Category: Pilates

“Mother tucker”

by lebureauetc, posted in Pilates, sacrum, tucking, Uncategorized, vagus nerve

A ‘mother tucker’ is someone who is stuck in a ‘tucked’ position.

-Brooke Oberg

Yes!  I was a “mother tucker” for many years and still do catch myself tucking when it is not appropriate!  If you have read any of my previous posts you already know this and probably have a good idea why too.:)

Not to say that ALL tucking is bad.  In fact, some exercises you need to tuck to support the round back position.  However, its important that when you do ‘tuck’ you are aware of how it is affecting your sacrum. 

Our sacrum is a vulnerable area in our body and it’s worth our efforts to pay attention to how we integrate this area  in our movements  so that we can find more optimal alignment patterns and feel more freedom and move with more ease in our whole body.  Remember its not all about what we do, instead its important HOW we do it and how we are incorporating our ‘whole body’ in our actions!

I hope the following will bring more awareness to your sacrum.  I hope this awareness will convey how sacred our sacrum is and helps us consider how we manipulate this area in our body.

The sacrum in human anatomy is a large triangular  bone at the base of the spine.  It is situated at the upper back part of the pelvis, and connects our 2 pelvic halves(hips).  The upper part of our sacrum connects to our lumbar spine and the base of our sacrum connects to the tailbone/(coccyx).  Thus the sacrum connects the upper and lower body(heaven and earth); all our bodies weight pass through this location.  Lastly, it is a concave shape as it is curved upon itself and the base of the sacrum, the broadest and uppermost part, is tilted forward.  Meaning for optimal standing and seated posture, the low back/sacrum should be in extension – ‘in and up’ as opposed to being stuck in a tucked position.  

Some other interesting things about the sacrum…

-The Romans said this part of the body was “sacred” or “holy” as it was used in sacrificial rites in protecting the genitalia (which in ancient times were considered sacred).  In yogic spiritual anatomy, the sacrum is the home of Kundalini, a feminine – serphant like energy that sits coiled at the base of the spine.

-The sacrum is known to be the keystone of our pelvic bowl!  It is in the sacrum, where life is created, just think about that!!  Also, many of our vital spinal nerves start  in the sacrum and the sacrum is one end of our nervous system that connects all the way up to our brain via the Vagus Nerve.

-Too add to this complex area, the sacrum is the location of 1 of our 7 energy centers of our body (svadhisthana chakra).   This location of our sacrum governs our sensuality, sexual intimacy, our ability to give and receive pleasure, and simply be creative  and in the ‘flow’ of our own life.  When this area of our body is blocked or stuck for any reason, perhaps being to sedentary, injured, feeling not safe, etc, or in perhaps tucking too much….it can create many imbalances, upset our ability to connect to our parasympathetic nervous system, and create feelings of isolation, low libido, and detachment.

Now that we have more knowledge of the sacrum:

When do we tuck?

As I mentioned earlier, tucking is inappropriate and unnecessary most of the time unless you are integrating your whole spine and posture into the tuck; aka, round position ….think rollup, rolling like a ball, etc.  Or perhaps you are mobilizing, creating length and space for your lower back with cat/cows or rolling bridges.  With more fluid mobilizing movements such as cat/cow, remember that you are not holding the tuck for very long.

How to integrate the sacrum so it stays open and spacious in the tuck?

Tucking is useful to do in an effort to stretch and open our low back.  However, with everything, it is easy to overdo the tuck and  instead of creating more width and space, its easy to clench our low back/buttocks instead.  In order to keep the sacrum spacious it is necessary to check in with your low back and notice your sensations.  Here are some tips to help you with your tuck:

1 – when you are tucking and your low back in rounding, your whole spine needs to be in the round back position!!  That means you are looking at your abdominals with your eyes and your scapula is brooding wide across your back and the back ribs are also fanning open to create space for your front spine and abdominals to deepen into.

2 – root your femur bones (thigh bones).  

If our thigh bones are stuck forward this can pull on our low back muscles making it easier to collapse and yes – tuck!  How to check if your things bones are forward – feel your groins if they are hard, usually your femurs are too far forward and you need to integrate some hip stretches that open up the back of your hip capsule so your femurs can glide back in the socket.  Other times, you just need to check in with your lower body – if your knees hyperextend when you are standing, you are most likely a tucker.  My advice for you is to soften your knees, ground and spread your feet wide in an even portion and stack your posture more appropriately.  Think – center of ankle below center of knees, below center of pelvic bowl, keeping your knees soft of course!!

