Full Circle Back to Richboro!

Posted on July 10, 2011 by admin

Dear Students, Friends & Family.

Allow me to share our excitement of our new location by going back to……

…About two years ago, I made up my mind to follow my dreams and passion, dumped all the “what-ifs” along with various graduate school info and papers, and stick with what I know I do best outside of motherhood: Teaching Movement. From my house, I moved my Pilates business into a rental space in Holland, right across from the Johnny Apples restaurant. It was a spacious walk-up, overlooking a creek, very serene. However, being on the side of a buzzling intersection on Buck Road, it was also very secluded, with no foot traffic. Three months into that lease, my father called me from Hong Kong, telling me about the bad dreams that he has been having regarding my safety. “Jac, there’s a creek back there, you’re a single mother with 2 little kids, anyone can walk up ….” Ok, dad, enough said—enough to creep me out. Two months later, the studio moved into Sexton Chiropractic in Southampton, and creatively turned an existing hallway into a 350 square foot walk through studio. It was there that I met many of my current students from Holland and Southampton.

Although the new space was a tiny walk-through space, and further from home, it was definitely safe. There were plenty of foot traffic. The students tried hard not to trip over each other, between equipment, mats and props. And when they did, good-natured that they are, they just laughed. I knew that the small space was a stop gap, but it was the right space for that time. The children were just settling into a new school; the house was going through major renovations; a few months later we even moved houses. With projects outside of teaching that needed my attention, I was not working at the capacity to be able to justify a bigger space and the expenses that comes with it.

About ten months later, life started to settle down. Between the frustrations of a space that seemed to grow smaller by the day, being away from Richboro, and my growing desire to provide high quality group equipment class with a fully equipped studio, I started to look for a bigger space beginning Sept 2010. In March 2011, a “For Sale” sign was spotted across from the Richboro Car Wash. This location was literally down the street from our home! The asking price were numerically matched with my son’s birthday; the suite number minus the zero in the middle was my age for my birthday that was to come arrive in days. Do you believe that everything happens for a reason? Call it wishful thinking, but I thought, “This has to be a sign from God! He’s saying I am not too crazy to go after this- despite a house, two kids, two dogs, one bird, and alone.” The 1200 sq foot space was the perfect size for a full service pilates studio. For the first time, no one tried talking me out of it. Perhaps for the first time in a long time, I felt really sure, and that certainty emanated. Surprisingly, the financial help to put an offer in also came together quickly. Between writing the offer and the closing date, there were numerous obstacles that had to be put to rest, and they were. The positive support between the students and my family made securing our new location a reality. On April 6, 2011, Isofitt Pilates found her permanent home at Suite 307, 95 Almshouse Road.

And so, with great joy and excitement, I would like to announce to everyone that the studio has moved back “home” to Richboro as ISOFITT Pilates. Our work is in empowering individuals to use movement as the technique, the body as the medium, to express joy through finding balanced strength.  We specialize in corrective exercise techniques using a full spectrum of Pilates apparatus. Through correct movement, we address goals ranging from general body sculpting for strength and flexibility, to specialized services such as sports specific movement patterns and post-rehabilitation needs. As an adjunct to apparatus training, we will also offer ballet barre classes, zumba classes, kettlebell training, taught with safe body mechanics. Professional speakers will be invited to support our empowerment movement through workshops on various topics of interest such as  creative writing, social media, and meditation techniques.

Thank you for allowing us to share our little piece of heaven with you here in Richboro. If you too believe that everything happens for a reason… that for some reason we have crossed each other’s path, whether via friendship, school, at a local event, through a shared hobby or from our website mailing list. Please support our endeavors by sharing our presence with anyone that might benefit from a Pilates practice.

Love,  Jac

 

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Building Fitness on Dysfunction

Posted on June 9, 2011 by admin

When I see how many people out there are working harder but not smarter in their workout, it makes me want to scream: Stop punishing your bodies! I am reminded of my yoga injury that led me to Pilates. Unlike many Pilates professional that came from a professional dance background, I was in the (growing) minority that WAS a gym-rat. Would you agree that in a typical gym, quantity rules: how much did he bench this week? How many sets did she bang out? In a gym environment, the focus is often anterior or front-focused:- how many members are standing in front of the mirror, wondering if they are looking hot flexing his muscles in the mirror? Hey, I will be the first in the room to put my hand up!

