WELCOME!!!
Welcome to my first post! I should begin by introducing myself and telling my story. Everyone has a story. I teach many different fitness formats, but pilates was my first. I guess you can call it my first love of fitness. It all started back in 2000 and the big catch phrase was "That's hot." I had a job in publishing that I absolutely loved! I was working on computer science textbooks at the height of the internet boom. The books almost couldn't come out fast enough because the technology was changing so quickly. But I was part of a great team that worked together to keep our goals on track. Why am I telling you all this? What does this have to do with pilates? Stay with me,it's part of the story.
Due to the high demands of my job, I worked long hours in front of my computer and my posture slowly suffered. I didn't have lower back pain...it was mid-back pain...right where you "slouch" just below your shoulder blades. Ron (who is now my husband but was my boyfriend at the time--that sounds weird to say) would barely touch my back and I would jump in the air in pain. It was so bad I went to see a doctor. He actually thought I might have a bone cyst and sent me for an X-ray. No cyst. He said "The good news is there is no cyst and it is your posture...the bad news is that is tougher to fix". I honestly don't remember what he suggested but I remembered reading in a magazine (possibly in his waiting room) that doing pilates could help your posture. I thought it was worth a try.
I belonged to a New York Sports Club that was up the road from my office. I worked out regularly but never did any "core" exercises. Maybe some crunches here and there, that was about it. To my luck, there was a pilates mat class that started about 5:30 PM. I got out of work (technically) at 4:30 so it gave some time to get there. It also forced me to leave my desk at a reasonable hour. It was such a great class! The instructor worked you hard but made it so fun. He was just a funny guy and I am sure I use some of his humor in my classes today. I can't thank him enough. I should try to find him one day...
Maybe two weeks later my back pain began to disappear. It was amazing! The class was on Monday so I made sure I was there each week without fail! I cannot thank my first pilates instructor enough. It changed my life...and this is before smartphones, tablets...heck not everyone even had a cell phone necessarily. The point is, I had a strong core and good posture before these devices entered my life. And really the rest is history as they say.
Future blog posts will include exercises, links to articles, tips, product reviews, and anything else that I would like to share about fitness. I hope you enjoyed this post, I know it has been fun sharing my story with you.