[00:00:00] Welcome to Pilates Teachers' Manual, a podcast for Pilates teachers by a Pilates teacher. I'm Olivia, and I'll be your host. Jump in the conversation on Instagram @pilatesteachersmanual. Today's chapter starts now.
Hello, hello. Today, we're going to be talking about continuing education credits, how to get them, how to do them, and all things continuing ed. So I actually love doing continuing education credits. It is one of my favorite things to do and I always have way more credits than I [00:01:00] need to have. Because I just love going to workshops and learning new things.
But there are requirements that if you have taken the national Pilates exam, you're now a nationally certified Pilates instructor. Congratulations! So after you take the test, your first two years of continuing education credits, Oh, I don't want to say that they're taken care of, but you're certified for those two years, but when you renew at the end of that second year, you're going to need to have those continuing education credits to turn in, just to show that you're a current teacher. Like, I feel like that's a really great thing to do.
So what you need if you are a Pilates teacher is 16 hours of credits every two years. But you do need to submit your certifications when you apply to renew, you need to get 16 hours of Pilates [00:02:00] content, which makes sense. You're renewing your Pilates teacher certification. You can also get allied modalities up to 16 hours, like yoga. I'm also a yoga teacher, so that's really awesome that I can, that I can use some of those credits twice. You can do up to 10 hours in industry development. You can do up to six hours in research. So if you are a researcher in your field, you can definitely apply for credit there. Business development as well, which is really nice if you're going into business for yourself or you are owning a business like it's nice to get, even if it's just four hours, it's nice to get that time to count as a credit as well.
Up to 16 hours can be done in person, which I definitely think is the best way to do it because I mean, I'm a hands on learner and it just, I like being in the room with the teacher and being in the room with other students. But you [00:03:00] can also do up to 12 hours of distance. You can do it online as long as there's a quiz at the end and they're a little bit more specific on their website about what they're looking for, for that. So I can link that in the description as well for you.
You can get three hours of your continuing ed as your CPR recertification, which, hello, you're doing anyway. Fabulous. Save that certificate, submit it, and you get an hour for your AED certification as well. I teach in studios and gyms and the places I teach require that you have first aid certification and AED certification. I feel like everywhere does ,so it's nice that when you renew that you're renewing that every two years anyway. That can go towards your, towards your CECs for Pilates.
And so, you know, that seems like a lot when you're just kind of like doing the rundown like that, but it really isn't. Unless you [00:04:00] wait until the last minute then it definitely is a lot. It's difficult to do 16 hours of credits in a month, but it's not difficult to do 16 hours in two years.
I also like this because it really shows that you're committed to your field and you're committed to growing because no person is the perfect teacher. Like you can be a great teacher, but you stay a great teacher because you keep trying new things and you learn new things and you share those things with your students, so good times there.
On the NCPT website, they also have a directory of approved continuing education credits, so visiting workshops and things. I'm really lucky. I live in Chicago, so a lot of things come to visit me, like Pilates on Tour. I'm sure that, you know, PMA could be hosted in Chicago. Lots of instructors will visit Chicago because it's kind of a Midwest [00:05:00] hub. But you can definitely visit their website and see what's visiting areas near you.
So how are you going to get all of those fabulous credits that you need? Probably the easiest way to get those credits is to attend a conference. Conferences can be anything from a one day to a three or even four or five day marathon of continuing education.
Big conferences are going to be things like Pilates on Tour, which is Balanced Body's traveling Pilates, adventure. The PMA conference is hosted in a different location every year. You can definitely knock out your 16 credits there. Momentum Fest happens in Denver, and they don't offer CECs for all of their workshops, but they do offer them for their pre-con workshops. So those are some of the big ones. But there are a lots of smaller scale [00:06:00] ones. Like those are, those are big guys.
And I think the great thing about conferences is that you pay once and then you get all of those credits, which is fabulous depending on where the conference is, you might pay once and then also have to pay to travel to the conference and then pay to stay at a hotel, but you can knock out all of your credits in that weekend if you needed to.
