Pilates Intel Online Newsletter for the Pilates Teaching Community

I was a Myofascial Release Therapist long before I ever taught my first Teaser. A few years ago I was working with a client who came to me with balance issues due to traumatic brain injury. In John F. Barnes’ approach to Myofascial Release there’s a technique we use for […]

This past month I taught a Pilates Mat Class at Athleta in their new Albany, NY store.  It was fun to teach out of the studio and for a Sunday morning we had quite the turn out. I was very pleased to meet some new Pilates Junkies in the community […]

From the heart and guts No words can describe my first encounter at the hospital in Copenhagen, with the young wounded men returning from Afghanistan. Time stood still, as I listened to the soldiers telling their personal stories and showing us their injuries with sincerity I have not come across […]

Old Dog – New Trick: Pilates equipment – A Brief Historical Overview by Kevin Bowen Apr 13, 2015 As we all know throughout the years Pilates equipment has evolved and changed – some in the profession feel that this is for the best and others feel that the original design […]

A Pilates studio can be such a special place! A place of learning, healing, and growing. A place of personal connections and triumphs. A place that changes lives and a place where both clients and teachers are able to thrive! But a studio like this only exists when a positive […]

My partner, John who is a retired Military Officer, asked me a question a year or so ago that spurred a discussion on the difference between Classical and Contemporary Pilates.  John, being from the military world and me, being from the Pilates world — I was left to do my […]

On September 20th, 2014 the Authentic Pilates Union organized its second annual Pilates Gives Back Day. As you may remember reading in an earlier Pilates Intel article, we were merely facilitating a global effort within our Pilates community. It was Pilates teachers and enthusiasts who opened their studios to their […]

I came to Pilates in (what I thought was) the “usual way”. The year was 1995. The place was Drago’s Gym in New York City. Pilates was still beneath the radar in the US so most people had never even heard the word “Pilates”. Fast forward 20 years, and we […]

Today I present the fourth and very last article on the series on the requirement for any person who says they teach Pilates to read Joe Pilates’ ‘Return to Life’.  In the last article we heard from Stott, and my acceptance of their invitation to ask further questions, as their […]

In January 2014 I completed the world-renowned BASI ProBridge Program with Rael Isacowitz. My practice of Pilates was completely transformed after spending 2 separate long weeks at the BASI Academy. I have a new found love of the method that for me had been growing stale. I had been teaching […]

Today we continue with the investigation of the phenomenon of people pursuing a career in Pilates while having no motivation to read ‘Return to Life’, the signature work of the very man whose name they use daily and whose technique they say they teach. My method was to reach out […]

A couple of weeks ago I was talking to the owner of a fashionable clothing line. She shared her frustration with me about finding a Pilates studio to take classes at while traveling. When she searched local results (in California, so we are not talking about some backwoods town in […]

Today we continue with the investigation of the phenomenon of people pursuing a career in Pilates while having no motivation to read ‘Return to Life’, the signature work of the very man whose name they use daily and whose technique they say they teach.  My method was to reach out […]

A while back I got to talking a bit with a young lady enrolled in a Pilates training program. In the conversation, she mentioned “This brand of training took all the dangerous parts of Pilates’ technique out and thus made it better”. Stunned by the bluntness of what I considered […]

These are the words looking up at me from a soldier’s t-shirt. “What did you do to deserve your legs today?”  I can’t help but silently try to answer that question. Did I use my legs to simply get here?  Or did I actually use them?  Did I actually do […]

I am talking to Lolita San Miguel on a warm Florida day for her, and a dark Swedish evening for me.  She is happy eating macadamia nuts while she talks to me and apologizes for that….but she has very good manners and I tell her it is okay.  The purpose […]

  (The second of an article series) For the sake of our Pilates for Athletes discussion I thought it would be interesting to teach two young athletes who’d never experienced Pilates and then interview them before and after their first Pilates session. C.S. is a 6’9” freshmen basketball player (center […]

  Reiner and the pilates-contrology-forum by Brett Miller With over 5300 participants, the pilates-contrology-forum on Facebook is the largest and most popular forum in the Pilates Industry.  With only certified Pilates teachers admitted to the group, the forum provides a place of connection, continual learning and a sounding board for […]

                 1.   Spiraldynamik®  – the architecture of movement   At one point in our history we decided to get up. We started to walk and run on two legs. In doing so, we have also chosen a certain way of locomotion.   Yes, we also could […]

  Having two careers is something I’ve always done.  Sometimes I can’t even imagine what it would be like to be able to come home from one job and have nothing else to do.  It started off 15 years ago with me being an aspiring Dancer and Accountant. Then I […]

  I was inspired to develop Rhythm Pilates after presenting at the Asian Fitness Education Expo, Hong Kong in 2008. The presenters that incorporated music to their classes were more fun and wildly popular.   There is an undeniable excitement and energy when uplifting music is incorporated to a Pilates […]

Here you stand (or sit perhaps), a well-educated Pilates instructor. You attended a respected teacher-training program. You observed and practiced under the guidance of one or more highly regarded Pilates mentors. And now you are a talented teacher, passionately working with clients every day and teaching them what you know. […]

 Well, for the record, Pull Straps and T (also called Arms Pulling Straps) have been high on my list of most loathed exercises for the majority of my Pilates career. Slowly over the last couple of years we have become better friends and I suspect one day I may even […]

Let us talk about arms-pulling-straps, a very well-known exercise on preformed on the Reformer, using the long box.  Arms-pulling-straps can easily be mistaken for an arm and shoulder exercise, but in fact it is an activity for the whole body.   It is important to remember that while the arms are […]

I never really meant to play golf. I grew up understanding that Golfstands for “Gentlemen Only Ladies Forbidden”. And then completely by accident, or a wrong turn at Albuquerque, I found myself trying to survive the scariest place on earth: a golf course. I am spending a lot of time as a […]

Hang on folks. I’m going to make a few generalizations here. No offense intended to anyone. My intention is to get you thinking and to elevate our industry so if you don’t mind, follow me down the rabbit hole please. A few years back in the US, boutique studios became […]

I am taking a deep breath (diaphragmatic breath… as I am not doing Pilates right now, only writing about it…) and thinking- where should I start my reply to Brett’s lovely article. I must start with the cat story because despite the smile it brought to my face I have […]

We are back at it again today with an online debate about a popular Pilates topic, breathing techniques, and my esteemed “debatteur du jour” is Amit Younger of pilatesod.com. I find breathing techniques useless and counterproductive, and in extreme cases life threatening.  On the other hand, Amit loves them.  Amit […]

I am always shocked when I teach at a conference or hear people talking about the history of Joseph Pilates.  There is still so much misinformation about the man and his life.  The Internet promotes these falsehoods with many articles that have not been updated.  In fact, while writing this […]

Pilates is a funny business to be in. A man created a program of exercise about a hundred years ago, and opened a studio space to teach it in NYC. But from what I’ve read over the years, it sounds like Joseph Pilates was generally more focused on the creating, […]

We Pilates instructors are skilled educators and motivators, who inspire people to engage in healthy lifestyle choices. We want all of our classes and sessions to flow from one movement to the next, and make everyone feel better and more energized by the end. So what do we Pilates teachers […]

When I was nominated to the position of committee head for the Authentic Pilates Union’s (APU) Charity Committee in autumn 2013 I felt as though my long time interest in Pilates and philanthropy had come seeking me. For many years I have felt that Pilates has a lot to offer […]