Issue #338
Wednesday June 16, 2021
Pilates, No Matter What!
by Mia LaMarca
I LOVE exercise and, lucky for me, I also teach it. If you are an instructor and you identify with that sentence, then you know where I’m coming from when I say that though I don’t earn six figures, I am rich beyond compare. I do what I love and help others in the process. I have enough to live simply, so that others may simply live, and above all, I know that true wealth is health.
As a teenager in the modern Western world, I often felt cut off – disconnected from my own body. And I suffered all the miseries that our society (whether through advertising, conditioning or the media) can heap upon a young and inexperienced person. I thought I was too fat, too short, too white, too ugly, and so forth.
At first, the only tools I had to combat those perceptions were exercise and diet. My motto then would have been: “When in doubt, Work Out!” And work out HARD! I beat my body up with high impact aerobics, marathon running, bulimia, fad diets, pills, alcohol, even cigarettes – anything to run from those feelings of self-loathing.
That was a long time ago, and thankfully I survived it. I’m sure a lot of dancers and exercise instructors can relate. The good news is that through it all, the exercise did grant me connection to my body. This altered me from the inside out. In fact, science has proven that “neurons that fire together, wire together”. That goes for good behaviors as well as bad. Thus, I was changing my own nervous system. My own motto changed: “Grease the groove, the GOOD groove!”
My journey began with competitive foil fencing, then on to getting certified as a Personal Trainer with ACE, which then led to many continuing education workshops, that brought me THANKFULLY to Pilates. Like many of you reading this, I explored yoga, sports-specific training, nutrition, calisthenics, weightlifting, barre, TRX, etc.
But Pilates ticked all the boxes. My intro to Pilates was in NYC with The Physical Mind Institute. I took a short workshop in Mat with a smart, young dancer. The Method was like a shot straight to my heart! It was only a taste, but I learned a lot and immediately started to practice on my own, and never stopped. I started to introduce my personal training students to the principles. Especially those with low back issues or pain.
A decade later, I found myself at a Pilates studio in NYC, exploring the apparatus. Once again, the attraction was immediate. I started to fall in love all over again! I took private classes with yet another young, talented teacher. I learned a bit about Reformer, Cadillac, Wunda Chair and Trapeze. I soon ran out of money and returned to the simple Mat practice, with an even deeper devotion and understanding of the beauty of Pilates.
Flash forward to 2012: I am living in Dublin, Ireland having been forced to leave my home city of New York due to my husband’s sudden and terminal illness. My life ground to a complete halt; to say we were blind-sided and devastated would be an understatement. John was only 51. I became his full-time caregiver and Pilates became mine! I had developed, in hindsight, a real discipline and practice through doing the Mat method pretty much every day, and now it became incredibly clear that Pilates was going to carry me through. I was still doing some weightlifting as well, and I laugh now when I think back to how I would sometimes hurl the dumbbells across the garden in my frustration and grief, instead of lifting them as intended! I convinced John to do some Pilates too, and I know it improved not only his strength and balance, but his well-being.
I started this article by trying to express how exercise was the portal through which I gained access to my body. Pilates gave me a kinesthetic awareness of not only the core, and the entire musculoskeletal system, but crucially, my breath. And as Joe himself would say “above all, learn to breathe correctly.” With the breath, we can calm the mind. Soothe the soul. Open the heart. Heal.
In 2019, I returned to studying Pilates. I got a certification in Mat at the National Training Centre and once again, I had amazing teachers. Two of them study with Michael King, and the third is fully Stott trained. I have been teaching small classes (mostly on Zoom these days) and one to one, ever since. I also teach seated dance and Pilates in nursing homes in Dublin.
During Covid, I have found the isolation, restriction of movement, the inability to travel (especially to see my aging mother), the loss of income, the sickness and death of loved ones due to it, or during the time of it, extremely challenging. All I can say is “Thank god for Pilates! Real wealth STILL equals health.” My new Covid motto became: “Pilates, every damn day!” I practiced with a kind of devotion, even a desperation! Once again, it sustained me.
Last weekend, I fell off the back of my boyfriend’s massive motorcycle. No one else got hurt, but it’s a big bike, and it landed squarely on my leg. Luckily, I had all the right gear on, or it might have been worse. My ankle is fractured and I am on crutches! I am 57 and still behaving like a teenager, thanks to all the Pilates.
I am seriously bummed out folks, but as we teachers know, the show must go on, and more importantly, Pilates is PERFECTLY and purposefully designed for my situation. Not only can I continue to practice “every damn day”, but I can also still teach. Hallelujah! When we bring everything to the Mat – our joy, our pain, defeats, victories; whatever it is. Day in. Day out – we not only get stronger, calmer and wiser, we even get younger, lighter, and more resilient.
This is why I say; “Pilates, no matter what!”
Mia LaMarca – I am Mat Certified by the NTC in Dublin. My teachers, Janette Penny & Noeleen Gregory both study with Michael King. My third teacher, Tara Fallon is fully Stott certified. I began my Reformer Teacher Training just before Covid struck with Dani Gonzalez, a Stott Instructor Trainer here in Dublin. I am an ACE certified Personal Trainer since 1992. I was a competitive foil fencer once, and even made it to an Olympic Finals Trial in 1984. I ran 3 NYC Marathons before I left New York for Ireland. Most of my work here in Dublin is in nursing homes where I teach both dance and Pilates (all seated) to folks who are de-conditioned due to dementia, Alzheimer’s and aging. I also teach Pilates privately (on Zoom these days) in home or outdoors. I am passionate about Pilates, exercise, nutrition and mindfulness. I just love to see people get healthier & happier.