Session 12

Well today I arrived at Body Mind Balance for my Saturday morning mat class as usual. However, instead of being in the mat class, I participated in a session with Carly. Carly is currently an apprentice instructor working on her certification. As part of her training Carly has recorded 600 hours of practice and/or instruction and is now in the testing phase. The test includes a written section, oral section and also an instruction section in which Carly had to instruct someone at a beginner level and at an intermediate level at the same time. From my observation the training and testing for Pilates certification is quite comprehensive and it just goes to show the passion and dedication the instructors at Body Mind Balance have for the practice of Pilates.

For today’s session I was the beginner student and Kelly, my instructor, was the intermediate student. While Kelly and I moved through the exercise at our own pace, I did enjoy participating in the session with her as a student as well.

There is one thing I noticed about myself today. I am learning the names of the exercises and do not always have to be reminded of how to position my body. For example when I am queued for the exercise, Elephant, I know I need to be on the reformer with my heals placed in front of the shoulder pads and hands on the bar. Because of this I feel like I am transition better between exercises.