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My life coaching mentor said this in a recent lecture:
"You become the destination."
BOOM.
A simple sentence with hugeness. Words strung together conveying exactly what Prime Movement teaches.
All that trying. ALLLLL that trying is so tiring.
Now being...being can DO things for you.
Being you in your studies. Being you in your comprehension. Being you in your doing.
Being is experiencing. And from this point, you can teach.
So rather than ask where this is going, ask "where am I in this?".
It takes mileage, not hoop jumping, to find your inner maestro.
"Knowledge without mileage equals bullshit." - Henry Rollins, American musician
In movement we say the work works. The work is where all the answers are. Yes, you need anatomy, theory, skills but the biggest part of claiming knowledge is in the mileage. In your own body. Discovering what works for you and what doesn't in order to share from there.
The learning is the easy part. The doing is the grafting.
And then comes the teaching...where the magic happens. Where you learn it ALL all over again...through someone else's understanding, someone else's feels, someone else's capacity and capability. Again and again.
Keep those wheels turning. Learning. Doing. Experiencing.
Sounds a wee bit like living, moving, being...
Sometimes we need some time off from movement.
Movement as we know it.
To heal. To do some undoing. To stop revolving our day/week around when to move (in a structured class) and make more of an effort with daily, functional movement -
I needed to heal a very old shoulder injury. I needed to do some undoing and be IN my day. I did all of the above and mobilised my spine and hips almost every day on my foam roller. Basic movements covered. They kept me going AND I had huge amounts of time to sink my teeth into other life basics - overdue phone calls, precious people, looming chores, tech niggles, project support. The mover found some other kind of movement...as well as some guilt free stillness.
Healing requires commitment. Healing an injury is about healing the neural pathways between brain and body. Healing an old, deep-seated injury demands deep cognisance of spirit.
Bask in restoration. Meditate to nature's movement or lack thereof.
I chose consciously and said many "no thank you's" and the odd "f*** that" to rewire said pathways. It was grand.
Time OFF can be time IN.
I started Prime Movement as a teacher training programme because that is what I knew at the time, knowing it would evolve with and without me. And in so doing, it became a movement of its own. A seeker to seeker, footprints in the sand kinda gallop to finding one's own way of living, moving and being.
After 25 years of teaching and coaching, I arrived at a place that felt independent and primely mine -
spiritually & consciously ON,
physically healed & vital,
professionally proficient
and emotionally pretty free.
It wasn't nirvana. It was simply my reality with ingredients I had actively chosen.
I set out beyond my protective shell to share my teachings...only to find myself as the student ALL over again. The exhilaration of learning, tripping, committing and diversifying on the path of professional independence ...nothing quite like it. And the ever-present fear & doubts...rabid and raw.
Living, moving and being in constant search mode has me returning to and acknowledging my existing being. Because that's what you do - expaaaaaand so that you do not contract back to the exact same place. You simply return to centre which we Pilates peeps know is not one finite place, it is a zone where you can recalibrate newness with your essential bits.
And therefore it is a constant dance. A prime movement towards our innate and highly individual way of living, moving and being.
Written by Marie Coveley
I suppose you could say that I am working through my movement bucket list!
Next up - I am rather taken with the fact that people of the Cape like to run and further more you like to run in interesting places other than the mundane obvious choice you call a pavement.
Trail running! Not only does it look cool but it's an amazing form of exercise. Whether you are running or marching up a mountain face. You do it with such intent anyone would think there was a wine bar at the top!
The whole point and focus of coming to Cape Town was to avoid the obvious choices for exercise. How can you articulate your body in the most enjoyable ways possible, tapping into not just your physical body but your emotional, mental and spiritual bodies. How can we encompass this in one hit?
My answer for that is Lions Head. This is known to be a powerful energy portal. Table Mountain and I'm sure many others, have portals hovering above their beautiful solid masses. This is why we look at them in such awe and feel their presence even at a distance. So now you wanna run up it? Hell YEAH, now we're talkin'!
