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You are here: Home / Pilates / Pilates School / Authentic Pilates / Part 1of 3:”Exercise or Expression?”

Part 1of 3:”Exercise or Expression?”

21 December, 2013 By Marjolein van Sonsbeek 1 Comment

Beautiful Sandy Shimoda

Beautiful Sandy Shimoda. Photo by Rod Foster

Sandy tells her wonderful Pilates story in 3 parts. This is the first part. On April 1st you read the 2nd part and on July 1st the last. Enjoy!

 

I sometimes ask myself why I am teaching Pilates.  I ask because I believe in a purposeful life.  Today I answer myself by saying that I teach Pilates because I love it.  I love how it makes me feel strong without feeling masculine, that I can do it anywhere that has a space as big as I am, and that in deepening my workout, I see that the challenges I face physically and mentally in Pilates, are mirrored in other areas of my life.  I love it because it moves me, and I have always loved to move.

Movement as expression

When I was a little girl I danced because I was painfully shy and had difficulty expressing myself with words. Dancing gave me a voice. When I danced I found a freedom and happiness that I didn’t feel in every day life. In many ways I would say that dance saved me from being introverted and unexpressed. When I danced I felt safe and I could access parts of myself that were hidden without movement.

I consider myself lucky to have discovered Pilates

It is often true that we become good at what we love doing, and eventually dance became my career.  I never stopped loving dance and I feel blessed that it provided me a robust income and enjoyable lifestyle for so long. During a twenty year career as a professional dancer, I never had to think about working out and keeping fit. It came as a result of my profession and I never tired of dancing, even when I was doing it five to eight hours per day, seven days per week. In fact, I never saw that part of my life coming to an end, so I never thought about what I would do next.   Looking back now, I consider myself lucky to have discovered Pilates during the height of my career. 

While performing on the National Tour of Miss Saigon I stumbled upon Pilates when seeking therapy for discomfort in my SI joint.  My slight scoliosis collaborated with repeated choreography in three-inch heels and eight shows per week, to cause strain on my body.  Of all the things I tried – chiropractic, massage and physical therapy, Pilates jumped out at me. My curiosity was peaked by the distinct knowledge that Pilates offered a world of exploration of which I had absolutely no understanding.

Sandy Shimoda

Sandy Shimoda

 Movement as exercise

At that time I didn’t think of it as exercise. It was just movement that I was intrigued with and that I needed to invest time in learning. I liked how it felt, I loved the way it challenged me. After a lifetime of dancing and feeling like I had gained a certain mastery of my body, I was intrigued at how difficult it was for me to move from my center. In dance I had created such a distraction with my emotional investment, my limbs and expressive hair.  Who knows what my center was doing? While studying Pilates I spent years feeling flabbergasted at the repeated realization that I was actually tight in my mid and low back.  As a dancer I had been seen as flexible because I could put my face on my knees and lift my toes to my head, yet I couldn’t properly roll like a ball.  I had a six-pack but I couldn’t do a respectable Teaser.

 The results were greater strength, flexibility and overall health. 

When I began teaching Pilates I had spent more than two decades teaching dance and fitness so I had skills to teach movement, to work with a wide variety of personalities and physical challenges, and to see and understand body mechanics. Naturally, for some years, I approached teaching Pilates in the same way I approached teaching dance. I taught what I understood the movement to be and I helped my students find more ease, balance, control and coordination. The results were greater strength, flexibility and overall health. Miraculously, ailments were cured, posture and coordination improved and students left feeling great and ready for more. It is with most humble gratitude that I thank my teachers Romana Kryzanowska, Lori Coleman-Brown, Lauren Stephen and Dorothee VandeWalle for gifting me the tools to begin understanding the potential of Pilates. I remember Romana saying that earning my certification would mark the beginning of my learning, and of course, though that wasn’t what I wanted to hear, she was right.

