Taking your Pilates teaching to the next level

With Lesley Powell August 21   1- 5 PM  $75
Come together.  Pilates teachers. Share. Workout.  Problem solve.  Laugh.

This meeting will be moderated by Lesley Powell.  Come with ideas, questions about the body, problem solving about professional issues (i.e. Difficult clients, non-payment by clients, burn-out, etc.)

• Bring any questions about the body, Pilates exercises and teaching.  We will take time to explore issues coming up, your designed workout for your client and questions about learning to see movement.
• Then you will teach a client a session with Lesley Powell observing.
  Here we will look at your design of your workout, how you cue and issues about form with your client.
• After your workout,  Lesley will go over each person’s class, any specific problems with client’s movement history and how they can improve on their teaching.
  

Click here To Register

It is always wonderful to observe great teaching. Lisa Love has such an amazing knowledge about the body.  How she cues through words and touch is so inspiring.  I look forward to having her back to teach teachers again.

Back Extension Exercises from about.com

New ideas of stabilization can enhance the body without making the body rigid. Past old principles of knitting the ribs together and tucking does not allow proper movement principles of walking, dancing, golf and tennis for example.  The problems of the back being hyperextended may have other reasons than weak upper abdominals.

• How does the legs organize the pelvis?
• Are the legs not doing their correct job and the back is compensating?
• The Back muscles are tight.
• The iliopsoas is tight.

When I feel well organized over my legs, my abdominals naturally engaged.  With full breath and a diaphragm that moves,  the pelvic floor and transverse abdominus can engage.  Knitting the ribs together diminishes the movement of the diaphragm.

Visualizing the multifidus helps me get back my flexion in my ribcage of a neutral spine.  We have a skeleton at the studio that suppose to move.  Seeing the skeleton, its posture is horrible.  When I bring the spinal processes together, you can see the skeleton come back to a neutral spine and the ribs open in the back.

Taking a stand

What makes Pilates Upright different is using the block.  Betweeen a workshop with Liz Koch, Marika Molnar and my studies in yoga, they inspired me to play with the block to explore balance and correct sequencing in standing.  Many are trying to use the gesture side to hold themselves up. The block shows how important the standing leg is.

Disc Risk

With Lisa Love
Date:  Saturday, June 5, 2010
Time:  1-5:30   $150
Early Bird Discount $120 by 5/28

Developing Pilates programs for adults with back pain associated with ruptured, herniated, bulging and/or degenerative discs.

Pilates teachers are often engaged in preventing or improving chronic or intermittent back problems.  Some of the most commonly diagnosed causes of back pain relate to disc pathologies. To be effective and not put clients at risk, it is important for the programs we design to contain relevant, customized exercises with intentional, flexible goals.

This four hour workshop will focus on disc problems and basics of how they might affect the cervical, thoracic and lumbar spine.  Attendees will review related trunk anatomy and spinal biomechanics. We will then actively apply this focus to specific Pilates repertory, determining whether an exercise is indicated or contraindicated.

Lisa Love, Ed.M., R.M.T., has an Advanced Master of Education in Motor Learning from the Department of Movement Sciences & Education, Teachers College, Columbia University with additional graduate studies in biomechanics and clinical kinesiology at NYU.  She has taught movement reeducation for over 20 years, and maintains a private practice in Pilates in NYC.  She has been researching and working with MS clients for 15 years.

Great article about Sciatic pain and Pilates in about.com

by Lesley Powell

I have had the great fortune to start my Pilates career in a physical therapy practice.  We had clients with Repetitive Stress Injuries (reporters injured from the work on  the computer), back, knee and shoulder injuries.  Pilates works on the entire body, not just the injured place on the body.

As with the journalists, Pilates worked on improving their posture and the foundations of support.  When you have poor posture, it changes how you use your shoulders and arms.  Try it. Slump and lift your arms up.  Stand tall and feel how different your arms feel.

A former client was facing a 24-hour flight to  Australia  to get married only he was in so much back pain he could not stand, sit or lie down with any comfort. On the phone, I talked him through a movement sequence to target his specific problem. This took about 10 minutes. He made it to the plane and the church on time in no pain. The workshop, Sacroiliac Protocol, helps you understand this frequent low back complaint and solve it with the most useful approach I have ever used.  Dianne Woodruff

Dianne L. Woodruff, CMA, PhD, has been teaching for 35 years and has been in private practice for 20 working with people who have movement difficulties and unresolved myofascial pain. Her newest video, 3-D WORKOUT™, vol II, an integrated approach to fitness, was released in 2006. A Certified Movement Analyst with a doctorate in Somatic Education, she developed the anatomy curriculum for Stott Pilates in Toronto. She writes and lectures widely.www.body-in-motion.com.

