Q & A

Hi everyone. Amy here and a half. Courtney Miller with me today and we're really excited to be here. This is the first time we've been doing this kind of format. This is the first Q and a that PA is offering. We hope you like it and the questions that we have or that I have for Courtney today have been coming in and from social media. So Facebook, Twitter, uh, the is anytime forum kind of group of members have written in questions that they want to have answers from Courtney. So I'm excited. You excited?

I'm very excited. We got some amazing, very thoughtful questions and I think it's going to help everybody personalize their polities practice. I agree. I agree. All right. So the first question I have for you is coming from a woman, I think Tony Thomas could be a man. Uh, but the question is if you've ever done pilates before, what's the best way to start so that you can develop enjoyment and doing it? I think that's a great question. I think one of the key words there is enjoyment. So [inaudible] is a challenging method to, to learn. Um, you know, I know a lot of people that have strayed away from it because of the coordination component. So I think it's so, so important that you find an instructor or you find a regime that you enjoy doing. Um, I think that it's important to be compassionate with yourself as well. Um, go in and set goals that are realistic and then check back and make sure that you are acknowledging those goals.

And that could be something as simple as throughout the day at work, your back is hurting less. It may not be that your body is changing shape right away, but she might have more confidence and more poise and better posture. So you know, just from the very beginning, establish those, those goals that you can check off those little successes so that it's fun for you. Great answer. I agree. Good, good, good. All right. I'm going to go on to a couple of questions that are similar in nature and they have to do with when you're not at home, you don't have your home studio, you don't have your home to work out in your, on the road, summer vacations are coming up. Uh, maybe even for business travelers. So there's two questions here that are similar.

Stacy shoe blitz is one of the people who wrote in and another gal named Lisa Patent. And all right, so the first question, I'm planning a road trip this summer. What exercises can I do on the road, say at a rest stop. All right. And then similarly, business travelers, what would you suggest that they do? Some advice that they can do when not at home. Awesome. And I'm so glad that that these ladies asked this question because tis this season to travel and um, it's something that is very familiar for me as well. I travel a lot to teach and um, so one of the things I like to do when I travel is I like to take a class at the destination that I arrive at. And so I'll do the research before I'll book a class. And, um, it's such a fun experience, um, because I get to try something new, see a new studio, meet New People, talk to different studio owners.

It's a wonderful experience, but not everybody has the time to do that. Um, some other tips that I would give is right before I travel, I usually always download a new iTunes music list and I do that for when I'm on the airplane too. And so I've got new songs to listen to, but um, I have my new music and then I usually will bring with me props that are very easy to travel with. So I'll typically bring a resistance band and then I'll bring my yoga towel that goes over my mat cause I can just roll that up and fold it. Um, and then I'll use those three things to stay motivated. So I've got my new music, I've got my resistance band, and then I've got my yoga towel so I can put that down anywhere. Um, the other thing that I have to say, and this is something that's a challenge, so it might be something you want to work on, but you have to be okay with just busting out some move some times. So if I'm at the airport and I have a three hour layer, they over, I will do Polonius and more often than not, if people join in and it's really cool. It's really fun. So don't be afraid just to start moving if you need to.

I'm also on an airplane and get up and walk around, do your stretches, all that good stuff. So sorry. So what if I'm on like I'm driving across the country and I'm at a rest stop. Yeah, I'm going to bust a move with the rest of it. I would get my boat. Totally. Okay. So when I do visit polities anytime, cause guys, there's such a great resource, there's so many websites are so many videos, excuse me, on this website that will help you when you're traveling. Um, any of the bar type classes or the standing polities classes also choose a duration that you know you're going to have time to do.

