Experimenting keeps things interesting...
It's been quite some time since my last post, but I believe in better late than never. Life sure does get busy here in the greatest city in the world, but I don't believe in making excuses for anything. It's all about prioritizing because "being busy" can be somewhat of an excuse. However, with compassion, I do always remind myself that we each have our own timeline here in life.
As mentioned before, I'm a bit of a traditionalist when it comes to my personal yoga practice. But, in all areas of my life, I love experimenting with new and different things. It has always felt very natural for me to try and explore; my soul has forever been a curious one. I consider myself to be a lifelong learner through discovery and play. With this mindset, I had some fun creating a gentle yoga program for one of the most respected Pilates organizations, PhysicalMind Institute with the use of 2 of their best-selling props, Parasetter® and the MINIS™.
I was never been much of a Pilates girl in my past, but after multiple injuries, I realized the need for further stability in this hyper-mobile body of mine. In addition to cross-training, I practiced with some talented Pilates teacher-friends and felt the benefits of adding this to my yoga practice. It opened my eyes (and kicked my butt!) and I began experimenting on my own.
Fast-forward to serendipitously connecting with Joan Breibart and her team at PhysicalMind Institute and I started to play around with her Pilates props and inventions that are amazing to use for anyone interested in movement, exercise and therapy. These tools are not just for the Pilates peeps; they're pretty awesome for many different movement modalities to gain awareness of the body, assist in support and deepening and much more. You just have to keep an open mind as these are not like props you regularly see in gyms. I have always been intrigued by the unconventional.
Parasetter® was developed by Marika Molnar, PT, LAc and founder of Westside Dance Physical Therapy, along with Joan and is a roller system that supports the spine and body in numerous ways for supine, prone, kneeling and standing positions in various exercises, including Pilates, yoga and meditation (my fave!). MINIS™ are an extension of Parasetter® and can also be used for various foot rehab and strengthening exercises (they're widely used by the dancers of the New York City Ballet - so cool!).
When given the opportunity to develop a gentle yoga program with these props, I got excited. What a gift of a chance to play! It's fun to explore new things as it bring us humans back to our child-like, discovery state of mind that gets conditioned as we grow into adults. We too often, as grown-ups, are overly concerned of what others think or even judge ourselves for what we do. The child-like, wonder state offers us a chance to grow ourselves in new ways and I enjoy that challenge and opportunity immensely. I kept my students in mind as I created the sequence and had a lot of fun (always most important to me!) maneuvering the props around so that the flow moved seamlessly with ease. I certainly learned a lot and for that I am grateful for the experience because I am a much better teacher the more I continue to learn and be a student of life and the practice.
For anyone interested, click here to view a video of a class taught in a beautiful sun-lit studio space in Soho. I'm collaborating with PhysicalMind Institute to teach this program to interested teachers and students in their studio location or to bring it to your studio. Reach out if you want more information. In the meantime, keep experimenting in your own life...never lose that sense of play and discovery!
PS...I'm continuing the experimentation, discovery and play with Joan on another awesome PhysicalMind product. This time using not only my movement and yoga knowledge, but also my design background. Stay tuned!