So I pull on my Nike Air Max, grab my water, grab my kids and we hit that climb...
So it was a little more challenging than I had surmised. I kept my head down, my heart focussed and got stuck in. When I felt I was at the stage my lungs were about to burst I took a pause and took in the view. Hmmm no view as I was still near the road! Not very epic for a first effort! Ok so a little work needed on my fitness if I am to support this mode of movement. But hey, whatever, it's a process and processes are there to be enjoyed and challenged, never forget that.
There is a certain fire, a little furnace of grit and determination that flows through you when running at pace up the uneven rocks and steps. There is a presence that comes with the sheer concentration of which foot are you going to place where. The precision and articulation of this way of moving is a real buzz. I can't explain it any other way. And when you're in that mode of stamina & strength, you don't fatigue like you would if you were stuck on a treadmill doing a great impression of a hamster that's lost its will to live!
You pause for a second, feeling your lungs inflate as you breath in the sweet, cleansing, energizing air. Raising your gaze only for a moment to be blown away by the expansive view of the Motherland. Right then, in that moment of presence and maximized awareness you experience the fullness of your spiritual, mental and emotional bodies. All chakras open and spinning like Catherine wheels! That essentially is the essence of taking your physical workout to a spiritual practice. As much as I adore yoga and Pilates, it's not just the mat that can give you these types of experiences. It's the location that can most certainly set the scene, the mindset to commit to the experience and the heart centre that takes that experience to a place you've never been before.
Eventually my trail run turns into a proper mountain climb. My heart still thumps hard in my chest as I cling to each rock like my life depends on it. That bucket list I spoke of may just turn into a reality right now! Feeling a little beaten as my kids literally scuttle up the rock face like distant relatives of Spider-Man. No problem. I got this!!
I raise my focus to the final leg of this phenomenal mountain climb. As the final climb morphed into a new level of steepness I began to get a little fearful. My ego mind told me to turn around. "Don't climb to the top, no need, you've done most of it, something bad might happen." I stopped and contemplated a quick way out and down! Suddenly, from the peak of the mountain, through my fog of failure jumped a family! Mother, Father and a six month old baby snugly tucked in the back back. And to add insult to injury, they were swiftly followed by their family dog, a little Jack Russell. Oh hell no! I am getting to the top. Right then in that moment I dug deep and ascended to the peak. I clambered to the top, hot, sweaty and in need of oxygen only to be met by my kids who had given up waiting for me and had started working on their tans!! What a rush. What a view!
The mountain for me was so symbolic. Set your scene as well as your focus, love what you are doing and do what you are loving, push through that fog and if you can be that baby in the back pack, go for it. Nothing wrong with being carried now and again!
Peace x
Written by Marie Covely
As I hung upside down, suspended from the ceiling, doing a fabulous impression of a piece of biltong, I pondered the thought “ahhhh so exercise can be fun!”
Welcome to Aerial Yoga! If you fancy yourself as a member of Cirque Du Soleil, or floating through the air like Tinkerbell, well this is for you.
Since being on my tour of Cape Town, learning about how you people ‘move,’ I fell across this mode of exercise that is something like you’ve never done before. Working with only a piece of fabric, you intertwine your body, allowing length and stretch in such a powerful way. You can achieve positions that would be a struggle working on the mat.
As you stare down at the floor, your thoughts aren’t “Oh my word, I feel like my muscles are going to explode.” The thoughts are much to the tune of “Oh my word, please don’t let me fall on my head.” So it’s a survival thing! However, this works, as you are forced to be none other than ‘present.’
