January Calendar of Events
Your guide to this month’s hottest Pilates happenings
Note: All information was correct as of publication. Please call or visit the web sites for more information. If you have a listing to include in a future newsletter, please send all relevant information to Newsletter@pilatesstyle.com.
1/3–31—New Group Gyrokinesis Class meets every Wednesday
Water Over Stone, Chicago
773.755.1347
1/6—Reformer Jump Board Workshop; Strength and Agility Reformer-based Workshop
John Garey Pilates
Pacific Palisades, CA
562.598.8585
Johngareypilates.com
1/6—Pilates Week with Darien Gold
Rancho la Puerta
Baja California, Mexico
800.443.7565
rancholapuerta.com
1/8–14—Pilates & Beyond Open House
San Francisco Bay Club
415.433.2200
sfbayclub.com
1/10—Expanded Mat and Tower Class Schedule
True Pilates East, New York City
212.339.7200
Truepilatesny.com
1/12–21—Last-ever Intensive Workshop
Pilates Center, Boulder, CO
303.494.3400
thepilatescenter.com
1/13—Power Systems Resist-a-Ball Workshop
Amerifit Fitness Club and Spa, Greentree, PA
412.341.3033
afitspa.com
1/13–14—Core Muscle Anatomy Course
The Kane School of Core Integration, New York City
212.463.8308
Kaneschool.com
1/15: Expanded mat class schedule
From the Center Pilates, Chicago, IL
773.528.1099
Fromthecenterpilates.com
1/16–18—The Art of Teaching
Pilates Center, Boulder, CO
303.494.3400
thepilatescenter.com
1/20—Postpartum Workshop
The Kane School of Core Integration, New York City
212.463.8308
Kaneschool.com
1/20—Power Systems Resist-a-Ball Workshop
Progressive Insurance Fitness Center, Mayfield Village, OH
440.395.0103
1/20–21—2-day Teacher Training Course with Siri Dharma Galliano
Live Art Pilates/Pulse Pilates, Boca Raton, FL
310.839.8637
Liveartpilates.com
1/21—Intermediate/Advanced Cadillac Workshop with Jillian Hessel
ATP Specific Training, South Pasadena, CA
626.403.6545
atptraining.com
1/26–28—Mat Phase I Certification
The Kane School of Core Integration, New York City
212.463.8308
Kaneschool.com
1/27—Power Systems Resist-a-Ball Workshop
Western Racquet & Fitness, Green Bay, WI
920.497.1161
westernracquet.com
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We're back! Welcome to the relaunched Pilates Style monthly newsletter. Each month we'll bring you a calendar of the must-know Pilates events around the country, updates on our conferences, Pilates-related news, original feature articles and bonus material from the current issue of Pilates Style magazine. We want to hear from you! If you have, or know of, a Pilates event, or have news to share with your community, email us at newsletter@pilatesstyle.com.
Conference Update
Mark your calendar! The experts at Pilates Style invite you to attend the greatest Pilates events of the year, where you can earn valuable continuing education credits, study with the world’s top instructors and test the latest equipment. Plus, you can check out the latest gear, DVDs, equipment, apparel, props and more.
Each of these three conferences offers more than 70 sessions. Register early for the best deals, and check our web site for updates.
When and Where
June 22–24, 2007
Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa
Hollywood, FL
August 7–9
Hilton New York
New York, NY
October 19–21
Hyatt Regency McCormick Place
Chicago, IL
Pilates for the Troubled Spine
I wish I had read the current issue of Pilates Style [Jan/Feb] 15 years sooner—before I went under the knife to have 11 of my vertebrae fused together (using bone grafted from my hip) and then fixed in place with two metal rods. By the time I had the spinal fusion surgery to correct my scoliosis, I had no alternative: The curve had reached a whopping 62 degrees and I was in relentless pain. I don’t know if Pilates would have obviated the surgery, but I do believe that had I read Kathy Corey’s article while I was struggling with my condition, at the very least, I would have felt better and been in better shape to recover from the surgery.