So you can do a 10 minute or a 15 minute class, um, and at a rest stop absolutely. Use a wall or use a chair or use a bench and do some pas and do some pushups and do some wall squats. Get the blood flowing. You're gonna feel so much better. Courtney, the next couple of questions are really geared for non palatium teachers. So we've had a few people write in. Um, and these are great. I think this first one is from Rachel, a PMA, um, certified instructor and she says for the Mamas of young kids who bend over awkwardly and pick up their little ones all day long, what are a series of exercises that you can teach me or tell me that can open up my shoulders, relax, relax, my neck tension and just to get generally unstuck in my neck and shoulders.

Thanks. I love your workouts and your approach. It's just such a gift. Thank you. Um, and awesome question. So I think there's so many populations that have these issues where they feel stuck. I think that word is, uh, is just a really key word and that in that question. And so how do we unstuck ourselves? Um, and one of the things that I am a huge advocate of and also going back to the traveling to is at home care. Um, so I use tennis balls and um, Yoga blocks and um, I mix and match them, foam rollers, things like that to um, offer some myofunctional release. So no matter what we do, whether it's a stay at home mom, a pilates instructor, or an office worker, because of the habitual nature of our occupation, we tend to get muscles that are dominant muscles that are tight and then those muscles that are weak. So, um, what I would recommend in addition to a [inaudible] practice that I can talk a little bit about in a second, is using a tennis ball and a yoga block.

And I have some, like I have a feeling she's going to show us a few things I'm going to suggest here. This is fun. Tennis Ball. Yeah. And, um, you don't have to use a tennis ball. Um, there's actually, you know, specially designed tools for this myofascial release. But, um, if you have a dog, you're going to have a lot of these around. The other one that I have is a yoga block and uh, you could use a hardcover book as well instead. Um, so one of my favorite things for especially the stay at home mom, especially for the new mom, is opening up the front body. And this is a hard area for us to get to on our own. So, uh, what we're going to use as the tennis ball, and we're essentially going to put it just right in the center of the chest and then we're going to press the yoga block against it. I know you can't see, but then I'm going to roll the yoga block and the ball is going to roll towards my shoulder. And the more pressure that this is pushing this way, the more it's gonna open this all app. And I would start high towards the collarbone and I would roll from the center all the way towards my shoulder. Moving my way down. And it's one of those things that it hurts so good. Um, but keep doing it.

The other thing that I like to do with this is I get two and then I put them in a sock and then I tie the sock. So they're gonna roll and they're going to stay together. And then I'll use the two along my spine and I'll lean against the wall and I can with the socks strategically place it where I need to lean back. I can do as much body weight as I would like to get that release. Um, you know, and I could even see a young mom, you know, holding the baby or having their little baby Bjorn and doing their wall squats up and down the wall with the tennis ball behind them. Um, and then the other thing that I want to say is that the plot is classes on plot is anytime our from all levels. So if you are feeling a little stuck, my next recommendation would be go back to the basics. So pick a class where you're doing preparatory exercises, but really focus on the precision of the movement, whether it's your breaststroke prep or just your swimming exercises or four point kneeling with scapular isolation.