Jay Grimes

Jay Grimes

I am also thankful that I met Jay Grimes

I am also thankful that I met Jay Grimes early on in my teaching career. His way of teaching Pilates has forced me to look deeper into the exercises. He constantly sheds light on the depth of the system as a whole by showing me how to “squeeze the juice” out of Joe Pilates’ life long work. He always says that “the only way to learn Pilates is to feel the exercises in your body”, and he is right.  Like with any physical activity, understanding exercises intellectually doesn’t mean I physically understand them. Let’s take Olympic diving, for example.  Everyone can comment on what they liked or disliked about the aesthetic of the dive, but those who have actually trained and competed in the sport will have much more expertise. In my case you can imagine that after decades of locking my joints, arching into my low back, and balancing despite my scoliosis, it took a long time to really get into my center. It was only by taking the journey with Jay every week, year after year, that I was able to begin to find Pilates in myself, so that I could teach it to others.

 I feel darn good after a workout

Studio Vintage Pilates

Studio Vintage Pilates

It was another beginning step in my learning.  It became apparent that the experience of working on my own body and the process of correcting the dysfunction in its movement, gave me the tools to know how to, as Jay calls it, “guide” my students. It took me a while to drop my idea that Pilates was a form of movement that could be taught like dance. In fact, I was mildly horrified when Jay said to me matter-of-factly “It’s just exercise.” Exercise? Is that all it is? I never thought of dance as exercise, and it certainly never dawned on me that Pilates could be described as something that just raises your heart rate.  For me, it is more.  When my movement is light and controlled, then dynamic and strong, followed by balanced and reaching, it feels expressive.  I am challenged by the technique and understanding required to do Pilates well, and although I don’t feel as elated as I did after dancing, I feel darn good after a workout.  So I will keep my personal definition of Pilates intact, but remember that it is just exercise, not dance, and that it is good for everyone.

©Sandy Shimoda

 

To be continued in the next issue of Pilatesglossy:  “Breaking the rules, “real” people, and upping my game.”

Optimized-IMG_2784

 

Co-owners Sandy Shimoda and Karen Frischmann

Director Jay Grimes

Offering Real Pilates for Real People

Providing continuing education for teachers worldwide

1950 Sawtelle Blvd. #185 Los Angeles, Ca  90024

www.vintagepilates.com

 

Filed Under: Authentic Pilates, Teacher trainer, USA Tagged With: Dorothee VandeWalle, Jay Grimes, Lauren Stephen, Lori Coleman-Brown, Miss Saigon, Romana Kryzanowska, Sandy Shimoda, Vintage Pilates

Pilates Studio van Sonsbeek

Pilates Studio van Sonsbeek

About Marjolein van Sonsbeek

I love Pilates! It brought my health back. I have been practising Pilates for more than 17 years now and have been a certified Peak Pilates trainer for the past 11 years.
I have never felt so fit, vibrant, energetic, supple and strong in my whole life. And I have no more pain. I do a Pilates workout 5 times per week on mat and apparatus. Every week I attend the classes (private and group) from my mentor and my trainer, Javier Velazquez. He is the best Pilates trainer in the world. Yes, I am very blessed that this extremely talented and experienced teacher is my trainer. Although I am Peak Pilates educated, I adore his very pure, original Joe sessions.
I have an open mind and I give a platform to Pilates trainers from all backgrounds, because we all do a great job! I do this for free in my spare time (which I hardly have).
I run a busy, fully equipped Pilates Studio Pilates Studio van Sonsbeek in the Netherlands in the middle of the historic center of the town Zoetermeer. I love my work, my lovely clients and my beautiful studio. So much fun and positive energy. I teach 6 days a week an average of 30 sessions; privates, duo's, trio's and groups.
You would do me a great favor if you like my page on Facebook! Thank you very much!
I am the owner of the Magazines Pilatesglossy Nederlands and Pilatesglossy International. Please join us on Pilatesglossy and on PilatesWordWide.

Trackbacks

  1. Sandy Shimoda, co-owner of Vintage Pilates, writes for PilatesGlossyHummingbird Pilates says:
    18 July, 2014 at 15:38

    […] Exercise or Expression  […]

    Reply

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