When you take your body to that place of extreme, whatever your ‘extreme’ maybe, you feel stuff. I really mean you FEEL stuff. You will have an emotional release of some kind. Opening yourself up spiritually to the practice you have engaged in. “Ugghh,” I hear you all say as you roll your eyes, "you mean yoga, and all that being a vegetarian stuff, sitting under a tree and humming incessantly.” And I will respond by saying, no, not even close because weight training can access this state of awareness, so could hills sprints, even a step class! The mode is not really the issue, it’s your ‘extreme’ that you take it to and that’s a very personal thing. And working at that place will make you grow as an individual, never mind as a sportsperson. All of this gained through exercise?! Fabulous isn’t it!?
Now let’s not get it twisted. Extreme as in hospitalized, I would say that’s not it. Extreme, meaning, taking your body to that place while holding it in a place of love. Yes, now that could work for you. Oh no! She used the L word. The L word that many have abused and not may have used!
Taking your body to the extreme compassionately is what it’s all about. Try and refrain from throwing yourself around the place with a snapped hamstring, popped hip, holding the mentality that as long as you beat the person next to you is not doing the compassionate thing.
When taking the muscle to an ‘extreme’ stretch, firstly you observe the tightness in muscle. If you should find yourself gnawing at the corner of your mat beneath you, then yeah, I’d say that’s pretty tight and you’re most definitely working at your ‘extreme!’ If the muscle holds too much tension, that stretch can make you feel nauseous. This is a sure sign that you have negative emotions held in that place. For a muscle to hold emotion in the first place, it has to be tight. Therefore releasing the tension, will then in turn release some emotion thus bring the physical body back into a state of balance. Your body will tell you what it doesn’t need if you’re ‘present’ enough to listen.
When I first landed here I was cemented into my fitness routine like a concrete slab. I did my cardio and pilates on certain days, always in the same environment. I felt so stuck and stagnant that I was not really gaining any fulfillment. Part of my reason to move to Cape Town was to gain enlightenment through movement. I so deeply yearned for a journey of discovery on how you move the body and why, hence my sporadic burst into Aerial Yoga!
What I had to do is release the old routines, clear the space so that the new ones can come in. Throw out the old ‘you’ to make space for the new you.
So if you’re a runner, every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, pounding the same old pavement, engaging in the same old routine, throw it out. Run, but run up a mountain or a trail. Give the body a new dynamic with which to work. The movement forward will only happen when you push yourself out of your comfort zone. Try new things! No fear!
My usual routine other than pilates, is a visit to the gym to buzz on a Powerplate for an hour, but no, I’m making efforts to welcome and embrace the new me. I, people, am going for a jog along the beach. The only thing I run for is last orders at the bar or for the sales!! None of which are happening right now so this is HUGE for me! But hey I’m doing it.
Think less about the workout it will give you and more about that journey of self discovery. You’re in what I can see, as the capital of mindful movement. There is so much here at your fingertips I could just burst with excitement! Love what you do, do what you love! Move that perfect vessel you call your body – every day!!
So let's join in ‘the movement.’ Venture into the unknown, embrace the new and run that mountain. Heard the views are fab!!
Written by Marie Coveley
I’m on a mission for movement.
Leaving my studio in Zimbabwe, I head for the mountain, the Motherland……..in my eyes, a Mother City of Motion - Cape Town.
For someone like myself who has been in the health and wellness industry for some years, moving to Cape Town to see how the other side lives wasn’t just exciting, it was explosive in the possibility of really experiencing more about the essence of movement. What better place to start than the Cape.
Basically you guys just like to move. Let’s take it to the streets and start there. On arrival in Cape Town the first thing that struck me is the masses upon masses of people who run. Even the older generation who quite frankly might be in need of a hip replacement or worse are striding down the road doing a good impression of Usain Bolt! Capetonians encompass the epitome of wellness.
Exercise has no distinction here in Cape Town. I see so many different walks of life out on the streets in all weather. You don’t have to be a Comrades runner or an athlete of any kind to be part of this ‘crew’. You’ve just got to enjoy moving, it’s that simple. It’s a vibe, a certain vibration that I feel people tap into here. And how do they do that? They employ their workout from the heart, not their heads. They do what ‘feels’ good, not what society conditions them to do or feel.
