The Pilates world is all about “up”.

We cue to “grow taller” with every breath cycle.

We  teach  lengthen and strengthen,float, hover, soar, and much more.

This is fun and rewarding for all of us. Connect our feet to the ground and feel energy travel “up” the spine and out the top of the head!

Often these cues are seemingly esoteric and unattainable,but Pilates educators for many decades have found that this focus is what distinguishes Pilates from other methods of fitness and movement.

I will describe the physical motion of the body and a specific apparatus that Mr. Pilates created  to express these physical sensations.

The ped-u-pull is a freestanding apparatus that motivates the student to find their balance and stability while  energy travels through the spine from bottom to top.

It is a perpendicular pole that stands about 7 feet tall. There is a crossbar at the top,and springs attached are suspended shoulder to mid shoulder height. The student stands facing away or toward the pole,and is asked to align their spinal bones with the pole.

The teacher is certain to adjust the students place, and the cues are given to press down with the arms and “UP” with the spine.

Think figurehead on the bow of a ship .

Fun and rewarding  exercise that is magic.   This exercise delivers the sensation of back body and  front body. The student “Feels” the abdominal core working with the spinal bones and soars up with energy and down with strength.

Yes, Our fronts are actually connected to our  backs!

Gotta Love this Work!!

 

The core muscles of our body help us to move and function in everyday life.

They allow movement of our “trunk,” arms, and legs. Without strong core muscles we can become weak, hunched, and riddled with painful backaches. As if that’s not enough, once our backs are weak, other muscles begin compensating for the weaker muscles further creating imbalance in our bodies. The effects of imbalanced muscles can range from aches and pains to improperly functioning organs.

Often back pain relief can be achieved by building up the muscles in your core. The powerhouse or core muscles of your torso, include abdominal-wall muscles, pelvic floor muscles, and deep spinal muscles. When these muscles are weak, the effect can be substantial.

Pilates as Back Therapy

When Beginning a Pilates regimen, slowly build up to more advanced moves.  Injuring yourself by getting too advanced too quickly will not support your intentions of greater spine health.

It’s important to find Pilates instructors who can not only teach you the proper exercise movements, but also understand specific conditions of the body and know how to watch for particular alignment issues, what is causing them, and then know how to create a balanced body.

Pilates as back therapy—strengthening specific muscles for back pain relief—requires a skilled and knowledgeable professional. Implementing a consistent exercise program with experienced Pilates personal training, like Bodywise Coaching, will benefit you greatly in the long run by teaching you a sound approach to fitness and keep you safe from injury.

Building a better world one BODY at a time,

Deborah Iole

Bodywise Coach

Commitment

Make decisions based on a commitment to your Self. Commit to how you want to feel, how you want to live your life, your fitness mind body Spirit, and how you want to maintain your personal happiness. Spine health comes into the commitment picture when you acknowledge its importance and make a plan to move forward with personal spine health goals.

Consistency

A Pilates routine on a regular basis is what, over time, builds strength in the spine. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time, right? Making Pilates an everyday part of your life and your practice is what creates the overall effect—Fitness mind body Spirit.

Willingness to Listen

So often we ignore the signs our bodies give us that they need to be nurtured. Listen up! Notice the symptoms of dehydration and drink plenty of water. Honor how your body talks and what it’s telling you every day. Take time for bodywork, physical therapy treatment, and meditation.

The Openness to Allow

Consider some of the childhood false beliefs that you’ve grown to understand have nothing to do with the power of NOW—and notice the senseless limitations we can put on ourselves everyday. Simply noticing these patterns in our thoughts will help release them and open your heart to health.

I invite you to take a moment for mindful breath.

Inhale with the intension of clear consciousness…

And exhale any lingering false beliefs.

Building a better world one BODY at a time,

Deborah Iole

Bodywise Coach

What You Can Do Now to Build Your Spine Health

Range of motion is the spice of life!

To coin a phrase from Joseph Pilates, “If your spine is inflexibly stiff at 30, you are old. If it is completely flexible at 60 you are young.” So there you have it.

The one humongous reason to care about the health of your spine is quality of life. The stronger and healthier your spine, the more mobile and flexible you are. The stronger you are, the less likely you are to become injured. I don’t know about you, but I am definitely happier with a full life and flexible spine than a life with hip joint or low back pain, etc. that develops from an inflexible spine! The best time to start building those core muscles is right now.