Sacroiliac Treatment Protocol

With Dianne Woodruff
Date: Sunday 11 April 2010
Time: 9:30-12:30  $120

This workshop offers a step-by-step method of assessment and treatment for sacroiliac pain. It includes the anatomical framework and function, observation of whole-body and defined body parts in motion, various tests for sacroiliac dysfunction and methods for treating the problem. The workshop, aimed at “the dead seven inches” is an application of Bartenieff Fundamentals in a therapeutic framework. Open to personal trainers, pilates/yoga instructors and health practitioners.

Register before 4/4/10 and get a $20 discount on all workshops.

When the hips are unleveled (this picture shows a subtle gluteal weakness) with lifting a leg up, this is a reflection of gluteal weakness.  This weakness can show up in back, knee and hip discomfort.  Even my working with dancers,  there is poor use of the gluteals to maintain good alignment of the spine and leg.  When the true function of a muscle is not working correctly, other muscles compensate to stabilize.

Rudolph Laban had a concept of stability/mobility.  We need both principles in any movement.  As in the movement above,  true function the standing leg and core should stabilize the mobility of lifting one leg up such as the passe in dance.   If the leg/hip hypermobilizes on the standing/working side,  the back has to compensate.

49 W. 27th St. Mezzanine B, New York City 212-904-1399

Join us this April.  Register before April 4 and save $20 on each workshops with Dianne Woodruff

for a workshop with Dianne Woodruff.  I took a workshop about the Gluteals with Dianne at a Laban Conference last year.  I felt amazing and it helped with my sacrum as well.

Glute strength for true balance

With Dianne Woodruff
Date: Saturday 10 April 2010
Time: 1-4 p.m. $120

We have only two legs and must stand on one of them to take a step. No one would argue the importance of good balance and prevention of falls. Balance boards and other devices are fine but the anatomical and functional issues behind bipedal stability deserve more attention. This seminar for pilates instructors, personal trainers and health-care practitioners addresses essential movement patterns for bipedal stability and a healthy back in a pedestrian culture. Such patterns were identified and researched by Dr. Vladimir Janda as early as 1964. Over the last 20 years Dr. Woodruff has developed an approach to assessment, correction and preventive exercise that you will learn in this seminar.

To register

Dianne Woodruff

Dianne Woodruff will take your teaching and your body to a new fitness level this April.  Whether you are a Pilates teacher, fitness trainer or just a client, experience unique workshops to fine tune your body’s and your client’s connection to wellness and fitness.  Lesley Powell

Dianne L. Woodruff, CMA, PhD, has been teaching for 35 years and has been in private practice for 20 working with people who have movement difficulties and unresolved myofascial pain. Her newest video, 3-D WORKOUT™, vol II, an integrated approach to fitness, was released in 2006. A Certified Movement Analyst with a doctorate in Somatic Education, she developed the anatomy curriculum for Stott Pilates in Toronto. She writes and lectures widely.www.body-in-motion.com.

Introduction to 3-D Workout

With Dianne Woodruff
Date: Sunday 11 April 2010
Time: 2-5 p.m. $120

3-D Workout is a low-impact, low-tech fitness program you can do anywhere. This workshop introduces you to the basics as shown on the DVD and then some. We use our bodies in three-dimensions at all times so your exercise should go beyond the conventional biceps curl and other single plane exercises. The 3-D Workout program, developed by Dianne Woodruff, CMA, PhD, is inspired by the Laban/Bartenieff framework. Available in classes and as instructor training, this workshop is open to all. DVDs will be available for sale at a discount.

Sacroiliac treatment protocol

With Dianne Woodruff
Date: Sunday 11 April 2010
Time: 9:30-12:30  $120

This workshop offers a step-by-step method of assessment and treatment for sacroiliac pain. It includes the anatomical framework and function, observation of whole-body and defined body parts in motion, various tests for sacroiliac dysfunction and methods for treating the problem. The workshop, aimed at “the dead seven inches” is an application of Bartenieff Fundamentals in a therapeutic framework. Open to personal trainers, pilates/yoga instructors and health practitioners. Taught by Dianne Woodruff.

