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 to those who find this matter to be acceptable, choosing training schools that do not require ‘RTL’ in their certification programs. Today I present the response from Balanced Body, and my remarks in return.
But first, I promised to publish the response I received to the letter I addressed to BASI Pilates in my last article:
:
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Dear Brett,
Thank you for following up with your article after our discussion on Return to Life.
As I mentioned earlier, in the past we have listed this book as required reading but later decided to offer a fairly extensive list of recommended reading – of which Return to Life was one.
Internally, we have discussed over the year as each of us has found great insight into this small and unassuming book. It is one of the few items I “always” pack with me when traveling to teach and make a point in each lecture of referring young and returning students to invest time into its reading.
I am very pleased to say that as of January 1, 2015 we have an updated recommended reading list but only one book on the “required” list.
The one book each enrolled student is required to read is Return to Life. This represents the only book outside of our teaching manuals that BASI requires students to read. I have included a Pilates History section in our new online exams and based the questions solely on Mr. Pilates’ books.
Thank you for reinforcing our belief in this original work.
We wish you the best as you embark on your endeavors.
Regards,
Constance Holder, Director of Education
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And how was that for a lovely letter? Direct, sincere, elegant. A fantastic demonstration of an intelligent willingness to alter course when a good reason is presented. We can all use a little ‘push’ sometimes to do the right thing, and when that ‘push’ is presented, the classy reaction is to extend appreciation towards the provider of that push. Like Constance did.
You have elegance and class, Constance, and BASI Pilates!
Hmmmm…I might need to change the tag line of my website:
What do you think?
Ok, very good, enough back patting, my neck is starting to hurt – let’s move on and see what Balanced Body thinks about my initial letter, the one that was sent to all schools involved.
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Hi Brett,
Balanced Body includes extensive information on Joe Pilates in its education materials. The source of this information is the original work of Joe Pilates, plus further research done by Ken Endelman. Balanced Body is also dedicated to educating instructors about Joe Pilates in its continuing education activities (such as Pilates on Tour). Given this, Balanced Body recommends that its students read Return to Life, but it is not a required component for program completion.
Best, Al Harrison Director of Business Development/Education
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Here is my answer to Al:
Hi Al,
I understand from your response that it is okay to be a Pilates Instructor without having read Joe Pilates’ RTL, as long as the initial training and continuing education provides extensive and accurate information about Joe Pilates. While you do recommend RTL to all of your students, the material you provide is a reasonable substitute.
Please correct me if I misunderstand.
I spent some time in the Balanced Body area at the PMA last November and glanced through your training manuals, which presented an extensive bio of Joe Pilates by Nora St John on the inside covers, along with a respectful mention of all the elders. Very nice. I also received kind words from Nora about Pilates Intel, which made me happy.
Just as my response to BASI Pilates in the first article was meant for all involved, so too are these two points I direct to you:
Pilates is just exercise…..or is it?
My initial approach to the Pilates was that it was exercise. During my training for certification, I was taught nothing about Joe the man and was occupied learning ‘hands go here, feet there, and use your abdominals to roll forward’ etc….It was great fun, and very valuable.
It was upon finding and reading RTL later in my career that I learned that Joe Pilates had a vision. I learned more intimately that this man was passionate about using his work to radically improve the lives of those who employed it. I was also touched by Joe’s idea that a person could not truly enjoy any pleasurable experience without satisfactory physical fitness, and thus would remain perpetually dissatisfied until he/she prioritized just that. Joe also expresses the importance of strengthening the body uniformly.
As mentioned, absolutely none of this was presented in any way in my training….a very big miss, as far as I am concerned.
The benefit of reading RTL was not that I adopted Joe’s point of view, for this would be only a shallow following of authority. Rather it was that a whole new dimension of Pilates, and its potential, opened to me. Thus I became more alert and active in my own exploration of the work, searching for aspects that could take me deeper and worked hard to apply my discoveries to my teaching. I like to think that I became a more intelligent teacher because of this.
Certainly not every person is sensitive to the inspiration that RTL potentially gives, and there are those who do that horrible thing of making a religion of it, simply adopting and repeating without understanding – and worse, attacking others who do not do the same – but I digress.
A Matter of Integrity
I understand that in legal terms the word Pilates can be thrown around willy-nilly without recourse, and in fact it was your historic law suit which (rightly, in my opinion), has helped to make that so.
But beyond legality there is a sense of propriety that takes root as one awakens to the the profundity of the work. When that happens, one starts to see a subtle lack of integrity, or at least a lack of seriousness, when people use Joe Pilates’ name for an activity he is teaching and makes a living doing, but does not make the effort to read that little book. Or worse, to say that one is teaching an improvement of what this man did, with little knowledge of what those improvements are. Do you agree? Given your well respected authority in this field, you could easily contribute to a greater level of integrity in the profession.
And lastly, should there not at least be a requirement that your instructor trainers read RTL?
I would love to hear your thoughts on what I have written, it is a great subject and I thank you for your openness.
Brett
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Great, that was enough for today. Next time I let you know the result of my reply today to Balanced Body, and my very hairy interesting exchange with Stott.
Leaving on a positive note, one last hat tip to the elegance and class of Constance and BASI Pilates! Thank you – and really good move!