One of my clients who is in her 70s right now and had double knee replacement told me once “If I knew that I would live that long I would have started doing Pilates at your age!”

At the time of our conversation I was 28 years old and I have been practicing Pilates for 5 years. Yet, I didn’t feel that I started early enough.

I remember reading an interview with Daria Pace, granddaughter of Romana Kryzanowska, when she shared her memories of having Pilates sessions as a child with her grandmother. Of course, she had an opportunity to take classes from Joe’s protégé and yet I was thinking that learning the Method so early was the biggest gift that she received.

I believe that any instructor out there would agree that teaching Pilates to children will be the most useful self-care tip that children can get. But how do you start teaching Pilates to kids? Working with children is so much different from working with the adults.

Today I am talking to Amanda Rhine, the owner of Discover Happy Pilates Studio in Decorah, IA. She has been teaching Pilates to children for 3 years and she shares her experience of working with probably the most challenging and most amazing population of Pilates clients – CHILDREN.

Questions discussed in the interview (INCLUDES: Practical Worksheet and Full Transcript)

1. How to develop essential skills for teaching Pilates to children
2. How to market and promote Pilates for children
3. How to get local exposure for Youth Pilates classes
4. Which exercises to include in a session
5. The best age to introduce Pilates to children
6. The length of the classes
7. What props/equipment to use
8. The biggest benefits of starting Pilates at a young age
9. The most rewarding part of teaching Pilates to children

Brett Miller is the new bold voice of the Pilates community. Chances are you have read his inbox magazine PilatesIntel or seen his comments in various Pilates forums. Brett lives and teaches in Stockholm while “marrying” his passion for Pilates with a full time career in software development.

I first came across Brett’s magazine Pilates Intel about a year ago and have been following it ever since. I have witnessed a rapid growth of his resource and was amazed at the abundance of interesting Pilates articles that came across my inbox over this past year. There were two things that absolutely amazed me about Brett:

1. The questioning mind. Brett is never afraid to challenge any Pilates truth or rule. His discussions are not about being right or wrong, they are about hearing different points of view that get all of us closer to the best way that we can practice and teach Pilates.
2. Career/Pilates balance. At first I thought that Pilates was Brett’s whole life. It seemed that he spent so much time traveling, teaching and talking to all the other instructors that there was no way that he could have been doing it part time. I was blown away to find out that Brett was successfully combining his Pilates passion with being a full time software developer.

Questions discussed in the interview with Brett Miller (INCLUDES: Full Transcript and Practical Worksheet)

1. The secrets to finding balance between a full-time career and Pilates.
2. How to find a complementing occupation to supplement Pilates income.
3. The “Why” of running an inbox magazine.
4. Brett’s definition of Pilates.
5. How asking questions makes you a better teacher.
6. Brett’s recent biggest discovery.
7. 3 factors that hinder the explosive growth of the Pilates industry.
8. Best tips for a successful Pilates practice.
9. 3 steps to become a better teacher.

Let’s dive into the world of Classical Pilates with Andrea Maida. Whether you are a contemporary or a classical Pilates teacher you will learn a lot from this interview.

• Have you ever thought about the importance of the Classical Pilates order?
• Or do you personally feel “confined” by the strict order?
• Do you enjoy repetition in Pilates?
• Or do you feel that you constantly have to come up with something new for your clients?

The choice on how to teach is yours and I am not trying to make this decision for you. However, as always, I encourage you to question and to dive deeper into Pilates.

There is a reason and purpose for each exercise in Pilates.

Contrology (pilates) is not a system of haphazard exercises designed to produce only bulging muscles.
~Joseph Pilates

And we shouldn’t treat a Pilates workout as a conventional gym workout. Instead, let’s try to figure out the genius of Joseph Pilates and his system. Andrea Maida, an extraordinary classical Pilates teacher, has been intrigued and excited about exploring the importance of the classical Pilates order in her personal practice and while teaching her students. Today she wants to share with you what she has discovered along with several other Pilates “revelations” that have revolutionized her Pilates vision.

I hope that this interview will help you develop a fresh look on classical Pilates order and how to use it to the benefit of your clients (and yourself.) Listen, learn and ask your questions.

Questions discussed in the interview (NEW: practical worksheet, classical Pilates order and full transcript!)

As a Pilates professional, how curious are you about the way the human body moves?

I must admit, I am an information-junkie when it comes to the human body. Every client that I teach, every class that I take makes me want to learn something else and dig a little deeper into human anatomy and biomechanics. And then apply this knowledge to Pilates. Brrr! Just the thought of learning sends goose bumps of excitement down my entire body.

