A Letter To Brett From Lolita San Miguel
In February, as you may remember, I had the pleasure of presenting my friend Bob Hannum’s interview with Mary Bowen. In this excellent interview, Mary made a few comparisons between her own and Lolita’s teaching methods and styles. Soon after publication, I received a letter from Lolita asking to respond to some inaccuracies in that interview. Lolita’s letter also offered a well-written and appropriate counterpoint to Mary’s comments that invited and respected the differing opinions from these two ‘Pilates Elders’ and reflected her high level of respect for Mary in spite of their differences.
And as Lolita does everything … she does all of that with class and style!
So I am pleased to publish (with her permission) Lolita’s point of view. I hope you will appreciate that while our Pilates Elders each offer salient points that have substantial differences, the underlying from both of them shines through for our benefit!
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Dear Brett,
I just read Bob Hannum’s interview with Mary Bowen in Pilates Intel and was a bit surprised by some of Mary’s comments (****see relevant excerpt below).
Her remark about my teacher training program, Lolita’s Legacy, is not quite accurate. Actually I do not teach Lolita’s Legacy. I teach the Pilates Master Mentor Program – a 160-hour course for experienced teachers in small groups of between eight and twelve. I designed Lolita’s Legacy as a 500-hour teacher training program to be taught in small groups by the graduates of my mentor program.
Mary also claims that it is superior to teach Pilates on a one-to-one basis compared to a group basis, my approach. I can understand this may work for a Jungian psychological approach to Pilates. However, I teach Pilates technique and my experience tells me a group approach is better. I have taught and still sometimes teach on a one-to-one basis, but only for special occasions, such as for remedial training and for rehabilitation.
From a pedagogical point of view, however, teaching Pilates in groups has many qualitative benefits and advantages that are not possible in one-on-one teaching such as:
- Clarification and deeper understanding of the work through questions that arise from the interacting of people with different perspectives
- Subsequent refinement of comprehension and reinforcement through mutual assistance after class ends
- Development of social and teaching skills
- Development of own voice and stronger communication skills through comparison with other colleagues.
In addition, it is wonderful to see the bonding, the networking, the cooperation, and the long-term relationships that are established – these are just not possible through one-on-one teaching. The list can go on, but let me end on a huge one: cost/benefit. Group classes are a fraction of the cost of private sessions.
As we well know, Joseph Pilates said his dream was that “someday the whole world will practice my method.” I see my mission to do as much as I can to fulfill his noble vision, by raising the consciousness of the benefits of Pilates, by expanding the quality of its teaching and by honoring the man. That is why I convinced the German bureaucracy to allow me to place a plaque at the site where he was born, in Mönchengladbach, where he was totally unknown, where we now celebrate the biennial International Pilates Heritage Congress on Pilates Day weekend. That is why in 2016 I also organized a memorial celebration at Ferncliff Cemetery in Westchester, New York, where his and Clara’s ashes rest. (Mary attended and spoke eloquently.) I thank the hundreds of people who have helped me in these my endeavors. And that is why I think a group approach not only provides high quality Pilates, but its multiplier effect makes it indisputably far more efficient to reach and help people through the Pilates Method
“Each of us is different,” Mary says. I agree fully. Let us live together in unity honoring “ladifférence.” Mary and I have always interacted with mutual respect and affection and I’m certain we will so continue.
Thank you, Brett, and see you in Mӧnchengladbach on May 5-7 for the International Pilates Heritage Congress. We’re almost sold out!
Lolita
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Relevant excerpt from Bob Hannum’s interview of Mary Bowen published on Feb 22
Bob Hannum: Let me launch right in because the 2 interviews we have done in the past are the most popular posts on my website. People are fascinated by Pilates Elders, and especially by you because you’re the lesser known of the elders. People want to know why you’re not more well-known in the Pilates world?
Mary Bowen: There are only two of us now, Lolita San Miguel and myself, who are actively teaching. We were both among the founders of Pilates Method Alliance. I have presented at their Annual Conference for each of the sixteen years since its inception. I am the most senior Elder at 87; I studied with Joseph Pilates and Clara for six and a half years, twice a week. That was my beginning, at the age of 29, of living Pilates for 58 years now and teaching it for 42.
Lolita offers a training program which she calls “Lolita’s Legacy” – what to do, how to do it, how to say it, how to dress the part – a whole package of her experience of Pilates for students to learn.
My way of working is one-to-one. Work of any real depth must be one-to-one. I choose to work with people who need and want to go as deeply as they can into themselves in this lifetime. You can’t do that with a group and you can’t do that by teaching the same thing to everyone. Each of us is different. My work is to honor that difference by supporting each client in his or her own particular journey, into the body with Pilates and also into one’s whole person, conscious and unconscious.
Besides being a Pilates teacher since 1975, I have also practiced 47 years as a Jungian psychoanalyst. Until 1995, the two practices were entirely separate, one directive (as a Pilates teacher), the other non-directive (as the Jungian psychoanalyst). The two professions finally combined in my teaching to become my specialty in the Pilates community which I refer to as ‘Pilates Plus Psyche.’
I first combined the two in order to help a client understand the psychological reasons why she was having so much trouble with her body. Using both fields worked so well that everyone wanted it. As Pilates teachers, we are presented with a whole person, not just the body of a person. It is very helpful in our teaching to learn more about our own and our client’s type, the “typological structure” of our psyches.
In the world-wide established Pilates community, my name is recognized, but I don’t self-market. Perhaps I should – join Facebook and things like that. I haven’t had time. I have two Pilates studios, one at my home in Killingworth, CT and another in Northampton, MA, as well as three offices for psychoanalytical work in NYC, CT and MA.
My primary work now is a one-to-one intensive for two full days (14 hours over a Saturday and a Sunday) using my ‘Pilates Plus Psyche.’ This deep mentoring is a giant dive into oneself, a reboot, a love-fest. It’s a wonderful gift to give to oneself. It’s my favorite way to teach, share and help. 14 hours is enough time to really make a difference.
Working one-to-one means you work with fewer people. Perhaps that is why I am less well known. I am not about big success in this world. I am about success in the inner world. I want to help people connect more with their inner selves and their whole selves. Pilates is just one part of that.