If you want to significantly improve your movement skills, you must cultivate curiosity! Without curiosity, Pilates or TRX or weight-lifting becomes just a routine to get done and behind you. "What's next? How many reps? How much resistance? Am I done?" What a waste of time and brain-power!
Being curious about your chosen exercise method will keep it fresh -- each workout is unique and with its own flavors. What are you interested in today? Are you curious about why your right hip has been clicking when you do Frogs on the Reformer? How about that sore spot on your calf, or why do your toes cramp each time you point your foot? Curiosity about why and when these things happen will lead you to exploration, discovery and ultimately mastery of new skills.
Here's how it goes:
CURIOSITY results in EXPLORATION
EXPLORATION results in DISCOVERY
DISCOVERY results in PLEASURE
PLEASURE results in REPETITION
REPETITION results in MASTERY
MASTERY results in NEW SKILLS
NEW SKILLS results in CONFIDENCE
CONFIDENCE results in SELF-ESTEEM
SELF-ESTEEM results in SENSE OF SECURITY
SECURITY results in MORE EXPLORATION
This chart is actually from an authority on brain development in children, but I think it holds true for adult Pilates students as well. All of these elements are things that we Pilates instructors want for our students. I want my students to discover the joy of freedom in the hip joint, in the range of motion of their shoulder, the sensation of the lungs turning in and out while they arch & curl. These concepts and sensations are what they take with them when they leave the studio. And they do leave the studio, you know. They are only with us for about an hour at a time, and sometimes they even (gasp) move away. When they do leave (or for that matter, when I go to Maui on vacation) it is still my intention that they are developing and mastering new skills through exploration, pleasure and confidence. The fuel for that is curiosity and it can be fostered by the instructor.
It doesn't take much. If you are teaching a group session, just a sprinkling of an idea or an image that is revisited throughout the session can provide a depth and richness to the workout without annoying or confusing those students who are just beginning their journey and highly dependent on the instructor's guidance. When you are one-on-one with a client you can develop a truly personalized path toward finding the joy in all movement, not just in the Pilates studio.
