Moving Conversations

Lindy Royer, PT, Pilates instructor, educator and coach extraordinaire joins us today to drill down on how and why to create inspiring goals for the coming year. Lindy makes a strong case for building your vision of vitality and using it to inform your personal practice. Filled with practical exercises, this episode may change your life! For our listeners, Lindy would like to offer a 20-30 minute...

As the first episode of the New Year, Brian and Nora discuss strategies for creating change. Whether you’ve identified imbalances to work on, discomfort to manage or skills to develop, the new year is a good time to assess where you are, where you want to be and what you need to do to get there. Take this time for you!

Tom McCook joins us once again for an in depth discussion on how to improve movement patterns through education, connection and awareness. Tom’s wide ranging experience in Pilates, yoga, athletics, coaching and meditation makes him a powerful agent of change for his clients and students. Understanding what is important to a client, educating them about how their body works and connecting the purpo...

In this episode we revisit our first interview with Tom McCook from Center of Balance for an inspiring discussion on creating change through engaging clients in the process, focusing on functional movement and paying attention.  Using functional anatomy as a foundation, we discuss how client education, instructor curiosity and creativity help clients take charge and create lasting change from the...

Working with a client with osteoporosis and managing their expectations can be challenging as a Pilates instructor or personal trainer. Client’s are often not given much guidance by their medical professional and are left on their own to figure out if their current workout routine is helpful or potentially dangerous. Our job is to keep them safe while doing our best to slow, halt or reverse their...

Today we are lookinga back and repeating a hot topic we discussed back in May. We are wading into a very controversial topic, osteoporosis, where guidelines for exercise tend to be vague at best. Today we touch on what it is, some general guidelines and ways to keep clients active when flexion and rotation are contraindicated. Join the conversation to see if we can make progress at developing a be...

Melissa McNamara is a Stott Pilates instructor trainer with a passion for working with kids of all ages. Join us for a fascinating discussion about how to engage kids in Pilates, tips and tricks for working with different age groups and how Pilates, taught with fun in mind, can nurture a lifelong love of movement. Melissa is the author of “Pilates for Kids” and provides classes and resources for i...

Kelly Leonardi, a Pilates instructor, educator and professional ballerina joins us today to talk about the intersection of Pilates and dance which have been strongly intertwined since the beginning of the method. Many of the elders who worked with Joe and kept the work alive and growing after he died were dancers and both emphasize precision, control and moving from the center. In this personal ep...

The sacroiliac or SI joint connects the ilium to the sacrum and the lower body to the spine. When it is hyper mobile it can cause discomfort in the low back, hip and leg. In this episode we discuss two case studies and strategies for helping clients manage this complex condition. Moving Conversation Socials      Brian’s Book on Low Back Pain and Conditions:   Back Exercise; Stabilize, Mobilize and...

Barefoot? Arch support? Anti-pronation? Zero drop? Fitness footwear is often chosen based on dogma, the latest fashion or internet influencers and may or may not be what your feet actually need to be happy. Putting dogma aside, in this episode Brian and Nora discuss the many variables in fitness footwear and strategies for finding what works best for you. Moving Conversation Socials      Brian’s B...

Today we are going in a slightly different direction. It has been 20 years since Al and I started the Balanced Body Education department and I am reflecting on the many different ways a Pilates or fitness professional can practice our craft and support our community. If you are at a turning point in your career or are looking to create a vision for where you want to go and how you might get there,...

Breathing well is the foundation of health but getting clients to breathe better can be a challenge. In this episode, Brian and Nora discuss strategies for improving client’s mind-body connection by helping them connect breath with movement. Beginning with ways to introduce breathing gently in the first session, we provide tips for dealing with clients who don’t like to think about breath or who f...

Breathing is a hot topic and we wanted to start the conversation with Helen Vanderburg, a world champion synchronized swimmer, gym owner, international presenter and a woman who has possibly taught a greater variety of fitness modalities than anyone else we know. This conversation includes key ways to use breath to activate, balance, and restore the body and mind and provides practical examples fo...