It’s all about listening to your body as if it were another person. Your body knows better than anything or anyone as to what feeds its soul. If you get out of the way of yourself for long enough, you can hear that inner voice tell you exactly what you need. However, if you’re too busy talking over the top, you’re most likely going to end up in a body building, level ten, cross fit class, when all you really need is yoga!
It’s all about mindful movement at the end of the day. If you are present enough to have the awareness of where your body is in space, even if it’s picking up a box correctly to a session of pilates, your movement will take on a completely different meaning. The body will work more efficiently, basically what you can achieve in five days can be done in three days. Now who doesn’t want a bit of that in their life?
I remember my first experiences of ‘getting fit.’ One baby under my belt and you would have thought I had eaten five small children, never mind had one! There was a lot of weight I had to lose. The feeling of impending doom as my body screamed out to be released…….from the extremely tight leggings that hugged my body so tightly that even my blood cells couldn’t breath. Refraining from projectile vomiting over the rather ripped, good looking instructor, I sucked it in and kept on going. As the searing pain shot through my muscles, my lungs about to explode, the instructor shouts out “No pain! No gain!” ………..What??!!! No! Stop!........ No pain, no gain????? OMG! That’s so 1980’s. That is a false belief that is deeply instilled in the core of fitness. However this has begun to dissolve like a salt block in water. Cape Town has most certainly proven this to be true.
So far I have experienced many stunning classes and teachers here in your beautiful Cape Town. Oozing creativity and flow of which quite frankly blows my doors off!! I’m excited to be here, I am excited to move my body here, to be submerged in a different approach of how to bring that ‘light’ into your physical body.
As I said in opening, I am on a mission for movement. A mission of self discovery through movement. There is so much more to exercise than mindlessly throwing yourself around for an hour, praying to the heavens above to please take me now!
It’s about feeling it from within and venturing out from there. You have to feel it, not endure it. You have to go within to go beyond – deep huh? That’s my quote for the week, let it be yours too.
So, off I go, ‘moving’ through Cape Town and discovering for myself what many of you do so effortlessly ……….mindful movement.
Cape Town you rock!!!!
A heart-warming morning connecting with Prime Movers. Skype calls and further emails with local and long-distance Prime Movement Pros in Practice today remind me exactly why I took Pilates Education online - to a) make becoming a Pilates Teacher accessible to a motivated adult learner and then ironically, to connect with learners. In a way that matters.
Their online tools empower them to be self-sufficient and in the know. It is all there. The Theory. The Exercise Technique. The Biomechanics. We are all there. On their screens. 24/7. They also have access to their personal Coaches and the physical participation required to get the Method into their bodies. So when they reach out to connect with me via Skype or private/group coaching I KNOW they really do need me - we are going to discuss something of incredible value that will facilitate further, authentic, beyond the theory, GROWTH.
One Prime Mover was forced to take quite a chunk of time off from her physical training and she was keeping me posted, enjoying the online stream, as well as asking me how to evolve within and beyond her current limitations. In discussing how to keep the fire burning we turned to creating teaching strengths from our obstacles, turning the norm upside down, specifically about becoming too reliant on ourselves physically. Because the moment we place too much emphasis on OUR PERSONAL physicality, we are trapped as a teacher. If we are injured, ill or unable to give our usual 200%, we are broken and feel our livelihood/progress is compromised. BUT here is the upside down part: when you are compromised physically, within reason, no one can take your knowledge, your ability to see and share, away from you. You are still YOU. Allow yourself to be less than "perfect". Your 80% effort is enough. (My knee and I have this t-shirt too!) Your case studies/clients will learn a great deal from you and surprisingly, they will feel reassured by the authenticity of your being. Previous learners have told me that if I was picture perfect 24/7, they would have found the process far too overwhelming. Phew! ME TOO!