• Exercise
• Give yourself time to relax
• Rejuvenate
• Rest
• Feed yourself good food
• And move, move, move

—it’s all important. All of these things affect your fitness mind body Spirit. Stress effects your spine health—don’t be fooled—It does!!

Taking the time to listen to your body will strengthen your connection to yourself and your connection to exercise and movement. Pilates is the perfect spine-oriented exercise for strengthening core muscles and in turn, creating a strong, flexible spine.

When we’re open to health, we’re open to life. And there’s nothing like raising the quality of life by being open to receive the gifts around us. Bring it back to breath. Bring it back to center. Start your Pilates routine by committing to yourself. Make a plan for Pilates training and a balanced body, mindfully feed your body and soul, and get ready to let the floodgates of health flow.

Building a better world one BODY at a time,

Deborah Iole

Bodywise Coach

Core strengthening is More Than Working Core Muscles

“Contrology develops the body uniformly, corrects wrong postures, restores physical vitality, invigorates the mind, and elevates the spirit.”

—Joseph Pilates

I work with my clients closely and can see where imbalance occurs in their bodies—and in turn, show how you can recognize those imbalances.

• Which side of the body’s muscles are tighter than the other?
• Which muscles are overcompensating?
• And which are not pulling their weight?
• What is your posture telling me?
• Is one hip or shoulder higher than the other?
• Are you standing in your calves or in your feet?

We achieve that delicate balance of bringing awareness to these physical nuances by building strength intuitively. Noticing the subtle differences is the first step in achieving awareness through core strengthening.

When you train with the Bodywise Coach Pilates method, you use a mindbody approach to the alignment dance. The Pilates connection—each core muscle is connected through breath, movement, and focus. The slightest adjustments in thought and intent can make all the difference when building a balanced mindbody.

I openly acknowledge the correlation of being physically fit and the feeling of happiness. You are free to release fears and doubts about your spine health, body image, and overall self-awareness. As one of the most experienced Pilates instructors in Boulder, I will help you connect to your body, and encourage you to express your best self through focused movement.

Building a better world one BODY at a time,

Deborah Iole

Bodywise Coach

The only thing you absolutely must do today…is breathe.

Breath is essential when it comes to a balanced body and a balanced mind. Bodywise Coaching workouts are core workouts that reflect fitness mind body Spirit. Part of the meditation of life revolves around nothing but breath. When you bring the breath together with refined stretching and resistance, Pilates core strength exercises become intertwined as meditation.

Breathe in, connect, focus, and engage. Even the Pilates beginner can methodically use breath and exercise in this way—but for the advanced, a core workout can become an alignment dance: Pilates, breath, and motion. As muscle builds quiet confidence, strong resilience, and limber temperance, movement becomes fluid and directed. You become aware of your body being connected to a greater part of yourself.

When you are:

• Feeling
• Seeing
• Sensing
• Moving the breath through the body
• Focusing on movement

These are the elements that build core strength in my clients.

Joseph Pilates said, “Contrology is complete coordination of body, mind, and spirit.” My mission is to teach my clients to connect with their bodies in order to reconnect to their Spirits. This can be achieved through breath and movement. The success of this alignment dance is the Pilates connection—I celebrate with you.

Building a better world one BODY at a time,

Deborah Iole

Bodywise Coach

As I walk into my studio I feel an alarming desire to add new flooring, change the lighting, paint a wall, clean my equipment, and well..I don’t think I want to prattle on about this,  yet at the risk of not sounding too sophmoric.”controlling ” my outer life supports me so that I can connect to my  inner physcial sensations.. Yes ?

The feeling of  a muscle contract, or a group of muscles warmly expand, the tingly  feeling of warm clear water flowing through my veins,  the flush of color tinged with a bit of sweat travelling  through my skin, or just the gurgling sounds of movement in my core,  all of these “feelings” are inner sensations responding to something on the outside.

