To say I love this work is truly an understatement, I live, breathe, and cherish it. It is this passion that brings this book to you. My wish is that when you read the last exercise you will see that ALL of these students of Joe Pilates and students of Joe Pilates teachers share a common bond. They teach Pilates. They come to it from their unique vantage point, a reflection of the times, a need to adjust, but they all teach the work of Joe Pilates. They all began on their own path and had their unique journey, but in the end, all paths - start with Joe. I hope that the notes in this book will inspire you to open your hearts, your eyes, and your work to investigate the work of these gifted teachers. Because of their hard work, dedication and inspiration, we have the method before us that we do today. As the method unifies the mind, body, and spirit, I hope that through this book, the Pilates community will find understanding, respect and tolerance for the progressive variations of Joe's essential Pilates which experience and individual creativity have inspired. Whether we teach the Hundred with palms down or palms up, and so many other variations on the exercises Mr. Pilates bequeathed to us. We are all in this together - to share the many gems of this work we know as Pilates.
The exercises I describe in this book are a blend of the original way I learned the exercises from Romana when I began training in the '80s, through and post my teacher training with her in the '90s, and my journey in this work as a student of Kathy, Lolita, Jay and others who had a close relationship with Joe Pilates or his work. The exercises and order Romana used during my teacher training were slightly different. I have included many of these changes in the notes, and I refer to those as "RK." I was blessed recently to have completed Lolita San Miguel's Pilates Master Mentor Program and was inspired by how and why she teaches the work. Lolita and her lead teacher, Danielle Armstrong, shared their insights for this book. I refer to these insights in the Notes as "LSM." Sarita Allen trained for many years with Kathy Stanford Grant and has shared her notes and insights into Kathy's teaching. I refer to Sarita's notes, insights and variations in the Notes as "KSG." Recently I have had the gift of becoming friends with the brilliant John Steel. To be honest, there was a time when he had been painted as a villain. Nothing could have been further from the truth. Having spent time with John, he further solidified my belief in this work, and he enlightened and delighted me with his wit and humor about his time with Joe and Clara. Most of all, he inspired me to continue my quest to unify the Pilates community. John, like Mr. Pilates, myself and so many others, believe in this work and the power of this work to make the world a better place- one body at a time.
Often Romana would point to a photo and tell me to add that exercise into my workout. If someone was doing the exercise, I was told to watch it and learn it. I was not taught as we teach our clients today. We had to be responsible for our orders, our exercises and our safety. I used the photos on the wall and the few verbal cues that we were given to learn the exercises. Most of all, we had the touch of our teachers to help us find the work, the flow of the movement to increase our circulation and the freedom of tension to lubricate our joints.
I hope you appreciate the simple format of this book and how important it is for me to pay respect to those who have blazed the trail and formed us into the teachers we are today. I thank my teachers and colleagues from the bottom of my heart for sharing themselves and their knowledge. I hope this book will inspire you to look deeper and search into yourselves and your Pilates then, now and in between.