I think that it's the best price in terms of getting your continuing education credits. Sometimes a weekend workshop that's only offering eight credits is, you know, $500 or something. And for about the same price or a little bit more, you can get all 16 of your credits. So I feel like that's a good deal. Excellent. So conferences are a bunch of workshops that are happening one after another in a semi-organized fashion, usually at a hotel or conference center or something.
There's also workshops, which I mentioned that you can look up on the NPCP website, and that's where an instructor [00:07:00] is bringing their workshop to you. So it might be a three hour workshop, it might be a bigger workshop, like a, an immersion or something like that. But that's another way to get your credits, but you're going to have to attend more than one workshop. There's no, that I know of, 16 hour workshop that's going to get you all of your credits, but it's awesome.
Like if you really wanted to see like anatomy in 3D or you really wanted to learn about the brain and like the neurology of movement or something, and there is a workshop that was about that it was visiting you or was nearby like fantastic. Like definitely take advantage of that. But. Likely you're going to have to do a bunch of workshops to do that.
You can also take some of those workshops online. As I mentioned, you can do up to 12 of your 16 hours online and places like Pilates Anytime offer a lot of workshops that are paid, workshops that meet the [00:08:00] criteria that will get you that continuing education credit.
And those are also really worthwhile, especially in terms of costs. Those are going to be less expensive. So if cost is a factor in your decision, also convenience, because you can take those online workshops at a time that fits your schedule, unlike, you know, if you want to go to the PMA. Conference. It's the third weekend in October, and if you're not available the third weekend of October, like that's too bad.
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So I absolutely love doing continuing education and I love learning for fun. I have, I have a bunch of Pilates textbooks that I got during teacher training because I love anatomy and I love the body and how it moves. So I'm a huge fan of learning, but I am going to tell you two things that I really love doing for my continuing education credits.
And those are two of the big conferences that I've attended so far as a Pilates instructor, the first of which is the PMA conference and Pilates on Tour. So the PMA conference is more expensive than Pilates on Tour, but it [00:10:00] has everything, like I was thrilled to be able to go like as a very new Pilates teacher.
I went like the first year that I got my certification and it's like a Pilates extravaganza. Like that is insane. There is everything. There's a huge like exhibition hall that has like all the funky awesome reformers. Like they had the contrology reformers and they have, you know, TRX, and they have, you know, tons of clothing and toe socks, and just like, everything you could think of was there for purchase. Like equipment, these like super cool, hand strengtheners. I work with older clients who I'm strengthening the extension in their hands as well as like, the grip strength is, is really important to them. So I was able to get those cool things.
Lots of foam rollers and like all kinds of like tricks that I take with me [00:11:00] when I go to private appointments. Everything you can think of and like that's not even continuing education, that's just there as well. The variety of workshops is really excellent. You have several different workshops to choose from, and every day there's mat classes.
The mat classes also count for credits, which is baller. Like, I took a class at 7:30, at 9:00 ,and it was like a 9:00 to 12:00, and then you have lunch and then you had a 2:00 to 5:00 and I did, you know, three days. So there was all of the, all of their credits. Like, that's fabulous. And you get to take it with all of the amazing instructors that are on Pilates Anytime.
And they've also been super cool in terms of like sharing their class plan with you so that you can share some of those like cool things that you never thought about doing in your classes. You get to share those things with your classes.
They also have like different types of equipments. [00:12:00] Like you can work out on the contrology reformer or the Oov or the MOTR or the Allegro 2 which has the super cool infinity footbar that adjusts and is nice.
So it's just a blast and it's a bunch of philosophies. People doing Pilates, like it's very close to like the happiest place on earth, I'd say for me. And you just get to like geek out. And I definitely needed like a week after PMA to just like decompress from that, like total high of just like learning and moving and just feeling so good in your body.
