Cracking Your Code
The drawback of one size fits all systems.
I’m going back to my roots.
Back to what first made me pay attention to how bodies actually move.
Because for a long time, I didn’t have a clue.
And that’s saying something, after years of yoga, sports, even massage school. I used to wonder, was I stupid? Was my ADHD the problem?
Maybe a little, but that wasn’t the real issue.
The real problem was this. Most people didn’t understand it either.
There’s a huge difference between someone who cooks by following a recipe and someone who understands food well enough to cook from scratch. Instead of following a list they use their sense of taste, smell and sight to create memorable meals.
Most fitness systems are recipes.
You do this, then you do that. Structured. Repeatable. Neat. The body is expected to fit the system.
Yoga. Pilates. Strength training.
Most classes you’ve taken follow a recipe.
And if the system assumes all bodies are the same, then all bodies should be able to do what the system offers.
But many bodies can’t.
Mine couldn’t.
I felt like a failure. So I studied harder. I trained harder.
And I got worse, not better.
Which was the opposite of the point. I wanted to get out of pain. I wanted to keep doing the things I loved, all of which involved movement.
I kept going anyway.
I injured myself. I listened to people who, through lack of training, awareness, or curiosity, were simply the wrong fit for me.
Honestly, I wanted to quit. Sit down. Make a graceful exit from the whole movement world.
Then something changed.
I landed in a studio where someone truly understood their body, and could see what was happening in mine.
Her name is Lesley Powell, a master Pilates teacher. You can look her up.
Her New York studio was inside an old bank vault. I still remember the day.
“Put your foot here. Press there. Reach here.”
It was like entering the right code to open a safe.
My body responded to a few simple movements. I walked out of that studio and floated down the street.
It felt like magic.
For years afterward, I tried to understand and recreate the connections she helped my body find.
Because Lesley could teach from a recipe if she wanted to, but her real gift was seeing the body in front of her and guiding that nervous system back to something it once knew.
That might sound strange. Aren’t we always supposed to be moving forward?
Sometimes, with movement, we need to go back.
Back to the developmental patterns we all went through to become upright, moving humans. Back to the “software” the body relies on to organize strength, balance, and coordination.
When those patterns are missing, doing more exercise, harder, heavier, faster, often backfires. Or even doing anything at all results in pain, frustration and reconciling we’re over the hill.
That’s the rinse and repeat cycle so many people get stuck in.
What I offer my clients isn’t cookie cutter , it’s different. I call it Pilates PLUS.
Pilates is the foundation, the love language. It helps the body recognize itself and begin to self repair.
The PLUS is discernment.
Some Pilates movements are more useful than others. And there are movements from other systems that can do the job more efficiently, if you understand what the body is actually asking for. I’m all for using the best tool to get the job done.
That’s why a Pilates PLUS class looks like this:
🕺🏾15 minutes of cardiovascular warm up
Because muscles don’t get stronger without blood flow.
👣10 minutes of standing foot work
Strong feet support healthy knees and resilient hips.
💪15 minutes of upper body strength using the magic circle
To restore connection, not just muscle.
🍎20 minutes of core and lower body strength
Using light weights and bands to reinforce patterns, not overwhelm them.
There’s no fluff.
Every exercise has a reason.
I didn’t learn this from a manual or a certification. I followed my own body. I paid attention to what worked, and what didn’t. Although I have a drawer full of them.
My job is for you to feel the reason behind what we’re doing.
The result?
✅You get stronger. More limber. More balanced.
✅
And your body starts working with you instead of against you.
This isn’t a fad.
It’s not what the studio down the street is doing.
It’s not here today and gone tomorrow.
All I know is this.
It works.
We begin again soon….click on the button to find out more…