These are all exercises that we sometimes we forget, they get lost in the mix, but they're excellent for this population or for all of the other ones where people just feel a little bit tight. Awesome. Yeah. Thank you. Okay, so the next question I have is from Marie Nielson and she writes, this is a really interesting question too. I know you know a lot about this. Um, I would like to get a little bit of information about Diastisis Rekti and you may pronounce it slightly different than I. Um, she ended up having it, but she wasn't pregnant and that is something that happened. So the, I'll let you talk a little bit about what is the dialysis, his directee, but she's wanting you to give some advice to others who may have had this happen to them that weren't pregnant. So what can you tell us there? Well, Marie, I'm very glad that you asked that because I'm, you're absolutely right. This is a condition that can happen to many populations, although it is very common in the postpartum client. Um, but it can happen with men or women of all ages too, whether or not they've had a children. Um, so very quickly and briefly, um, I refer to it as diastasis rec die, but I'm Canadian and sometimes I say things just a little different and I don't know if it's my accent or what. Um, but, um, tomato, tomato, um, but essentially you have your rectus Abdominis, your right and left halves and between the two you have your Linea Alba, uh, that connects them. So there's, um, like I said, there's multiple opportunities for those two right and left halves to come apart. And one of the most common one is through pregnancy, as I'm sure you can imagine with the growing belly, you need to accommodate that space regardless of how it happened, though the treatment is going to be the same. Um, the first thing is to diagnose it. And, um, there's a lot of great tools out there online to help you. Um, but essentially you'll just lie down on your back, take one or two fingers, press them in your center and then flex up into an abdominal crunch. And you'll either feel that there's no space or that there's a space for one finger, two, three, sometimes four or more. Um, because that linear elbow runs all the way from your sternum down to your pubic bone, you're going to want to test all the way down to, because you can have different degrees of separation in different areas. Um, with all of that said, um, in the Pele's world, we tend to work with clients that have a one to two degree separation, a finger separation. If they have more than that, I would refer that person to seek physical therapy. Um, because it, it can be a condition that gets exacerbated over time. And, um, if it's not treated properly and you're misusing your abdominal muscles, so let's say that someone comes to you or you yourself check it out and you say, Oh, okay, I've got two fingers. I can fit two fingers in the protocol. There would be to avoid abdominal work in a flexed position for the most part. Um, that would also include planking.

So anything that's going to increase the pressure and create a bulging sensation in the rectus abdominis and even the deeper muscles to is a series that you're going to want to avoid until the condition d decreases. Um, I think four point kneeling is a wonderful series for somebody who has that one to two finger separation. Um, they can feel that wrapping sensation of the deep transversus abdominis without feeling that ball genes sensation. Another important factor here is going to be [inaudible] breathing, activating through the pelvic floor, moving with precision. Um, you know, and I would really encourage that client to stay conscious of all of those things throughout their entire day and start to integrate that [inaudible] breath and pelvic floor engagement into walking, um, you know, sitting up. Right. Um, and the other thing too, of course is, is time. So when we're going back to the postpartum client, they say nine months on, nine one's off. Well, that's not just the wait. There's a lot of things going on in your body. Hormonal changes, blood flow, relaxin in your hormones.

These things don't leave your body when the baby is born. Um, so time is another important factor. Again. Um, I would test it on yourself or if you had a client, if you are plays instructor, do the test. If it's a more than a two finger separation, my rule of thumb is that I would refer that person to a physical therapist. They may even use some sort of splint or compression. Um, I would still work with that client. Um, but I would eliminate most of my abdominal flection and I would modify my planking work too. Thank you. You're welcome. And I just want to say, I know I said that can come, that can happen with all populations, but it can also happen with men as well. So it's not just a woman thing. That's good to know because I'm not sure if everyone is aware of that, but um, thank you everyone who has the six pack humanities, any human being can get the, it's yeah. Thank you. Very thorough answer. Uh, oh, right.

The next couple of questions I have for you are definitely geared more toward the PyLadies teachers out there. Um, and this one comes from a woman named Alegra and she writes in, what is your approach to the first session with a client? Do you have specific exercises and concepts you always go to to set the foundation? Cool. Um, I would say a little bit of yes and a little bit of no. So one of the things that I always do is have an intake process with my clients and I just look at that as a discovery opportunity. I want to know their history.

I want to know they're present and I want to know their future. And what I mean by that is an intake form will help me to understand what has happened to them in the past. Uh, any injuries, any accidents, any conditions, anything I need to know about for the present moment, I want to know what types of medications are they currently on, what's their daily routine, what is their occupation, what activities are they in? And as far as the future goes, I need to know why they're here. Why did they come to see me? What are their goals, what are their ambitions and what's important to them outside of [inaudible] too. I mean, it might be like I want to climb Machu Picchu, you know, early 2016 and it's like, okay, this is what we're gonna do to help to get you there. Okay. Um, now with that said, that is something that I will do with all clients, but from that point forward, it really depends on the client's personality. Some people are very interested in discussion, others are very interested in movement. So I can kind of gauge that when I meet the client too. Um, for clients though, I would say that I get them moving in some capacity.

