Agenda

Louise begins with primal movement patterns and builds them into a full Pilates mat workout, in this truly progressive class. Learn unique moves and a new perspective on mat exercise.

Join Ann for an inspiring Reformer workout combining the best of traditional and contemporary Pilates into a fluid warm up for the whole body. Let your body experience the power and the passion of Pilates!

Every Breath You Take, A Fascia-focused Movement Approach to Breathing, Well-being, and Clarity

How you breathe affects not only your cardiovascular system but has a profound effect on movement, physical health markers, emotional and cognitive states, and sleep. Join Elizabeth for an in-depth exploration of the latest research on breathing and ways to integrate it into your Pilates practice. Using exercises on the Mat, Reformer and Chair, you will experience the effects of different modes of breathing and how they influence movement quality, attention, and proprioception. Pilates has always focused on the importance of breath; this is an opportunity to update your understanding and appreciation for this fundamental skill.

Call it Choreography: The Reformer

This workshop will offer ideas to improve the quality of your reformer workouts for both private and group sessions.  The tutorial scope of a simple exercise will be magnified through three channels:  choreography, complexity, and cueing. Students will identify the primary and secondary intent of the move; extend the life of the choreography by altering resistance, timing, endurance, and difficulty; and pair the visualization and movement pattern with judiciously selected vocabulary.  Anatomical references will be made to promote proper initiation and efficient lines of movement.  Specific attention will focus on breath, coordination, and flow.

Equipment: Reformer with sitting box
Appropriate for: Reformer instructors

The Art of Teaching Foot-Leg Work for Zoom and For the Studio

Madeline Black’s workshop examines the structure and function of the foot and how the feet stimulate the activation of the leg into the trunk. She will teach exercises on the mat and Reformer focused on the foot. Woven into the workshop, Madeline will discuss and demonstrate the delivery of the content in 2D (Zoom) versus 3D (in the studio). She will demonstrate how to be as effective in 2D as teaching in person using specific assessment movements and cueing based on the content of this workshop.

Equipment: Reformer with sitting box and Jumpboard, small sticky mats or pads 4’x4”, ball for between ankles
Appropriate for: All instructors

Closing the Loop: The Importance of the Hand and Foot for Optimal Performance

In this workshop Misty will take a deep look at the hands and the feet and how to use them in Pilates to create stronger connections to the core, improve grip strength and develop fully integrated and functional strength. The hand and foot are a powerful source of information for the whole body. Working with hand and foot placement in a variety of Reformer exercises can lead to improved muscular balance in the limbs, increased scapular and lumbopelvic stability, and enhanced body awareness and control. Misty will take you through dynamic sequences on the Reformer with cueing designed to enhance your experience of hand and foot placement. You will come away with new moves, new insights and useful information. 

Equipment:  Reformer with sitting box
Appropriate for: Reformer instructors

Linda’s deep understanding of the method will take you on a Mat journey from the deep core out to the tips of your fingers and toes. The end of class will find you well organized, perfectly aligned and ready for anything.

Viktor has a particular love of illuminating and teaching the connections between movements, between different parts of the body and between exercises. Experience how strong, aligned and integrated your body can be after this dynamic Reformer workout.

The First Session

Pilates master instructor Alan Herdman will show you how to assess a new client and construct an exercise plan to address the client’s particular needs. Using examples from his 50 years of teaching, Alan will walk you through a first session from intake, to initial assessment to treatment plan. Take advantage of this opportunity to learn from a true master of the Method.

Equipment: None
Appropriate for: All instructors

Sing My Song: Applying the Lessons of Kathy Grant

Get creative and go deeper into the work in this workshop that will illuminate the teaching of Kathy Grant through the lens of long-time student Maria Earle.  Kathy Grant studied closely with Joe Pilates in the 1950s and ‘60s. Over the five decades that followed she developed her own sophisticated and highly intuitive approach to his method. She was supremely skillful in guiding movement with the creative use of props, imagery, and sound – finding subtle nuances to enhance alignment and movement education. Now Maria Earle can pass that knowledge on to you. During 13 years of mentorship in New York City, Kathy entrusted her deep understanding and creative approach to the classical Pilates exercises to Maria.   In this workshop there will be cats, sand tunnels, weathervanes, whistles, and hums. You will come away with movement protocols and ideas that provide a unique approach to the Pilates Method through the use of sound, imagery and props. 

Equipment: Small Towel, Pinky Ball or Tennis Ball (2x), 55” Stability Ball, Yoga Strap, 5” playground ball 
Appropriate for: All instructors

Accessing Your Psoas: Creating True Integrated Movement

Joseph Pilates designed every movement in his system to involve the ‘whole body,’ and to connect it in its entirety to and from its core/center/powerhouse. Do you move from your center in a truly organic, whole body, integrated way? Are you able to assess whether your clients can – and if not, why not? In this workshop we will utilize Pilates spinal and hip flexion and extension exercises to develop our visual assessment skills to determine whether movement is actually coming from ‘the center’ correctly and efficiently, and if not, how to correct it. The ultimate power and health potential that can be achieved through Pilates is only possible when this integrated connection is accessed as its inherent human design dictates.

Equipment:
Appropriate for: All instructors

Reformer Refresh

In this Reformer workshop, we will refresh your usual routine. With the use of some simple images and the occasional inexpensive prop, we will learn how to get more out of our clients and ourselves on this well-used piece of Pilates equipment. We will follow the traditional order of Mr. Pilates with an emphasis on the most performed exercises. Blossom will share some unique Kathy Grant Reformer exercises and choreographic “inserts” as well as her own collection of simple yet effective movements that complement the traditional work. Come join in the fun, get new tools for your teaching toolbox and revitalize your Reformer routine.

Equipment: Reformer with sitting box, foot strap and long spine straps, mini magic circle, Slice, or headrest pillow 
Appropriate for: Reformer instructors

Learning to See: Assessing and Correcting Rotational Patterns

In this workshop we will take a deep dive into recognizing, problem solving and improving rotational patterns in the torso and limbs. You will learn several assessment techniques for identifying rotational patterns and understanding what their root cause might be. We will then use rotator discs, small balls, rollers, and other tools to experience exercise sequences designed to unwind and reset the bodies baseline posture. This workshop will expand your ability to see the body in motion and help you understand how the body works as a coordinated whole to develop and maintain posture and dynamic movement patterns.

Equipment: Foam roller, 8” – 13” inflatable stability ball (Togu, Inflatable ball, Franklin Air Ball or similar). 2 functional footprints or rotator discs, light resistance band
Appropriate for: All instructors

The Pelvis Spine Connection

As Pilates practitioners and teachers, we spend a fair amount of time and effort exploring and explaining the importance of good spinal articulation. In this course, we will examine ways in which the movement of the pelvis on the femurs is essential for allowing our spines to articulate well in flexion and extension. In order to properly understand how to mover our spine in the sagittal plane, we need to have a basic understanding of its joints and of the articulating surfaces of the pelvis on the femurs. This course will offer a simple anatomical review of these joints and will provide preparatory movement protocols that will help inform and encourage reasonable and healthy spinal articulation while performing exercises from the Pilates repertoire.

Equipment: None
Appropriate for: All instructors

Let’s celebrate the very first virtual Pilates on Tour by sharing a toast, some words from your hosts and a few raffle prizes! Wear your best or wackiest Pilates inspired outfit (Clara’s nurses uniform? Crazy leggings? Cool Joe inspired sayings? Your call!) and receive a little extra attention. Come and see your colleagues and friends! Plus, raffle prizes!