Merkaba Pilates

“Feet in straps” may sound like one of the stranger things you’ll hear in a Pilates studio, but once you experience it, you understand why people love it.

With your feet supported by the straps and the reformer providing resistance, you can move through your hips and legs while keeping your body supported and controlled. It’s a great way to work on hip mobility, hamstring length, and pelvic stability.

And… there’s something about it that just feels GOOD.

So yes, we put our feet in straps around here, and we look forward to it!

There’s something about September that always feels like a fresh start.

Maybe it’s all those years of going back to school.... the new class schedule, new routines, new notebooks and that feeling that it was time to begin again.

Even years later, September still seems to carry that same energy, and as we settle back into routines after summer, it’s a good time to ask: Where does taking care of my body fit into my schedule? Not as something we HAVE to do, but as time we intentionally take for moving, breathing and getting stronger.

It's a new season. Don’t forget to pencil yourself in!

There’s something worth celebrating in every milestone.

Not because 25 is a magic number, but because of everything it represents: 25 times you showed up. 25 times you chose yourself. 25 opportunities to get a little stronger, a little more connected, and a little more confident in your body.

We tend to save celebrations for the big accomplishments. But the smaller wins are how we build something lasting. They’re proof of consistency, commitment, and progress, one class at a time.

Here’s to noticing the little wins along the way. They matter.

Sons and Daughters Day this year has me thinking about something I don't say out loud very often.

Opening Merkaba Pilates was never really a question of whether I wanted to. I did. FULLY. I had the training, I had twenty-one years of my own practice behind me, I had the vision for the kind of studio I wanted to build. But wanting something and feeling ready for it are two different things, and doubt still crept in along the way, the way it does with anything that matters.

I think we tell ourselves a story that readiness comes first. That we're supposed to feel steady and sure before we take the leap, and if we don't feel that way yet, we must not be ready. In my experience, it rarely works in that order. The readiness comes from doing the thing, not before it.

In the moments when the doubt was loudest, what kept me moving forward wasn't confidence. It was remembering my son and daughter telling me how proud they were of me for doing this.

It's usually the other way around, isn't it. Parents are supposed to be the ones cheering their kids on through hard, uncertain things. Having it flow the other direction, having my own kids be the ones steadying me while I built something new at this stage of my life, was a gift I didn't expect and won't forget.

I think there's something worth showing them in it, too. That change and growth aren't things you age out of. That you can still choose to do hard, uncertain things at any point in your life, whether you feel ready or not, and that doing them anyway is worth it.

So, if you're standing at the edge of something right now, waiting to feel ready before you start, here's what I'd tell you: the readiness might not come first. It might come from the doing. Start anyway and let the people who love you remind you why you started.

To every parent whose kids have shown up for them the way we try to show up for our kids, Happy Sons and Daughters Day.

- Tina

Help us wish Tina a happy birthday! You are simply the best!

Pizza from our neighbor is sounding good tonight! Pizza by Fuscos

Inspired by family-owned pizzerias in Rome, Pizza by Fuscos has always been about sharing great meals with the people who matter most. Pull up a chair, order your favorite wood-fired pizza, and enjoy the conversations that make every visit memorable. ❤️ Join us for dinner tonight. https://popme.nu/pbf59

Pretty Simple!