Let’s talk about upper body training. Pilates and personal training principles are quite similar when discussing the lower body or the core but when it comes to the upper body, there are some distinct differences. Today Brian leads the discussion with his take on upper body strategies in the personal training environment. Starting with posterior shoulder strength and endurance and progressing to a...

Cueing is an essential skill for teaching movement, changing movement patterns and empowering our clients to take charge of their health and wellbeing. Following on the inspiring interviews with Tom McCook and Eric Franklin, Nora and Brian discuss different kinds of cueing from auditory to kinesthetic to visual and how and when to use them. Expanding your cueing tool box in this thought provoking...

Today we are joined by Eric Franklin, creator of the Franklin Method which brings imagery in all its forms into teaching and improving movement. Learn how imagery can enhance performance, minimize discomfort, improve mood and create vitality all through the power of the mind. Imagery is an incredibly valuable tool for teaching movement and Eric provides several examples you can apply right away. E...

Tom McCook joins us once again for an in depth discussion on how to improve movement patterns through education, connection and awareness. Tom’s wide ranging experience in Pilates, yoga, athletics, coaching and meditation makes him a powerful agent of change for his clients and students. Understanding what is important to a client, educating them about how their body works and connecting the purpo...

Brian and I have spoken at length(!) about posture, alignment, balance, mobility, strength and coordination but we haven’t put it in the context of how you as a mover or movement teacher take that information and use it with your clients. In this episode we connect the dots between what you observe, how you identify key elements to improve and how you help the client feel the change so they can in...

Lumbopelvic positioning or “neutral spine” has spawned more conversations and controversies in the Pilates world than perhaps any other single topic. Today Brian and Nora break down what it is, why it is useful and how to adjust it for the client in front of you. Join us for a deep dive into the subtleties of lumbopelvic positioning and ways to adapt it for pain relief and more efficient and comfo...

Bodies are rarely symmetrical in terms of strength, mobility or coordination and sometimes asymmetries are the root of injuries, pain or poor performance. We started the discussion about working asymmetrically with the back body in the last session so in this session, we wanted to be more specific about why, when and how to incorporate asymmetrical exercises into your programs. How do I identify i...

We talked about the glutes two weeks ago but what about the rest of the back body? Today we dive into how posture is influenced by joint structure, mobility and habit and discuss how to create balance in the erector spinae and the hamstrings using asymmetrical exercises. Bringing all the elements of the posterior chain into as much symmetry as possible can alleviate a variety of symptoms from the...

Jennifer Gianni, author of “A Movement Educator’s Guide to Pregnancy and Childbirth” joins us today to bring her 30+ years of experience working with pregnant and post natal women to you. Her understanding of pregnancy will open up a whole new way of thinking about the pelvis and the pelvic floor for all your clients, not just pregnant women. Starting with a detailed description of what the pelvis...

Are stronger glutes the answer to your prayers or causing your low back and hip pain? It depends…The glutes play an essential role in low back and hip health so today we wanted to dive into how, when and why to train them. We discuss underactive glutes, overactive glutes, the relationship between glutes and hamstrings, how range of motion in hip extension affects gluteal activation, the relationsh...

Movement professionals are a valuable part of the rehabilitation team and in this episode we discuss where, when and how they are most useful. Whether strengthening clients before surgery, regaining strength and mobility after surgery or working with clients with chronic conditions, collaborating with medical professionals and staying within an appropriate scope of practice creates the best outcom...

In this episode we review concentric, eccentric and isometric muscle activation and how each one can be used to effectively increase strength. Learn simple ways to vary any exercise in classes or private sessions. Changing the rhythm or timing of a movement, adding pauses or holding positions are all great ways to add variety and increase strength building.  Change it up to keep workouts fresh!  M...