I recently sat down and made a list of my own values. It was a simple yet profound exercise. If you’re at a cross roads of any kind I highly recommend it, you’ll likely be very clear with how to proceed afterwards. The first word I wrote down was quality. Quality is very subjective and different for everyone. For me it’s more of a feeling, a knowing in my gut that something is of high value to me. “Quality is the standard of something as measured against other things of a similar kind; the degree of excellence of something.”
Some of the values that followed quality were : love, discovery, curiosity, simplicity, self-development, community, individuality, fun, discipline, optimism. But above all, quality. It’s at the helm of all my decision making. Once I know that something adds quality to my life I’m committed. Gardening for example. As a Montana native I honestly can’t remember a time when I didn’t garden in some way even if it was a little pot on a fire escape. Big or small scale, gardening is a lot of work. But once you’ve tasted something you grew, there’s no going back. Gardening adds quality to my life in so many ways. Delicious food and lots of variety for starters, it allows for us to compost, collect rain water, there are loads of great life lessons for my daughter- especially when things don’t grow or get eaten by an opossum.
Simplicity, another listed value. I really dislike when things are complicated. Or even worse when it’s so obvious that someone is over complicating something. Like pizza crust, for example. I make my own every Friday night. My bff taught me how one night about 12 years ago. I didn’t write anything down nor have I ever needed to look up a recipe. This is because she made it insanely simple! She was methodical but gave me basic instruction. Most importantly, she let me do it all. I’ve felt like an expert pizza dough maker since. I absolutely adore when something is presented so simply that it seems that is THE way it’s done.
These two values largely, if not completely, govern how I learn and teach The Pilates Method. I believe Pilates to be the most excellent form of exercise there is and we all know now just how pandemic-proof it is. If you have a wall and a floor, you’re set. It doesn’t get any simpler. I believe Jay Grimes and Vintage Pilates to be the crème de le crème so that’s who I learn from. I firmly believe that you don’t need to mess with the exercises- AT ALL. I’ve seen it messed with every which way, and I will tell you from experience that your body will quite literally fall apart when you dismantle the system. Complicated teaching leads to being worn out mentally and chances are you won’t move much. The very opposite of quality and simplicity.
That’s all pretty obvious stuff. But maybe a little less obvious is how and who I teach. I used to really struggle in defining my ideal client; my clients are all so different in every way, how can I possibly put them into one category? I know I like them, that our sessions always feel like a great exchange of energy, they ask few but good questions, and they are extremely responsible and successful people in their personal life. Then it hit me one day after a workshop - they are all independent learners! Right then and there how I teach and who my optimal client is became clear as day- so simple! If you are an entrepreneur this stuff can seem impossible to work out. But there it is.
I teach The Pilates Method how it was originally designed because I believe to be the highest in quality and ever so simple (but ridiculously challenging). You get optimal results by simply following the recipe. If you are a life-long learner, show me once and then look out, I exercise because I love my body, I tend to dig deep when learning, I like improving myself, and I love building relationships then you’ve come to the right place.
