22bd Blog, Media: Pilates, Gyrotonic News from Studio M of Northern California

Blog, Media: Pilates, Gyrotonic News from Studio M of Northern California

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Author - Jane Siegel
Category - General
Posted - 02/20/2013
0 Comments | Add Comment Loop Sessions

Loop Sessions 4-2-2

4 people to 2 teachers, moving in and out, focusing on your personal needs


 

Lily_Backstroke_3.jpgA new offering at Studio M. "The Loop Sessions" are supervised sessions by two staff teachers, who assist you in your personalized Pilates program. Each appointment begins every 15 minutes. You begin your loop session overlapping with another client. The maximum number of clients in one-hour time is 4. There will be someone entering while another is leaving, creating a loop of people concentrating on their body's needs. This is not circuit training, but an opportunity to add an extra day of Pilates into your week. Madeline will be present at many of these sessions along with Janie Miklaunus, Jeanette Newman, Lily Vickers.

 

Background on the Loop Sessions Madeline spent time with Alan Herdman, a distinguished Pilates teacher, who brought Pilates to Europe in 1970. Alan's system of training is a combination of personalized training and being responsible for your own work.* My experience of seeing how the clients were challenged by Alan and his staff and then working diligently on their own during the one hour session inspired me to try this format at Studio M. If it works well, we will add additional days.

 

*read Madeline's , My Week with Alan Herdman" on her blog www.madelineblack.com 
Author - Jane Siegel
Category - General
Posted - 11/01/2012
0 Comments | Add Comment Improve Your Balance and Prevent Falling Tips
 

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. You can take steps toward eliminating the risks of falling.  Maintaining your Studio M physical practice will keep you strong and grounded.

Personal Safety Checklist
1.    Good posture centers your body for better balance, be aware of how you stand, sit and lie down
2.    Muscle strength and function particularly in the lower body, increase reflexes and flexibility
3.    Healthy feet allow you feel the surface you are walking on and is your base of support
4.    Eyesight less than 20/60, cataracts, decrease in depth perception and eye disorders, have annual eye exams
5.    Wear sturdy shoes, high heels, slip-on shoes, loose slippers, smooth and slippery soles may promote falls
6.    Health problems such as blood pressure fluctuations, heart problems, inner ear disorders and nerve damage contribute to falls, see your doctor and be aware
7.    Medications cause dizziness or drowsiness
8.    Alcohol use impairs judgment and slows reaction time

Home Hazards Checklist
1.    Bedroom: keep a phone and lamp close to your bed; a firm mattress and a low bed height so that you can place your feet flat on the floor when you’re sitting in the edge helps balance as you rise from the bed
2.    Bathrooms: Install night lights; grab bars, nonslip mats, textured tiles so it is not slipper when wet; a low threshold shower
3.    Kitchen: store often-used items where you can easily reach them; a sturdy step stool to reach items in high cabinets
4.    Entrances and Hallways: light all outside doors; walkways free of cracks, holes and clutter; repair any rotted or crumbling steps; non-skid backing on mats inside the door; Hallways well lit
5.    Stairways: Place a light switch at the top and bottom of the stairway; install a handrail that runs the full length of the stairs; keep stairs in good repair and clear of clutter; tack carpeting on the stairs tightly
6.    Keep floors clutter free, wires tucked away, turn on lights when walking into rooms; lighting needs to be even with no shadows or glares; all carpeting needs to lie flat and have non skid backing;
7.    Door thresholds create tripping hazards, replace them with lower thresholds
8.    Program emergency numbers into phones



Author - Jane Siegel
Category - General
Posted - 08/23/2012
0 Comments | Add Comment Support Your Sleeping
In the morning, are you feeling stiff with shoulder, hip or lower back pain? When you sleep, your spine surrenders to gravity, even with a supportive mattress. You may have areas of your spine that are stiff with segments of the spine that become hyper-mobile, this creates an imbalance. The stiff parts do not relax and the hyper-mobile areas collapse. Sleeping in this imbalanced position can create more discomfort and pain. Sleeping with the least amount of stress of the spine and shoulder/hip joints can ease morning stiffness and pain. Try propping yourself with pillows and a towel roll for a better night sleep.
Madeline demonstrates how to best prop yourself for a supportive sleep.

  



Author - Jane Siegel
Category - General
Posted - 07/24/2012
0 Comments | Add Comment Healthy Standing
 At Studio M, we are teaching clients to be aware of how they stand to avoid hip, lower back and even neck pain. Balance is also important. Healthy standing gives you better balance. Madeline Black explains a few details about standing so that you can practice optimal posture through out the day.