When I  feel the inside house cleaning I am not so confoundingly obsessed with the outside house  cleaning. I get on with my movement, I notice the light scattered through my  studio, the clarity of the sunny color on the walls that reflects beautifully the light of the day continually  streaming through the window.

and then I realize I have been controlling the energy the whole time with not a sponge or a mop in sight….The Flush of color, light and sound, the cleaning out of my gunky mindless energy which is  transfomed by doing leg and hip stretches, bridging spinal extensions, curling, side bending, twisting and turning… I think I may be experiencing  the Pilates method that I know and love.

It is so much more  Than a bunch of exercises neatly and succintly taught.

It is the art of living …The Art of Contology

P.S. It does clean your house,  from the inside out!

Building a Better World One BODY at a Time,

Deb Iole

Bodywise Coach

Boulderites are fortunate to have a number of Pilates Training Programs right in their backyard. Boulder, Colorado also has highly trained and sophisticated teachers who have graduated from these programs—I am happy to call them my friends.

So why a blog about “other” Pilates instructors?

I am pointing to the obvious—it is more about how I distinguish myself, and how I approach the community with what I have to offer as an educator and Bodywise Coach. When searching Pilates studios, consider what you want in your Pilates workouts.

If you’re interested in

• A quiet studio space and highly energetic Pilates workouts
• Working with someone who was at the forefront of Pilates in Boulder (we’re talking 1987)
• Trusting someone with your workouts who has studied in many other modalities (only to find that all systems of movement, when taught well, work together)
• Combining mindbody techniques with Pilates contrology movements

Then look no further—I’m your first choice!

I love to take the work out of the workout and leave you with the afterglow. I respect Mr. Pilates’ original exercises, and my passion is to analyze them and create a method to adapt each unique exercise to each unique need of my students WITHOUT destroying the original intent. This is the heart of Bodywise Coaching.

I am honored to teach a diverse group of students that include men, women, college students, professionals, artists, dancers, runners, triathletes, advanced Pilates students, and beginners alike.

Recently I’m being drawn to work with women who want to focus on all the issues of aging gracefully. My experience with women’s health leads me to assist this group by integrating facial exercise, nutrition, and emotional well-being with personalized Pilates workouts contoured for each individual student—not as an end product, but as a direct focus of energy, balanced body, and vitality!

Building a better world one BODY at a time,

Deborah Iole

Bodywise Coach

Mind Body Nutrition—Can You Connect and Use a Mindbody approach?

“To be fit” by Websters’ definition, is to be in good physical condition, to be in good health. I would like to support the process of each of my clients on their journey of discovering their personal fitness goals.

For me, the more interesting part of this process is to understand the many aspects of “fitness,” and then share those with my students.

I will point to the most salient pieces of the Fitness puzzle:

• Mental fitness
• Physical Fitness
• Psychological Fitness
• Emotional Fitness

Each of these parts of ourselves comes into play when we take on our mindbody as our primary project with mindbody exercises. Imagine working in the Physical realm while integrating all others—to discover oneself through movement.

I am not talking about exercise as a structured event where someone is telling you what to do, how to do it, and for how long. I am talking about using an “exercise” to begin the integration of mindbody and Spirit.

As an example of exercise, and for this specific purpose, let us look to the “abdominal Crunch.” I suspect that even while you are reading this (if you tune in) you are feeling a certain way about the idea of the abdominal crunch and possibly connecting that feeling with images or thoughts. Your experience could be in the form of a picture, notion, a feeling of physical discomfort, a smile, a motion—or you may just want to get onto the floor and try one…or NOT!

You could begin to feel anxious or just want to stop reading right now…or challenge this writer and comment: “So what about this will lead me to the path of self discovery?”

Lie down and try an abdominal crunch right now…Do it in a way that, of course, you are not hurting yourself, but let your body show you the way. What happens?

Try the same with conscious breath (Latin def.Breath-Spirit). Exhale as you engage, inhale as you roll down feeling each vertebrae touch the floor. Remember you get to choose the way in which you do this and you get to inquire.

The goal is “to be fit.”   What does that look like for you? Is this going to be:

• In the image and likeness of the latest model on the cover of Pilates Style magazine?
• Or the person next to you at the gym?
• Or the image you see in the mirror, which may or may not reflect who you take yourself to be?
• Or you, the one who feels the glow or feels the smile forming at the corners of your mouth?
• Or the one who just feels ready to write the next blog…

I don’t know

you tell me.

Building a better world one BODY at a time,

Deborah Iole

Bodywise Coach