Issue #386
Wednesday, December 7, 2022
Observation: a Trainable Skill
by Gretchen Roscoe, CRT, RCP, NCPT
Just because you see something different (or differently!) from someone else in movement patterns of humans, that doesn’t mean they’re right and you’re wrong. We observe everything through our experience of honing our expertise at observation. As I’ve told my students over the years, if you want to be better at observing, then work on this skill every day. Let it become second nature to what you do, so automatic that you don’t even think about it anymore. Practice is the key.
During my first year of medical training, we spent our rotations observing. Observing our proctors tending to patients; observing patients upon admission, during treatment, or during discharge; and observing where equipment and supplies were kept – watching, absorbing, and learning. Many of my fellow students were irritated that we weren’t allowed to do anything other than watch. Intuitively, I knew this was the lesson. Then came the day when that Code Blue was called on the med/surg floor. I was the only student who had observed (and remembered!) where the crash cart was. That day I got to “do” and participated in the Code.
So minus the obvious emergency situations, is the skill of observing important? I believe we’d all say a resounding “Yes!”. Here’s some food for thought: if we are asking this question, then we most likely agree that observing is important. If we ask the Pilates student, is your teacher training providing you opportunities to improve the skill of observing? Would they say yes?
Often, students are told to “observe”. But are they told why? Are they told what to watch for? Are they watching the teacher teach? Are they supposed to watch the clients? Patterns of movement? Watch what exercises are given to the client? Are they taught anything more than to simply sit and observe? Observing is more than watching what happens with the teacher and client. Observing is seeing, absorbing and learning.
How then do we train our observation skills? Like almost everyone in the industry, I’m sure you were told to watch another teacher instruct clients and you quietly looked on from the sidelines. This is a hallmark of Pilates training and is quite effective, especially when coupled with an experienced teacher allowing the students to ask questions later.
I would like to offer all of you a training exercise my professor in college offered to me. I wanted to excel; I was thirsty for knowledge; I wanted to be good at what I was doing because, well, lives were going to be depending on me. Literally. So here was her suggestion: Go to the mall and observe people. Look for clinical signs of disease processes that we were learning in class. And I did it! I did it everywhere I went. In the cafe where I studied for exams, in the hospital cafeteria, at the food court, at the gas station. Rather than be on my phone scrolling mindlessly, I sat still and observed people. My head was up, looking around, no matter what I was doing, I was observing. It’s now like my“sixth sense” and it has made me better at what I did then and what I do now.
If we put this into a Pilates context, what does that look like? Knowing what constitutes natural and normal human movement is critical. Once you know what’s normal, you’ll more easily identify abnormal movement when you see it. We all have heard the stories of how Joe observed animals move. I’m sure he watched people no matter where he was or what he was doing. How could you create such a beautiful healing practice without having seen what needed correcting in the first place?
So be like Joe! Observe! Absorb the data, gather the information, evaluate it, decide, give the exercise, re-evaluate. Do it again, over and over. Everything we do as teachers begins with observing. I watch my clients as they walk in the door: I’m evaluating their footwear, how did they walk in, how was their posture, how did they sit to change their shoes and put items in the cubby? When they cleaned their equipment, how did they functionally do that? When they lifted the box onto the reformer, did they use the skills I’ve given them or fall back onto bad habits and use their back? Clients laugh at me because I walk them out and I stand in the doorway and watch them walk to their cars. I watch them get in their cars and see how their seat is set up to the steering wheel. They’ve caught onto me though, and send sassy looks or comments my way. I tell them to take the lessons I teach them, take the Pilates they’ve learned with me into their everyday lives and into everything they physically do outside my studio.
Next time you are at the mall or any outdoor space, take a pen and paper. Sit with a cup of tea or coffee and observe people. Write down your observations. What do you see? How can you help them? What Pilates exercises will improve their gait? Their posture? That texting neck? And do it over and over everywhere you go so it becomes second nature. Your observation skills will get better. Discuss your observations with other experienced teachers. Because we are here, waiting for your questions – Pilates is about paying it forward to the next generation. As a student, honing your observation skills is just the beginning of your teaching journey.
Here are two examples of using observation and turning it into immediate action. I use clients’ hands on their own bodies to improve their movements and alignment, especially during virtual teachings. I also use photos of them to show them what I’m observing in their body. Training their observation skills through the use of my eyes is a great way to speed up their progress. These before and after photos are from this client’s first session where we focused on fundamentals. While we can see his posture significantly improved after the session, I want to draw your attention to his clothing. His shirt shows me that it had molded itself around that forward posture so that when he improved, the shirt didn’t adjust! This tells me he lived in that posture a long time.
These next before-and-after photos shows how my client sits with crossed legs, her favored position. The forward posture is subtle, but can be improved simply by changing where she places her hands. Her hands are a subconscious signal to her brain/body connection.
Gretchen Roscoe, CRT, RCP, NCP
After years of injuries as a student athlete, Gretchen began her Pilates journey taking Mat Classes at her local gym in the late 80’s and saw immediate results. She had no idea the lifetime love affair these first classes would initiate in her life! She loved it so much she began her training in 1990, completing two separate decade long mentorships with her master teachers. In 2013 Gretchen began teaching full, and later completed two additional comprehensive training programs on top of her original trainings. Alongside teaching, she completed her health science degree and became a licensed respiratory therapist, expanding to become a cardio-pulmonary educator and clinical researcher in 1997.
Over the years Gretchen has been fortunate to serve as a master teacher, teacher trainer, well as studio operations/management until moving successfully out on her own as studio owner/operator in 2020.
All of Gretchen’s experience from working as a physical therapy assistant, to RT, clinical researcher, perpetual questioner, lover of education and seeker of knowledge, has allowed her to be a better teacher to her clients, students and apprentices. The years of focused education, training, and work experience have guided her ability to work with the bodies that come to her, regardless of how they present. This includes those who have suffered significant brain injury, cardio and pulmonary conditions, trauma, and disease processes to working with kids, student and professional athletes, and military personnel.
Gretchen’s philosophy is knowing Pilates as a corrective system of exercises, and begins with teaching to the body that showed up that day as often times no two days can be the same! Her end goal is to pass along the lessons she learned from Pilates elders to her clients and students alike, thereby continuing the legacy of Joe’s work.