Recovering from an Injury -Part 1

  By Guest Writer Diana Bailey Part  1 “Appearance is absolute, but reality is not that way. Everything is interdependent, not absolute.” Dalai Lama The Overview and Approach Personal and practical experience with a multitude of soft tissue injuries indicates that the attitude regarding rehab challenges does more to determine the outcome than even the…

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How to approach yourself in movement.

Let your Brownies bake! By Guest Writer Diana Bailey Approach your work in Pilates with this general frame of awareness: First you organize yourself in the movement much as you would assemble and mix ingredients to bake. Second you refine the mix and maybe make a couple of adjustments.      The last and most…

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The Body as Teacher: What I’ve Learned Beyond the Power of Pilates

The human body is a terrific teacher; a miraculous, complex multi-layered marvel that most of us know very little about. In our Western world that spends so much time focused externally on the material world and identified with the mind, it’s important to consistently stop , find moments of stillness and quiet, and trust the…

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The Foundation of a New Life Path in Pilates and Movement

A passion for learning more, understanding more deeply, drove me. In 1996, I met Ron Fletcher, a master teacher of body contrology, a master teacher of movement and dance for over fifty years. He came to the work after his own injuries while working as a professional dancer. His unique style of incorporating modern dance…

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The Healing Path of Pilates

Before surgery, the physiatrist recommended  Pilates as one way to help prepare for surgery.  He recommended Amy Anderson (A Living Art Centre), who specialized in Pilates rehabilitation. I’m forever grateful to Amy for introducing me to Pilates and setting me on the path of my healing journey. I walked into Amy’s studio, looking around the…

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The Best Laid Plans: The Life-Plan Derailed

The life I’d planned out carefully now seemed unattainable. I couldn’t exercise, dance, act, direct. Some days I couldn’t even drive a car. Forced to be sedentary, depression crept in, combining with constant pain to make even part-time work an endurance contest. I was thankful just to push through a day and even more so…

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An Unexpected Cure: My Journey from Pain to the Transformation

Imagine waiting for the light to change, top-down on your convertible, and singing along with the radio on a gorgeous Tucson day. Something makes you look over, and you see a large construction truck coming at you nearly head-on. You’re blocked in by other cars and can’t avoid the collision. That happened to me in…

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Taking it to the next level: The Wundaful Wunda Chair

PIlates Chair Quartet- Thursday Group

So first things first: I am not an exercise fanatic. You will not find me at the local gym 5x a week, churning out cardio, lifting a multitude of weights or pushing the squats (as much as I fantasize about regaining my 30-year old backside, reality is…). That said, I’m “into” the Pilates Chair; specifically,…

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Forward Equals Backwards Series #4

    By Diana Bailey A Simple Coordination Exercise to Enhance Postural Balance People fall forward into space primarily because forward is the direction of habit. Studio experience reveals that most of us have very little idea how to communicate with muscles to change our own habits of motion. Posture, balance, and coordination all suffer…

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Forward Equals Backwards Series #3

Forward Equals Backwards and You Own It: Balance and Coordination By featured Guest Writer Diana Bailey The Popular Equipment: Easy to Learn and Portable The number one balance challenge in this studio, based on ease of learning, is the foam roller. The variety and unique core strength challenge this auxiliary piece offers are of the…

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