When the initial pain of the operation finally wore off (after a year or so), I discovered a new pain—one that would become a constant companion for the next decade—and its location surprised me. It wasn’t in my thoracic spine, where my surgery had been, but rather in my lower back and neck. And that’s normal, I’ve since learned. “When a segment of the spine is fused, it tends to place increased stress on the area just above and just below the area of fusion,” says Karen Clippinger, MSPE, a professor at California State University, Long Beach, who organizes programs for teachers on scoliosis and Pilates. “These areas now have greater demands for mobility due to the lack of movement in the fused area.”
My chiropractor, who stood to earn a small fortune from my weekly visits to keep my overcompensating spine in line, was the one who introduced me to Pilates as a way to hold my alignment without her help. Clippinger supports that recommendation: “Pilates can be helpful for increasing stability in these mobile segments through increasing strength in key muscles such as the abdominals, spinal extensors and quadratus lumborum.”
I’ve been doing Pilates for a few years, and I can honestly say that these have been the most pain-free of my life. But beyond pain relief, I credit Pilates with making me aware of my body. For years my back—with its 10-pound, stainless steel accessories—felt like a foreign object itself. But Pilates has put me in tune with my body so that when something is out of whack, I can pinpoint it and address it. “The improved spinal articulation and body awareness developed with Pilates can be used to help limit excessive motion in any one area, while distributing movement throughout the mobile area so that the necessary movement can be achieved with less risk of injury or pain,” explains Clippinger.
My twice-weekly mat practice (with the occasional private lesson to troubleshoot new issues) has kept my body in the best alignment it’s ever been in. When I’m feeling hypermobile in my lower back, I focus on gentle stabilizing positions like Pointer Dog and Prone Plank. When my upper back and neck bother me, I do Twists and Chest Expansion. And when I’m not quite sure what’s bothering me, I try a Spine Stretch or Rolling Down the Wall to figure it out.
The beauty of Pilates, I’ve discovered, is that it works within a person’s limitations. The keys are to take it slow, have patience and listen to what your body is teaching you. That’s what I do, and it keeps me off the chiropractor’s table for months at a time.
For more information about scoliosis, contact:
THE SCOLIOSIS ASSOCIATION
www.scoliosis-assoc.org
THE NATIONAL SCOLIOSIS FOUNDATION
www.scoliosis.org
SCOLIOSIS RESEARCH SOCIETY
www.srs.org
—Deirdre Shevlin Bell, Senior Editor, Pilates Style
Pilates and Pets
You love Pilates, you love your pet. Why not bring the two together? Two of our favorite Pilates instructors are doing just that, in very different ways.
In the current [Jan/Feb] issue of Pilates Style magazine, you’ll read about Kathryn Ross-Nash, of Allendale, NJ, who raises and shows Australian Shepherd dogs. The fact that she and her dogs have achieved top rankings at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show is due not just to their bloodlines, but to the way Ross-Nash handles the dogs in the ring. “When I shepherd dogs, I shouldn’t have to worry about my body position,” she says. “If I move my body back, they can read my signals better. That way I can communicate what I want to communicate. The key is in not throwing off my dog.”
To stay conscious of her body signals, Ross-Nash relies on the control she has learned through Pilates. She believes other dog owners could benefit from taking some tips from the method, too: “Dogs are constantly reading us, so it’s important to know how to hold your body properly, which Pilates teaches so well.”
At Centre Pilates in Newton, PA, Pilates instructor Catherine Isaacson’s dog Kessako shows Pilates students that there’s much to be learned about body control by observing animals.
The 12-year-old Akita is remarkably fit in both mind and body. He participates in classes at Isaccson’s studio and even appears on some of her DVDs because, as she says, “he embodies all the principles of Pilates: centering, alignment, concentration, total control of his body, precise movement, optimal breathing and flow and rhythm of the body. All the principles of Pilates are intuitively present in his perfectly structured body.”
Students at Center Pilates often think Kessako is mimicking them—rolling on the floor, shaking his legs and feet, performing neck rolls and so forth—but in fact it is just the opposite, according to Isaacson. “Some people intuitively connect with Pilates while others have used the method to analytically capture their bodies’ natural rhythms,” she says.
Through Pilates, Isaacson believes people can learn animal-like control of mind and body. “Kessako’s mind guides his body at all times, focused and totally concentrated,” she notes. “Like a focused Pilates practitioner, his actions accomplish what his mind has already envisioned.”
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