THE ART OF PILATES INSTRUCTION

/ True Pilates Sydney Studio/

Teaching is a skill — it can make all the difference to the inspiration; breathing life or indifference into commitments. In my experience, there are two fundamental parts to teaching; ‘Reading the individual’ and ‘instruction’.

‘Reading the individual’ is a matter of deduction. It is a process for mindful dialogue when instructing individual/s. Observations and analysis are made on the following;

  1. Ability to process and actualise information

  2. Physical aptitude

  3. Proprioception — awareness of own body and space

  4. Mindset

‘Instruction’ — Learning to formulate a dialogue when instructing is something one develops over time. With experience, teaching becomes more adaptive and instructions more specific. I often reflect on my own instruction whether it be as a teacher or while being trained. For me, there are three key parameters when fine-tuning instructions;

1. Clarity and not overinstructing— Some come to Pilates already so paralysed by the idea of learning something new, an overload of instruction can be detrimental. Give ‘key’ instructions to enable movement. Information should only give context for instructions. Too much information too soon will do the following;

a) confuse them

b) disable their movement

c) disempower them

2. Instructing without ego — teaching is not about showing the individual/s how much you know. It’s about teaching body awareness and empowering individuals to move.

3. Patience — is a virtue and it is no different when learning Pilates. Both teacher and student alike must share this aspect.

The Art of Instruction is to be discerning and adaptive with knowledge. It is inevitable instructions are regurgitated from accumulated knowledge from our own observations, training and practice. However use the knowledge with specificity, relevance and clarity. And never lose sight of the fact that as a teacher, your first and foremost commitment is to inspire.

/ True Pilates Sydney Studio/ / Comment
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Yung Ok Yoo

I spent most of my academic years studying Fine Art in various disciplines. I completed my Post graduate in Visual Arts majoring in Photography and minored in drawing. I continued this line of study into Visual Comunication and further my art skill base with Jewellery and Object making. During this time, I worked on commissioned paintings for corporate, commercial environments as an Interior consultant and decorator to which I also was commissioned to paint for for Private collections. My historical professional background stemmed in the hospitality industry - where I managed restaurants. It was during this time that I found Pilates having injured my back at work. In 2008, I started my apprenticeship under the tutelage of Master Teacher trainer Cynthia Lochard (2nd Generation teacher). My training was rigorous with culmative observational hours, training and practiced teaching of over 1000 hours before certifying. Since my Pilates certification in 2009, I maintain my weekly session with Cynthia Lochard and travel to New York every two years (most recently October 2014) to partake in intensive training at the Head Quarters for Romana's Pilates at True Pilates New York originally know as Drago's. It is here, I continue my tutelage with Master Teacher Trainers Jerome Weinberg & Cynthia Shipley who worked closely with the late Romana Kryzanowska herself. In NYC - October 2014 - I also had a chance to work with Peter Fiasca Founder of Classical Pilates. As well as NYC, I have travelled to Singapore, Paris, London and trained with international teachers. In 2013, I opened True Pilates Sydney Studio, because I felt there were very few Pilates studios in Sydney that focused on the True Pilates Method - hence I named the studio 'True Pilates Sydney'. Through my own teachings I hope to inspire, train and educate others in the art of Pilates as I have been inspired in my own training and journey.