Glute strength for true balance

With Dianne Woodruff
Date: Saturday 10 April 2010
Time: 1-4 p.m. $120

We have only two legs and must stand on one of them to take a step. No one would argue the importance of good balance and prevention of falls. Balance boards and other devices are fine but the anatomical and functional issues behind bipedal stability deserve more attention. This seminar for pilates instructors, personal trainers and health-care practitioners addresses essential movement patterns for bipedal stability and a healthy back in a pedestrian culture. Such patterns were identified and researched by Dr. Vladimir Janda as early as 1964. Over the last 20 years Dr. Woodruff has developed an approach to assessment, correction and preventive exercise that you will learn in this seminar.

To register

Dianne Woodruff

Just out in JBMT (Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies), is an arresting article on the assumptions about core stability, “The Myth of Core Stability” by British osteopathic physician, Eyal Lederman.

You can download this article at no charge from this link  http://www.cpdo.net/shop/bs1.html

Dianne L. Woodruff, CMA, PhD

When a person comes in with back issues, I always observe how they use their legs.  I find many are very weak in leg strength and how it relates to posture, walking and everyday movements.  Irmgard Bartenieff explained it beautifully with with her Bartenieff Fundamental: pelvic shift forward and Lateral.  I introduce these concepts to my clients.   Pelvic shift forward is a bridge that requires you to use your legs.  When you see someone weak in the legs, the client will compensate with their backs.  With this weakness, you see the back higher than the legs.

Then the next step is bringing this to standing.  This Spring Dianne joins up in April and Dr. Martha Eddy and I teach BodyMind Fitness: UNDERSTANDING May 21-24.

More information about Dianne Workshops this April

Introduction to 3-D Workout
With Dianne Woodruff
Date: Sunday 11 April 2010
Time: 2-5 p.m. $120

3-D Workout is a low-impact, low-tech fitness program you can do anywhere. This workshop introduces you to the basics as shown on the DVD and then some. We use our bodies in three-dimensions at all times so your exercise should go beyond the conventional biceps curl and other single plane exercises. The 3-D Workout program, developed by Dianne Woodruff, CMA, PhD, is inspired by the Laban/Bartenieff framework. Available in classes and as instructor training, this workshop is open to all. DVDs will be available for sale at a discount.

Sacroiliac treatment protocol
With Dianne Woodruff
Date: Sunday 11 April 2010
Time: 9:30-12:30  $120

This workshop offers a step-by-step method of assessment and treatment for sacroiliac pain. It includes the anatomical framework and function, observation of whole-body and defined body parts in motion, various tests for sacroiliac dysfunction and methods for treating the problem. The workshop, aimed at “the dead seven inches” is an application of Bartenieff Fundamentals in a therapeutic framework. Open to personal trainers, pilates/yoga instructors and health practitioners. Taught by Dianne Woodruff.

Glute strength for true balance
With Dianne Woodruff
Date: Saturday 10 April 2010
Time: 1-4 p.m. $120

We have only two legs and must stand on one of them to take a step. No one would argue the importance of good balance and prevention of falls. Balance boards and other devices are fine but the anatomical and functional issues behind bipedal stability deserve more attention. This seminar for pilates instructors, personal trainers and health-care practitioners addresses essential movement patterns for bipedal stability and a healthy back in a pedestrian culture. Such patterns were identified and researched by Dr. Vladimir Janda as early as 1964. Over the last 20 years Dr. Woodruff has developed an approach to assessment, correction and preventive exercise that you will learn in this seminar.

To register for Dianne’s workshops at Movements Afoot

More info about BodyMind Fitness

49 W. 27th St. Mezzanine B, New York City 212-904-1399

Our classes  combine:

• Pilates
• Bartenieff Fundamentals
• Franklin Method
• BodyMind techniques for better movement & relaxation
• Restorative yoga

Finding a movement/fitness practice is hard for all. It is especially more difficult for those suffering from an injury or neurological disease. Traditional exercise does not always address how to create a fitness practice when the body is not well. How the mind influences the body can determine better function for most.

Traditional exercise has an emphasis on the loading of muscles, repetitions and sweat. This is important in the end result of good healthy fitness. The process for finding fitness should be different when the body is not well.

A lot of classes and fitness are too fast and/or too much exertion for the person who does not feel well. Sometimes the body will go to the muscles that are already overworked when the load/exertion is too much. For instance, abdominal and bridging exercises are important in back care. Many complain of back pain in these kinds of exercises. What is happening here?

The brain is giving the wrong feedback to the body.

Instead of initiating the movement from the abdominals in the crunch,
the brain goes to the back muscles to start the work. How do you make change?

You retrain how the mind thinks about movement. This is a practice in itself. These techniques are used by athletes, dancers and gymnasts.

