[00:00:00] Welcome to Pilates Teachers' Manual, your guide to becoming a great Pilates teacher. I'm Olivia, and I'll be your host. Join the conversation on Instagram @pilatesteachersmanual. Today's chapter starts now.
Hello. Hello everybody. Welcome back. This week is an exciting week for me. It will be my first time back in the studio in just about four months. My studios are beginning to teach group classes with limited capacity, or at half capacity, and [00:01:00] a teacher, friend of mine has likened it to the first day of school because you do have that kind of combination of nervousness and excitement.
I'm so excited to get back in the studio, but what if I forgot how to teach and what the springs are? Which sounds silly, but that's like a genuine concern because we've been teaching virtual mat classes for a long time and I haven't had to say a spring in several months. Right?
So I've been reviewing my class plans and something I've really been thinking about is flow, and flow is, of course, a principle of Pilates. I like to think of it as like the pinnacle principle, or the highest principle of Pilates. That once you have accomplished all of the other principles, then you get to add flow. The way I interpret flow is that you have a degree of familiarity and comfort with the exercises and with your body so that you can then execute those exercises gracefully, rhythmically. There's like a confidence that comes with [00:02:00] flow.
That applies to your class as well. When you're teaching, you want your class to flow so that students aren't standing up, sitting back down, standing up, sitting back down all the time. I like my classes to really progress from place to place without really going back to the same place over and over again.
And that's totally personal. You may teach a different way, but that's what I think about when I think about flow is how can I minimize disruptions and transitions and things. Teaching is definitely going to be different, which is another reason why I've been revisiting my class plans and thinking about flow.
The class size is going to be different. Like I said, it , we'll only have six people in our classes going every other reformer. There won't be any touch cues or really any physical interaction with anyone, which is like, I'm fine with, but it's just going to be different. Cause I'm a very hands on teacher. I'm also not going to be doing a ton of demoing because I'm not supposed to be touching anyone's equipment, which means that clients are going to be touching all of their equipment and [00:03:00] doing all of those transitions themselves.
So transitions are always important in your class, but they're going to be more important when you are not to the person who is doing them, right. One of the things that's a little bit unique about Club Pilates is that the teacher handles the majority of the equipment changes so that students can flow even faster through exercises because they don't have to take a spring off, I've already taken the spring off, I've taken off everyone's spring and they could just go to the next exercise.
Now that clients are going to be totally responsible for that. Again, I totally understand it. You don't want me touching something that's then someone else touches and then I'm touching again. It's just like, we want to minimize all of that physical contact, but I also don't hate it. Because now students, instead of having the reformer magically set the way that they want it set, they're going to be more responsible and more engaged with the equipment. There's an opportunity to learn a little bit about the equipment and what the [00:04:00] springs mean, what the gear is, how does the headrest work when your teacher isn't just swooping in and doing it for you?
I think we have an opportunity to really give students some agency in their workout and really empower them to be just agents in their Pilates adventures. That there'll be an opportunity for them to gain confidence with the equipment the same way we've all gained confidence on the equipment, through teacher training and just doing it a bajillion times. Anytime you can deepen your understanding of what you're doing, I think is a good thing.
So again, blessing in disguise, little silver lining to are coming back to the studio adventures, but at the same time, in terms of the class plan, there are some new considerations to take into account. I've changed springs thousands of times, probably thousands of times in a week, but some students may have never changed the springs before. And not just people who are brand new to Pilates. I can think of, [00:05:00] you know, in a lot of cases with private clients, with group classes, I've handled a lot of the spring changes.
And I haven't told them what the springs mean, because they're just there for the exercise. And that's fine. I don't think that that's wrong, but there's an element of newness and I don't know trepidation. It's not second nature for your students, maybe to change the springs and gear in, gear out themselves.
So when you're planning your class plan, you're going to need to budget some time for explanation. And also it may not happen instantaneously. If you want a spring change to happen, it might take a second while students change the springs, right? It's not going to be as instantaneous. And maybe you were teaching in your clients were always changing their springs and they're super empowered. Fantastic. You have a leg up on me, but that's something that I'm keeping in mind for my class plans.
