It’s time again for another Pilates on Call, our open Q&A with Pilates and movement experts. Liz Koch, an expert on the psoas, has kindly volunteered to answer any and all of your questions about this deep, important muscle. For a general background on the posas, you can read her article Intro to the Psoas.

If you have questions about how the psoas relates to Pilates, now is your chance to get answers. You can leave your questions for Liz in the comments section below or email editor@pilates-pro.com. Liz will get to them as quickly as possible, but might need a day or two to respond.

ABOUT LIZ KOCH
Liz Koch is an international somatic educator and creator of Core Awareness™ focusing on awareness for exploring human potential. With over 30 years experience working with and specializing in the iliopsoas, she is recognized in the somatic, bodywork and fitness professions as an authority on the core muscle. Liz is the author of The Psoas Book, Unraveling Scoliosis, Core Awareness: Enhancing Yoga, Pilates, Exercise & Dance, and The Psoas and Back Pain. Approved by the USA National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork (NCBTMB) as a continuing education provider, Liz Koch is a member of the International Movement Educators Association (IMA). Learn more at coreawareness.com.

If you’re a student of movement, a parent or just baby crazy, you’ll love this video montage of baby Liv as she learns how to use her body. Without even realizing it, you’ve also just watched what you would do in a Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement Lesson. The video is part of The Next 25 Years, a video project that aims to demonstrate and explain the Feldenkrais Method in a simple, effective way. Moshe Feldenkrais, like Joseph Pilates, studied how babies develop and move and used those observations as a foundation for his method.

Even more so than Pilates, Feldenkrais is difficult to explain to the uninitiated, and it suffers from a “strange” name. Irene Gutteridge, producer of The Next 25 Years and a Feldenkrais practitioner in British Columbia, Canada, is trying to make it more accessible and bring more recognition to the method. If Baby Liv’s video is any indication, she may succeed. It’s been on YouTube for just over two weeks and already has over 10,000 views. We’ll be keeping our eye on this project - maybe she can take on Pilates next?

By Nicole Rogers

Have you ever wished for an online Pilates encyclopedia? If so, Pilates Interactive, a new web platform from BASI Pilates founder Rael Isacowitz, might be what you’re looking for. It’s an instant exercise reference tool, a continuing ed program and, for those like me who work alone, a digital colleague, packaged onto one site and accessible at any time. It is an extremely handy tool for Pilates in the 21^st century.

At its most basic, Pilates Interactive is an online video library of the BASI exercise repertoire. Each video on the site is a demonstration of an individual exercise, and most feature Rael Isacowitz performing and/or cueing the movement. The videos are searchable and sortable by key word, difficulty level, apparatus, muscle, or BASI block (BASI’s unique system). Because all of the video content is streamed, nothing needs to be installed or downloaded onto your computer. The site’s main interface is sleek and easy to navigate and the viewing interface for each exercise has at-a-glance exercise notes, organized into set-up, movement, muscle focus, objectives and cueing sections. At last count, 327 exercises were available and BASI is still adding to the site.

Amanda Martin

Debra GoodmanFor the fourth installment of our Pilates On Call series, we’re focusing on the topic of pregnancy. We’re sure it will be a busy and popular post, if site traffic for this topic is any indicator.

Pilates On Call is a month-long, open Q&A session with an expert, so this is your opportunity to ask about the finer points of Pilates exercise with this population. Perhaps you’d like advice for working with a newly pregnant client, or information about a particular pregnancy-related condition.

We’re thrilled to welcome Debra Goodman, MSPT, back to the site. She’s written several popular articles on Pilates and pregnancy for us, and has an extensive background treating pregnant and postpartum patients. She is one of few physical therapists trained in internal evaluation and treatment of the pelvic floor muscles. And we’re equally thrilled to introduce Amanda Martin, owner of balance in Athens, Georgia, a Pilates and wellness studio that specializes in working with pregnant and post-natal clientele, among other populations. She has been doing this kind of Pilates work since 2004.

