My name is Monica and I have decided to start a Pilates career. I am not 100% sure what will lead to, but I thought it might be fun to blog about this journey.
To give some background, I was a mediocre “athlete” growing up. I learned to play softball, soccer (but forgot that one), basketball, and volleyball (was not very good at this one either) in the late in my k-12 career aka jr/middle school and high school.
My “athleticism” got to the point so that when I joined a sorority, Alpha Epsilon Phi, in college, I was able to help my sisters participate in the various activities/events for other Greek organizations. We rarely or never won, but at least we did not have to forfeit and we had fun, building memories.
Side bar: One of those memories is a powder puff football (flag football for girls) event where I caught a touchdown pass. I will probably never forget that feeling. I totally understand why NFL players want to celebrate so much when they get a touchdown.
Second side bar: If you have been bewildered this past fall or falls of the past, because your friends or significant members of your family seem to get so emotionally involved or connected to football games, and it seems illogical, I would suggest organizing a powder puff/flag league/games for charity and then playing until you either throw, catch, or run in a touchdown.
But since high school, and moreover college, I have been rather sedentary. I started a career in accounting which was way too many hours at a desk in front of a computer. It took about 6 years of on-and-off public accounting to realize accounting is not meant to be a long-term career for me.
Which led to approximately a year ago, through an AEPhi sister from another chapter who posted about the opportunity in a local alum Facebook group, I found myself at Club Pilates as the Education Coordinator at the Franchise/Corporate office.
Up until this point, my Pilates experience was limited a few traditional reformer-only classes at my chiropractor’s office. During the last year, I have taken corporate staff classes. But on a scale of 1 to 10, I would say my proficiency in Pilates is a 3.75.
Partially because I have scoliosis (curvature is between 20-30 degrees) and my spine slightly rotates so my flexibility and range of motion is sadly limited (like you see what I can and cannot do and get sad). I have worked with chiropractors (on and off based on insurance coverage and budget) since I was 14.
But that is one of the reasons why I love Pilates, because once I become better educated on Pilates, I will be able to help address my uneven back muscles to help support/counter my spine and hopefully decrease the curvature (I believe our bodies are always dynamic: what you put in changes what you get out or have.) or at bare minimum, prevent my scoliosis from getting worse.
My next post will review my first exposure/reaction to the Club Pilates Teacher Training – online training materials.
Disclaimer: I am receiving the Club Pilates Teacher Training program complimentary as a fringe benefit of my employment. However, the opinions and commentary are my own. Additionally, my role at Club Pilates does manage the online training platform which is housed and provided via Canvas (Instructure product), so if I get a little defensive about the online training, it’s because I did help put it together (from a technology perspective, because Pilates-wise, that beyond my abilities and knowledge).
Until next time,
moShin aka moPilates aka meatworld
Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton Good food in a journey makes the way bearable. – Monica Shin (my version)
