Massage, Pilates, Qi Gong and Beyond

By: Erin Johnson

My first love of the human form and all of its possibilities began for me 13 years ago with Massage. The idea that we begin to learn about ourselves by first pressing up against the world around us is, in its inception, self awareness that grows from those moments during massage when you realize you were holding on to more tension than you were consciously aware. Part of my personal evolution through bodywork has been to begin to teach people the tools of how to let go of those places of tension.

Pilates, my first love of a movement system, not just for the principles behind it but also because I have a thing for equipment! Especially equipment that helps us find support while we are searching for freedom in our physical form. Joseph Pilates was brilliant at engineering these pieces. One of my favorite pieces of equipment is the Reformer. If I could narrow it down to what intrigues me most about the reformer, first it would be the ability to teach reach and expansion. Teaching to reach into the straps, whether with arms or legs gives us something to press into and to reach for. For me, bodywork is ultimately about self-awareness. If we learn about ourselves by pressing up against the world around us, the design of the Reformer is where it's at! Anytime we are reaching into something we begin to create space in our bodies. We want length as well as strength and we want to create it without building more compression or tension into our system.

Another beautiful concept taught to me within Pilates is that of Axial Elongation. To find support wrapping our spine helps increase the spaces between the vertebrae.  We are looking for balance in the musculature surrounding the spine. We want the back and the front to be working together, so as to not become imbalanced in our work. Awareness of equality in the tissues is the beginning of resting our mind in the soft tissue during movement. This practice in itself helps to increase our ability to be self-aware.  Imbalances create stagnation within the system. Stagnation limits our ability to move freely and to our full potential.

This personal progression of self-awareness has traversed through Massage into Pilates and now into Qigong. It is not that I have deemed Massage unnecessary, I still hold my first Love quite close; and certainly, we need the physical work to maintain a strong structure, it is that we start to become an active participant in the shaping and healing of ourselves. We no longer lie on a table and say “fix me”. We come to understand that the real changes in ourselves come when we take what we have learned on the table and in the studio and use it to continue to grow and heal in all aspects of our lives.  My part as a Massage Therapist and now a teacher of movement is to help create space within you. You truly are the healer of yourself.

YES, there is a whole other territory to explore in bodywork and beyond. Qi Gong is my fresh new love affair. Internal work is the aim in Qi Gong, meaning there is more going on inside the body than what is happening externally. Qi Gong was introduced to me 6 years ago by an acupuncturist and it was a way for me to, ahem, relax! My understanding has and continues to be deepened by my

tutelage under Damo Mitchell and the many talented teachers within Lotus Nei Gong School of the Daoist Arts. While in the beginning it is used to soften and connect with your breath, it is a much deeper process! If you allow this practice to take root in you it can become a bit of an obsession.... okay that sounds a bit extreme, we will call it a gentle obsession! Gong can be loosely translated as a skill gained through work, and work it is! It is a consistent and dedicated practice that offers us the gifts of experiencing the human form and all of its possibilities through a very different cultural framework.

Qi Gong holistically connects the body and strengthens our awareness of the entire system while letting go of habitual tensions and patterns. It is creating, what my teacher refers to as a connected wetsuit. If you have ever read anything about Qi Gong you are most likely to come across the terms the "three treasures"; Jing, Qi, and Shen. It would be considered fractured and incomplete to not recognize that the consciousness, the physical, and the force that sits in connection between the two are equally important in our work.  This practice also embodies the concepts of Sung, the art of letting go, and Ting, the art of fully integrating our awareness through the whole.  

Creating space in our physical form is our first connection. So while Pilates offered me the ability to understand the importance of the structure to support space within the body, it is Qi gong that has given me the empirical understanding of the power that is intrinsic within that space.

We never gain anything in adding and we do not lose anything by letting go.

Monthly Focus - June

Rhythm and Flow

One of the underlying principles of Pilates, Gyrotonic®, Elevated Movement and Qi Gong is moving with a sense of rhythm and flow.  Flow creates smooth, graceful and functional movements.  It decreases the amount of stress placed on our joints and develops movement patterns that integrate our body into a smooth flowing whole.

At Body Balance Institute every movement has a specific rhythm attached to it. The goal is to maintain continuity from repetition to repetition and from exercise to exercise. Creating smooth transitions helps our body learn to move with grace and efficiency, which improves performance and decreases injury. It is also the way our bodies were designed to move naturally and intuitively.  This is the state of being 100 % mentally and physically immersed in the moment of the movement.  In flow, the emotions are positive and energized, which leads to increased endurance.  While connecting precise movement, intention and rhythm, creates flow.

