Martien Janssen from Belgium, has great respect for her remarkable clients.
Interaction
Unfortunately a lot of people have a lot of ailments these days. These are things that can limit them in their daily lives. It’s moments like that that make me so happy that I have Pilates, which offers me so much to relieve pain and injuries, or even make them disappear. As a Pilatesteacher, you don’t always know what to do, you don’t always know what’s right. At first you think from your own body, how you feel it, experience it….to pass it on to others that way, but soon you’ll find that that’s not enough. Every body is different!
Because of that you need a solid base and a lot of experience. And even then! You need to constantly update your skills. But what I find the most interesting is that you learn from every client you get to work with. And that ‘interaction’ is what makes my job even better.
Trust
I want to tell you about my remarkable and amazing clients; Philippa Johnson (South- African) and her husband James Dwyer (Irish). I’m so grateful that they trust me enough to let me work with them, and they’re always fun, always eager to learn, always innovative! Philippa and James are paralympic athletes, horsebackriders. Both of them have very serious physical limitations. Philippa had a serious accident in 1998 which made her lose all strength in her right arm and 60% of the strength she had in her right leg. And when James was 16 he was diagnosed with bonecancer, to which he lost his leg.
Lets rewind…
I met Philippa 3 years ago. Her best friend Els had very serious spinal injuries. Philippa knew about Pilates after her rehabilitation and suggested to try it together. That’s how both of them ended up with me. I have to say that at first I was worried and thought: “Wow, how am I going to do this?” If you can only use one arm and have lost so much strength in your leg…but I like a challenge and I have always been studious, so I eagerly started this ‘adventure’.
Every body is different!
As I said before, every body is different, every injury is different, every limitiation is different. Education, schooling or books, I haven’t yet found anything about Pilates and the physical limitations Philippa and James have to deal with.
It was definitely an advantage that Philippa was already familiar with Pilates, but it was still a challenge every time. She told me she was very appreciative that I wasn’t fearful of her handicap. Fearful?! No, I was never afraid, but I did have my qualms, questions, etc:
“This exercise would be so good for her but will she be able to do it?”
“I want to get more strength in her right leg…!”
“I don’t have a reformer yet, no tower,… just the mat…!”
Try it out together
I always told her about any qualms or questions I had and that’s how we interacted during our sessions. Try it out together, figure it out…..I love how she never withdrew from any challenge I threw at her! She’s willing to try absolutely anything! And I love seeing how she’s gotten much stronger and more flexible since we started working together.
Last year she brought along her husband; James. On top of his handicap he had broken 2 vertebras in his back after falling from his horse, and he was dealing with backpain. After his rehabilitation Philippa thought it a good idea that he’d start Pilates as well. And so he did. Now the three of them came for my sessions, Els, Philippa and James. Three very different bodies, together in one class. So that made it extra challenging. Since Philippa and Els were already taking my classes for a while now, I could focus all my energy on James on the first session. Same as with Philippa, I had a lot of questions and worries about working with James. Severe backpain and only one leg.
“How are we going to learn to activate those muscles?”
“How can we give him the stretches that he really needs?”
James also never backs away from a challenge!
Leg springs….with one leg….how are we going to solve that?
We had a special strap custom made for his upper leg.
Side sit- ups and stretch….but he doesn’t have the support of his leg/foot on one side…
We found a solution for this too, we do it on the barrel, and I give him resistance. Together, between the four of us, we will find a solution.
“Don’t allow anyone to put limits on your dreams”
Someone without a physical handicap obviously has imbalance in his or her body, but of course you can’t compare that to the imbalances Philippa and James have. Their body had to and still has to compensate for their limitations. I think it’s amazing that even though they
have their restrictions they still practice their passion/sports/profession at such a high level. Respect!
One of Philippa quotes is: “Don’t allow anyone to put limits on your dreams”
I find it very refreshing and informative as a teacher and a human being. They have been through so much, but show so much persistence and creativity…I have so much respect for them and think it’s a privilege to be able to work with them.
A Big Thank You!
©Martien Janssen
Belgium
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