Doing the teaser took me 2 years. I was far from picture perfect. I remember my first Pilates experience like it was yesterday. I was this ‘superfit’ instructor and I had done just about every groupclass training imaginable. From AFN aerobic A-B-C to Aalo Step presenter and Body Pump, Body Combat and more. Teaching was one of my favorite things to do, and next to studying and later graduating, next to my fulltime job, I continued to teach a few nights a week.
That first Pilates matclass that I took during a fitness convention was pretty confronting, or actually even frustrating. Me, with my strong and fit body, couldn’t do a ‘Roll up’, didn’t get why my ‘Rolling like a Ball’ didn’t roll at all and getting up in a ‘Teaser’ definitely wasn’t happening. But because I was so bad at it, my interest in the Pilates method was sparked. I wanted to know why these seemingly simple exercises were impossible for me to do.
It took me about two years to be able to do the Teaser. From frustration, through anger (why is my body not doing what I want) to fascination. I’ve tried every method I could think of until I found out, there’s no trick. I discovered the body has to be ‘ready’ to perform certain exercises. And that the method is so brilliantly thought out that the body is prepared by every next exercise.
From a ‘Roll Up’ to a ‘Teaser- One Leg’ to the ‘Teaser I’ – the first exercise prepares the body for the next exercise and the next one after that.
The other thing I learned is that the body needs time; it’s a process to change the body. And every body needs something different to find the right balance between strength, coordination and flexibility. A strong fitnessbody needs flexibility and often the flexible body of a dancer needs strength and stability. The great thing about this method is that it balances every body by giving it exactly what it needs.
And by now, about 9 years later, I’m ready to call myself a ‘Roll Up and Teaser- expert’, especially because I was so bad at it. I’m grateful for that experience because I can now tell everyone that struggles with a Teaser or a Roll Up: “Do your exercises and trust the process, and your Teaser will be great in no time!” And I always tell them: “My Teaser took me 2 years. I was far from picture perfect”.
©Helga Stekelenburg
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