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Benefits of a Private Session

By Cheryl Turnquist

This year I set an intention for myself to take at least one private session each week with various instructors that work at the studio and at other studios that I love to visit. As a teacher of Pilates, I often get caught up in teaching so much that I sacrifice my own workouts and well being. So, my team and I have really been stepping up our game by working together, working out, and... just doing the classical Pilates work... and we are loving every minute of it!

Making this commitment has been very eye opening so far as I feel my strengths, my weaknesses/ imbalances, and my need to get my own solid private session that is dedicated to the corrections my body needs to perform the exercises correctly. The keen eye of an instructor in a one on one session is invaluable to making those subtle corrections that can often get missed in a group class because things are flowing and they are over before the correction can take hold. I have also found the private session invaluable to finding my own rhythm and flow that is in sync with my breath (not someone else's) and if I need extra support or reps on a certain exercise, there is time for that too. I have found the nuances of the exercises much more deeply and I have come to better appreciate those exercises that I 'just didn't like' before.

I have also been able to set some physical and mental goals for myself through this process. For example, continue to work on back extension to counter balance the posture that I carry when teaching all day. And, continue to work on studying the Baby Arm Chair that has so much to offer. While all Classical Pilates studios should have all the apparatus, many don't have some of the smaller pieces like the Foot Corrector, the Toe Corrector, the Neck Stretcher and if they do they only have one of each. So it is usually impossible to incorporate them into a group session.

While I realize it is often difficult to work a private session into our schedule, I often suggest it as a way to either recharge your current workouts or tweak your form every once in awhile as bad habits are easy to form and sometimes hard to break! Even if you did one once a month, I guarantee you will see the benefit as much as I have!