Pilates DNA

The June newsletter just went out, and with it, details on this month’s Contrology Lab: Put Your Back Into It!

Yes, the title is loosely inspired by a late 90s hip-hop song that is absolutely not newsletter-appropriate. But the phrase made me laugh, and it also happens to point us toward something very important in the Pilates method.

In Pilates, the “back connection” goes beyond working the muscles of the back toward an understanding about how the whole body organizes itself through support, reach, connection, and control.

When the back body participates, the work becomes stronger, more lifted, and more integrated. This Lab will explore how the back connection shows up throughout the system and helps the whole body work together.

As always, Contrology Lab is part workout, part workshop. It is designed for teachers and approved practitioners who want to deepen their understanding of the Pilates method through practice, observation, and discussion.

Join us Saturday June 20, from noon-1:30 pm (pacific time), in person or online. Let’s get our backs working!

Scenes from this morning’s practice. Nothing spectacular, but that’s also my point.

Great teaching requires continuous self-practice. Pilates is movement, and if we are going to teach movement with depth, clarity, and integrity, we need to maintain a real relationship with the work in our own bodies.

Not as a performance. Not just for content. But rather, the practice itself continues to teach the practitioner.

There is no final arrival point, here. And, certainly, no complete mastery. The method reveals itself through repetition, effort, attention, and time.

The road to building meaningful connections in the Pilates method looks different for everyone. There is no single magic cue, correction, or exercise that lands the same way for every body. What helps one person connect more deeply to the method might completely miss the mark for someone else. There is also a receptivity and readiness component at play.

This all points to why Joe Pilates intended for his Contrology method to be personalized. Different bodies need different things at different times.

Building lasting connections requires openness. Sometimes your teacher is trying to communicate something your body doesn’t yet fully understand. That process takes patience, persistence, and regular practice. Just like learning any language, understanding Pilates happens over time through repetition, attention, and experience.

The deeper the connections become, the more the method begins to change not only how you move, but how you feel in your body overall.

It’s International Pilates Day!

A reminder of the depth of Contrology, and why it’s worth preserving, practicing, and passing on.

For me, Pilates is not a trend or a category of fitness. It is a practice that supports my health, sharpens my mind, and demands my full attention. Pilates is where strength, control, and clarity meet, and where real change happens over time.

May it continue to reach people across the world in meaningful, lasting ways.

The reward of teaching independence.

No counting. No breathing cues. No hand-holding through the sequence.
Just practice.

When a client understands their work well enough to carry it on their own, everything changes. They’re no longer waiting to be told what to do. They’re doing the work fully, actively, and with ownership.

That shift in approach matters on all fronts: If I’m spending the session counting reps or directing every inhale and exhale, I’m not teaching. I’m managing.

Teaching independence in Pilates empowers both sides of the lesson.

It allows the client to experience the method, rather than simply follow instructions (forget about helping your clients develop a mind-body-spirit connection if you spend each session micromanaging surface details).

And it allows me to do what I’ve spent years training to do: observe, refine, and help you take the work deeper.

This is where real progress happens. This is meaningful teaching. This is where the method comes alive.

Contrology Lab Is Here! This series is designed for teachers, apprentices, and approved practitioners who are interested in refining their understanding of the method through focused, working sessions.

The first lab will focus on The Wunda Chair: Essential Elements — Saturday May 16, noon-1:30pm

There has been a noticeable increase in attention on this apparatus; on social media, in workshops, and across various teaching environments. This session will take a different approach, with the goal to reestablish what the Wunda Chair is for within the system. That means:

* Choosing exercises based on purpose, not variety
* Understanding how springs influence the work
* Using repetition as a tool, not an afterthought
* Prioritizing effectiveness over appearance

Participants should leave with a clearer framework for integrating the chair into a cohesive practice, along with a few exercises that may appear simple but deliver measurable results when applied correctly.

Our latest newsletter went out this morning, are you subscribed? We have a new blog post up! Titled “Pilates Strong,” the content addresses an ongoing mischaracterization of Pilates, particularly in conversations around strength training.

There is a narrative circulating that questions whether Pilates can build strength. It is a shallow take, usually stemming from a limited understanding of the method itself.

Click the direct link to the blog in our bio, or head straight to the Website under resources.

A time-lapse compresses the work, but the movement never stops.

In real time this full mat sequence takes about 25 minutes, which Jay Grimes often pointed to as a good general guideline. If your mat is stretching far beyond that, something important is probably missing: maybe connection, maybe coordination, maybe stops and starts, overthinking, issues with rhythm.

An important thing to remember about the mat: it’s not a collection of isolated movements; it is a continuous sequence in which each exercise prepares the next and tests your Contrology skills.