Also things that used to flow really nicely may not flow as well with [00:06:00] clients doing the spring change themselves. So what I'm thinking of specifically is I usually teach footwork followed by bridging on the reformer. And I usually teach footwork and bridging on maybe two reds and a blue, maybe three reds, maybe a green, a red and a blue. These are Balanced Body Studio Reformer settings or Balanced Body spring settings. So usually on like a heavy, a medium and a light or three mediums or two mediums and a light, something like that. So it's like heavy, but not crazy. I don't do footwork usually on all springs.
So a transition that I would do from footwork, bridging to another exercise. If I want to go into supine arm work, or I want to go into feet in straps, all I have to do is take off one of those springs to make that exercise change happen. Depending on the student, I might take off a different spring.
Of course. So maybe after bridging, if they're taking a twist, I can sneak on the side that they're not twisting towards and take off a spring, easy peasy, lemon squeezy, [00:07:00] the student doesn't have to get up. They just put their hands on the straps, they put their feet in the straps, and then we can go on to the next exercise.
If they are doing that transition, they have to go from supine to upright, whether they're rolling up or rolling to the side pressing themselves up, change the spring, and then lie back down. Is that possible? A hundred percent it's possible. But I do think about some of my clients were getting up and down off of the reformer is not a quick and simple task. It might take a second for that to happen. And in terms of flow, maybe if I have them seated now they were lying down. They're seated. They've changed the springs. Maybe I don't want them to lie back down right away. Maybe we need to do something seated. So things that did flow may not flow. Just something to think about. Maybe I won't choose that transition. Maybe I will depends on the class always.
Coming up after the break, I'm going to share some things to consider when you're making your class plan to maintain flow and also to not drive you crazy.
[00:08:00] Hi there. I hope you're enjoying today's chapter so far. There's lots of awesome stuff coming up after the break as well. Please share this episode with your friends and followers and share the Pilates love.
Now back to the show.
I have had some team meetings with other teachers at my studios, with our lead instructor, with our studio owners, talking about what the studio is going to look like going into- In Chicago, we're in phase four of reopening. Again, every city's [00:09:00] a little different. Every state's a little different, but here in Chicago, teachers are wearing masks and they're never closer than six feet to any of the students. Students are wearing masks throughout the duration of the class. Students are handling all of the equipment changes themselves and they're responsible for all of the equipment cleaning themselves. So those are some adjustments to make. And one of the things that I'm going to work on incorporating, and probably this week, probably for the foreseeable future, anytime I'm asking the clients to do those equipment transitions for me is I'm going to take a few minutes, just a few minutes at the start of class to reintroduce everyone to the equipment.
When I teach an intro class, or whenever I have someone who's brand new to Pilates, I always do this little mini introduction. Hey, this is the reformer, you lie down here. This is the headrest. This is the foot bar. This is the carriage. That's usually what I limit it to. Maybe I show them the straps. Probably also the straps, but that's usually what I limit it to. I don't talk a lot [00:10:00] about the springs other than the springs are creating resistance, but don't worry about it, cause I'm doing those equipment changes for you. But now you do have to worry about it because you are doing those equipment changes.
So I want to take a little bit of time at the beginning of each class and just let people know the anatomy of the reformer one more time. Maybe give them a little spring math. This is a green spring. It's heavier than a red spring. Red spring is heavier than a blue spring. Blue spring is heavier than a yellow spring.
Just so that they have a bit of familiarity with what I'm asking them to do. I'm also probably going to have them try to take a spring off and then put the spring back on so that they get used to kind of having to pull into the resistance a little bit. So the spring gets a bit longer so that they can hook it or unhook it easily.
I want to go over the gear with them and the headrest with them, and also how to get up and down off of the reformer. And that's, if they're brand new to Pilates, of course, we're going to go over that. But also if you just, haven't been on the reformer for quite a while, so that you feel a little bit more comfortable, you feel a little bit more acclimated and a little bit less stressed [00:11:00] about what I'm going to ask you to do.
Getting everyone familiar with that equipment right at the start, I'm hoping will save time in the long run because we've all tried taking a spring off and putting the spring back on.
I've also been practicing my cuing. I am someone who practices my queuing, letting people know what to do in very clear and descriptive ways. So I might not in this first week or two of classes, just say, take off the red spring. I might say, grab the red spring around the coil, pull it slightly so that you get a little bit of stretch in the spring, take it off of its hook and then gently place it down. There's a little bit of slingshotting that can happen with the springs because they're springs and we don't want any recoil like popping the springs off underneath the reformer.