3 – energize your lower body.  Remember your legs/feet are an extension of your powerhouse core, hip/pelvis/sacrum center.  So its valuable to integrate these parts with full awareness in your movements.  Careful not to let your limbs just hang and be an ornament…you want your limbs participating as much as your core.   To do this, you need to hug your midline or energetically draw your shin bones in and your thigh bones apart to energetically open up your sacrum low back.. think of a see saw, lower limbs hug in to your middle to simultaneously broaden and open your upper thighs hips/low back.

The bottom line is that it is a good idea to pay attention to your posture and how it is affecting your sacrum and vice versa.  When standing, sitting, and exercising etc, check in with yourself.  Most of the time, you will want to keep your low back long, lifted and spacious in its’ lumbar/natural lordotic curve, which is essential to balance your spine and posture.  When you need to tuck, remember that 1 – the whole body needs to be participating from your feet to your skull in your round, 2 – Energize your lower body by hugging your midline, and 3 – root your femurs bones!   When in doubt, know that you never want the low back bones to push out and back in collapse!  This happens all too easily in a tucked position. This congestion in our low back hips creates pressure and feelings of stickiness in our pelvis/hips/low back.

I hope reading this helped bring more awareness to your sacred bone, sacrum.  Its a vulnerable area in our body that is easily neglected.  Try to recognize this sacred bone, the sacrum.  Maybe, also take a moment to reflect on the people and things in your life that are sacred to you.  The things and people that usually matter most to us can also be neglected and taken forgranted.  Bringing our attention to the sacred within and around us will hopefully uplift us and help create more inner lift and peace.

I have posted some recent videos on my you tube channel that are a good complement to this idea.

I hope you check them out! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClUKWMPAcZ-4jOcPYY_F8NQ  

Aloha and Mele Kalikimaka

TOUCH

by lebureauetc, posted in grow, Pilates, touch, trust in self, Uncategorized

“She asks him to touch her, to feel her with his hands, because bodies always understand each other, even when souls do not.”

-Paulo Coelho

Lately I have been reflecting on the loss of “touch” – relying too much on devices, interactions with automated messages, exercise apps, using kiosks to check in at airports, online zoom exercise classes etc etc…as well as the loss of personal & physical touch when it comes to almost everything!     Since Covid, especially, we have adapted to more of a ‘touch-less’  way of life and although sometimes it has been out of necessity for safety reasons, and does have some benefit,  in excess, like everything else, this, “lack of touch” can have negative repercussions.  Human touch in particular is so unique because the physical contact alone allows both bodies to ‘feel’ and experience more than just being told something in words.  Words and devices alone can create unnecessary miscommunications and guide us to do something that is not right for us.  Whereas, the addition of purposeful  and communicative touch,  could better support what is said and explained through the words etc.  Furthermore touch can shine a light on places of tension we didn’t even know existed until we become aware of what we are doing from someone elses touch.  Investing in more experiences that encourage us to physically connect and listen to our body is priceless because the experience alone communicates and sheds light on so much more than just words could say.

The body is always talking to us and is constantly giving us signals to what is happening inside of us.  When we take time to feel and process what ‘that’ is through human experiences/touch we are able to make sense and understand more of what we may need on a greater level than just words and/or devices would be able to communicate.  Children can sometimes be great teachers for us adults as they do not have the words yet and rely on touching and listening to their own inner knowing to make sense of what they need or do not need.  They feel a lot and listen to what these feelings are telling them:).  Although sometimes their actions may be a bit overly dramatic, at least they are using their intuition, being instinctual, and releasing any stress that they may have in that moment instead of just doing something because something or someone tells them to act a certain way.

As adults, creating better habits while exercising or simply moving out of stress and into a state of calm takes work, and unfortunately throwing a tantrum isn’t the best way for us to achieve a better awareness and/or release an unwanted state.  However, with more human touch and human heartbeats to help us along the way, I believe we would drop inside ourselves quicker to both feel our inner body and then to consciously change our habits and release certain stress.  With all practice… the more you do it the easier it gets!

I, personally, was not raised to value ‘touch’ and my own inner feelings.  (I am not blaming ANYONE for this as there is always a unique dynamic situation at had and we do the best we can do…i strongly believe this).    In fact, I learned quickly that one’s feelings did not “really” matter.  This is one of the many paradoxes of being raised Catholic:)> .  My upbringing and catholic school environment, for example, did not allow excuses nor make exceptions for people when they did not do what they were supposed to do and ‘be.’ This narrow-minded, sometimes unforgiving attitude influenced me for several of my earlier years.  As a teen I could be pretty stubborn and proud and would hold my emotions inside.  Instead of seeking help I would isolate myself as I did not want to appear lesser than, not be accepted, or ‘weak. ’  I turned to drugs and alcohol at an early age I believe to numb these inner feelings.  I expected the same ‘unfortunate’ behavior of my peers.  For example, when I would witness someone else not responding to the disposition of my upbringing, I would often look down on them and think to myself, “Get a grip people!.”  Although, I can still be pretty stubborn and still catch myself saying this time to time in the back of my mind, I have definitely had many experiences and life lessons that thankfully have changed my view and have infused me with more compassion and empathy for not only myself but also people that are struggling and or going through challenges in their own lives.   

I believe the consequence of holding emotions inside, is unnecessary suffering/emotional tension in your body.   In fact there is more and more evidence that says our fascia or the webbing that holds everything together under our skin, is in fact a sensory organ and this intellectual organ can in fact hold emotion inside its structure.  Our emotions therefore can be stuck in your bodies tissues and create unnecessary blockages unless we are able to actively and consciously allow this held emotion to flow through us in a healthy way.  This is the very reason why I believe it is so important to forgive ourselves and others and to be compassionate and loving.  We simply cannot have a healthy free body if we are holding our emotional trauma and inner drama!  I feel that my own inability to forgive myself and others fully continuously have most definitely contributed to my own painful sensations I have been dealing with over the past 2 years.  Although I am doing so much better and I do have some physical issues which I have talked about in my previous posts, my healing is as much linked to my emotions as it is linked to my own physical state.   Paradoxically, touch plain and simple, I believe can help unlock tension and emotions in my body and support ones own connections and inner healing.

In fact, when I was just learning the practice of Yoga and Pilates, I was so drawn to both practices because of the sensations I would feel in my body.  I felt so alive and free practicing both disciplines, and especially when I had the support of touch cues from my teachers.  It was essential for me to not only visibly ‘see’ how a certain posture was carried out, but also, to be guided through the exercise usually with supportive touch cues from an experienced, knowledgeable instructor.   Even now, after practicing Yoga and Pilates for 20 years I have much benefit from not only seeing others practice, but having supportive touch cues to help me go deeper and experience more openings and spaciousness in my body.    In fact I love getting hands on assist from instructors! 

On the flip side, when I was enrolled in “the Work”,  a Pilates graduate program  in 2017, under the tutelage of Jay Grimes, we were instructed, NOT  TO TOUCH, (except for some very specific exercises, as the method is exercise!! Not therapy or massage!).  Some reasons why I believe touch cues were not encouraged, 1) – touch cues done several times a day is hard on the teachers bodies, 2) –  it can make the student too dependent on the teacher, etc etc, and 3) – sometimes when the intention behind the touch is not thoughtful and purposeful it can be too much and even confuse the client.   “The Work” was all about feeling and trusting.  We had to do the work, feel the work, and decide whether or not it was right for us.  Although a great program in theory, the instructors of the work, still did have and voice their own opinions and as a student of the Work , although you were instructed to listen to your own intuition, we were also fed the teachers insight, usually without the support of their touch which was confusing at times.  Reflecting back, I wish they also supported us with more hands-on assists so we could have better understood how to relate their verbal feedback to our own inner experience and contemplate for ourselves if their opinions carried much weight for us or not. 

Considering the negatives with touch cues, I still believe that actions ‘speak ‘ and resonate louder than words.   Furthermore, purposeful touch from someone or even ourselves can help bring more awareness and possibly unlock held unconscious tension that may be causing blockages.  As a teacher myself, I still benefit immensely from touch  cues as I am still exploring, learning and desire more continued growth, expansion, and inner awareness in my own body.  I am constantly growing and changing in my own body, so there is always something more to explore, and learn from:).

I would like to encourage us all to recognize and understand that our bodies are constantly transforming and communicating to us!  Our bodies are also directly connected to our emotional well being and vice-versa.  Lastly, the right touch, in my experience, can resonate deeper and give one much clarity and freedom.   “What are some practices we could both add and let go of to make our emotional and physical bodies live more harmoniously?”   Perhaps we will all be our own best observer, listener, and do things with more kind gentle awareness. 

Thank you to all who continue to take agency and ownership of your own life and body. 

where’s your head at?

by lebureauetc, posted in inspirations, Pilates, Uncategorized

If you have read my blog you may have figured out by now that I have struggled to surrender and soften my efforts.  I have had a tendency to be too disciplined and sometimes ‘overdo’ it.  I have started this blog in part to help myself take my own advise to be more self-compassionate, truly listen, and believe in my own intuition.  This takes incredible trust and love of self!

I believe that by writing this blog, I have become a better listener, but still, it is an evolving and imperfect journey along with everything else. 

More recently, approximately March 2021, I over stretched, strained something in my neck.  Fast forward to now, November 18, 2021, I am doing much better!  I do still struggle with muscle tightness depending on what I am doing but do feel equipped to navigate my discomfort with the many lessons I have learned from being in relentless pain these past several months.  

My husband, Pontus, who is an osteopath, was able to work on me which no doubt is, pretty special, but with everything else, it also has its’ challenges!  I know it was hard for him to deal with me especially after having to care for his patients all day long.  He was tired and impatient and I was also impatient, in pain, and wanting clear answers to explain my uncertain state.  Regardless, I am very lucky to have my husband.  He knows my story, my body, and my tendencies and was undeniably helpful in my healing & recovery.

Pontus believed ‘some’ of my incredible discomfort was most likely caused by a rotation at the base of my cervical spine where I had my disk replacement b/t C6 and C7 in 2017.  I must have exasperated this rotation.  I could speculate forever on why?…but understand that it is simply a consequence to my tendencies to ‘do.’  At times, my pain sometimes was so bad that it encompassed my whole right side body, from my right side occiput to my right low back, but sometimes I was such in a flare state that I had irritation that continued down all the way to my right foot!  Continuing to breastfeed through my pain was a blessing and a curse.  Pontus was and still helps me de-rotate my upper thoracic/cervical spine with muscle energy technique, where I get stuck rotated to the left.  He also advised that I practice some daily muscle energy work in my upper spine to help strengthen and stabilize this very unstable area of my body.  I still perform muscle energy in my neck daily!!  In addition to Pontus manually working on me, I did accupuncture and/or massage weekly at times.  Although these modalities helped short-term, they were not able to stick and help long term. 

Due to my pre-existing conditions in both my neck and my old compression fracture in my low back I had MRIs of my lumbar and cervical spine, a bone scan, and blood work done to make sure the pain I was experiencing wasn’t more serious.  Luckily, the tests showed no significant information to explain my discomfort.  This was also  a blessing and a curse!  Sometimes I thought, is it all in my head!?  Quite possibly!  I do know that my head played a significant role, both in how I positioned it physically and also metaphorically speaking.

Are you wearing your head in front of your heart? Or are you holding your head with your heart?

From as early as grade school I can remember being taller than most everyone in my class including all the boys, I was very insecure about this, this continued all the way into high school, where I would purposefully slouch and hang my head to one side so I would be a level to my other peers. I look back at this and wonder why I didn’t stand tall and be proud of my height?  As you already know, I know the answer to my own question!  I was not secure in who I was, felt powerless and unworthy to be me.  Fortunately, after experiencing a tumultuous couple of years in all facets of my life, I hit rock bottom my freshman year in college, but in the end, I was able to choose me!  I truly did a full circle, my self image changed drastically for the better and I started to love myself more and more.  Interestingly, not only did my self image transform, but also how I held myself changed, including how I positioned my head.  My posture wasn’t perfect however, and its been evolving (I believe) for the better ever since, of course along with my own self image.:)

Currently, my posture has suffered with the demands of caring for a new baby and also my tendencies to “do” and neglect what my body is telling me.  Pepper is now 14 months, and although she is still quite petite …23 Ibs, its been a lot of holding, breast feeding, bathing, feeding, twisting turning etc etc.  The steady demands of caring for  Pepper and the stress I put a on myself has definitely taken a toll on my posture!  This coupled with loose ligaments and general instability especially at L1/T12 from my old compression fracture and disk replacement between C6/C7 has been difficult for me to sustain freedom and ease in my spine!

I am writing this post to reflect on my experience these past several months in hopes that what I say may help you, if you find that you are struggling with neck, shoulder, back, body pain.   I hope that you will read this feeling some hope that your pain will go away and that there are simple things you can do to help yourself.  

I learned somewhat quickly that alleviating my pain temporarily was as simple as taking the time to align where my head was at, both from a metaphorical and physiological standpoint. It’s interesting how the 2 affect one another.  Furthermore, My pain significantly lessened when I physically reminded myself to hold my head with my heart, instead of forward of my heart which is where it wants to go.   My head also, naturally aligned more with my heart when I committed more time for self care.  This is not a simple action to take when you have a newborn!!  I found it to be very beneficial to work from my “head” first, not only physically with my posture, starting at my head and allowing the alignment benefits to cascade down, but also in my own thoughts!  I definitely had my moments of playing a victim to my pain…especially in the middle of the night when I couldn’t sleep!  However, this attention I would give to my pain lessened the attention I would give to taking the steps to feeling better and seeing the joy and beauty that was in me and that also surrounding me. 

Below is a brief summary of some ideas/practices that helped me feel better!  Remember the following are practices and ideas, and most if not all of the below are things I still work on and practice daily to keep me feeling better…

PHYSICAL PRACTICES – First you need to align and “wear your head over your heart!”  Then do the following…

-practice muscle energy from all sides of your skull with the heel of your hand to strengthen & stabilize…isometric exercises.

-“wear your smile from ear to ear” practice keeping the base of your chin in and down towards your throat.  Slight chin tuck.

-extend the roof of your mouth to the crown of your head

-“Stand your ground,”  Stand tall and be proud of who you are.

-in general, make smaller more precise movements.  Progress takes time and steady practice – little by little, bit by bit…!

MENTAL PRACTICES – 

-“What is the lesson?” What if I am experiencing this pain to help someone else not have to experience pain?  How can I use this experience to help and serve others?

-“Less ego and control, more universal and flow.”  Soften, relax, breathe and let be

-“Forgive, no self judgement”

-“Do less and Be more”

Lastly, if you’re hyper mobile, unstable, have pre-existing conditions, and a mover like me, you may want to consider doing prolo-therapy or PRP(platelet rich plasma) for your vulnerable areas, especially if you have good, healthy blood.  I did undergo PRP in both my low back around my old compression fracture and also more recently around my disk replacement in my cervical spine.  I know it has made a positive impact.  I am noticeable more stable in my ligaments and joints and therefore, experiencing less pain and persistent irritation caused from the instability.

I have a class on my Vimeo account – “upper body tune up” I recently made that shows some of the physical practices I would do to help me with my pain.

I hope this helps and please reach out with feedback or questions.

Aloha,

Brooke

Connecting to a ‘BIGGER PICTURE’

by lebureauetc, posted in inspirations, Pilates, Uncategorized, YOGA

Aloha!

Happy new year to you all.  I have a new Pilates video to share with you on my vimeo account.  The practice begins with 10 minutes of simple yoga salutations to ‘wake up’ the body before diving into a 30 minute Pilates mat workout.  The practice is a perfect practice for the morning, especially when you are not at home and have the luxury of space.  You can expect to stay on your mat from start to finish…no side lying leg kicks here.

The one instruction I give, sprinkled throughout  the workout, is “Breathe into your back body.”  The back body is beneficial to be aware of, not only because it gives you a cue or reference point from which you create more inner space, but also because it is symbolic of the universal energy within us.  The front body on the other hand is symbolic of our ego or of a more singular energy.  Although both are necessary and good, the back body is the unseen energy and therefore more of a challenge to be aware of, making it easier for our ‘egos’ to take center stage.

The practice of Pilates is all about taking a step back and softening our egos in order to connect us to our back.  This concentrated physical effort to balance our front with our back (ego with universal), I believe, can also indirectly connect us to something ‘bigger’ than ourselves.  Clearly a strong and tall ego will allow us to move forward and reach for our desires. However, too much ego, without the consideration of the unseen and universal back energy, could surely deplete and exhaust us. Balancing the two, with a slight edge to the back body, will allow for something better.