Well, for me, the straw that broke the camel’s back, surprisingly, came during my postnatal yoga days and not in a gym. After about 3 years of 3 hour daily practice, one day, my neck/ shoulder complex gave out. With my bodybuilding mind-set, I muscled through my yoga inversions, without knowing to activate the right muscles to stabilize my joints.

Through years of studying Pilates I have learnt to listen to my body, use my intuition, reawaken the balance of stability and mobility, and with the help of the apparatus I am able to hone in on quality movement, and how I “look” in the mirror became a total afterthought. The irony is, today I am more flexible and strong than I have ever been in my teen gym years, with a “look” that conveys length and health,  not scary bulk.

Hopefully, you are building your fitness on a balanced body, and not muscle-ing through aches and pains to “do more” “get stronger” like I did in my youth. More pain does not take pain away! For example,  why would a trainer take someone who cannot hold their plank up without buckling, and instruct them to just plank more to get stronger? Wouldn’t she take the person OUT of the presenting challenge, do the corrective drill, before putting them back into the exercise they are struggling with, with the right modification?   Another example: if you are running and eating normal but your gut is still hanging out, or worse- growing, running obviously will not take care of it. The runner could be housing a series of asymmetries causing a spilled out pelvis, and more running will definitely exacerbate the issue. It is time to be kind and LISTEN to your body. The body is infinitely intelligent!!!

Pain is an important message from your body  at the end-range to tell you that something is out of whack. Working out with an asymmetrical body only strengthens the asymmetry and therefore increase the pain/ tension level in the long run. In our studio, every workout is both a workout and a movement screen. Students are constantly body scanned to make sure they are moving right, and their workouts are adjusted to how the bodies are walking into the studio, the day of, and not the other way around.

If you have recurring aches and pains, there is probably one or many body asymmetries begging for your attention. Please, I implore you, get your movements screened by a trained professional for body asymmetry, restore your body to balance and build your strength on a balanced body. It could be as simple as a 5 to 10 minute corrective strategy followed by a challenging workout that is designed to “catch” compensations you are addressing. You will work harder than ever yet walk away without residual pain. You will build strength and flexibility at the same time, reacting  to your inner sensory feedback to adjust your workout and not working out to what your eyes see in the mirror. This inner-centered basis of operation  can also transfer beautifully into handling daily living with poise and responsibility. Take up only what you can handle with the intention to always grow, and embrace where you are wholeheartedly.

As one wise mentor has said, ” Take the bomb out of the house before you start redecorating.” Or, don’t fix a water leak by throwing plaster on the ceiling. Listen to your body and do right by it. It deserves your attention.

Posted in Pilates training, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Spotlight: Restoring & Strengthening with Pilates

Posted on November 4, 2010 by admin

 

Pilates for mothers

Pilates is ideal for mothers of young children.

Intuition and Science

Jacqueline (Jackie) Au says that excelling as a Pilates teacher is about identifying the right combination of science and art.  Using a combination of good old teacher’s intuition and functional movement screenings, she is able to determine each student’s physical strengths and weaknesses and works diligently to strengthen those weaknesses with a specific combination of work on the equipment and on the mat.  The result is better posture, more core strength, leaner muscles and significantly better range of motion.  Pilates teaches both the necessary core activation as well as the release of unnecessary muscular tension.

The A-Ha Moment Comes from Practice

Jackie says that she works with students consistently and for each one there comes a day when it just clicks.  It’s the moment when the mental and the physical begin working in tandem. She has worked with golfers, dancers and basketball players on techniques that strengthen their bodies and increase their flexibility, gaining more success in their sport.  Her students have increased stability, better posture and stronger muscles for increased flexibility.  The golfer will have better range of motion; the dancer more power and the basketball player improved agility.

