On a Personal Note
 

When asked how I got into Pilates, all I can say is that, as human beings, we never know what is going to snap our turnip.  In the early 90s, I was creeping up on 40 when a magazine pictorial of Madonna hanging from a Pilates Trapeze Table triggered a dream in which I was a very happy monkey swinging excitedly from randomly mounted ceiling pipes. 

 

Born in the Chinese Year of the Monkey, I knew the dream was connected to Pilates, however, feeling the monkey's bliss is what snapped my turnip; so, I interpreted the dream as telling me that "Pilates" could serve as the avenue to achieving that bliss.   Revisiting the dream helped me keep me motivated to pursue the years of rigorous coarsework, training and practical hours required to be granted legal status to operate as a Practioner of Pilates (until 2001, still trademark-protected)

 

Approaching 70, I have become far more aware the crucial roles Pilates and the monkey have played in helping me achieve a career that fills me with a sense of well-being, and connection to others; accepting of now being a bonafide "Pilates Geek" who deeply identifies with what snapped Joseph Pilates' turnip. 

 

While Joseph died in 1969, in life, he could be crusty, dogmatic, and opinionated when others attempted to reinterpret his method.  After all, he grew up in war-torn Germany during WWI before fleeing to the U.S. as Hitler gained a strong hold on the advent of WWII.  As a human being, however, Joseph was a colorful character who was adored by all and a heckuva lot of fun.  Inquisitive and  playfully childlike, Joseph was a prankster who employed his method with utter confidence, and unpredictable and  unapologetic crass and irreverence.  

 

Joseph Pilates was also deeply invested in tasking his longtime mentorees* with the responsibility of preserving the method's integrity; (*first-generation Pilates disciples) , and as a second-generation Pilates disciple, I take on the task of  joining first-gen disciples preserving the method's integrity very seriously.  Teaching true to Joseph's philosophies and improvisational flow mesh perfectly with my own personality, allowing me to immerse my students in the monkey-bliss producing the results and hope to meet and share Pilates with you soon!
 

- Trisha