Welcome to the Surprise Pilates Blog! Together we will explore topics related to Pilates, Life, and all things Health, and Wellness. Subscribe to our blog so you will receive new posts emailed directly to you. Feel free to pass this along to friends and family or suggest a topic you would like to see featured here. Thanks so much for reading.
If you have taken a Pilates class with a PMA Certified Instructor, you've probably noticed we are a nit-picky crew! Evenly press across all five metatarsals, keep that knee lined up over the hip bone, press down with your hands, exhale on the return, and so on! Why are we so darn picky in Pilates?
Read MoreBefore I opened Shine Pilates earlier this year, I had the walls painted a fresh new color. I had a vision for what I wanted the studio to be and wanted to start with a blank canvas. Rather than trying to work with what was there, I began anew with a new color, new lights, and a few other changes, too!
New students are very much like that blank canvas - full of opportunity
Read MoreLast fall, I created a created a serious of videos called 'Television Arms'. That may not sound like a good thing but actually, it is! This is my simple, do while watching TV, arm series that will take you no more than about 10 minutes. In the videos, I don't do as many repetitions as you can do ... Instagram limits videos to 1 minute.
Read MoreYesterday while I was driving to the studio to teach, I heard Taylor Swift's song - Feeling 22. It's from a few years ago. The lyrics go something like "I don't know about you, but I'm feeling 22" and proceed to talk about how carefree and fun life is at 22. For about a second, I thought - Oh to be 22 again. That thought only last about a second! When I think about who I was and where I was when I was 22 versus today - no way would I trade places!
Read MoreI hope you fail. That sounds rather harsh and not like what you'd expect to hear from your supportive Pilates instructor, doesn't it? Shouldn't I want you to succeed? Shouldn't I want you to excel? Yes and yes but I also want you to struggle a bit, too. Let me explain ...
Read MoreI love March Madness! I look forward to it all year. I enter brackets, I wear my team's shirt and hat, and I watch a bunch of games. All of this is good but it can lead to a very sedentary month and some bad eating if you aren't careful. So today I am going to provide you with a March Madness Survival Guide!
Read MoreI hear it often from new students - I'm not very flexible. Sometimes these students do have a limited range of motion, and sometimes they are better than they realize! Flexibility is our ability to move and that range of motion within which we can move.
Read MoreI admit it - I watch the Bachelor. The reason why might surprise you. I'm not going to try to convince you it's a good show, or it's about finding love. Nope. Truth be told I think most who watch aren't really expecting real 'love' to happen. So why watch a show about finding love when you don't really think that odds are very good? It's about connecting with friends. That is why I watch.
Read MoreI can hardly contain my excitement as I share with you that my interview with Jenna Zaffino, Pilates Unicorn and the originator of the one and only Pilates podcast, Pilates Unfiltered is now LIVE!
Read MoreThis past weekend I had the opportunity to travel to Chicago and attend a Pilates workshop with Carrie Pages at Tensile Strength Studio. I've met Carrie before and we follow each other on Instagram. She's truly a delightful person to be around and has been teaching Pilates for almost two decades.
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