“Contrology (Pilates) is complete coordination of body, mind, and spirit. Through Contrology you first purposefully acquire complete control of your own body and then through proper repetition of its exercises you gradually and progressively acquire that natural rhythm and coordination associated with all your subconscious activities.”

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–Joseph Pilates

Monthly Focus - May

Centering

Centering represents the act of drawing your own mental and physical focus during exercise to the core or the center of your body.  The center of your body, often called the “powerhouse” or “core”, refers to the area between your ribs and hips and includes the upper and lower back muscles. The center is where power is generated within the body and it is also the source of stability and support for every kind of movement we make.  All movement radiates from the center outward in Pilates.  Once we focus intently on the core work, we can begin to add in other points of focus.

In our every day lives, the term “staying centered,” relates to remaining mentally calm, collected and balanced in the midst of our often-chaotic lives. We can apply this to our physical activity as well. Learning to work from your core can help you feel strong, powerful and calm and you are less likely to feel overwhelmed or out of control.

This month, bring your focus inward.

“Self-confidence, poise, consciousness of possessing the power to accomplish our desires, with renewed lively interest in life, are the natural results of the practice of Contrology.”

–Joseph Pilates

GYROTONIC® Training

By: Kristen Sullivan


I began my GYROTONIC® journey in 2007 during my MFA program at Florida State University with Anjali Austin. After years of Pilates training through my BFA and MFA programs, I was completely enlightened by the experience of the GYROTONIC® method. It was a totally different way of moving. Where Pilates was more linear and centering, GYROTONIC® was 3 dimensional and expansive.

Upon graduation of FSU in 2008, I continued my education first with my comprehensive Pilates certification as I had had many more years of experience in this method. After teaching Pilates for 6 years and becoming a Master Trainer for Balanced Body I was ready to expand my teaching and moving vocabulary. I then began my level 1 GYROTONIC® pre-training and foundation course in 2013.

Recently I had the opportunity to take the Level 2 pre-training course work for GYROTONIC® with Anjali Austin. This course was absolutely amazing on so many levels. The level 2 material takes the body through a complete movement experience like no other. The movements are full, expansive, and spiraling.

Day 1 of the training started with the Arch and Curl series which is usually done seated facing the handles. In level 2, the Arch and Curl series is done standing facing the tower. By standing I could use the power of the earth to feel the full connection from the foot all the way up the spine. This groundedness allowed me to open all my centers and express more fully through the movement of the torso and arms. I felt long, free, light and effortless, as if I were a bird sailing through the sky. There is some choreography to the foot positions that can be challenging, but it provides different movement experiences for the spine throughout the various exercises.

We then moved into the level 2 work for the hamstring series. There is already quite a bit of material and complexity in the level 1 hamstring series so I was interested to see what level 2 had to offer. A lot! Wow, I had no idea that my legs could move through so much dimension and range of motion. The level 2 hamstring series uses the foundation of the choreography set in the level 1 exercises. This helps the brain and the body understand how to start the more complex choreography in level 2. It often combined several exercises from level 1 to create more of a series for the legs rather than just 1 individual exercise. The hips move through their full range of motion and more! From flexion to extension, internal and external rotation, and abduction and adduction, all with the fifth line energy reaching from your sit bones out to the heel and beyond so that your legs feel inches longer. Every single muscle in your legs is used. I felt such a lightness and mobility to my hips, knees, ankles, and toes when I finished as opposed to fatigue and tightness or soreness.  We then ventured back to the upper body work with the Arch and Curl facing away from the handles.

This work is very detailed and brings an awareness to the relationship of the spine, ribcage, scapula, arm, and head that is like no other. You can really feel how if one part of this chain is tight or closed off, it affects the ability to move efficiently. Though it is complicated, the series starts simply in order to prepare the body for what initiates the movements and what is needed to properly move though the exercise. This series in level 2 is different than in level 1 in that it expands on the choreography. It adds single arms spiraling continuously and changing directions instead of staying on 1 side. This motion creates a whirlpool sensation for the body. I no longer knew where the beginning or ending of the body or the movement was.

