Pilates mat classes are everywhere. They have found their way to gyms, senior centers, swimming pools, yoga studios, and anywhere else that movement may be available. However, the quality and quantity in the training of a Pilates Mat instructor varies more than any other Pilates Instructor, and at The Pilates Studio we are proud to have high quality mixed level mat classes that challenge the strongest students and are safe for the newest of newcomers. However, there is something else offered in the pilates classes at the Pilates Studio that words almost can’t describe.
One day I was coming back from lunch when I walked into The Pilates Studio and Laurie Johnson was leading her class through the planks! Now for a little over a year Laurie has been working with her class to develop the muscular endurance necessary to complete these planks with ease. On this particular day, as I entered the studio something different was happening. The class was singing while doing the planks…In fact they were singing Old MacDonald. I smiled to myself and thought there is something special here…
When I talked to Laurie after class, she mentioned something about one person being a preschool teacher and then the plank came up in conversation and then all of a sudden she had a class full of people singing Old MacDonald taking turns on who gets to pick the animal that goes “moo moo here and moo moo there.” People come to The Pilates Studio to gain strength and flexibility, but they also find an opportunity to let the seriousness of life go for a bit. The participants in this class were playing…
There seems to be a trend in the fitness field today of intense workouts that require a lot of serious effort. But it seems to me that real change and learning happens in the body when people are playing much like children learning on the playground. The Pilates Studio prides itself in the creation of a fun and playful environment. In each pilates class the participants are not being led through a recipe and regimented course. Each class is designed and choreographed with goals and concepts in mind, and each teacher has the uncanny ability to improvise when necessary. (Even if it means encouraging a room full of people to sing Old MacDonald Had a Farm)
At The Pilates Studio, teaching Pilates mat classes is considered a special kind of art form. Each teacher strives to create a community within the class that gives a sense of camaraderie to all of the students while also giving a great workout. The mat classes at The Pilates Studio illustrate the wonderful ethos of the studio, they are an hour in which people who would not know each other in their everyday lives come together and learn, move, and create health and wellness in their own bodies and in the community at large. The community in these classes makes them so much more than a simple exercise class. Where else would you find a grandmother, a French teacher, a Spanish teacher, a high school principle, an owner of a horse barn, a Mount Holyoke student, a social worker, and a development director in the same room following the words of their pilates instructor. That wasn’t a cheesy joke…It was the beauty of The Pilates Mat Classes at The Pilates Studio.
Katrina Hawley C.M.A, R.S.M.E
Co-Owner of The Pilates Studio
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