Week 51 - “What’s in a Name”

"Success isn't just about what you accomplish in your life; it's about what you inspire others to do."

Hello Pilates People!!!!

This is going to tie in so nicely in a few minutes, but before I forget, let me interrupt myself and ask if you have any resquests you'd like to see in our classes this upcoming week? Anything you've been dying to do or a certain goal you're working towards that we maybe don't know about?

EMAIL US! Let us know! We'll try to get to it in both our LIVE and pre-recorded classes...if not this week, SOON! And know that is something you can ALWAYS do!

Also, you know we're getting ready to celebrate our birthday on March 23rd and we have a few things planned for you! Some will come later, but for now...

Please join us for a Zoom BIRTHDAY BASH happy hour on Friday, March 19th from 5-7pm!!!

Stop by and hang out for as long or as short a time as you like! We can go wherever you are (because we live on your phone/computer/tablet) and would LOVE to see you and celebrate together!

To join us in the celebrations, please click here! It's FREEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

Okay, back to making my opening request make sense...

We've been coming up with things to say and do for just about 52 weeks now. That's a lot of weeks. Especially when I was initially told it would only be 6...so a little bit, we are shamelessly jumping the shark and saying, "Hey, what if you come up with the plan this week?"

As Jenni and I are continuing to detangle the story of how this all started, she pointed to something we've both heard multiple times that we're not quite sure how to respond to..."Pilates People is the success story of 2020."

- First of all, thank you for saying that.
- Second off, apologies for the awkward faces and silences we both make when you say that. We don't handle compliments well.
- Thirdly, we want to clue you in to the reality of how this started and why we don't really know what to do when you say that.

I legitimately don't remember a lot. I remember the moment I started to feel numb, and being led to a puppy store because it was so clear that I just needed something to cheer me up. It worked. The puppy was the best and I can vividly remember her. She's ultimately what led to me finding Cat, but I was numb enough that I actually didn't feel the puppy gnawing on my arms for about 20 minutes.

I was bleeding. And I didn't feel anything.

I remember crying in the street when Jenni told me we’d lost our jobs and running straight to the bathroom in the last bar I'd be in to get my face together, hoping the people I was meeting wouldn't notice I was a mess. I remember, "Are you okay? You look okay," being said several times within an hour - a clear sign that indeed I was probably very okay. Then there was the subway ride back home after a surprisingly difficult goodbye, when I was first aware that I didn't have a mask and very much needed one, followed by a tearful grocery trip while on the phone with my mom where I just kept saying, "I can't think straight, I don't know what I need and I can't afford anything."

That's the state I was in when I started this two days later. And, I can't speak specifically for Jenni but, I'm sure I know that it wasn't going much better up in Harlem.

So...it was traumatic. And while this worked, I don't know that you can solely pin it on the people who started it, because they weren't really totally all there. Actually, I think it's safe to say they were having a pretty intense out of body experience, and not the cool kind.

However, they were lucky enough to have people both behind the scenes coaching them through the steps they needed to take to keep moving forward and people in the audience eager to show up, support and watch it all unravel.

I think those are the real heroes of this story.

You. It's you.

You gave us what we needed and this has all just been us trying to give it right back to you.

And so, without further ado, we're diving into our name this week, because it’s a very intentional nod to what I hoped this would become and what it has become.

We are Pilates PEOPLE.

Not person. Not body or bodies.

PEOPLE.

3 dimensional beings who are emotional, physical, cerebral and creative.

That is the heart of what we do here - tying all of that together and treating it all as equally important when we roll out our mats.

It's our way of addressing each of you and your individual wants and needs as they change from day to day. We just want to give you the safe space to acknowledge what's happening, experiment with the solution, try, fail and find what works.

It's exactly what we did to start this...we think...

It's why we're constantly throwing out variations, thoughts and ideas so you can tailor the class to address who you are in that moment. Because right now, you are a person who is different than the person you were yesterday and the person you will be tomorrow. And those people are all different than the person living in the box next to you on the screen.

Isn't it wild that we can all come together and find joy out of the same class just by accepting those differences and celebrating them? If only everything in the world could be so simple ...but that's another rant for another day...

And just so you know, we really are thinking about you ALL THE TIME. We look at our class lists before class and plan for the individual bodies we're going to see that day. That's real. We care. So, want class to be all about you? SIGN UP AHEAD! Or shoot us an email with a request to get our brain gears turning in your direction :) That is legitimately how we're planning this week, so please -
TAKE ADVANTAGE AND TELL US WHAT YOU NEED!

Thank you friends, for being the true success story of 2020, and for doing our work for us. If we haven't already made incredibly it clear, we need you and we are so proud of you for owning your selves, your bodies and this.

You're doing it! You're succeeding and it's so beautiful to watch.

All our love, always.
Cassandra + Pilates People
(your enthusiastic audience)