Day 2 began with a review of everything we had covered as we had been

though a lot of new material. We then added more choreography to the Hamstring series which consisted of some inversion choreography with the legs. In level 1 the hips stayed grounded for most of the series so this addition of lifting the hips added a whole new dimension and strength required for this series. The level 2 Hamstring series has 4 parts with around 27 exercises. After completing the material I realized that along with the added material and new choreography there is also a rhythm and breath that must accompany this series in order to keep the initiation from the center and the flow throughout the body and sequencing. Rhythm helped to find the power and expressiveness through the lower body in difficult choreography. If I thought too hard about what the exercise was or broke it down too much I could no longer execute the exercise.
The next series we tackled was the standing upper body series. This series added on to the seated upper body series in level 1 and also added the element of standing. I felt more power by standing. I felt less of my arms and more of my entire body moving through the series. It’s amazing how the same exercise can feel completely different just by changing the body from the seated position to the standing position. This standing series was very dynamic. It also added an element of cardio because of the way the body is continuously moving. The series started in a more familiar way and like the Hamstring series as we got further along added on more complicated choreography. The exercises began to combine a few of the level 1 exercises so that it felt more like a series. Ultimately the series begin to feel more like you are doing an activity out in life, like tennis or swimming or even cleaning house. This is due to the fact it’s not linear or singular but 3 dimensional and continuous.

The 3rd and final day I felt a sadness as I was driving to the workshop. I did not want it to end. Often as instructors we spend so much of our time teaching that it can be hard to find time in our schedules to take 15 hour workshops like these. But when we do finally carve out the time it is so special and re-energizing. It gives us new inspiration and ideas to take back to our clients. We experience different ways of movement to keep our own practice alive and growing and everyone benefits. This sadness soon turned to inspiration and excitement in that I had almost completed the course and would soon get to move forward with truly understanding it through my own practice. I was eager to begin to introduce this material to clients to enhance their physical movement experiences.

There was no new material to learn this day on the equipment, which was good because I could feel my brain filling up. Ha! The review of the entire course was very comprehensive, and by this accumulation of material and series throughout the 3 days I felt like I had it in my body. We ended with some standing nerve strengthening exercises. These are much more subtle and about moving energy through the centers. It was calming and a perfect way to end such an intense course. These exercises are a good reminder that we don't need equipment or an instructor to connect our minds to our bodies and find a way each and every day to center ourselves through quiet movements of energy and spirit. We ask a lot of our bodies and minds throughout our daily lives and we must also find a way to restore and re-energize them continuously.

Tabata Meets Pilates

A perfect balance of burn and firm; nothing out-burns Tabata, and nothing out-firms Pilates.

What is Tabata?

Founded in Japan, Tabata is four minutes of pure, high-intensity-interval-training. Each set utilizes well-known cardio exercises and organizes them into shorter, more intense intervals followed by brief periods of rest. Tabata sets are comprised of alternating 20 seconds of intense work with 10 seconds of rest repeated for 8 rounds, thus completing the 4 minutes. The greatest benefit to Tabata interval training is calories burned long after your workout is done!

What is Pilates?

Pilates, formerly Contrology, is a method of exercise named for its creator, Joseph Pilates, who developed the exercises in the 1920s. The Pilates Method is an exercise system that consists of low-impact movements for flexibility and muscular strength and endurance. Pilates focuses on engaging the mind and body together to create exercises that involve the whole person while emphasizing proper postural alignment, core strength and muscle balance.

What is Tabatalates?

Tabatalates is a quick 30-minute workout that blends bursts of pure, high-intensity-interval-training with the lengthening and strengthening power of Pilates. Mixing Tabata with Pilates is the perfect way to squeeze the most calorie burning you can out of a cardio workout while deeply strengthening, tightening, and sculpting individual muscles, especially in the core!

About the Class

Each class will begin with a monthly warm up, then onto one Tabata set; alternating 20 seconds of intense work followed by 10 seconds of rest for a total of 4 minutes. (Give those 8 rounds 110 percent, and your metabolic rate will stay elevated straight through the slower half of the class.) The rest of the workout includes two full-body sculpting exercises and three Pilates exercises. Repeat once. This will be followed by a cool down and stretch.

Monthly Focus - April

Breathing

Breathing is the very first (and the very last) thing we do in this life. It is our life force and the essential link between the mind and the body.  It draws our wandering mind back to our bodies and the task at hand.  It is the foundation and rhythm of our existence.  Breath should be integrated into every movement in order to focus our awareness and improve oxygen flow and lung capacity, and yet many people have become accustomed to patterns of short and shallow breath.

For many, connecting inward and breathing consciously and deeply can be very challenging. There is also a tendency to "forget" to breathe, or to intentionally hold breath in, especially while performing exercise. Learning (or remembering) to breathe consciously and deeply can be a transformative experience. Deeper breath helps create more space in the body, and provides more room for oxygen and blood to flow freely and easily. It can be both a calming practice, and also a way to refocus your mind and reconnect it with your body. Let's remember to connect to deep, conscious breath this month!

“Breathing is the first act of life and the last. Our very life depends on it. Since we cannot live without breathing it is tragically deplorable to contemplate the millions and millions who have never mastered the art of correct breathing.”

–Joseph Pilates