Issue #441
Wednesday, October 16, 2024
Pilates 101: Teaching Contrology as a College Course
Part 3: Teaching the Teacher
by Cathy Pagani
Photographs courtesy of The University of Alabama
If you want to learn something, read about it.
If you want to understand something, write about it.
If you want to master something, teach it.
Attributed to Harbhajan Singh, also known as Yogi Bhajan
In Parts 1 and 2 of this series, I discussed the challenges of developing a 15-week college-level course in intermediate classical mat Pilates and the impact that this course had on the students. Here, in Part 3, I look at the impact that teaching this course had on me as a Pilates instructor. What did I learn? How did teaching the course change me?
In agreeing to teach this class, I had fully expected that I would strengthen my knowledge and understanding of Pilates fundamentals, including history and philosophy, anatomy and physiology, and, of course, the intermediate-level mat exercises; after all, I had to ensure that I was well prepared for each and every class. I reviewed notes from my teacher-training, carefully read and re-read a variety of publications on Pilates, and memorized exercise lists. I needed to make sure I knew my stuff. What I had not expected, however, was how quickly I began to see the class through the eyes of the students. What did they want to know? What topics interested them? What questions beyond the basics might they ask? How can they see the relevance and application of Pilates in everyday activities, like walking to class or sitting at a computer? And what are the “cool bits” that would make them would want to rush home after class to share with their friends? Their natural curiosity encouraged me to be curious, too.
Creating a Road Map and Driving Down That Road
My responsibilities to the students began long before I stepped foot in the studio. The first task, and what I would come to appreciate as essential to the course’s success (and maintaining my sanity), was developing a logical, reasonable, and thoughtful structure for the course that served as a road map for the semester:
A triathlete who competed at national and international levels, Catherine began her classical Pilates journey after a running accident resulted in a total hip replacement. During her rehabilitation, she discovered the power of Pilates in helping her get back on her feet. In fact, in many ways, she was stronger than she was before her injury. She realized, “I would have been a much better athlete had I known about Pilates 20 years ago!” It was then that she decided to pursue teacher training so that she could work with others to help them achieve optimum strength, awareness of movement, and flexibility. She is passionate about spreading the word on how developing a regular practice in classical Pilates is a life-changing and life-long pursuit — and it can be embraced by everyone.
Catherine recently retired as a professor of Asian art history and associate dean of the Graduate School at The University of Alabama and now teaches part-time for the university’s department of kinesiology, where she offers classes in indoor cycling and Pilates for university credit. She is a graduate of Streamline Pilates’ 450-hour intermediate-level teacher training program. She has been a certified Spinning® instructor for 24 years and a certified Personal Trainer for the past 20 years. In addition, she holds a Ph.D. in East Asian Studies from the University of Toronto.