Another year and another successful Pilates Method Alliance Conference! This year’s conference was located in Phoenix Arizona and was a lot warmer and sunnier than last year in Denver! I am happy to report I learned a lot, got inspired, made new Pilates friends across the country and reconnected with old friends.
I had the opportunity to take a workshop with Rael Isacowitz. He is someone I admire and look up to in the Pilates community. To get to meet him and learn from him was a real treat. He taught a course all about the spine corrector. In our studio we more commonly refer to the spine corrector as an expensive kitten chair! But the kitten can relocate so we can take advantage of this useful piece of equipment!
I also attended a workshop led by Alan Herdman – one of the Pilates legends! He taught a class all about ‘homework’. The premise being we can only accomplish so much in one or two hours a week and for the student who wants to improve – what simple things can we give them to do at home without equipment? I’ve given myself some homework as a result. As I sit her typing I am actually doing a bit of my homework with my posture!
Next up was a session with Alycea Ungaro all about hands on cueing. Often in Pilates we think we know aspects but what she shared changed some of my perspective and gave me some new tools for my Pilates toolbox. I can’t wait to share these tips, techniques and hands on guidance with you!
I also had the opportunity to take mat classes from Kathy Corey, James D’Silva, Michele Larson and Deborah Kowley. Each put their own spin on mat work and had me feeling my core, hips, glutes and more! I loved the references back to their teachers such as Kathy Grant and Romana.
Finally, my last workshop was with Joy Karley and all about posture, alignment and postural assessments. I really enjoyed this workshop … which is quite a feat early Sunday morning before heading home! We all could stand to be more aware of our posture which is so much more than do we sit up straight. More on this in a future blog!
While it is not cheap to go to the PMA and always difficult to leave all of you and close the studio – every year I come back better, stronger and enriched for you! I make this a priority because regardless of your profession, we should always be learning and growing otherwise we become stagnate. I can’t wait to start integrating what I learned into your classes!
P.S. I was also fortunate to discover mountain bike trails in the mountains about 1/2 a mile from our resort. I’m training for a trail race so this was a delightful find! I made three runs on these trails and loved the rocks, desert scenery and bright sun! Bonus!
And double bonus I won a free entry to next years conference in Palm Springs!!
12South Pilates & Personal Training 