John Garey Presents Exceptional Video for Pilates Trainers
Once in a very great while we get really impressed by something. John Garey’s new venture, JohnGareyTV.com, is simply fantastic, just what the Pilates teaching world needs!
He’s put together video presentations to inform and inspire, specially designed for us passionate instructors who don’t have the time or resources to attend conferences and workshops and thus can’t keep up with what’s new.
He presents short videos with exciting sections designed to rejuvenate our teaching, such as new moves (“Move of the Day”), new variations (“Going Deeper”), and new ideas for our classes (“Connect the Dots”) plus interviews with top people in our field and much more. The first few that we reviewed (with a free 2-week trial and $20 per month) is really great stuff! He, by the way, is way fun to watch!
As always we receive no compensation of any kind for this recommendation.
Here’s who John is!
The Pilates Journey – by John Garey
I believe there is a reason we all discover Pilates. Pilates is not something most of us just happened to start to practice. In my experience, people start a Pilates program because of a very specific goal or challenge that forms the basis for our own Pilates story. That story shapes how we view Pilates and how we come to understand Pilates. I’d like to share my story of how I came to Pilates and what it has meant to me. I hope that this inspires you to continue your education, keep an open mind, and discover the story of your own Pilates Journey……
My first Pilates session was in Chicago, Illinois, in a small private studio. That one-on-one session changed my life – I fell in love this this strange and magical movement. I had never seen Pilates equipment before or even anything similar. I had no idea what I was doing or even if I was doing anything close to what was being asked of me by my trainer, Patrick. But I instantly felt a connection to the work. In a very short amount of time, everything I did improved. My flexibility improved, of course, but so much more as well. I was stronger. I could jump higher. I understood my movement better.
My next step was to learn to teach Pilates. But the system seemed so elusive to me. No one could explain to me why it worked, or how, which I desperately needed to know if I was to teach it. Although I understood the cues, they didn’t make anatomical sense to me. Most of the terms came from the world of dance , which was not my area of expertise. By the time I took my first Pilates Education Program, I was living in San Diego, CA. It was 1998 and I finished the Balanced Body Pilates Fitness Intensive through Polestar Education with Elizabeth Larkam. Elizabeth is brilliant and the course was packed with content – I was completely overwhelmed.. I started teaching, but knew that I was not good enough. I was teaching choreography, not the movement and the beauty that is truly Pilates.
In 1999, I studied the BASI (Body Arts and Sciences) Method with Rael Isacowitz in Costa Mesa, California. Rael is an amazing teacher and I really enjoyed working with him, but because I was teaching fitness and Pilates full time and directing the Group Fitness Program at the Sporting Club in San Diego, I couldn’t complete the required observation hours for the BASI Program. I also found it challenging to rely upon my own notes, which is how the BASI courses were structured; because I couldn’t decipher my notes I lost a good portion of what I had learned. I wish I had better handwriting!…..
For the rest of this article go to http://www.pilatesintel.com/jg and by the way sign up for the blog that this article was first posted on PilatesIntel.com which in our humble opinion is the very best Pilates blog period.