The Ideal Work-out for Young Mothers

Jackie believes that Pilates is ideal for mothers of young children on a number of levels. While doctors discourage starting a new exercise program during pregnancy, Pilates is wonderful for the already practicing pregnant student to continue until late in the last trimester.  For the newly pregnant woman, Pilates can help prepare her for the changes, both emotionally and physically, that occur during pregnancy.  Pilates encourages good posture, allowing the new mom to maintain her posture even as her body grows and forces her forward.  Emotionally, practicing Pilates reinforces the habits of centering, concentration and precision which will help her to be strong psychologically while experiencing hormonal changes.

Postpartum women may notice that their body no longer responds to exercises that used to bring them results. This is often due to overstretched ligaments caused by Relaxin, the same chemical in the body that allows a woman to stretch and house a baby.  These overstretched ligaments along with a shifting center of gravity with unstable joints post-pregnancy can add significant structural stress to the body!  Additionally, during a natural birth the force exerted to push a baby out may shift the pelvis from alignment so pelvic instability is commonly seen post-pregnancy.  For mothers that go through c-sections, where the transverse abdominis, our girdle for the pelvis, is cut, it is particularly important to rebuild the abs after a period of rest and recovery.

Mothers: Nip Bad Multitasking Habits At the Bud

How many of us have mastered the art of setting a baby on one hip while we talk on the phone with the other hand, or cook, or do both? These learned postural habits stay with many women (in the form of a hip hike) long after the kids outgrow the need to be held.  Many mothers develop habits that promote further pelvic shift that if not corrected, may cause compensation and misaligned posture, leading to joint and back pains long after our kids outgrow toddlerhood.  Practicing Pilates helps us become aware of asymmetries and overcompensation that often leads to pain.  Once the mind is aware, the body will naturally correct itself over time with practice.

Sandy’s Story

Sandy Meder is a mother of three and had been active throughout her life.  Yet four years ago Sandy was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis. She could no longer participate in exercises with hard, pounding movements or weight bearing activities.  It had gotten to the point that she could not lift her young daughter.

When Sandy started doing Pilates with Jackie, her initial goal was simply to find an activity that she could do without pain.  Sandy says that she has gained way more than she initially expected, including significant improvement in her posture, physical strength and increased energy.  Her training has been life changing and now Sandy can lift her daughter without pain.  As an added bonus, Sandy says that her time with Jackie is the one hour when she can truly focus on her own wellbeing.  Couldn’t we all use an hour like that?

A Positive Attitude, A New Confidence

By focusing on the core muscles and the alignment of the body, Jackie helps her students find their center, strength and confidence both physically and mentally.  Though Pilates is corrective by nature, Jackie stresses the importance of a mental focus on inner strength and a positive, can-do attitude.  It is not surprising then, that often for her students to develop a newfound confidence by being in tune to their body’s movements.  The body shaping that follows sometimes becomes a secondary reward.  That’s the balance of the art and the science, of form and function.  Restoration of balance and tone is first felt in the body, then reflected in poise and posture, and finally emanated in the form of a streamlined body.

Jackie says that it is never too late to get those flat abs back with proper practice of Pilates under the trained eyes of an experienced teacher.  Jackie says to look for an teacher who is certified by a group that has a rigorous training program with several hundred hours of training such as the comprehensive trainings she received at Polestar Pilates & Power Pilates.

Jackie does both private and small group lessons at her Core Produxions studio in Southampton. The web site is CoreProduxions.com.  To speak with Jackie or to book your session, call 215-322-2828 or email JA@CoreProduxions.com.

***

We hope you enjoyed reading this Spotlight feature, which is an original post to BucksMont Style.  For more information about our Spotlight features, please see our Editorial Policy.  To inquire about a Spotlight feature for your business, please contact us at Jessica@BucksMontStyle.com.

Posted in Pilates After Childbirth, Pilates During Pregnancy, Pilates Helps Postpartum, Restoring Strength | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

On the Subject of Integration

Posted on February 8, 2010 by admin

By Jacqueline Ann Au

This article was posted on YesPilates.com 2010 in celebration of MLK Day.

