Issue #482
Wednesday, March 10, 2026
The Depth You Teach Is the Depth You’ve Gone
Part 1
by Clare Dunphy Hemani
Have you noticed it creeping in? When you suddenly realize that you are teaching on autopilot, your cues sound lifeless, and you’re going through the motions? Perhaps you hear yourself using the same cues repeatedly and the corrections you used last week or last month. Or, you don’t bother to give corrections at all. Your students are going through the motions, and you feel stuck.
That flatness isn’t failure—it’s a signal to pause and look with courage and curiosity. It takes courage to question what we think we know and to challenge our own beliefs about our teaching. And it starts with being willing to say “I don’t know.”
If any of this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. This is where most dedicated teachers eventually land—and it’s actually a signal that you’re ready for more.
You Can Only Teach What You’ve Lived
We can only truly teach what we have deeply experienced ourselves. There’s a difference between workshop knowledge or memorized principles and lived experience. True teaching comes from what we’ve explored in our own bodies with genuine curiosity, what we’ve felt transform us from within.
This isn’t just intuition—it’s supported by decades of research in embodied cognition (the science of how physical experience shapes our thinking and communication). Studies show that teachers who have deep physical understanding transfer knowledge more effectively than those who rely solely on theoretical knowledge. When you’ve mapped a movement pattern in your own nervous system, you communicate it differently. Your mirror neurons fire, your language becomes more precise, and you notice subtleties you’d otherwise miss.
Think about the teacher who changed your life. They didn’t just demonstrate perfect form—they taught from intimate understanding. When they cued breath, you heard decades of practice in their voice. When they spoke about control, they were describing territory they’d mapped in their own body.
That’s the difference between instruction and transmission. The latter only happens when you’ve done the work yourself—when you’ve brought your full intelligence, imagination, memory, intuition, and will to your own practice before guiding others.
Here’s what I’ve learned: We can articulate principles beautifully, but if we haven’t genuinely embodied them, we’re still teaching from someone else’s experience, not our own. Our students sense the difference—they respond to what we’ve actually lived, not just what we can explain.
Clare Dunphy Hemani is a world-renowned Pilates educator and mentor who has spent three decades translating classical Pilates wisdom into accessible frameworks for teacher development. A multi-sport athlete excelling in swimming, diving, field hockey, and lacrosse, Clare earned a full lacrosse scholarship to Northeastern University. She worked as a personal trainer and fitness professional for 18 years before a pivotal moment in 1995 changed everything.
Walking into Drago’s Gym in New York City, she encountered Romana Kryzanowska—Joseph Pilates’ direct student—and discovered a completely different approach to movement. Romana’s insistence on bringing “100% of yourself to every moment” transformed Clare’s entire understanding of what teaching could be.
Based in Newburyport, Massachusetts, Clare founded Progressive Bodyworks, where teachers worldwide experience her approach that honors classical roots while making the method accessible to all. She serves as an NPCP vice president and co-authored the Peak Pilates Comprehensive Education Program, in which she coached and trained teacher trainers internationally.
What distinguishes Clare’s work is her commitment to bridging intellectual knowledge and embodied understanding. Her mentorship programs and upcoming book emerged from years of research asking: How do we help teachers access the depth within them? Her mission: make Pilates accessible, pass authentic knowledge to the next generation, and keep this work’s transformative spirit alive.
Learn more at progressivebodyworksinc.com