When everyday movement became unbearable for Rhyla Holley, a certified Pilates teacher with more than 600 hours of training, she turned to Kinexology and Great Falls Physical Therapy to strengthen her body and retrain basic movement patterns. In this case study, we look at the process from Rhyla’s perspective, the physical therapist’s angle, and finally through the Pilates teacher’s eye to understand how a combined approach yielded a solution that worked.

With the studio quiet, and all clients participating in virtual Pilates mat sessions, I have found more time to reflect on myself as a teacher. Recently the following question came to mind, “What really makes a teacher good?”

In Motor Learning Theory this concept is called Attentional Demand. Essentially, we all have a certain amount of attentional demand. This means that we all have a particular amount of focus that we can allocate to specific tasks, but there comes a point where we are spread too thin and this allocation system becomes stressed.

I have a confession to make….I was an over-cuer.

I know. You might be thinking, “How is it possible that Chelsea was an over-cuer? She is constantly promoting the idea of using less verbal feedback.”

Now, since we are in a virtual setting, I have no choice but to focus on EXACTLY what I am saying. Teaching virtually is essentially putting my thesis (and case studies that I worked on in graduate school) into practice and giving me a series of data points around specific measurements.

The mat order and routine can get old quickly. Not only that, not all of the exercises are what my clients truly need. A lot of them need more extension and lateral flexion and less general flexion of their spine. So what to do? It was time to put on my creative cap and think about how I could “recreate” exercises on the mat from the reformer, baby chair, ladder barrel etc.

When we are teaching Pilates we often cue people to scoop more, lift more, or reach more! However, there is a limit to how much a body can scoop, lift and reach. At a certain point, more isn’t better—it’s actually detrimental to performance.

“What makes us feel confident in real life that we own our space more than in a virtual setting?”

The more I thought about this, the more I realized that this virtual challenge was an opportunity for both my clients and myself. I realized I would be forced to teach differently than I normally do, and that in the end it would only strengthen me as a teacher.

Client independence is key for success. This is what Joseph Pilates intended in the first place, so why has our industry changed so much and we innodate people with feedback?

I am sure that you have heard of the term “Neuroplasticity”. What does this mean? Neuroplasticity or brain plasticity, is the ability for the brain to change over an individuals’ lifetime. This can occur in many ways and provides many functions such with brain related injuries, with the weakening and strengthening of synapses, the change in proportion of grey matter, and the activity associated with a specific function changing location.

By doing this, I wasn’t teaching the true system of Pilates or what was best for the body in front of me. I was thinking about how I could show this client how great Pilates was rather than teaching it to them for them to feel it and retain the work.

Skill learning is very important for both Pilates instructors and Pilates clients to learn about. So that brings me to the question of what exactly is skill learning? How does skill learning apply to teaching Pilates as well as learning pilates?