Then we have another Prime Mover in wedding mode and another in a work transition where the PAUSE button obviously needs to be pressed...again the beauty of autonomy as a student...within the support of still belonging and the certainty that pressing PAUSE is absolutely doable. This is YOUR journey, you dictate the pace. Again, the work is there. For you to pick it up as and when you need it. You can start from scratch, night or day - a full, live course at your fingertips.
Another few emails came through (did y'all know I was feeling the love?)...about personal coaching feedback boxes ticked and readiness for their own video submissions - I am amped to see where they are at! As well as to know we are training tech savvy professionals who will be fragmenting their abilities, offering their clients a multi-faceted community-based experience, just as they have received.
From deep in my heart, I humbly bow to our Prime Movement free thinkers...for doing their time online and on the ground, freeing them up to be more than a student, more than a parrot, using the Prime Movement platform to discover their own voices, their own Pilates hearts.
Kudos,
Louise x
Written by Dominique Beaumont of Cobham Pilates
While half way through the hottest hot yoga class I’ve been to in a while, mid the warrior series, with beads of sweat dripping into my eyes, my left hamstring (which I tore a year ago and still healing) aching, my breath deepening and my feet burning from working so hard to hold me up, my yoga teacher drifts past me and cues to the room to “sit with the fact that it's challenging”. And as dramatic as it sounds in that moment I could feel myself melt into the pose and all the uncomfortable sensations that were buzzing around my body began to subside.
A week later while presenting my fascial release workshop to 12 teachers, who were mid a glut release rolling their pelvis left and right along a hard ball, I heard myself cue the room to ‘welcome the ball in’, ‘ease into the discomfort’ and ‘soften over the ball, rather than resist it’.
It was at these very moments that it occurred to me that if I could just sit with the fact that it is challenging in all other areas of my life, perhaps I could find the same sense of ease and melting into it, rather than resisting it. Perhaps the challenges in life wouldn't seem so big, if I could sit with the fact that they were just so.
Little did I realise that over the coming weeks and months this notion would become more and more apparent. Without being melodramatic about the excitement that awaits me, I am in the throws of a life roller coaster. A ride which in the next 3 months is seeing me move house, pack up my life, leave my job, get married, go on honeymoon, and immigrate to the other side of the world, landing in Cape Town exactly one month after saying ‘I do!’ All of which is enormously exciting, but at the same time daunting. And so it is here that I am trying to apply my lessons of movement to that of my life.
I am sitting with the fact that parts of it are challenging. The thought of leaving my friends and family is hard, as is leaving an amazing workplace, deciding what of my worldly possessions is worth shipping and what is better off in the window of a charity shop, and the mountains of paperwork that threaten to drown me each day. Yes all of this is challenging, but I'm sitting with it, and also welcoming it.
Because with challenges also come rewards, ones of moving back to my homeland, catching up with long lost friends and family, starting a new life together with the person I love most in the world, and also the possibilities of continuing my passion of teaching Pilates in a different place, with different faces and finding inspiration in doing so.
So the next time you are experiencing discomfort of any kind, try sitting with the fact that it is so and see the power that you have to accept, welcome and melt into it. It’s sure a lot easier than resisting it.
Written by Louise Knoop O'Neill.
Pilates is without a doubt the most effective and FUNctional way to restore a foundation for all kinds of movement.
As a child of dance, a lover of movement, a try-to-be Yogi, a Primal sprinter, a HIIT initiator and strength training princess, I can confidently say that a), I could do none of the above without Pilates and/or b), Pilates makes me able to attempt all of the above with confidence and safety.
As a movement educator trained in dance, pilates, personal training, primal strength, sprints and play, there is no better way to offer bodies the freedom of movement they crave than to make Pilates the #1 stop.
Here's why:
My point, caller, is:
So that you can: