About four years ago I posted the following Facebook status, “What do a PT, a chiropractor, two dancers, a therapist, a painter, an international developer, and a teacher have in common? They are the fabulous students of the Polestar Pilates training that are joining Valerie Lyons Hodgson and I for R1/S1. What a great start to the day!”
So the answer to the question, “Who are the best candidates for a Pilates Training program?” is anybody that loves to move. Understanding the power of movement towards wellness has been documented in so many studies, that I can’t believe that the world doesn’t know all of it yet. The Pilates Industry (which wow it feels weird to talk about my life’s work as an industry) is growing and there is room for so many people to be Pilates Instructors.
I always tell the story of one of our teachers Jenni, who assists me in the Polestar Pilates Comprehensive Series. She was the painter in the above quote. Her eye is so refined in a way that is different than other Pilates Teachers. She is able to see bodies with the eyes of an artist and this informs her pilates program design in such a beautiful way.
Another student in the Comprehensive series was an undergraduate who was pre-med. He had come to me first as a client working through shoulder issues, and I looked at him and said, “I think I’ve figured out how you are going to pay for med school.” He is about to take the exam, and the communication skills that he has learned in this Pilates training program will make him a better Doctor.
What about the therapist? It is well documented at this point that the body houses our emotional life. Imagine the healing power of a social worker that can also work with the body. Understanding communication and the way the body can hold onto the past adds to the depth of a Pilates Teacher.
And finally the international developer, who speaks with leaders of other countries on a daily basis brings an even more global idea to the Polestar Pilates Comprehensive Teacher Training. Brent Anderson, who founded Polestar, often says not many people want to start a fight after a Pilates class. What if we could bring the peace that a body feels to the world…I do believe it might change.
Who should take a Pilates Teacher Training? Anyone who wants to explore movement and meaning with the goal of change and growth, not to mention making friends and remembering what it is like to play. We could all use a little of that.