What Pilates Taught Me: Lessons in Movement, Meaning, and Mastery

What Pilates Taught Me: Lessons in Movement, Meaning, and Mastery

Part 2: From the Round Pen to the Roll-Up – Deeper Lessons from the Pilates Life

After over two decades of teaching Pilates — and more than a decade of living and teaching on a working farm — I’ve discovered that the real lessons in movement go far beyond the mat.

In this two-part series, I’m sharing the insights I’ve written for wellness editors and platforms like Featured.com — now gathered in one place. These are the schoolhouse lessons, the ones I’ve learned from the body, the breath, the barn... and the clients who trusted me to help them rebuild.

These reflections aren’t just about fitness. They’re about alignment, awareness, and becoming whole again.

1. Unconventional Health Ritual

I’ve owned a Pilates studio for 23 years — and for 13 of those, I’ve also lived on a farm. My health rituals aren’t flashy, but they’ve kept me grounded: walking, the Roll-Up, horses... and honestly, too many pets.

Every morning I walk — past the barn, through the garden, breathing in rhythm. Then I do the Roll-Up — spine, breath, core. It’s one movement that releases dopamine, resets posture, and reminds me to start from center.

And the animals? Horses, dogs, chickens, cats — they keep me emotionally regulated. Petting a dog releases oxytocin, and I’ve been swimming in it for years.

This lifestyle — movement, animals, nature — has helped me stay healthy, intuitive, and regulated in a high-touch profession. It’s not a trend. It’s a rhythm.

2. Mind-Body Practice That Changed My Leadership

Conscious Contact — that’s the practice that changed everything for me.

It’s not just a method I teach in my retreats. It’s a daily mind-body ritual that blends Pilates, breath, and horse-guided communication. When I step into a round pen with a horse, everything tight and performative melts away. Horses don’t follow words — they follow energy. If I’m dysregulated, they won’t connect. If I’m grounded, they come close.

That feedback loop taught me how to lead with presence instead of pressure. In stressful moments — whether I’m teaching, negotiating, or managing a team — I return to my breath, my body, and the stillness I’ve practiced with the herd.

Leadership isn’t about control. It’s about coherence. And Conscious Contact gave me that compass.

3. Complementary Practices for a Balanced Routine

I often say: Pilates is the method, but movement is the prescription.

Outside the studio, I encourage my clients to walk, garden, and swim — activities that ground them, reconnect them to breath, and keep their bodies in motion without strain. I also assign 'homework': daily Roll-Ups, Bridges, and core activations. These simple tools keep the nervous system engaged and the powerhouse activated between sessions.

The goal is integration — not separation. When Pilates becomes the anchor and everyday life becomes the practice, that’s where real transformation happens. We’re not just building strong bodies in the studio — we’re building sustainable movement habits for life.

4. From Fitness to Pilates: The Shift That Changed Everything

Traditional fitness had me looking at the body superficially — isolate the big muscle groups, target them, build strength. But Pilates flipped that completely.

It taught me to see the body structurally, from the inside out. The biggest 'aha' is understanding the powerhouse — the center of gravity, where all true movement begins. That includes the transverse abdominis, diaphragm, pelvic floor, and inner thighs — not just abs, but deep stabilizers that organize the entire system.

Once you learn to teach from that place, you stop chasing muscles and start creating integration. Pilates builds more than strength. It develops the 4 S’s — strength, stretch, stamina, and stability. It’s not one-dimensional. It’s a living system.