Week 52 - “All the Bodies”
"For all the bodies."
Hello Pilates People!!!!
EXCITING NEWS!!!! We're doing a giveaway for our birthday on Instagram!!!
The prize? I'm so glad you asked:
10 LIVE classes from us!
3 sessions at the Rooted Refuge (Dr. Christopher Peacock's acupuncture studio) - acupuncture/herbal and virtual sessions all available!
A "Cool Aunt" candle from Nose Best Candles
One personalized chakra meditation/information session with Emily Jo!
How to enter? Click here - tag 2 of your friends, follow The Rooted Refuge, Nose Best and Emily Jo on Instagram - extra entries for sharing in your story/feed.
GOOD LUCK! Jenni and I BOTH wish we could win! This is a really good prize!
And remember, our Zoom Birthday Bash is this upcoming Friday, the 19th from 5-7pm!! (It's also coincidentally Cat's Gotcha Day!) Stay for as long or as little as you like, bring a friend, show up wherever you are - we just want to see you!! It's FREE!
To sign up for our Birthday Bash on Zoom please click here!
So, what are we talking about this week?
It's not the phrase we say out loud the most, but it's actually probably the most important phrase we use. It is THE THING that frames our teaching, the decisions we make, the words we use and the community we're working to build.
This is pilates for ALL THE BODIES.
We've spoken briefly before about how part of our mission is tearing down the old rules of the pilates world to make it resemble the world we'd like it to be. This phrase in particular is probably the biggest, "Up yours," we're giving the old way of things, and we are so happy to do it.
As someone who grew up privileged in lots of ways, I still grew up in a home that struggled financially, and then chose a career as an artist, with a body riddled with injuries that was constantly ridiculed for not being skinny "enough"...so pilates was intimidating. When I started teaching, I was faced with the reality that I couldn't even afford to TAKE the classes I was teaching. And I was horrified at the idea that people didn't think they were "good enough" to take my class.
That was never the point. You're not supposed to come into a situation where you're just trying to feel good about yourself stressed about whether or not you are in fact actually good enough...for yourself.
But, I get the fear. I have been in classes where the instructor berates people for their "terrible" form,"laziness," and in the worst cases, body shape. I have worked in a place that expected everyone to be cookie cutter replicas of the same person working towards the same goals, and I was the one fish swimming upstream and letting people do whatever they wanted and needed to. And, very sadly, I've worked in a place that didn't value everyone's experience - they were solely concerned with the experience of those who were "influential" and "elite", which inevitably had a pretty big impact on their minority community, which broke my heart.
So, we're working to make EVERYONE comfortable here - across body types, injuries, financial situations, movement experiences, gender, race, orientation...all of it. Just be YOU. That's all we want so we can figure out how best to support you! (wherever you are...however you are *wink*)
The point is, we know there are a lot of people who feel excluded from the pilates community and we don't like that because...why? There's no real, valid reason.
What we care about is reframing our relationship with our bodies so it can be a positive one, even on the tough days. And from one "late bloomer" to maybe another...this is going to take time.
We all grew up in a world where we were trained to compare ourselves to the "successful" people and value what they have over what we have and wish we were them instead of us.
I want you to read that again and let it sink in.
We were trained to wish we were them instead of us.
What in the actual...? Why don't we want to be us? We're awesome! The end. So let's just be us and work with what we've got!
This also applies to that internal envy, you know? The little voice in your head that says, "Well why can't you do that anymore? What's wrong with you?" or the one that says, "You're just so old/big/tired...why can't you be better?"
Tell that person to kindly and respectfully SHUT UP.
Our bodies change every day, every minute, every second. Things are constantly moving on both micro and macro levels and any little change in your life/circumstances/surroundings WILL impact your physical body. This applies to injuries, having babies, changes in daily routine and activity level, and anything else you can think of.
So, here's the facts: you are going to wake up with a brand new body every day.
Okay, maybe not a hard fact, but it's definitely a perspective you can have. And I've found it very helpful, because then I'm not comparing! I'm just waking up and saying, "Okay, this body's shoulder hurts pretty bad but, it's feeling pretty solid in its spine. I bet I can use that stability to work on my shoulder...if I want to." It's better than me sitting there thinking, "Ugh, my shoulder is absolutely useless. Now I'm useless. I can't do anything at all. I used to be able to do 30 push ups."
See what I'm saying? What am I supposed to do with that and how am I ever going to reach any goal talking to myself that way?
Also, never in my life have I ever been able to do 30 push ups. Figured I should come clean about that.
I think that's all I have to say, friends. We're serious when we say this is our foundation. This is what moves us, and it's so important to us, but we're not perfect. If you ever see an opportunity for us to better support you, our community or the pilates community at large, we're here. We'll do whatever we can.
Because you deserve to feel comfortable in your own body and proud of everything it can do, has done and will do.
All our love. Always,
Cassandra + Pilates People
