Affirmations: I’ve been thinking about this topic for a few days. As is usually the case, an experience, comment, conversation or article presents itself. After the initial ‘present’, it seems to pop up again and again. That’s when I know it will make a good topic for the blog! A few days ago I came home to find a little unexpected present on my porch! With it a note thanking me for my hard work on the 12South Winter Warmup race this year as race director. I was touched. I was affirmed. Getting affirmation is a good feeling.
Today in Pilates, one of my students paid me a very nice complement. She began by saying, “You probably don’t need me to tell you this.” I’m glad she did. Once again I was affirmed. It felt good.
I was reminded by both of these experiences this week that a little affirmation goes a long ways.
I aspire to create a positive, affirming space with my Pilates studio. Who comes to a Pilates session to be told they can’t, won’t, don’t, shouldn’t and so on? Having had instructors who were very critical and instructors who were very supportive, I’d take the latter any time! Don’t we all get beat up in plenty of other ways in life? Shouldn’t Pilates be a positive experience? I believe so.
I was teaching a private lesson this week with a student who was celebrating her one year anniversary with Pilates and me. When she first came through the doors of the studio, she had serious back pain and limited movement. As a result, she was weak. It did not take too many sessions before we were able to calm her back pain and work on getting her stronger. Now, you’d never know the issues she used to have! I mentioned to her during our session how impressed I was with how far she has come. She said to me, “I feel like I have made progress, too, but it means a lot to me to hear you say it.” She was affirmed.
As I have been thinking about the new year and what I’d like to focus on, I am reminded about the benefits of affirmations. I am reminded that a small comment such as, “I’ve noticed you’ve really improved your form while doing the hundreds” can have a big impact. I feel like I do a good job at giving feedback but maybe there is room for some more affirmations. We could all use a little more ‘feels good’ in 2017!
12South Pilates & Personal Training 