The spirit of Pilates

This week I completed my third Pilates professional training program. In wrapping up this Pilates academic journey of 10 years, I spent this long weekend trying to integrate all that I learnt to date into an intelligible system of information. In the end, I feel I have come full circle back to the Classical work. Perhaps a few years ago, my mind wasn’t ready and perhaps neither was my body. As in the old saying, “When the student is ready, the teacher will come.” Interestingly, today marks the celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. A person whose life was about Integration, Anti-segregation, and the powerful possibilities of Unity and Togetherness.

The Pilates arena is not immune to (political) segregation. One of the greatest divisor amongst Pilates professionals are the Classical Camp vs. the Evolved Camp. Within the Evolved-Pilates camp, many view Classical teachers as “snooty” and “elitists.” To an extent, there can be some truth in their complaint. Just because one is “Romana taught”, doesn’t necessarily make one a better Pilates teacher. Lineage does not guarantee good understanding and teaching. However, Classicalists have their own valid observation that although some evolved Pilates professionals teach exercises inspired by the Classical exercises, some Pilates Institutes have so altered the exercises used in their teacher-training curriculum they hardly resemble Pilates. It looks like random exercises using Pilates equipment. Classical teachers see these watered down versions as the destruction of the method (As opposed to the preservations of Mr. Pilates original work.) Joe Pilate’s creativity was inspired out of a necessity to rehabilitate immobilized soldiers, and moved on to create what we now know as the Classical Work to challenge and strengthen a very different clientele. He did it all. As Pilates teachers and carriers of his legacy, why shouldn’t we also strive to?

As you see, neither view is necessarily “wrong” but what is more important, in my opinion, is a meeting of the minds and finding a safe space to embrace both modalities in the spirit of preserving the very purpose of the work.

The Spirit of Pilates

When practiced correctly, Pilates becomes a portal to experience (the six principles and more): Centering, Concentration, Control, Precision, Breath( to be alive), and Flow. Every body part gets to fulfill its purpose: for example, when the shoulders and core stabilizes, the limbs move freely. There is a yin and a yang. The beauty of this coordination is akin to the synergy and harmony between two figure skaters creating a marvelous dance, or the synchronicity of a perfectly performed symphony. When a body gets to move the way it was created for, it is an expression that shouts joy and freedom. As a trainer, I would like to offer that possibility to all clients that walk through my studio door. Given, not every person’s body is in the ideal condition necessary to jump into the Classical work. And that is where the Evolved work comes in as an indispensable tool, as a bridge towards the Classical Repertoire. Power Pilates urges their teachers and apprentices to “WORK TO THE IDEAL.” Have a reason if you have to modify, but at the same time, it is important to remember end goal of working to as close an ideal as possible to the original work. The Hundred, for example, is a Classical beginner exercise. For some beginners, they feel the powerhouse engagement right on. They are in touch with their bodies, perhaps their trade (recall that many of Joe’s clients were dancers, acrobats and even contortionists) requires that attuned intuition. Some others, especially non-movement familiar individuals, or post-rehab individuals still healing from weaknesses, regressing the Hundred to simple arm presses in straps in the beginning, or even in combination with other small props, is a necessity to help them find their powerhouse connection. As Pilates is built upon this critical connection, sidestepping this step may create clients that “do Pilates” but never really connect, and also lays a dangerous foundation for future injuries when more progressive exercises are introduced. As in the cliche, “Its About The Journey” , not being able to perform all of the Classical repertoire does not make one a “failure” as a Pilates student. The point is honesty, and truly doing the best our body is capable of, and striving to surpass our comfort zone- not necessarily more choreography, but more importantly to take the work deeper with each practice, vertically into the muscles, bones and joints. And to strike a balance between knowing the repertoire one is practicing at hand, and working it deeply so that one’s practice is not an “empty shell” or an outward performance, but rather a practice that invigorates the mind, body and spirit from the inside out, like Mr. Pilates said, where every cell is renewed with life.

