Issue #379 – Wednesday, September 21, 2022
Pilates and One Healing Journey – Part II
by Marion Kessel, PMA® – NCPT and and Gail Feldman, Ph.D.
- Quick recap of Part I [Marion]:
This case study originated when Dr. Feldman was referred to me by James Rice, M.D., of the Southwest Pain Interventional Clinic in Albuquerque, New Mexico (https://swipsnm.com/) where I currently live and teach Pilates (partly at his clinic). Our working relationship, one of mutual trust, has developed over many years, in fact since Dr. Rice came to my home studio with debilitating back pain that was hampering his ability to function professionally. Thankful for the help I was able to provide, Jim has since referred some of his patients to me. Gail Feldman was, and remains, one such person. Gail is (now) an 80-year-old psychologist who has always been engaged in sports and other physical activities but who over the years incurred many injuries and developed serious, debilitating movement and pain issues. And she came to me, via Jim Rice, after many other attempts at improvement had failed.
This Part II narrative begins after we had been working together for about three months.
- Further Client Perspective [Gail]
In August and September 2021, I still needed a walker to deal with the intense back and leg pain. I tried Gabapentin and Cymbalta (drugs used to treat nerve pain, among other conditions) with horrible side effects. And I was relieved that a neurosurgeon ruled out further surgery but frightened – what if my back wouldn’t heal without it?
But I began to have periods of no pain at all. I was excited and intrigued during the Pilates instruction, because I was getting in touch with my body internally for the first time. Exercise to me was always about moving one’s legs and arms when running, doing high-impact workouts, or even yoga. Now, Marion was teaching me to be in touch with muscles I never knew existed, and to be aware of which ones I was using with each exercise. And soon, on the days I wasn’t working with Marion at the clinic, every morning at the gym I was doing the ‘mat exercises’ that she was continuing to teach me (since June). Gradually, I would also walk on the treadmill for short periods.
- The Process [Marion]
We did not, in fact, begin on the mat but worked for the first few months on the Reformer, Joe Pilates’ ‘wonder bed’ with spring support for each movement . . . the bed design helping to align and work both sides of the body evenly. Every session involved footwork plus all the small pre-Pilates work (see below) . . . difficult to do correctly . . . slowly progressing through the series while encompassing the whole body (including, of course, correct breathing) . . . constantly working, with my carefully-observed-and-specifically-attuned guidance, the whole structure or “scaffolding” (as Gail puts it) of her body aligned as correctly as possible. Because Gail had practiced yoga for many years, this process entailed adjusting her breathing and use of core muscles.
Gail’s initial and constant question was, “How long will this take?” My reply (referring regularly to my personal as well as teaching experience): “I’m not a seer, every body is different, so we need to work carefully and consistently. . . This is not a quick-fix . . . concentration and patience are required . . . But it does work . . . And basically, it’s a life-time commitment.” And when she later also began working on her own, I gave Gail a ‘homework’ sheet containing a variety of “Marion’s Method/Separation-Integration” exercises. Among these:
- Small head turns side-to-side (“profile on a coin”)
- Nose circles, starting small and extending
- Head nods — lengthening the back of the neck
- Lying supine arms extended reaching from shoulder blades, alternating arms (“puppet arms”)
- Chest-hugs (extending arms both sides, crossing arms)
- “Angel arms”
- Feet on wall, in table-top position, coccyx curls
- Feet on wall, table-top, “Smiley face” slides side-to-side
- 100s breathing . . . Add arm pumps
- Gradual Progress [Gail]
Beginning in October, some four months after starting with Marion, I began to notice less pain; I could walk alone for longer distances and increase my time on the treadmill and added occasional walks at the park.
From November on, thanks to these regular Pilates sessions and daily gym attendance to do Marion’s exercises, treadmill, and additional leg and arm exercises, I had very little, if any, pain. And if pain occurred, I’d do what she taught me — engage core muscles, strengthen my “scaffolding” — and the pain would begin to recede.
- Ongoing Process [Marion]
Over the subsequent months Gail has progressed through a major portion of the Reformer repertoire and some of ‘Cadillac’ (Trap-Table) and mat work. It’s important to note that her sessions all involve a careful preparation for, and progression though, each movement sequence. The Reformer sessions always encompass footwork (in effect ‘full-body’ work), core work, prep for and executing ‘100s’, and spine stretches. More recently, we have added some short and some long box-work, as well as “Eve’s lunge” which Gail really enjoys! Now she can also positively engage in footwork and roll-downs-and-ups with the Cadillac bars, and even puppet-arms there. All of which stabilizes and complements her mat work and, most fundamentally, is built on the firm foundation of all our previous pre-Pilates sessions. And though it goes without saying, it’s worth emphasizing how essential correct breathing is at every point. Finally, what’s most critical is that any and all future Pilates sessions have to be carefully monitored, always taking into account the actual state of Gail’s body while seeking further strengthening, progression and continued enjoyment.
- Moving Forward [Gail]
Since I am a psychologist and teach positive psychology to my patients, through these months of 2021 and into 2022 I practiced relentlessly what I teach: Gratitude practices; self-cognitive therapy; monitoring my negative thoughts and shifting to positive convictions, and declaring affirmations like “My back is healed and I walk into my future with strength, balance and perfect health.”
Throughout 2021 and the first months of 2022, I was constantly thinking about a Rhine River trip we had planned to celebrate my 80th birthday. We’d had to cancel that trip in the fall of 2021, but had rescheduled for May of 2022. Would I actually be able and healthy enough to go, or would we have to cancel again? But as my healing progressed, it looked like I could go and enjoy the first days in Amsterdam, the river trip itself, and the day-time excursions to towns like Strasbourg and Heidelberg. And that’s exactly what happened!
My friends and family are amazed at my ability to walk and travel with all the energy I had in the past. And I view Pilates as a gift, a miraculous healing agent.
I continue to work with Marion and I’m grateful every day for her and her patient and sensitively attuned expertise.
- Conclusion [Marion]:
From the outset, our overall goal has been that Gail becomes and remains as pain-free as is humanly possible, to continue to walk freely, bicycle around Albuquerque, and travel as she wishes and enjoys. Now, if only, but not only, because of all she had previously gone through and attempted for relief, the improvement in her state of body and being has been remarkable — to Dr. Rice, to her family, and of course to her.
And even though my decades-long experience suggested reaching this goal was indeed possible, it’s been highly gratifying for me, as a teacher, to establish and document how Pilates has once again proven itself . . . as a form of healing and life-living.
Marion Kessel PMA® – NCPT has been a Pilates practitioner for 30+ years. In her ‘other life’, drawing on early, firm foundations in music, stage-craft, theatre and dance, she has created documentaries on the performing arts and directed multiple cameras for live screenings of opera performances. After living in several cities on several continents (e.g. Minneapolis, Edmonton, The Hague, Houston and New York), Marion and her husband now find themselves in Albuquerque, New Mexico.