As Pilates Instructors we’ve all seen it. We have seen the posture that improved during a Pilates session melt away as the client is scheduling the next session…Luckily, the Pilates Studio is located conveniently to a bike path that is great for what I call the walk for integration. When people come to The Pilates Studio, it is not to exercise for exercise sake. Throughout the session movement patterns are changing. Yet the most challenging part of the session happens afterwards when a client works to keep the new patterns active in his/her everyday life. The best way to do this is to take a walk that allows the new movement patterns to integrate into the body. Hopefully this walk happens before the car ride away from the studio. Hopefully, it can be a walk that’s only goal is movement. Taking ten minutes to feel how the body moves differently after a session allows new neural pathways to create learned movement patterns. The effect of these patterns makes the thought required for good posture less conscious. Thus in the hectic part of life when the last thing a person has time to think about is the pelvic floor engagement on the exhale, everything’s okay. 
This brings me to one of the many reasons I love to go to work. The Pilates Studio is located just off of the Norwottuck Rail Trail. “The Norwottock Rail Trail is an 11 mile path linking Northampton, Hadley, and Amherst along the former Boston & Main Railroad right-of-way.” On any given day, this trail is filled with bikers, runners, walkers, strollers, and everytime I’ve been on it, people are smiling. It allows the community to move without fear of traffic. It creates alternative ways to commute between communities. And it provides the perfect opportunity for a walk for integration after a great Pilates Session. The Pilates Studio is committed to its community and the Norwottuck Rail Trail is one of the many reasons why!
Katrina Hawley C.M.A., R.S.M.E
CO-Owner The Pilates Studio
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