I tend to use, um, more beginner level work to continue my assessment. So after I have that intake form, I'll choose exercises that are relatively simple but will give me more information on their movement patterns. And I kind of look at that as, okay, I'm seeing their blueprint when I take the intake. But now you need to see how all those working pieces move together. Right. The other thing that I want to note is during those first few exercises that I introduced, I also get a pretty good idea of the way that that client learns. So we've got to talk more about that. I'm curious what you're going to say.

We've got our audio learners, they listen and they can, they can understand and they can compute what you're saying. And then we have our visual learners. So those learners tend to do better when a demonstration has given, right? And then we have our tactile learners. These people do much better when they receive physical touch to help them feel the movement or feel the muscle group.

So it's during those few exercises I made, it might just be an abdominal crunch. Um, maybe some foot work on a light spring tension to get them moving a little bit where I can start to put those pieces of the puzzle together. Um, so that we'll again, you know, as I start to do that, then these things unfold to me. And what I do from that point on will differ depending on what I discover. But that intake form for sure, past, present future, how do they move, how do they learn? Those things are really important for me to know in the first session.

That's wonderful. That's great advice. Thanks. Thanks for asking. No, that's a great question. All right. So Chloe bunter writes in, Hi Courtney Miller. Hi Chloe. What is your opinion on flat back posture of classical polarities versus the neutral posture? A more modern day Polonius and then she goes on to say, this isn't, I like this. I'm a science has determined that biomechanically we're better off working in a neutral postural alignment. Do you see any place for the classical flat back? Yeah, that's this, this, this is a good one. Yeah. That's not good. I don't want to get in trouble. I was like, no. Um, you know, I think, uh, for me the most important thing is for the police practitioner to be able to adapt their knowledge to ultimately, uh, serve the client and what their needs are.

And so if that means that I teach short spine differently or the order in which I teach footwork is different or I'm in a flat back versus neutral pelvis position, um, say lovey. So the idea is I'm trying to restore movement to a clients that they can live a happy life as pain free. I've certainly seen clients that work much better in a neutral posture position and I love neutral because they understand on a scientific level why neutral is ideal regarding how it, the pelvis is attached to the lumbar spine, the musculature from the abdominals and the thighs coming up to the pelvis. I understand the balance that that creates a and the decompression, um, et cetera. But I also have had clients that are unable to stabilize in a neutral posture or have this sensation that their neutral posture is this mega anterior tilt, in which case I'm going to start to cue them back towards a flat back.

The other thing that I want to note is that I don't necessarily believe that there is a black and white for, for any situation because what we're doing and what we're teaching is so dynamic. Okay, we're dealing with people and we're dealing with emotions and we're dealing with movement. So there's like all of these balls in the air and especially when it comes to the hips and pelvis, there's a lot of emotion kind of held in there. Um, so I think as a place professional, you have to have a certain level of intuition when you're working with your client and know how they feel. If I have a client that comes in and their back is flat and their shoulders are rounded and they're off flexed and I'm just seeing that they're guarded and they might not want me to come on in. And you know, yeah, I think change is earned. Um, they have to understand the why behind it. Um, and then also different exercises. You know, I will proactively cue. So for example, if I'm doing an exercise series where the client's inflection, both legs are extended, I'm doing lower and lift with the legs and I know that this particular client or this particular group always goes into an exaggerated anterior tilt. When the legs go low, my queuing is going to be more towards the flap back.