  


Author - Jane Siegel
Category - General
Posted - 06/26/2012
0 Comments | Add Comment Erin O'Reilly
MErin_Oost of the clients at Studio M will remember seeing Erin O’Reilly behind the reception desk, or training clients when she was 15 years old.  Erin came to us as a client when she was a 12-year-old ballet dancer from the Sonoma Ballet Conservatory.  Also, going through independent home schooling, she received a scholarship and was enrolled in the Intergrated Teacher Training Program for Pilates, here at Studio M.  
We have watched Erin grow into an adult, living in New York City, dancing for the Gelsey Kirkland Academy of Classical Ballet and teaching Pilates on the side.
Erin has an opportunity to live, study and dance for the Ballet Junior de Genève in Switzerland this August.
In doing so, she needs our help to study abroad for the next 2 years.  We at Studio M are happy to make a donation to support her. If you would like to help Erin with this wonderful adventure, please go to her website www.erinoreilly.org to read more about Erin, and for information regarding making a donation.

Thank you from all of us at Studio M.


Author - Madeline Black
Category - General
Posted - 05/11/2012
0 Comments | Add Comment Second in the series: Your Personal Practice, SHOULDER BLADE CIRCLES
  


Author - Jane Siegel
Category - General
Posted - 04/16/2012
0 Comments | Add Comment Madeline Black's interview with Pilates Style Magazine
If you have ever wanted to know the background about Madeline Black...well, here is you chance.
Pilates Style Magazine interviewed Madeline for their January/February double issue.  There are great photos of her and her son, Cooper. Read how Madeline fell in love with the Pilates method and how she shares it with clients and other teachers.
 
"Passion For Pilates"  Madeline Black may be the only former dancer who didn't start taking Pilates because she was injured. After falling in love with the method, she's now sharing her knowledge and passion with teachers and students around the world.  click here to read the article......


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Author - Jane Siegel
Category - General
Posted - 04/16/2012
0 Comments | Add Comment New Item Title

Author - Jane Siegel
Category - General
Posted - 02/23/2012
0 Comments | Add Comment 1st in a Series: Your Personal Practice "Rollup"
 
  
 
 In Pilates, Rollup is a difficult mat exercise if your spine, especially the lower spine is too straight, stiff or excessive in its concavity. When a person tries to do the full rollup with a stiff spine, the movement is not smooth nor is the deep core muscles recruited. In fact, flexing the spine in this way causes compression of the spine with a potential of displacing a disc or straining back ligaments. We want to be aware of the spine moving sequentially without a compression (a downward pressing rather than an elongation). Using props, as these towels, brings the mat up to your spine enabling the movement that exists at that moment to happen. And it gives you feedback on your spine, feeling when the spine meets the towel.
The awareness of what area is moving first, then putting your attention in the next area, and so on, is helpful in connecting your mind with your body. This connection changes the connection of the brain to body allowing for the movement to happen easily!
2258
Author - Madeline Black
Category - General
Posted - 12/21/2011
0 Comments | Add Comment Welcome to the New Studio M Website!
We are excited to launch our new website that is alive and more interactive. We are working with local businesses in Sonoma to bring us into the present moment of internet connections. We are thankful to have talented and savvy people, like Wildfire Web, who has been ever patient with our learning curve, working with us. Blaine of Wildfire Web in Sonoma and his partners have developed a template for websites so that we can change, play and interact instantly with the site keeping it up to date and interesting. Jane and I will start the New Year, thinking of ways to incorporate the ever changing life of Studio M and offer new images, video footage through Youtube and who knows what else we will post! Studio M and Madeline Black are active on Facebook and Twitter. Word Mice, a Sonoma Valley company is helping us "get through the maze of social networking". Cafe Mac's owner Jim Witous referred us to Word Mice saying they are the best in Northern California. I agree with him. Wow, have I learned a lot and how this medium of networking, marketing, customer service and having a voice in the maze of communication is so not linear. Studio M is engaging more than ever. You can join us by liking Studio M on Facebook, join twitter and follow us and periodically look at the website to view our latest post. 

My intention for this blog is for disseminating information on Pilates, and Gyrotonic, that we feel is important to your health, share experiences, images and our creative inspiration. Please interact with our site,  or any social media you favor and check the blog periodically.

Happy New Year!
Madeline
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