Personally, I have experienced both extremes!  I have had too much ‘ego’ with too much discipline and rigidity in my practices, without considering the current situation and others involved, making for an unhappy ending.  Also, in my physical practice, most of you know that I have a love affair with backbends.  I love them so much as I feel invigorated every time I do one.  However, I have learned that if I do not take the time to also balance my practice of backbends with something to bring my back and me back to neutral, all the back bending or emphasis on opening up my front body, is like drinking too many cups of coffee.  We all know too much coffee, although oh so good, can lead you to feel anxious, jittery, and just not well.  That said, it is valuable for me to also incorporate some basic forward folds (as I breathe in my back body) in my practice of backbends.  

The practice of Pilates encourages us to connect to our backs, both physically and metaphorically.  It’s a beautiful and humbling practice that hopefully reminds us all to soften more, let go more, yield more, forgive more, be okay not to be “right” more, all without losing our capacity to love ourselves and stand tall in who we are.

I hope you breathe into your back…

Aloha, Brooke 

delighting in a “Bigger Picture” – Kukio Beach, HI

PREGNANCY and PILATES

by lebureauetc, posted in Pilates, Uncategorized

Dichotomy of allowing yourself to be held before you can be independent and free…

Generally speaking this pregnancy compared to my other 2 (Ginger – 13 and Coco – 10) was challenging.  I have had more minor inconveniences, such as hormonal acne around my smile which in the big picture is no big deal (especially with all the mask wearing I am doing these days), but it still makes me feel self conscious.  I also experienced a major episode early in my pregnancy which made me appreciate the “gift” of being pregnant and getting another chance to hold and nurture another beautiful creation.  

When I was 14 weeks pregnant, and had traveled to Texas for a Pilates conference, I had a major bleeding event.  I woke up in the middle of the night after my first day at the conference to go to the bathroom but instead bled a lot of blood.  My first thought was that oh-no, I lost my baby!  I was shaking with fear and felt so much shame for what just happened.   In my head, I told myself that it was stupid to come to the conference in the first place!  I was upset at myself, as I was thinking that I must have “overdone” it again, in addition, to drinking too much coffee and matcha tea.  What did I do?  What lesson do I need to learn now?  Can’t I be done with learning lessons for a while?

I called Pontus and sadly, still in a lot of shock, told him what I just experienced.  He tried to comfort me and told me it would all be okay and that we do not know anything for certain.  “Try to get some rest,” he says!  It was 3am and I was wide awake and even though I was tired, there was no way I would have been able to sleep.  I ended up changing my flight and came home on the next earliest flight possible.  As I was packing my bags to leave for the airport I knew that worrying and looking up stuff on google would not help my current emotional state so I decided to sing to try and calm myself.  I just started singing without knowing what to sing.  I was so frightened, but was determined not to worry about it.  I told myself “I am okay, I know my baby is okay and I started singing – 

i love you

i love me

i’ll be gentle with you

i’ll be gentle with me

i love you

i love me

you are my baby

all of my dreams

i care for me

i care for you

i’ll be gentle with me

i’ll be gentle with you

stay with me

i’ll stay with you

please my baby stay with me!

i love you

i love me

i promise to be gentle with you and with me.

Baby, stay with me

i love you

i love me

Arriving back at Sea Tac, Pontus and the girls picked me up, and as soon as I saw their faces I could not hold my emotions, and the tears came streaming down my face like waterfalls. Pontus held me and I soon realized that the girls had no idea what was wrong with their Mamma as Pontus had not mentioned anything to them yet.  We got in the car and I told the girls what happened.  They were sad, but so sweet, as they tried to make me feel better.  That whole day still remains a blur, I simply rested and prayed that my baby was okay.  The following day, I saw my doctor.  I held my breath as I lay on the table for the ultrasound.  I closed my eyes, said one more prayer and soon I heard a strong little heart beat inside.  I opened my eyes, smiled and cried, and knew that everything would be okay.  I made a promise to myself to take it easy more, and continue to practice listening to what my body is telling me.  Less pushing, doing, efforting, and instead, more yielding, softening, and surrendering.  At that moment, I knew that this pregnancy was a beautiful gift and I am lucky to have another opportunity to experience the miracle of life within me.  

I am now going on 38 weeks and I have kept my promise.  Although I practice everyday, I have been gentle and loving to myself and my baby.  I take it easy, rest when I need to and I am proud of myself for listening and not competing.  I understand now that my bleeding experience needed to happen for me to slow down, and not continue with my old habits of being in autopilot – doing things just to do them.  In a way, I am grateful for that experience and what it taught me.  

