NOTE FROM LINDA

The Pilates on Tour conference drew to a close on Day 3.  Balanced Body really knows how to run a top notch event.  All details are fully covered, they set their standards high and work tirelessly to produce exception value to all attendees.  I am very grateful to the Balanced Body team and their presenters.

The biggest value that I receive from these  conferences, is to watch these experts cue using the power of words and their skillful touch.  This is something that cannot be learned from a book or watching a video.

What we do in Pilates is create conscious awareness of movement.  To teach our clients how to move their bodies without pain.  When we have positive movement experiences, our nervous system starts to relax, muscles that are feeling tight and are holding on let go, allowing the body to relearn proper movement patterns that support movement that feels good.

For people who have stopped doing things they love to do because of pain, this opens up their world to them again.

At the Tsawwassen Wellness Centre, we don’t look at someone by their age.  We watch the body in front of us.  If you can get up off the floor, you are young.  If you can move your spine, you are young.  Longevity is directly correlated by how you move.  The great news is when you move, your body responds by moving more, moving better and moving in a way that feels great. 

In health,

Linda Mallard

Day 2 of the Pilates on Tour for Rehabilitation course is complete.  It was an interesting day learning about the Pelvic Core and Pilates for Low Back Pain.

The one thing that stands out at Pilates conferences is the pure passion everyone has for what they do.  Each person I speak with has exciting business ideas to share, client successes and queries, and a thirst for learning. 

Physiotherapists seek out Pilates instructors to share and collaborate with in regards to exercise prescription, cueing and teaching tools.  Pilates instructors will seek out Physiotherapists to collaborate with in regards to assessments and protocols.

Friends are made, contacts established and our circle of support expands each time I attend a conference like this.

While I now have another dozen assessment tools and exercises and new cues in my tool-kit, one of my most profound take away pieces from day 2 is to focus the client on what they can do and not to let a diagnosis determine their future.

While understanding a diagnosis can be helpful to guiding a client, as movement specialists, we focus on how the client moves and what is happening in their body on any given day. 

Our goal is to provide a positive movement experience without pain that exceeds our clients expectations.  In other words, they realize their movement potential and are amazed at what they can do.  When this occurs, constraints are removed and the client shifts their focus into possibilities of what their life can look like as a healthy body.

It is important to know that while understanding what is going on with our bodies with the use  of evaluation tools such as MRI’s, we don’t want to stay in the space of “what is wrong with me” and instead put your attention to what you are achieving, what your goals are and how much you’ve improved.

When I worked at a naturopath clinic many years back, patients would come into the clinic wanting to know “what they have”.  While assessments were done, the naturopath would simply say “let’s see what it is that your body needs and give that to it.  This will get you well and then it won’t matter what you have anymore.”

All of the instructors at this conference stated that for clients to have marked improvements, they need to do something everyday with 3 days a week of a structured Pilates session.  Remember to check out my you tube video’s for exercises you can do at home at www.youtube.com/lindamallard.

If you have any questions, or simply want to share, please contact me at 604.943.8823.

Linda Mallard