Pilates on Tour is offered by Balanced Body and they take all of their super cool stuff. It is actually on at Pilates on Tour that I was able to try out the contrology reformers, which are exactly as intimidating as you would imagine Joe's equipment to be, with the metal foot bar and like really hard carriage and like super, just like their standard Springs are really [00:13:00] heavy. And you've got the leather straps instead of the like nice cords and you've got the wooden handles, like that thing's a beast. But super fun to play on. And I also got to play on the MOTR, which is almost like a reformer to go and like, that's super cool.
It's definitely a smaller scale conference because it's only Balanced Body. It's not all of the Pilates, everything. But there's still incredible instructors you get to take lots of workshops. Again, the scale is slightly smaller, but also, hopefully it travels somewhere that's closer to you, especially international friends. You know, it was in Shanghai, it was in London, it was in Sydney. So like if you do Pilates and you don't want to come out to the US like, it's very nice that it's going to be in your neck of the woods, hopefully. It's a big world, but it does travel. So that's nice. And that's just another way to get your credits. I [00:14:00] did a Saturdays, Sunday of Pilates on Tour, and I got 12 credits.
And so that, those could have been all of my in person credits. I'm also anticipating going to Momentum Fest this year in June with a friend who's also a fabulous Pilates instructor, as everyone is. I think that'll be fun as well, just like as a fun workshop. Not necessarily even for continuing education credits, although I am looking at some of the pre-con workshops as well.
So something really important when you are visiting a conference, if that's what you've chosen to do. If you can go with a friend and divide and conquer some of the workshops, because sometimes there are just too many good things and they're all going on at the same time. So if you can sort of negotiate with a friend and say, Oh, I'm going to go to this one on, you know, dysfunction of the hip, and you're going to go to this [00:15:00] like creative choreography on the chair workshop, and then we can compare notes and you know, you can share some of the stuff you learned about the chair with me and I'll share some of the things I learned about the hip with you. Like that's really effective. And you know that you learn things when you teach them to other people. Like that's how you really establish that you've learned something. So it gives you a chance to sort of go over the material that you've just covered for yourself as well.
Another thing is to, you know, take the things that are interesting to you. Like continuing education can be like a super slog and super boring if you're taking things that you aren't actually passionate about, aren't actually interested in learning about, so, you know, take things that you're interested in. So like if you love the choreography classes, like get in the choreography classes. Of course, if you love learning about, you know, working with older clients or [00:16:00] something like hit up those active aging workshops, there's nothing that you have to take. So take the things that are going to make a bigger difference in your life and that you think your clients are going to benefit from as well.
There's also a huge networking component to the conferences because there are teachers from all over because there are studios from all over. They're presenters from all over. There really are a lot of opportunities to network. Networking is not my strong suit, but I'm getting better at it. So if you can be brave and smile and introduce yourself to the person that they made you partner up with for some exercise, or the person you're like sharing the reformer with and like, you never know, like good things happen.
Pilates is a huge world, but also a very small world. And so it's good to have friends and then, you know, maybe you can go to a Pilates conference and they'll be there. And you really do see the same people over and over again. So that's awesome.
I think it's super fun to travel. Like I'm [00:17:00] looking forward to Momentum Fest and heading out to Denver. I loved going to PMA. It was in Las Vegas the year that I went.
But you don't have to travel. Like there are presenters that are traveling to you, hopefully. And there are online workshops that you can definitely take advantage of as well. I do have some links for those specific conferences in the description as well as the NCPT, sort of catalog of workshops, so you can definitely check those out. Get your continuing education credits.
I would love to hear from you. Like where do you love to get your credits? You know, what workshops have made a huge difference in your teaching life, but also your having a body life. Yeah. Just feel free to share with me what you do to get your continuing education credits, the ones that are the workshops or the classes that have been most meaningful [00:18:00] to you.
If you have any tips on networking or just talking to people in general, feel free to hit me up as well. Yup. That's all for now.
Thank you for listening to this chapter of Pilates Teachers Manual. Be sure to visit the Instagram link in the description for the post on today's episode. There, you can leave your comments, ask questions, and join the conversation. Also, be sure to support the podcast and take advantage of a great affiliate links in the description.
The adventure continues. Until next time.