Um, and just to kind of wrap that up, um, you know, I think the most important thing is that the client is safe, the client is breathing, the client is comfortable and the exercises are effective. So if you've lost those things, then it's time to take a look and see what do you need to do to get back on track. Wonderful. Yeah. Thank you. You're welcome. Okay. Some really, these are all these questions are great, but this is a, this is a nice sense, a little bit general from Jody Fonteneau who says she wants some information about low back flexibility and back extension. My, my guess here is that she would like you to say, how can I get better, improve or improve upon my flexibility, my low back, and possibly, um, improve my back extension. So let's start with the low back flexibility. Great. And help. I just, I'm such a huge lover of spinal extension. I think that there's so many amazing exercises you can do.

It just says yummy. Um, I think we need to do it and we need to counter balance all the flection that we do. Um, so here's the thing. When I of the spine in my head, I think of a garden hose. Okay. So if I'm going to have a water run through the hose, I have to keep it on kinked. Doesn't mean I can't bend it, but if I, as soon as I can get, I stopped the water flow. Right? And when it comes to the spine, I think of that as energy. So the first thing you want to kind of think of is when you're going into extension or reflection or rotation or lateral section, you want to create the sense of the length before you take the extension or, or the movement so that you can keep that energy flowing. Um, when it comes to the lumbar spine, as you know, it's quite complex because we have the muscles from the lower body coming up to the pelvis. We have all the trunk muscles coming down towards the pelvis. So if there's an imbalance or there's a dysfunction, it's impossible for me to say. That's why your lower back is, is stuck.

Um, but one general piece of advice I would give would be to rebalance the muscles around the hips to help to create more mobility in the pelvis. That means open up the hip flexors, lengthen and strengthen the add doctors, you know, engage those ab doctors, maybe release the glues. It's it depending on what the client is feeling. Um, creating more, um, you know, I think of like clay, like warming it up and getting it more malleable, uh, in the hips so that the pelvis can move a little bit. Um, I also, um, I believe in when it's appropriate f full range of motion. So when a lot of people say, oh, I want better extension in my spine, so let's extend, let's extend, let's extend. No, um, let's move the spine. Let's move it. Let's, you know, like a reed in the wind. Let's actually move.

Um, so this would include all of the directions that I mentioned earlier, extension flection, lateral rotation, uh, lateral flection, excuse me, on rotation and combinations of all of those movements. Um, and then the last thing that I want to say is kind of going back on the whole length and cause the concept. But you do want to think of your spine even though you're thinking of it as that garden hose, you have these individual segments. And the idea whether you're extending or flexing is to get these segments to move, um, together. So, and to move a story. When I say together, I don't mean in chunks, I mean more like a string of pearls to have the move independently of each other. Um, so you have that length and then you have that sequential movement. Um, as far as an exercise opportunity, go to four point kneeling and do your cat cow, but do it mindfully. A lot of times when I see the cat cow extra exercise executed, it's middle drops hadn't but lift and then middle lifts and headed, but drop. Um, so if you really want to feel the segments and the spine move and the length, start from the sacrum and move up to the crown of the head and then start from the crown of the head and move down to the sacrum and really use your PyLadies breathing and use your abdominal muscles to go through that flection and extension. That's wonderful. Yeah. Good old basic cat and cow.

Totally got it now. Okay. The next question. This is going to be fun. We get to bring out the reformers. So we'll be right back and we're going to just load in a piece of equipment and see what she has to tell us about the next question. Great. I'll be right back. Okay. So we're back and obviously we have the reformer here. So Courtney, this, this question comes from a member of person who wrote a named Jody. She wants help with teaser. It seems like, so ways to help me improve my teaser on the reformer. Let's see, what do you have to say? Cool. I'm teasers are hard, period.

Um, so let's kind of talk about it. So what's required to have this successful teaser? Uh, well, definitely a strong core, um, balance, strong hip flexors and coordination. So kinda talk about how we can improve those to get to that. Perfect. [inaudible] Teaser v um, I'm on the reformer and I have a blue spring on, so super light and I just want to talk about a couple of the movements that we can start with. So I'll be sitting on my bottom, feed onto the headrest, reach forward and grab ahold of the straps. You know that on the reformer we'll often do teasers on the long box and I'll get there in a second. But um, if the coordination, the balance and maybe the fear is what stopping you, then you can come down here onto the reformer or even try it on the map. Um, so here I am sitting nice and tall. Arms are extended, long knees are bent.

The first thing that I want to do is come into my ideal teaser alignment. Two things I want you to think of. One is that the pelvis goes into a posterior tilt. So I roll my pelvis back away from my femurs. So here I am doing that. The other thing that I want you to think about in sort of opposition to what happened with the pelvis, the rest of the spine stays very lifted and very long.

So I am rolled under my hips and pelvis. I have distance between my hipbones and my femurs, but my thoracic spine is a lengthened and there it is now from here, I can hold this position and go through some upper body exercises. So really working those postural muscles. And the core muscles that I need to hold this position for my teaser and release. The next thing I wanna talk about is hip flexor strength. So in order to get your legs up into that incliner v position is not just your core doing it.

It is the hip flexor muscle group and they have to be strong in order to lift your legs up. So for the next series I'll be kneeling. Same tension on it's a light, it's a blue and my knees are against the shoulder blocks. And you've seen me do these quite a few times before in the classes here on any anytime hands walk forward, shoulders come forward. Now for this particular variation, because I'm working on teasers, I'm going to do that same movement, Tuck the tailbone, but keep the thoracic spine length. So here I was more in a neutral position, scoop a little, I'm not an around back, I'm long through the rest of my spine.

Simply draw the knees towards the navel and back. So I'm using both core muscles here and hip flexors to draw the carriage under me one more time and release. Now the other nice thing about that last position as a [inaudible] instructor, I can really get into my clients and help them maintain their pelvis in that posterior tilt and I can get in and help them feel that cue of hipbone towards rib cage. So now that we have the position of the spine, the position of the pelvis, and we're understanding that the hip flexors do play a role, let's put the box on and go through some preparatory exercises. Long boxes on. I'm going to leave the tension as it is just one light, one blue. Now if I was teaching this to a client for the first time, I probably would not include the straps and the moving surface of the box. Instead, I would keep everything steady, might use weights in the hands, but that's about it. Let's find the same position we did on the reformer.

So there's my vertical neutral. I roll my pelvis back and tilt just a little opening up through the chest. So there's the position in my upper body scoop hipbones towards ribs, abs in and up, long thoracic spine, lifting the legs up one at a time. Now leave the knees bent to begin on an inhale. We're going to roll backwards coming to the tips of the shoulder blades on an exhale, scoop through the belly roll up.

Now I have to really work to come back to that length and thoracic spine. One more time. I roll one mon at a time to the tips of my shoulder blades. Shh. Exhale and open the chest. The challenge there is two fold. One is the balance component, so being able to stay up there.

The other is that articulation and abdominal strength. The last thing that I'm going to talk about is the coordination aspect. So for this next variation, I will use the straps. Let's go into the full version. Why not? Huh? Okay, so in the full version you want to make sure you're sitting towards the first third of the box. You'll lie back. Shoulder blades will hang off, legs will lengthen. So the nice thing about this full version guys, as you get to go from this open position into your teaser, squeeze your inner thighs together. That'll really help the sequences. Nod the chin to the chest, begin to lift the arms.

This gets into your laps, which will help co contract the obliques to get you up there on an exhale. Legs and arms come up, but you're not in that round. Slouch, lift the chest, lift the sternum. Here's the coordination. Inhale down one, squeezing the inner thighs, two legs, a little higher if you can, chest open three legs, stay as you roll. You know this because you practiced it and then release the whole shape down. Now put it all together is a big jump from the preps that I showed you, but I wanted you to see where you are and where you can go.

Balance Strength Coordination, so work on those preparatory exercises and build up to the full teaser. Currently. Let me ask you a little, one more thing about the teaser and that is a question that comes up a lot I think from clients. I have. I know you've heard this, um, hip flexors, so how to, how to release those hip flexors, even though we need strong hip flexors and teaser cause we just really pointed on that. But how to give it a little lighter sense of that or less grip and still have a successful teaser. Yeah. Okay. So anything you can show us or release or, well yeah, the first thing that I can show you is what I'm showing you right now. The worst position to be in all day long.

So part of the problem I'm with coming into your [inaudible] session and your instructor asking you to feel your abdominals, except all you feel are your hip flexors. And I don't know if everyone knows what I mean by say that it's this tight gripping sensation. Like the muscles going to cramp right here. Okay. So instead of feeling in your core where you're supposed to do, you're feeling at writing here, it could be because for eight, nine, 10 or more hours, you're in this position working or hanging out. And so in a seated posture, your hip flexors are tight, um, and turned on and active. Now the other thing is, is that we are forward movers and in order to move our bodies forward, we have to use our hip flexors, right? Every time you take a step forward or walk up a stair, uh, we don't move backwards as much as we move forward. Um, so the muscles in the back of a body tend to not be as ready to work as the ones in the front of the body. So let's think of all of that. You, you know, took, uh, two flights up the stairs to your office cause you wanted to be healthy and not take the elevator.

And then you sat at your desk for eight hours and then you walked down the stairs and you took your dog for two and a half mile walk. And now, great, I'm going to come to my [inaudible] session and all I feel are the front of my hips. So I just want to first say that it could have a lot to do with the other 23 hours that you spent that day before you were in your session. Now, with that said, there's definitely some stuff that we can do. Listening to your [inaudible] instructor talk about [inaudible] principles and really trying to feel them as so important so we don't just make funny noises, you know, just to get your attention. We're trying to give you tricks and tools to activate your deep abdominal muscles, your pelvic floor, your deep transversus abdominis muscle group so that you can work more from your core and less from the bulky, superficial muscles like the hip flexors. When we talk about pelvic position, like when you're lying on your back doing your leg and foot work and we're so adamant that you should be in neutral position and you're like, why is she bugging me? I don't need to have a space in my low back. I'm fine.

Again, the idea is to rebalance your posture, open up through the front of your hips, decompress the lower back so that when you do exercises like core work or teaser, you have a higher probability of getting into your core breathing. Pelvic position are also important. The last thing that I want to say is that, um, there's a number of exercises that you can do with a slight modification so that you feel it more where you're supposed to feel it. And if you ever see me workout and I do try to take classes here at flood is anytime whenever I can because it's so beautiful. If you see me in a video, you'll see me modified cross my heart. I do a lot of work with my legs externally rotated or if I need to bend the knees a little or a lot, I will.

I'll also modify by lowering my feet down to the floor because for me it's so much more important than I can actually feel the muscle group I'm supposed to and not those grippy hip flexors. The last thing I want to talk about guys, and they kind of talked about it in the beginning, so going full circle is that the muscles in the front of the body tend to be strong and overactive. They're go getters or the muscles in the back of the body tend to be a little bit more relaxed, maybe lazy if you want to use that word. So one great way to create more balance in the pelvis is to activate the back body is to work those glutes. So in your plotting session, make sure that you're doing a well balanced workout in the lower body, stretching the hip flexors, strengthening the hip extensors, and then using those [inaudible] principles like breath and the alignment to get you more into your core. I hope that helps. All right, Courtney, the last question I have for you, um, is written in by Christie. So she, I'm going to read the whole entire question because it's just, it's so well asked, um, and stated, Courtney is an incredibly clear and polished when she teaches on camera. Yet often she teaches variations on PyLadies exercises geared for specific populations. Often the athletic a that may be complicated but are always logically sound.