Essential tools are:

• Breath Imagery
• Better understanding of functional anatomy
• Cueing
• Mental rehearsals
• Relaxation techniques

We are going to look at how to train the abdominals and the legs using new tools. Breath is your road to deeper concentration, relaxation and core support. For further in depth practice see my podcast on breath. One can also used breath as imagery to assist in change. When you blow up a balloon, it swells up into a moldable shape. When you allow a balloon to let out the air out, the balloon releases back to its original shape.

• Focus your breath to an area of tightness in your body.
• Imagine the breath expanding that area like a balloon with the inhale.
• As that area expands, feel how the muscles lengthen, widen and release.
• On the exhale, imagine the muscles falling softer towards the ground.
• Breath can be a great tool when the body is fatigued or in pain.
• Let’s say you are in a class and you have reached a place of fatigued.

Instead of leaving class, go back as the class workout to the breath. Only join back into the class when you feel well.

ANATOMICAL IMAGERY

Understanding how the body works can really help one find new connections and a preventive measure from re-injury. We are going to look at the Bartenieff Fundamental, the thigh lift. This is a underlying concept how the thighbone moves in the hip socket. It is essential for a movements of the legs such as walking and level changes such as getting up from a chair.

When someone comes in with a back injury,
I look at how they do a thigh lift.

When the thighbone is not gliding well in the hip socket,
the pelvis will unleveled to lift the leg.
This repetitive motion can lead to more discomfort in the back, hips and legs.

Here(see above podcast) is the thighbone placed into the hip socket. Notice how it is a deep round socket for the head of the femur bone. When the leg is lifted, there is an opposition of movement of the two distal points of the femur bone; one where the knee is and the other, the femur head in the hip socket. In the thigh lift, the head of the femur will glide in the opposite direction of the knee. The higher the knee is lifted, the head of the femur will roll and glide lower in the socket towards the sitz bones.

Image the bone gliding down in the hip socket as you do the thigh lift.
Feel how the back lengthens with the bone gliding well in the hip socket.

When you understand how the body is designed, you will have better movement. As Eric Franklin says “Embodied anatomy improves function”. When the thigh lift is done correctly, the correct muscles will be invited to work. The Bartenieff Fundamental, the thigh lift is the underlying concept in all abdominal work and movements of the legs.
(See my podcast on Pilates Basics: Enhancing the core)

Mental Rehearsal

This is a technique used by musicians, dancers and athletes. You review the movement in your head like it is a film. You image the movement with complete success, expression and enjoyment. We are going to look at the Bartenieff Fundamental, the pelvic shift forward. This can be a great exercise to get the legs stronger and stabilized the spine. Sometimes when the legs are weak, the back wants to overcompensate. This can be painful for many.

• Visualize yourself doing a pelvic shift forward.
• Press down on your feet feeling equal pressure on the inside and outside lane of the feet.
• Feel the hamstrings engaged against your thighbone
• Using your leg muscles rise the pelvis forward towards your feet.
• Your relaxed spine rises up in one piece.
• Your back is relaxed and the legs are doing the work
• Imagine your legs are like an elevator that carries the load of the spine up and down.
• Slowly descend your spine down with your spine in neutral. Your spine should come down in one piece.
• Practice this a few times and then try to do a real Pelvic technique.

Mental rehearsal is great to use when you are fatigued or in pain. Research has shown through biofeedback that muscles are charged even with mental rehearsal.

Relaxation techniques

Sometimes to get to the correct muscles usage, one needs to release the overcompensating muscles. Stretching can be positive for some; for others over-stretching can put a muscle in spasm. Constructive rest position is a practice of lying on your back to release unnecessary tension in your body.

• Lie on your back
• Have your legs bent with your feet on the floor or on a stool/chair. A belt can help keep the legs together. This can help diminish tension.
• Observe how your spine feels on the floor.
• What areas of the spine lay well on the floor?
• How is tension in your body affects how you lie on the floor?
• Use breath and image of the balloon to create new releases in your spine.

For further information about constructive rest:

• Andre Bernard
• Eric Franklin
• Restorative yoga
• Another great book about release techniques Paul Escosque Pain-Free

We would love to bring pilates movement to people who would love a Pilates class designed at the pace and needs of their present health. We will be setting up a new series this spring.  Please give us a call if you and others would like to set specific days/times.

Special Pilates classes:

• Back care
• MS
• Arthritis
• Fibromylia
• Chronic fatigue
• Cancer survivors
• Parkinson’s