Author: RuthJoM

New courses for the curious

From mid-March I will be offering two new courses for everyone who has never done Pilates but always wanted to try it: BEGINNER courses on Tuesday morning and Thursday evening.

These courses are all about the basics of the Pilates method, with a focus on the following three Pilates principles: breathing, centering and concentration.

We will work on a selection of beginner or BASIC exercises. We will learn the name, the purpose and the sequence of the individual exercises, whereby the precision of the execution is of central importance.

At the end of the course, the basics of your Pilates training are laid and you know enough BASIC exercises to be able to continue training in my BASIC courses without any problems.

Above all, however, I would like you to experience the Joy of Movement in these BEGINNER courses and that you do not want to miss it anymore.

You can find more information about Pilates, myself, the courses, dates and prices on this website or please message me.

I am looking forward to hearing from you!

New packages

The first two months of this year passed by in a flash and we had ice and snow in Hamburg, followed by spring-like temperatures, budding trees and birds’ twittering.

The days are noticeably longer again and the mood rises with every ray of sunshine. Only when it comes to Corona – the long-running hit of last year – nothing much has happened so far.

Therefore I will still only be offering online Pilates courses for the next few weeks.

If you haven’t already booked, take a look here! Or message me for more info or if you have any questions.

I am looking forward to hearing from you, to reading your messages, or to welcoming you on the mat.

Stay healthy and keep moving

New online courses

New Year – new luck

In my case, this means that I am starting 2021 differently than I ended 2020 – as you might have read already in my December post.

And so I currently teach four online courses a week: three BASIC and one INTERMEDIATE course.

The names indicate whether and what conditions are recommended.

BASIC introduces the Pilates method and the (beginner) exercises. It is suitable for beginners with and without previous knowledge and for Pilates experts who know Pilates but want to return to it after a long break (pregnancy, illness, travel, work …).

INTERMEDIATE builds on BASIC or requires a basic knowledge of the Pilates beginner exercises, adds further exercises to your exercise repertoire and trains the flow, i.e. the transitions between the individual exercises.

All courses are ongoing and you can join at any time.

I also offer individual training online. In these sessions, your training program is individualised and is therefore particularly suitable for movement restrictions, after injuries, postnatally, for beginners, as an introduction to the method, but also for deepening the exercises for Pilates “experts”

You will find my timetable in the menu under “Calendar”.

If you have any questions about dates, courses or prices, contact me – I look forward to hearing from you!

Farewell 2020

Now finally – one might say – 2020 is coming to an end. After all, it was a year that demanded a lot from all of us:

Avoiding social contacts – wearing masks – stop traveling – R numbers … incidence numbers … daily corona statistics – very moving pictures and reports from Italy, but also England, USA, Brazil and many other places in the world

It seemed like everything was turned upside down and our whole known life was called into question. The whole world had stopped, remained in silence and took a breath. And maybe this is the good side of this Annus Horribilis:

the perception of the silence, the reduction, the recognition of how much we can stop doing without experiencing losses or causing problems and also starting to enjoy the things that we have always taken for granted, yes we have (re) learned humility.

But Corona was also a catalyst:

Digitisation has accelerated – not only in school, but also professionally. Home office became (finally, many might say) a real opportunity to change the working world and at the same time slowed down traffic – who doesn’t remember the empty streets, especially in the first lockdown

And this little virus has also left its mark on the Pilates world. The studios had to close for months. But as in all other areas of life, alternatives were found. And many of you have used it too.

And what was initially only a makeshift tool has turned out to be a wonderful addition to face-to-face training this year. The Pilates world came together through digitisation. As a teacher, I can now take part in workshops all over the world, take private lessons with my favorite teacher in Dubai and teach you.

And there is more even to online, as I already described in my last blog post.

2020 changed a lot in our lives, also for me. At the end of this year I made a decision that for some of you came out of the blue, but that I have considered for a long time and now implemented:

In 2021 I will start teaching exclusively online Pilates for Joy of Movement – for now! Because as John Lennon wrote:

Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans

New Year’s Eve 2020/21 is my leap into the deep end and I don’t really know what to expect. I already have plans and they are already taking shape in my head. But it will probably only become clear in the course of the year which ones can be implemented and which ones cannot. I am excited and curious what 2021 will bring and I am looking forward to all the new challenges.

And I’m especially happy and grateful for all the support from you – THANK YOU!

I wish you all a healthy, happy and prosperous new year

2021

Lockdown light

2020 remains as it was:

• Covid-19
• Contact restrictions
• A-H-A +L +C rules:
  • keep your dist-A-nce – wash your H-ands – wear your face m-A-sk
  • + venti-L-ation
  • + C-orona Warn App

and unfortunately a lockdown again …

This time it’s the “light” version.

But this doesn’t make any difference to the Pilates studios and teachers and the face-to-face or offfline lessons.

As in March, in November we will only be able to do Pilates ONLINE.

In the event calendar you can see when and which Pilates Online classes I will be teaching.

For more info and for booking a class, please write me an Email or WhatsApp.

