Explore Pilates Insights for an Active, Balanced Life

I’m still riding the high of attending an empowering Pilates business retreat, and have to share how important it is to make yourself a priority. This is the first time I’ve gone to this retreat, though I know many of the women from my business coaching group, and working with them is the best decision […]

Your feet take you to a lot of places. They carry you throughout the day, take you for walks with friends, and sightseeing on vacation. My feet take me running, cycling, and recently to Las Vegas where I walked up to 25,000 steps in one day! Some of my favourite memories are of the places […]

This isn’t one of those posts that’s going to make you feel bad about sitting. I mean, we’re built to sit, stand, and lay down, and it’s okay to do all those things. The problem is that we all sit too much, thanks to less physical jobs, computer work, and commuting. If modern life has […]

If you’re a runner, the idea of running a half or full marathon may cross your mind now and then. Can you do it? You bet! Wrapping your head around what it takes to get to race day is a whole other story, though. When I started running I said I’d NEVER run a marathon, […]

When I talk with people about Pilates’ benefits and how it’s a great complement to the things they already do, they almost always ask me how often they should practice it. While I’d love to easily say “three to four times a week”, it isn’t that simple (sorry!). The real answer depends on your life, […]

I find that most of my clients start Pilates or strength training because they’ve had an “ah-ha!” moment about how they want to feel. My running coach calls it athletic maturity, but you can be any age when it happens and for all sorts of reasons. Sometimes it’s due to circumstances out of your control, […]

We runners are a special group of people because we really really love running. We love it so much that we get used to the minor aches and pains that can come with it, and will even run through serious pain to get our fix. I’ve been guilty of both, which has led to pretty […]

For years I thought that as a fitness instructor, it was my job to motivate my clients. In fact, the feeling still creeps back once in a while because I got into this career to help people. But I can’t make you get motivated to exercise; that has to start with you. So how do […]

What is perfection, anyway? When someone does something well we will often exclaim how “perfect” it is… but whether it’s a delicious meal or beautiful musical performance, it’s more than likely that the person behind the perfection is still striving to do better. This is also true about fitness. It’s great when my clients want […]

If I were to ask you to name the “types” of workouts, you would probably name the top two: cardio and strength. And if you’ve been hanging around me long enough, you may even add mobility and flexibility… But what about functional fitness? Despite having been around for over a century in various forms, the […]

Right now, four of the five of us are on a road trip taking our youngest daughter back to university for basketball practice. We’re an active family and naturally got to talking about working out. It was interesting to compare our favourite ways to exercise, and how I stood out as the only one who […]

As I sat down to write this, I didn’t have a plan in mind. My mind kept drifting back to all of the things I want to get done over the next few days and the remainder of the winter break. I realized that I’m feeling anxious and stressed, something that happens to me leading […]

WE WON’T BE DISTRACTED BY COMPARISON IF WE ARE CAPTIVATED BY PURPOSE I shared the above statement on Instagram the other day, and it was very well received – especially by fellow Pilates teachers and trainers. When you can connect to your fitness purpose you’ll become more focused on your progress (rather than what you […]

There is no doubt about it, finding time to work out during the holidays is always a challenge. I don’t just mean the winter holidays; summer, long weekends, and vacations (remember those?) all disrupt routine. And when routine goes, fitness is often the first thing to suffer. With all of the benefits we get from […]

If you haven’t noticed yet, there is a set order of Pilates exercises on both the mat and the reformer. Your body warms up as you move through them, with each exercise building upon the one before it. If you attend classes in person, you can rely on the instructor to tell you what to […]