I think both camps of school has its own rightful place in the Pilates arena. I suggest what is as important as preserving the original work of Mr. Pilates, is the intention behind the teaching, the goals for the client, for the Evolved teachers to work to the ideal of the original work , never losing sight of it, without sacrificing depth and discipline for creating new exercises as fluff entertainment. Especially for those of us that came from a fitness background where new choreography used to be part of getting the job done, we need to really see that Pilates is a scientific and artistic discipline, much like ballet, martial arts, and ashtanga yoga– there is a definite system of progression and integration backed by critical thinking, logical reasoning and intuition from teaching experience. When a teacher correctly facilitates in connecting the client to working the powerhouse, “boredom/ repetition of order” is a nonfactor! In return, perhaps the Classical world can offer a little more compassion for those students whose bodies need to be prepped to even come close to the Beginner Repertoire. After all, we all pursue Pilates for the same goal: to feel happy and alive and to live in harmony within the bodies that houses our spirits. Our body is made to move. When muscles are balanced and flexible from proper training and movement pattern, they are evenly used; when evenly used, the outward appearance is a graceful poise and sculpted, the inner feeling is pliable and pain-free.

One of my third-grader’s favorite pop songs is a great summary to this article. The chorus goes: “Are we human, or are we dancers?” I believe within the context of this song, human refers to our capacity to make intelligent choices, to live and work purposefully and with integrity; dancers here is a metaphor for living a choreographed life. I offer fellow instructors to occasionally reflect upon this: Are we working to the ideal of Joe’s legacy that we entrust ourselves upon, helping our students work towards the repertoire at their readiness, or have we strayed so far with modifications that we have indeed lost sight of the original work? Hopefully, you have answered the former. We are human, and we are here to help the person in front of us make intelligent choices in their lessons to experience the joys of the work. And like our students, we are also works in progress, evolving to become ever more compassionate and demanding as teachers.

In 2007, three of the most respected Pilates training organizations—Body Arts and Science International (BASI)TM, Polestar Pilates® and Power Pilates®—joined forces , calling it Tri-star, to bring together experience, unique teaching styles and multiple instructors with the goal of encouraging professionals to learn from a variety of leaders in the field. _Pilatesstyle Newsletter June 2007

Posted in Pilates training | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Welcome, all, to Jackie’s euphoric world of Pilates

Posted on February 1, 2010 by admin

A young Jackie AuHigh on Pilates, because I admit, I am in love with, addicted to, and sold to The Pilates Method.

I have been an introverted physical culturist my whole life. The journey started when mother dearest bought us matching leotards and leg warmers for aerobic classes, circa 1983. I was nine. ONJ, 80s hair, “Physical,” when the “Aerobicize” show was the early skin-i-max.

I was hooked on exercise since then. In high school, I ran cross country and hung out with the dudes in the weight room while other chicks were running around in their purrrtty lacrosse plaid skirts.

Admittedly, I was not immune to the Step fever of early 90s, when I taught a couple years of step aerobics while my knees were trying to keep up with running on concrete.

Between my first and second back-to-back pregnancies, I had a brief love affair with yoga. I would try to sync my children’s naptimes to squeeze in an hour and a half of yoga. Until that fatal day… between the phone ringing, my baby daughter crying, and my little son screaming, my body came a-tumbling down from my yoga headstand meditation. You see, I am a high achievement type-A person, and never should have touched any class where the words ‘Power’ and ‘Yoga’ were in the same sentence.

Alas, behind every Yoga injury there is a silver lining. I discovered Pilates, or Pilates found me. And I never looked back. I mean, Yoga rocks in its own ways, but having experienced enough transcendence from the transition to motherhood, I really just want to embrace survival and physically assert my joy without more pounding on the joints. And Pilates is all about that. Pilates is about getting your core strong – and coming at the world – whether it is your work, or family, or anything life throws at you – from a strong grounded center. It is about being responsibly strong so you can do your job in the world and carry on without whining. It fits my A.D.D. nature. I get a mental lift and an invigorating, yet calming workout, in under 45 minutes. It is a graceful workout; I can be looking like crap, but the movements allow me to FEEL elongated and beautiful. It is at the same time fun, yet requires such keen attention, that I finally got the mind-body thing without shooting myself from trying, or the person next to me. I was my own competition. You just can’t think of your laundry list while on the apparatus or how well the next person is doing in a group class when you have a million things to focus on inside your body, within each Pilates exercise. And therein, I found my salvation. And the best part is, ya get to lay down, take an hour gravity break, and work out.  OMG, like, for any moms – to die for! Do I hear a holler?

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment