Issue #331 – Wednesday April 7, 2021
Golden Gals
by Penelope Wasserman
My personal Pilates practice began in 1999 and it soon became clear to me that this was not like any gym or dance studio experience I had ever known. Although I never considered myself athletic – I had no interest in team sports – I began ballet and tap lessons at 5 years old and am still flap ball changing and pirouetting my way through life. And for the past 20+ years, I have added in Pilates. In fact, Pilates has become my North star. Wherever I am in my personal and physical world, it has brought me home, given me strength, helped me focus, and enabled me to breathe.
I started teaching in 2003 and soon became enamored with special needs clients. After some personal health issues, I found solace in the adaptability of the method and how even exercises that looked simple and basic could be made safe and give me a sense of accomplishment and strength.
Soon after COVID-19 changed how we all live and work, I was in touch with two of my former Pilates clients from my studio in Albany, NY. These ladies have been in my life since my early teaching days and even though we were no longer seeing each other in my studio, we continued to stay in touch, check in on birthdays and holidays and special occasions, etc. Honestly, they have become like family for me. I called to make sure they were safe and to my surprise, they asked if there was any way I could teach them online. It’s funny how something that has now become so commonplace in most industries and schools due to COVID restrictions had never occurred to us. We decided to give it a try and it has worked so well that we are still doing it.
Mary is in her 70’s and Ann is in her 80’s. I wanted to know what inspired them to practice Pilates, especially at ages where many people have decided that exercise is too strenuous. Here is what they had to say:
Ann began Pilates over 25 years ago in a studio setting. On a personal note, I met Ann at that studio where I was apprenticing during my teacher training in 2003. Ann was my first “body”!
She said she plans to continue with video lessons during the pandemic because it helps keep her flexible. She loves the Reformer and other equipment though. “My dirty little secret is I very rarely practice Pilates or yoga on a daily basis now, but when I was in my 70’s, I tried to practice one or the other every day. Now I practice Iyengar yoga and Yin yoga 3 times a week on Zoom. I have been practicing Pilates weekly with Penelope during the pandemic.”
Ann goes on to say that Pilates has helped her through some high stress periods in her life. It has trained her to pay attention to her breath, especially becoming aware of shallow breathing when stressed. Her favorite posture is the constructive rest position which combines breath work and alignment. “The alignment consciousness has cured me of back aches and shoulder and neck aches. I look at my husband’s posture and inflexibility [compared to mine] and credit my years of haphazard Pilates study. I can pick stuff up off the floor easily, run up and downstairs easily, sit on the floor easily, and get up from the floor easily…and from a chair or bed. I can walk 3 miles a day without discomfort. My balance is still rather good too, even though I take medications that cause dizziness. Although I am very conscious of how my body is changing, I feel like a 60-year old, not the 84-year old I am about to become.”
Mary, pictured above, began her practice with me in 2010 after a serious accident caused a traumatic brain injury. She initially found me because my studio specialized in working with people who had osteoporosis and other reasons for modifications in their lessons. I am so proud of Mary’s patience and how far she has come. Over the years, her Pilates progressed and so did her confidence. In fact, Mary is now a serious ballroom dance student who has several live performances under her belt plus a competition or two. She inspires me as does Ann (I began an online yoga practice during COVID after seeing how much Ann enjoys her lessons!). Although I am not able to ballroom dance like Mary, my ballet teacher can do home lessons occasionally here, we wear our masks, and I have started teaching my husband tap dancing in the basement – after our Pilates practice! Ah, the ways we keep movement in our lives when the rest of the world is locked up.
I would like to think that Joseph Pilates and his many protégées that are no longer with us are smiling and encouraging us from the other side to practice this work that helped Joe keep so many people safe and strong during the pandemic of 1918. As many of us know (and after living and breathing this work for over 20 years), it truly does have anti-aging benefits. I will be 59 in January and am in much better shape than most of my peers and many who are younger. The ADL’s (activities of daily living) that Ann mentioned can also include getting on and off a toilet seat or in and out of a car for those who are driving. For those of us who exercise to look good, yes – of course Pilates will do that for you. However, maintaining a Pilates practice as you age will enable you to FEEL good, move well, breathe fully and truly live your best life!
Penelope Wasserman is a managing consultant at Changing Tastes where she creates campaigns and strategies to promote social and ecological restoration using food as her medium as well as integrating multi-sensory awareness and physical alignment to in-person decision making, training, and other experiences. She also oversees Changing Taste’s brand strategy and design.
Penelope’s work on aligning consumer understanding and market recognition for fair treatment of workers as well as for regenerative agriculture and aquaculture has been integrated into a host of social marketing efforts as well as her presentation at the Blue Economy plenary of the Business of Conservation Conference of the African Leadership Institute in Rwanda (2019).
Penelope brings her unique background in movement, somatic observation, and fracture prevention into meetings and takes the lead integrating safe and simple concepts to facilitate wellness and joy into previously confined business settings. Penelope also teaches workshops for teams and organizations that invite wellness into the corporate environment in an effort to offer a sustainability platform for the people who are trying to keep our resources alive.
Penelope has been a featured presenter at the Meeks Method Annual conferences in Sundance, Utah, and Baltimore, Maryland. Her work in gentle Pilates and scoliosis management has been featured internationally in presentations by Dr. Suzanne Martin, PT for the Pilates Method Alliance and on Brett Miller’s “Pilates Intel” website. She presents and teaches on the national and global stage. She also served on the Eli Lilly & Company’s Mobility Advisory Board. She developed the “Million Dollar Bones” and “Internal Alignment Awareness” training programs in an effort to teach healthy, safe alignment techniques and prevent osteoporosis related fractures.
She has a B.S. degree from Syracuse University and has trained extensively through Pilates Therapeutics.