. A few years ago, people stared at her for different reasons.

At 27, Allison had been our family's "poster girl for health." A beautiful woman with energy to burn, she taught aerobics, ate healthy food and meditated her stress away. So when she developed a stubborn rash, we expected some topical cream and a few days of discomfort. Instead, she spent the next 10 years fighting a rare and potentially fatal autoimmune disorder that shredded her skin and atrophied her muscles. The chemotherapy pills and antifungal drugs she was treated with weakened her already compromised immune system. As her strength, hair and agility faded, I became an extension of her body-I tied her shoelaces, lifted her from the bathtub or buttoned her shirt (because the cloth cut her paper-thin cuticles). She'd become a poster girl of a different kind.

Through a barrage of conventional and alternative treatments, Allison finally regained her health, but her flexibility and strength remained limited. Even with regular yoga and tai chi, she still couldn't lift her arms above her head or fully bend her knees. Chemotherapy turned her once straight hair curly, and I feared the disease had left more permanent changes.

Over the years, well-meaning people had offered surefire cures, but each failure pulled us further down. So when I suggested she try Pilates, which had helped my chronic neck pain, I felt a mixture of hypocrisy and hope. Was I setting her up for yet another disappointment?

To my surprise and relief, she returned from her first session excited. She raved about the foam roller exercises, despite not being able to touch her hands to the floor when lying on it. By targeting muscles she rarely used, Pilates helped her mobility and strength to improve quickly. She could soon stand without assistance and walk without pain. As her body gained strength, so did her confidence. She no longer responded to invitations with, "I'll see how I feel." Instead, she was making plans. Even though Pilates had helped me, neither of us expected such dramatic progress, and in less than two years she'd decided to become an instructor herself.

Now I began to worry she was overdoing it. Would she be able to handle the commute, the physical demands, the pressure of studying? I wanted to tell her to slow down, take things at an easier pace. Memories of relapses blinded me.

It seems Allison recovered from her illness before I did. She earned her certificate and hasn't looked back since. When I need proof of her new, stable health, it looks me in the face each time I go to the studio. Once again she's a beautiful, healthy poster girl. Only, this time for real.

Charmian Christie is a freelance writer in Ontario, Canada. Her work has been broadcast on CBC national radio and appears in various magazines and anthologies.