Entries in breast cancer (3)
Pilates & Breast Cancer Recovery: Q&A with Pink Ribbon Program Founder Doreen Puglisi
We caught up with Doreen Puglisi, founder of the Pink Ribbon Program, a Pilates-based rehabilitation program for post-operative breast cancer survivors, who explained why Pilates is such an effective form of exercise for this group. Doreen, a survivor herself, holds a master’s in exercise science, and is a Pilates instructor, certified personal trainer and chairperson of the health and exercise science department at Morris County College. Read on for a closer look at what Pink Ribbon provides—for the Pilates community and for breast cancer patients—and a taste of what’s ahead for the program.
Doreen PuglisiHow did you create the Pink Ribbon Program?
I started working with breast cancer patients around 2002. At the time I owned a small wellness studio, and when clients filled out a health history form, I would check the contraindications for programming. That’s when I found out there was no true rehabilitation program for breast cancer patients. Because I’m a physiologist, I looked at the research and at the time, there was nothing. Really, it was astonishing.
Then, in 2004 I was diagnosed with breast cancer myself, and I used my program for my own rehabilitation after a mastectomy. I did have a Pilates background before I was diagnosed. (I was actually trained through Stott.) I truly do feel lucky–I was diagnosed early and had this knowledge base before. It was so scary. None of my surgeons asked me if I needed physical therapy. I thought ‘How am I going to get my range of motion back?’ I had a dorky revelation moment [about creating the Pink Ribbon Program]. I realized that I needed to do something to reach more survivors. I realized I needed to get this out there, and help women who don’t have a rehab or movement background. If it’s hard for me, what are they doing?
Pilates was a great fit for this population: it worked in terms of full range of motion, integrated movement, proper breathing. A lot of what we work with is scapular stability and shoulder range of motion. And in the Pilates world, this was very welcome.
How does Pink Ribbon work?
Well, there are two programs really, for survivors/patients and for instructors. The first is designed as a six-week rehabilitative movement program. The goal is to get them to move beyond Pink Ribbon to a mainstream form of exercise and move forward.
Lauren Charlip
in Career Development, Doreen Puglisi, Education, Pink Ribbon Program, Special Populations, breast cancer, lymphedema, mastectomy, rehabilitation
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Pilates Pro Newsfeed
The latest Pilates news from around the Web. Enjoy!
“Surviving breast cancer comes down to the three Ps,” Fletcher client Catherine Kennedy (above) told the Malibu Times. “Preparation, prayer and Pilates. JoAnn changed my life.”
- Malibu Pilates instructor and breast cancer survivor JoAnn Fletcher donates 100 percent of proceeds from her Pilates for Pink classes, making her the top BCRF donor on the West Coast. Congratulations, JoAnn!
- Remember Vic Hart? He launched new Pilates equipment line Root Manufacturing—the first to utilize eco-friendly bamboo—in September, and was featured in his local Colorado paper, the Longmont Times Call.
- Here’s a nice overview of Pilates breath.
- Las Vegas is chock full of injured perfomers. Could Sin City be a Pilates goldmine?
- Naval combat veteran Jon Belanger, owner of Jonny Pilates, who teaches a regular Sunday-morning-in-the-park class, was featured in San Diego’s Uptown News.
- Confirmed: Michelle Obama does Pilates. At 4:30 a.m. no less.
- The YMCA is getting in on the Pilates game: A Boston area YMCA is opening its own Pilates and Yoga studio. Is this a nationwide trend?
Lauren Charlip
in JoAnn Fletcher, Las Vegas, News/Research, Root Manufacturing, San Diego, Vic Hart, breast cancer, breath
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Pilates for Pink '09
October is National Breast Cancer Awareness month, and Shape magazine and The Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF) are again inviting the Pilates industry to support the cause with their Pilates for Pink initiative.
Like last year, studios and fitness facilities nationwide can sign up to host classes. If you’re interested, e-mail Shape, stand by for your “Pilates for Pink” kit, which includes promotional materials and sign-up/pledge forms, and then host away. Don’t forget to wear pink! Check out the Pilates for Pink site for information about how to get involved or to find participating classes/studios.
And if you can make it to the Big Apple on Sunday, Oct. 4, Shape and the BCRF are hosting “Pilates in the Park” in New York City’s Union Square, with a full day of classes from an array of top instructors. You can check all of that out here. A $25 donation lands you one class and a mat, along with admission to all tents and a host of product samples and giveaways. For each additional class, you’ll donate $5. Last year’s event sold out two weeks in advance so more classes were added this year.
Shape is also offering a new 2009 Pilates for Pink Core Challenge DVD along with 2008’s Shape Mari Winsor Pilates for Pink DVD; a percentage of the proceeds of both benefits BCRF.
Lauren Charlip
in News/Research, Pilates for Pink, Shape magazine, breast cancer
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