Stay healthy and safe and keep moving

Back to the Studio

From 12th October I will be back teaching in the studio.

Of course the prerequisites and conditions will be very different compared to the beginning of the year:

• The well-known hygiene rules Distance – Hand washing – Breathing mask apply
• The studio can only be entered without shoes (must be removed outside) and in training clothes (the changing room remains closed)
• You must please wash/desinfect your hands must after entering
• Please bring your own towel to place on the mat and the equipment you use
• Between the classes the whole studio is ventilated and the mats and devices are disinfected
• As a teacher I will be wearing my mask while teaching – you can take off the mask during training
• the maximum number of participants is limited to three

But of course I will continue teaching online.

You can find the whole timetable in my calendar.

I look forward to your registrations, questions and suggestions.

I am looking forward to seeing you soon in the studio.

It’s the mind itself which shapes the body

I have been teaching online Pilates since March 2020. And I am pleased that I was able to move many people despite the social distancing.

For some time now studios are open again and the Corona crisis is over.

But many Pilates students want to continue to train online – for very different reasons.

For me as a participant (yes, Pilates teachers also go to Pilates teachers) it is a great advantage that I can now train with teachers in London, Los Angeles, Dubai, etc. without having traveling to all these far places.

Training and teaching Pilates online is of course very much different to Pilates offline. And in the last few months I have had a lot of experience both with teaching online and with training online.

What is missing online is the possibility of tactile corrections – the so-called “hands on”. Thus, audio-visual communication is given more weight in the virtual classroom. For me as a teacher, this means being very precise with the language and also finding images that can convey the exercises.

For me as a trainee, it means listening with concentration and abstracting what I have heard in such a way that I can bring it from my mind into my body. This means that I perceive my body carefully and my proprioception is trained more intensely.

But this is Pilates too. Especially in classical training, when each trainee trains his “own” program, these properties are important prerequisites and training goals.

Joseph Pilates wrote, “It’s the mind itself which shapes the body.”

JoM goes online

Virus … contact lock … social distancing … Covid19 … quarantine … corona

The world seems to stand still. It is a hard put on the brakes, an emergency stop. Life has totally changed – it really feels upside down.

But this planet keeps turning. We are not stopped, but slowed down. Yes, life has changed completely and everything has been turned upside down – but this change of perspective is also an opportunity.

The chance to rethink, see and decide, what was good and what maybe wasn’t …

The voices, that everything has to go back to normal as quick as possible, are getting louder again … but is that correct? Do we really want to go back there? Do we really think that everything should be the same again as before?

Maybe there is an opportunity in this crisis? Maybe we have the opportunity to rethink and change some things? At the same time, we experience and discover what was and is really important and what we want to maintain, cultivate, and cherish in a future of whatever shape.

Maybe this crisis also gives us the opportunity to restart …

In any case, there is now a chance to go ONLINE and explore the possibilities of the virtual world. It is up to us how much of it we want to take with us and retain after the crisis.

So stay curious and give it a try!

For example here.

And another example: Pilates is also available online !!! Not as a video, but as an interactive life class! Check here on my calendar which times and days suit you and direct message me.

At the End of the Year 2019

From January 2020 onwards there will be new Pilates courses – naturally in addition to the “old” ones.

All relevant information about day, time, place and content you may find in the calendar.

Registrations for the courses in the Pilates Studio Elisabeth Urban in Volksdorf and in the Hamburg Volkshochschule are already underway.

I wish you all a contemplative and happy Christmas season and all the best, love and beauty for the New Year.

I’m looking forward to seeing you in 2020 !

New classes in Altona

Since this month I am teaching every Thursday at ElbPilates in Hamburg Altona.

Since the end of October, I am already offering a Prenatal-Pilates class. In addition I am also teaching a Pilates course for Level I-II since the beginning of November.

Prenatal Pilates in Altona

Thursday · since 24th October · 17:30 to 18:30

Pilates as a holistic training method allows a safe and soothing workout during pregnancy.

•     Deep breathing
•     mobilisation of the spine
•     better balance
•     more stability, mobility and flexibility
•     an improved posture
•     and stronger arm and leg muscles

are part and goal of my prenatal Pilates course. Stretching the whole body relieves tension, and the additional mobilisation of the shoulder girdle and spine helps to prevent and treat neck and back pain. Keeping the body agile during pregnancy while strengthening the arm and leg muscles will help you to carry the increased weight during pregnancy and the baby afterwards. Pilates training during pregnancy will prepare your body for the time after birth and will help it to regain its shape.

Pilates – Level I-II

Thursday · since 07.November · 18:45 – 19:45

One hour of holistic Pilates training on the mat and with equipment. It strengthens the body perception and balance, mobilises the spine, strengthens the inner and outer muscles. A additional focus is on the precision and control in the execution of each exercise.

The transitions between the exercises are also trained, so that the training can lead to a continuous, flowing movement, in the spirit of Joseph Pilates – the ideal training for mind, body and spirit.

The class is suitable for Level I-II, i.e. beginners and intermediate students are welcome. An entry is possible at any time and the trial lesson is free.

Bookings at ElbPilates