Courtney, how much of your formal Palladio's training would you attribute to your style of teaching and what other factors would you include that you think make you a better teacher? It is a great question. First of all, I want all my friends and family to hear that other people do think that I'm logically sound. That means I'm right. Right. Okay. Um, so, um, you know, I, um, I do tend to at this time program towards the athletic conditioning style. Um, but for me instead of really putting those words, um, I think it's just movers. Um, for the first few years when I started to learn polities and feel it in my own body, I was much more, uh, in the direction of precision, which I think I still am. But, um, I was more interested in precision and it was a slower movement and definitely a thoughtful movement, um, with stops and breaks in between so that I could really digest what I was doing. And I suppose I attracted the type of client that also wanted that at that time. Um, for the last few years though, I've really enjoyed creating dynamic, dynamic movement.

Um, what's the word sequences, I guess in my workout because to me that's what's really true to life in how I, and how I move and what I need to do at this time. Um, so that's translated onto the reformer. To answer Christie's question about how much of that was for my formal Polonius training? Well, my formal plot, his training was well over a decade ago, I mean closer to 15 years ago now. And that training in itself has grown and evolved. You know, I think we all have. So, um, you know, a lot of it, I would say it is quite in line with what I learned, um, with a creative and thoughtful twist to it when needed. Um, I also have certifications and do trainings in other methods as well.

So other schools have Pele's, um, but also completely different directions. So I'm certified to teach yoga. I'm in love with anti-gravity aerial fitness right now, a TRX suspension training, uh, bar classes. And so I absolutely infuse those onto the polarities apparatus whenever possible. Um, to do, do you think that's one reason why a lot, I mean, you're very popular and the work that, you know, you are and you're very popular and your work, it's, it is athletic, but it's, it's physically it's challenging, but because you pull from so many things, I think for myself, it's also mentally fun to not know what's coming next. Not that the list of exercises that we learned wasn't great cause it is, but you, you are blending so many other things in and keeping it fresh and alive. And I think that's igniting a lot of interest for people to, to play with. So that's great to hear. And that's, you know, I'm, I'm so thankful being um, a part of the plot is anytime family is just such an amazing, amazing experience and um, I love coming back here and I love even just this opportunity to have this Q and a with, with the members of plays any anytime is just such a cool thing.

Um, but you know, I, it's kind of like you need, you should learn to, if you're going to learn to dance, you should learn. People are gonna get mad when I say this. You should learn ballet before you learn hip hop. It's the same with horseback riding. It's the same with so many forms of movement to, you know, find a discipline, um, sort of rigid format first and then evolve with it and create your fusions and your flows. And so I think that that's really where I came from was um, a relatively rigid training, which I think we all did.

This was the order and this is the variation and this was the exercise. And of course I was always encouraged to think outside the box, um, and adapt the exercise for the client's needs. Um, but it has been more recent when I, you know, started over the last, um, 10 years or so taking these other certifications that I've been kind of infusing them in there. And, you know, really, um, I just think movement feels so good and it's been a challenge for me personally in my own body to find those limits between when do I allow freedom of movement and when do I focus on that control and that precision. And I'm always kind of playing with that. And in my classes you'll see a balance of that. Um, some things are pretty much, you know, this is the way it is. This is the right form. And then others are like, ah, bend your knees if you need to, or add a weight if you want to kind of thing.

So if there's one, one thing that's influenced you the very most, is there one? Um, you know, it's, it's every, every body, if I can kind of play with words, so everybody, every body, every opportunity, I have to even just talk to somebody. I learn more about what drives them, what moves them, and it helps me to discover more about myself. Um, so, um, you know, it's really just the interaction with, with people that keeps this evolution happening, um, keeps the gears turning because I mean, people are amazing and they're so interesting and they're so dynamic and you never know what you're going to get or what they're going to say or what they're going to need. So to be able to adapt your practice, to serve them, um, that, that's really just kind of keeping that, that movement and that energy flow happening in my personal practice. That's wonderful. Thanks. Thank you so much for being here. This is our first Q and. A. Hopefully there'll be some more. Let us know.

Thank you, Courtney Malaria. Thank you. And thank you so much. We've awesome questions guys. Keep 'em come in and yeah, keep watching.