Post your questions in the comments section below or email them to us editor@pilates-pro.com. Debra and Amanda will get to them as quickly as possible, but might need a day or two to respond.

By Shari Berkowitz

Pilates conferences are a relatively new phenomenon, but what a phenomenon they have become! Every major training program has at least one and many independent trainers have them, too. Navigating the conference landscape can be tricky. How do you know which ones to go to? How do you know when it’s time to go to these conferences? Most important of all, how do you make sure you’re getting the most for your time and money?

The first thing to consider is what you’re looking for in your continuing education. You need to know what it is you want to buy in the marketplace and then find who is selling what you want. Figuring that out is key, and it’s not as difficult as it seems to determine what it is that you want in your continuing education. Though there appear to be so very many directions you could go in, there are only three things to truly consider: 

By Nicole Rogers

Continuing education workshops are something I go back and forth on. Don’t get me wrong; they are absolutely essential to high quality teaching. Yet, sadly, I often zone out at some point. Sitting on the floor for eight hours makes me want to jump out the window and I don’t like eating raisins out of my purse for “lunch.” But if I learn even one good cue or variation from a workshop, it makes all of the discomfort worth it. The infusion of knowledge enriches my teaching and gets me excited about the process all over again.

Jillian Hessel’s new DVD, Learning From Two Masters, basically solves my problems with workshops since I can watch and review at my own pace. And there is a bounty of information to review. No matter what your background, you would be hard-pressed not to find something of interest here. Though Hessel started her Pilates education in New York, plenty of variations have found their way into her work. And I think there is something here for everyone with an open mind. Hessel trained with many of the elders, and most intensively with Kathy Grant and Carola Trier. Here, she teaches a workshop sharing her vast knowledge as an instructor, specifically as influenced by Grant and Trier.

As 2009 draws to a close and we refocus our energies on the year to come, it’s nice to reflect on the year past. Thus it’s time for our very own Pilates-Pro.com “Year in Review,” a countdown of the site’s 10 most popular articles in 2009. (This is a great place to start if you’re just discovering us!) We’d like to extend huge thanks to all of the innovative, thoughtful, dedicated and generally amazing Pilates experts who contributed to Pilates-Pro.com this year. Kudos as well to the growing number of community members who use the articles and forums as a place for lively, insightful discussion. Pilates-Pro.com continues to grow because of you. And of course, if you have topics you’d like us tackle in 2010, please drop a line and let us know!

1. Pilates for Scoliosis by Suzanne Martin, PT, DPT
2. Pilates for Feet by Madeline Black
3. Five Ways to Combine Cardio and Pilates by Nicole Rogers
4. Pilates on Call with Siri Dharma Galliano
5. Postpartum Recovery: Helping New Moms Get Their Bodies Back by Debbi Goodman, MSPT
6. 16 Fitness Wear Discounts for Pilates Instructors by Christine Binnendyk
7. Pilates DVD Review: The Jump Board Workout by Nicole Rogers
8. Pilates on Call: Core Conditioning PTs
9. Five Ways to Hook Men on Pilates by Julian Littleford
10. Five Ways to Build Successful Client-Instructor Relationships by Devra Swiger

2010 is just around the corner! Have you thought about your Pilates continuing education plans for next year? If not, the time to start is now. If you’ve never attended a Pilates or fitness conference, check out the offerings below. Conferences are great opportunities to get out of the studio, meet new colleagues and build on your teaching skills. Don’t forget to check out our workshops calendar, where these events are listed, along with dozens of others worldwide.

February 12-13, 2010
Power Higher: Power Pilates Annual Conference
Las Vegas, NV

February 26-28, 2010
Pilates on Tour
San Diego, CA

February 26-28, 2010
2nd Australia/New Zealand Polestar Pilates Regional Conference
Sydney