Happy Fall, or in proper terms, Autumn! Who’s happy that the smoke finally let up this past month!? I know I am. I feel completely robbed of the last warm days... not going to lie, that first day of crisp air, set me into a frump! I absolutely needed my trip to San Jose, right in the middle of October..days after the temperature changed. I was in a sun dress! I looked around a few times and had to laugh at the Bay Area people just dying for cool air, they were dressed in Fall attire.. I kept saying myself, they have got to be hot, while they kept asking me, are you warm enough?... lol. It’s always nice to “walk down memory lane” to see just how far we (as a family)/ I have come. I’m blessed to be where I am.

Just a heads up that the studio will be closed November 17th- 27th back on November 28. It sounds like a long time, but Thanksgiving is in the mix. As for Christmas time, as of right now the studio will be closed December 23-26 and December 30- January 2nd. I will need to move the Mat Class times a bit as my daughter needs to be picked up from practice at 10. Mat Class will start at 10:30am, look on the schedule for that change.

The topic of this newsletter’s Pilates talk is: How do I convince people that Pilates is for everyone, my friends and family? 

Well, the short answer is, you can’t. If Jesus went to his hometown to preach the gospel and no one listened-what makes you or I think we can convince people that Pilates is for them? I have encountered on more than one occasion where a husband will gets dragged into a Pilates session, and it just doesn’t turn out well or the friend says, I just know this would be great for my friend. The heart is in the right place, but we all know that we can’t make anyone interested in something. For example, myself- my son was in Tae Kwon do and every year they had a Mother’s Day and Father’s Day kick boxing class. I have ZERO desire to scream and punch while making my face look like a monster. HELLO! I’m a dancer, I was taught, you do not show pain, you do not vocalize discomfort, you smile and get through it. So, being in this class was soo out of my comfort zone, but I was going to do it since my son asked me to. 1) I couldn’t stop laughing, I looked and felt ridiculous 2) I was doing movement that was so aggressive that I couldn’t help but ask myself, what are these people so angry about? Picture it, me in a deep squat, hands in fits, punching the air, kicking the air, being all angry about nothing... well, I imagine that sometimes that person we dragged in also thinks: these Pilates people are huffing and puffing, and flapping their arms in the air...what is up with this equipment...get it? lol BUT kick boxing people LOVE it and us Pilates enthusiast LOVE Pilates. So, really what we can do is when people ask about Pilates, tell them why you love it or tell them in what ways it’s helped you and encourage them to give it a try, by going to a free demo, or invite them to drop in on a Mat Class. When people ask you what you do that makes you seem timeless and effortless in your extra circular activities, you tell them that you do Pilates... then maybe even tell them where you were before Pilates and where you are today. That’s the best we can do. In the meantime, we know that we aren’t waking up with back tightness, and if we are, we know how to get out of it, we aren’t hunched over that we need to wear a back strap that pulls our shoulders back and we can get down to the floor and back up with ease. As I have learned over time, setting an example is one of the best ways we can encourage others.

 Heidi Garcia