Pilates is for everyone: The Story of Maggie Baumer

Okay!  I admit it!  Due to an intensely busy summer and fall…Did you hear that The Pilates Studio expanded?  Did you hear that I’m also teaching a Polestar Pilates comprehensive teacher training in Burlington?  Oh yeah, and my parents have been visiting for two weeks.  SOOO….This blog has had a little bit of a hiatus, but my friends, I am back, and I have a story for you!

Pilates is for everyone.  I’ve written about this before. Considering that this is the blog for The Pilates Studio, you might say, “Of course you think that Pilates is for everyone”…Yes I have a bias, but my bias is so strong because I am constantly reminded how adaptable the Pilates apparatus can be, and how this method let’s me hear the stories of some very amazing people.  The brilliance of the Pilates Apparatus system and method emerged again when I worked with Maggie Baumer.   

Maggie is a sweet soul with a huge smile.  Recently she finished law school.  She loves to run, and she has momentarily moved back to the valley.  She just wrote this blog post to tell her story.  When you read it, you will feel the vibrance coming from a bright young woman who is looking at the world and seeing the beauty that is there…One more thing.  Maggie Baumer lost her left hand last fall.

When I worked with Maggie we talked about shoulder tension, we talked about phantom limb pain, and Maggie did an elbow plank that showed me just how fiercely strong she is.   However, as Maggie and I worked together something became apparent to me…Maggie’s arm was fine.  She was adapting in ways that made me want to look at brain scans to see how many extra neurons she had developed…(Yes I’m still that nerdy) Maggie did not need me to help her move her shoulder…Maggie needed what everyone else needs.  Maggie needed hip strength to protect her knees when running.  Maggie needed to learn to breathe into the back of her ribcage.  Maggie needed efficient movement in her shoulder girdle.  Maggie needed Pilates, and luckily the adaptability of the pilates apparatus allowed us to create successful, awesome movement.

We worked on her breath to widen the back of her ribcage. 

We found a way to increase her shoulder stability

We worked on axial length during hip abduction

We found a way to do the hundred (That’s right of course we did!)

Really what we did was move…move, and move some more.  When I met Maggie last summer, I was impressed by the poised brilliance emanating from a woman that suffered a tragic accident.  I look forward to watching Maggie change the world, and after watching her move, I can’t imagine that she won’t!

Katrina Hawley C.M.A, PMA® - CPT

Director of Instruction at The Pilates Studio

If you want to hear more of Maggie's story follow these links!
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/swiftrivercoach/2013/08/27/maggie-baumer--reclaiming-her-story
http://www.spreaker.com/user/4519239/how_to_reclaim_your_story_part_one
http://www.spreaker.com/user/4519239/how_to_reclaim_your_story_part_two