So really walking through those changes. I'm going to get people familiar with the straps while they're lying down so that they're used to them being right next to their ears, the short strap, the long strap again, so that they can transition between those exercises and at [00:12:00] least feel slightly familiar with what's going on.
I went in early before my first teaching adventure and literally talked through an entire class. I just did the Flow 1 class that I was going to be teaching later that afternoon. And I just talked myself through it. What that allowed me to do is anticipate where the confusion might be and also know where my queuing, perhaps isn't as precise and then maybe workshop a little bit of cuing so that I feel comfortable talking through the spring changes a little bit more, and that students will be more likely to understand it. It's a learning curve for both me and the students. I wasn't super concerned about it, but I do want to be comfortable with the new normal.
Another thing I did was really think through, or in my case, I went into the studio and walked through what those equipment changes are going to be and what makes sense, what flows naturally. It's just like path of least resistance teaching. How can I minimize transitions and make the [00:13:00] most of each transition so that we're not changing springs for every exercise. We're not changing equipment for every exercise.
I do have a couple ideas about this. Pretty sure that I learned them in my teacher training, but Club Pilates teacher training, or their bridge training, makes it really explicit. And I want to share these little tips with you.
One of the teaching methods that they go over with us is how to teach around the world, which is you have one equipment set up, but then you want to do things. All the way around that equipment set up instead of just going right side, then immediately left side.
For example, if you were doing lunges, standing beside the reformer and you were starting on the right side, instead of going from lunging on the right side, step off of the reformer, walk around to the other side, stand on the left side, do your lunges on that side. If I wanted to teach around the world, I might start with those lunches on the right side, then have them sit on the reformer, do a seated mermaid.
Then I might have [00:14:00] them turn towards the headrest and maybe grab the straps. We could do some half rollbacks. We could do some seated arm work, then turn to the other side, get your seated in mermaid on that side. And then step off of the reformer to the left and get your lunges on the left side. So you stay on the same spring.
You stay with the same equipment set up and you move through it so that the transitions become an exercise. It's not just a transition for transition's sake. It's really nice as a teacher because it gives you more things to teach. You have lots of things to do. You don't have to rush from side to side.
There is a little bit more thinking involved because you have to remember to do everything that you did on the first side, kind of like in reverse to the other side, but that's totally fine. I mean, we can think about things like that. But it does create a really nice flow in class.
Another thing that you can do is single spring class or single spring teaching, where you have one spring [00:15:00] setting and what can you do on that spring without touching the springs, you can teach an entire class on just a red spring.
Definitely I've done it. Red spring is like my jam. That's like a medium or a standard spring. You can do a ton on it. And anytime that you can minimize those transitions, it's just going to really smooth out the class and allow it to flow a little bit easier. Especially with clients changing the springs. I'm not sure what it's going to be like. I might be anticipating bumpiness that isn't going to be there, but yeah. It just lets you keep moving more and transition less, which I think is beneficial, especially when your class is only maybe 45, 50, 55 minutes.
Lastly, perhaps most importantly, keep it simple. We're coming back, all of us are coming back to studios. These first few weeks, for me, at least are going to be all about foundations. It's going to be getting reacquainted with the equipment, reacquainted with your body on the [00:16:00] equipment and just getting everyone comfortable with new studio rules and those equipment changes because those are brand new to everyone.
The showy stuff is really fun. And you know, maybe in my advanced classes, we'll do some stuff like that because those students are also already more comfortable with spring changes and things like that. They may have already been doing that. But let's get back to the basics of Pilates. Let's remember how much we loved the reformer and, if you're in any of my classes this week, probably next week, we're all doing feet and straps, like we have earned it.
So what do you think about for your class planning going into teaching or have you already been teaching? Is my anxiety totally unfounded? Do you have any tricks for helping your classes flow with ease in this new normal adventure?
Good luck everybody on your reopening. If you're in Chicago, I'm right with you. If you are already open or you're looking forward to opening soon, stay safe and I'll talk [00:17:00] to you soon.
Thank you so much for joining me for today's chapter of Pilates Teachers' Manual your guide to becoming a great Pilates teacher. If you loved today's episode, subscribe and leave a review. You can reach out to me on Instagram @pilatesteachersmanual or send me an email to pilatesteachersmanual@oliviabioni.com.
The adventure continues. Until next time.