As Pilates professionals, we stand in a unique position to educate our clients about their movements and their bodies. We don’t teach Pilates because it is the latest fitness craze or because it is guaranteed to chisel a sexy booty or abs of steel.

We teach Pilates because we know the POWER of the method to change our client’s lives, to help them move in ways they never could or never thought they could again.

“Pilates is Empowering,” it’s the thought that Shari Berkowitz and I kept coming back to during our conversation a couple of weeks ago. Shari has been on my “priority list” of people to get in touch with ever since I seriously got into Pilates. My first introduction to her teaching was through Pilates Style magazine. Soon after that first article, I discovered Shari’s teacher blog The Vertical Workshop and I was hooked (it’s the best in-depth Pilates resource for any movement teacher or student – and it’s free!)

Shari Berkowitz teaches numerous Pilates workshops, seminars and continuing education courses in the US and world-wide. Her mission is moving scientific theories forward into practical application in Pilates and in any other movement modalities.

Questions discussed in the interview (NEW: practical worksheet and full transcript!)

1. Application of modern biomechanics to Pilates.
2. Simple Pilates definition for new clients.
3. Most valuable modern scientific theories in application to Pilates (and best resources to follow!)
4. Safe Spinal Articulation from the perspective of modern biomechanics.
5. How to establish proper spinal articulation and muscle engagement from the very first session with a new client.
6. How to excite a client who is interested in purely cosmetic results about creating a mind-body connection and learning Pilates principles.
7. Best ways to successfully teach group Pilates classes.
8. How to teach multi-level Pilates classes.
9. Three crucial tips on being an empowering Pilates instructor that clients want to come back to.
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Back injuries are the most debilitating and at the same time common injuries of the modern society. Poor body alignment, sedentary lifestyle as well as inefficient body mechanics contribute to the fact that about 80% of adults experience lower back pain at some point of their lives. Eliminating or preventing back pain is one of the top reasons why people start doing Pilates.

Modern research proves the efficacy of the Pilates method to treat and prevent back pain. However, findings published by Professor Stuart McGill of the University of Waterloo in Canada show that traditional core strengthening exercises that involve loaded spinal flexion can and will eventually lead to back injuries. To learn more about professor McGill’s teachings please read Pilates for Healthy Backs: Teach Safely, Work Out Wisely. That is why it is important to teach Pilates (or any other fitness modality for that matter) with safe spine flexion techniques in mind. This is the only safe way to gain all the benefits of Pilates and enjoy a pain-free back.

Today I am talking to Rebecca Leone, a Pilates educator whose mission in life is educating the Pilates community about safe spine teaching techniques. So open your scratchpad or Evernote and start taking your notes as you listen to this interview. There is a lot of information to digest!

In this podcast we will discuss the following questions:

If you like eating ice cream does it mean that you know how to make it from scratch?

I know it seems that ice cream has nothing to do with Pilates but I beg to disagree. If you love Pilates then you can compare it to eating the most delicious ice cream. As a teacher you probably also find pure joy in teaching Pilates, educating clients about better body mechanics and spending your free time learning and becoming a better instructor.

However, in order to be a successful instructor you need to have clients; you need to grow your business whether as an independent contractor working at a studio or as a studio owner.
Teaching Pilates is like eating your favorite flavor of ice cream, it comes natural to you. But building the business aspect of your Pilates career is like trying to fix that ice cream from scratch. You need to have the recipe, the tools, the ingredients and the time that is required for this job.

Today I am talking to Gina Axelson, the creator of the Profit with Pilates training course for Pilates professionals. She is a fully certified Pilates instructor, a former studio owner and an amazing Pilates business coach.

Questions Discussed in the Interview

I asked Gina to share her best tips on how to run a profitable Pilates business. In this interview you will learn the answers to the following questions:

1. What does it take to run a profitable Pilates business?
2. Where should the instructors spend their time (besides teaching, of course) to ensure the stable growth of their business?
3. What are the vital cornerstones of marketing a Pilates business?
4. What is the #1 piece of advice for the instructors who love teaching and hate selling?
5. What are the expenses of running a Pilates studio?
6. When should you expect to see the business support itself financially?
7. How can a studio owner hire good Pilates instructors and retain them?
8. What are the biggest mistakes that you see instructors making that prevent them from running a profitable Pilates business?
9. What is the recipe for a profitable Plates business?