How is it that I’ve had obliques my entire life but am just now understanding what it feels like for them to activate? Don’t I use them every single day? Don’t they literally function to keep me upright and stable? Thanks to this week, my obliques are now engaged and sore in a way that I never knew was possible.

My lats, they hurt. I only discovered this during a private with Anna where she had me take a stretch on the Cadillac. It was a sore burning that kicked on when I raised my arms and went into a slight back extension—and it let me know I’d been putting in work.

Feb 15 I was skiing in Aspen and on my final day skiing I fell, my first fall in 5 days. As I was going down I felt a pop in my knee and I knew I wouldn’t be able to get up.

May 30 I was waiting to turn left, blinker on and I was rear ended by a distracted driver- he didn’t even brake- resulting in whiplash a concussion and my car being totaled.

My love affair with Pilates began around 2005. I was a stay-at-home mom with a 2-year-old at home and two children in elementary school. I was constantly running around with the kids so it was a challenge fitting in a workout. At the time, I belonged to a gym so I often went to classes that were packed with tons of people.

When I started pilates as a client in 2012, I just had my first job after receiving my bachelor’s degree. I saw my chiropractor regularly since I was 16 and I knew that it would be a bad idea to sit 40 hours per week at an office without exercising.

When teaching, counting reps is easy (most of the time). It can be a good idea to give your client a sense of how many of each exercise she will be doing.

As a newer teacher it's harder to give the perfect cue to a client or a class to enable the client to feel the exercise.

A client recently asked me how I got started in Pilates. After 15 years of teaching it’s such an integral part of my life, I had to really stop and think about what brought me to this passion. My first love is ballet. As a young professional dancer, I was introduced to Pilates and the reformer in particular after a groin injury.

Students often ask me about taking the Cadillac, Chair and Barrels courses and if it's a good idea. Of course my answer is YES, but I'd like to give some of the rationale behind my thoughts.

While Mat and Reformer give you a wonderful foundation and a great selection of exercises, they are a drop in the bucket of Pilates knowledge.

Congratulations! You have completed your first weekend of STOTT PILATES®  Intensive training with us at Equilibrium Studio. You love fitness and you entered this program at the top of your game, but this was different than you expected.  Perhaps you are exhausted, mentally and physically.

Working out as a Pilates client is often best enjoyed as a private so the instructor can give your body her undivided attention. The instructor can adjust your body alignment, make modifications to suit your needs and give you an ideal workout to suit your goals and body needs.