Even if you are not pregnant, sorry men, …you can still visualize and imagine what it is like to be pregnant, holding and nurturing a miracle inside(your heart center) will help you lift your middle and enhance your breathing to help you sustain more space within, then maybe you are used to practicing.

With this heightened body awareness and my vow to soften and listen more, my connections have been so much deeper and allowed me to access parts of myself that have been challenging.  I’ve gotten better at letting go of my expectations of what the practice SHOULD bring me and instead have allowed the practice to literally hold and support me.  Listening to my body and asking what it needs that day to feel better in that moment to accommodate myself and the needed space for my baby has been such an important practice.  I am not simply “logging in another session.”  My breath has been deeper, my body more lifted and spacious and I treat each movement I take with a little more care and percision just how Mr Pilates intended the practice to be.  

The mindfulness that both practices of Yoga and Pilates require have helped me feel held and supported. The more consistent I am with practicing the more held and supported I feel.  This idea is so important in the practice because it will allow you to feel and experience more of yourself to make the deeper more meaningful connections that you need.  

My early  experience during this pregnancy has helped me allow the practice to literally “hold me.”  Just how the loving faces of my girls and Pontus holding me at Sea Tac, I was able to let go, soften and let my emotions flow out to and clear my state to literally, get myself back together.  I  feel fortunate to have not only a loving husband and 2 amazing daughters, but also 2 disciplines that I can count on to hold me.  I do hope you have found people and things in your life that also hold you!  

Now, about to give birth to another baby girl, I feel so lucky to be the one to hold her.  I feel our amazing connection and hope I can continue to hold her and support her out of my womb in the ways she needs so she can also feel and learn what she needs, to be free and independent without me. I was given such a beautiful gift, I know it is an opportunity that will teach and show me how to navigate and proceed into the next chapter of my life.

To being held,

Brooke

WAKE UP FLOW

by lebureauetc, posted in Pilates, Uncategorized

I have a new practice posted on my Vimeo site!  I name the mat practice, “wake up flow.” It is a 50 minute mat practice that includes some of my favorite ‘go-to’ stretches.  The practice is a nice gentle full body flow that is also suitable for active prenatal women (like me!).  I spend some time lubricating our shoulders and hips with some nice circular movements and end with some strengthening movements to reinforce our lower and upper body connections.  When I do this practice I feel more alive in my body.  I hope you do too!

 

ON DEMAND PRENATAL PILATES

by lebureauetc, posted in Pilates, Uncategorized

On Demand Prenatal Pilates Mat classes, available to view at Community Fitness

Introducing “Sideways Pilates”

Feel good Pilates flow targeting opening up the sides of our body to unravel and relieve our low back.  Pilates class that empathizes strengthening and opening the side of the body, working our transverse and oblique abdominal muscles!   This Pilates class will still include several “classical moves,” however, limiting the amount of time spent on our backs and also lying prone, therefore making this class suitable for individuals with stiffer upper backs and prenatal women!

Below shows the DATE & the FOCUS of  each class:

5/12 – “Sideways Pilates” – prenatal  CLASS #1, week 22

Standing warm up is 15 minutes, followed by an additional 10 minute ‘plank variation’ warm up on the mat.  Expect a Mat Pilates sequence that accents more work and fresh variations on side planks and lying on your side.

5/19 – ”Sideways Pilates” – prenatal  CLASS #2, week 23

Standing warm up is about 10 minutes, followed by a 20 minutes of plank and forearm quadruped work.  Expect to feel your whole posterior chain as I will feature small deliberate movements that create serious heat targeting our upper back, glutes, and hamstrings. 

5/26 – “Sideways Pilates” – prenatal Class #3 week 24

Standing warm is 20 minutes.  this warm up opens up the chest as we stretch strong through the arm bones, shoulders and wrists as well as the lower body with some nice low lunges and stretches to open up the sides of our body.  The mat work included the hundred, series of 5, side lying kicks, kneeling side kicks, and planks to close the workout.  Feel more supple and spacious  after completing this balanced practice.

6/2 – “Sideways Pilates” – prenatal CLASS #4 week 25 

In this class, I do not do the hundred!!!  I do a light warm up, strong standing arm sequence, followed by some single leg lunges and squats.  On the mat I present a challenging quadruped sequence, followed by a  side lying sequence, leg pull front, modified STAR on knees, and end with some forearm side planks, before coming back to standing.

 

 

ON DEMAND PILATES MAT CLASSES

by lebureauetc, posted in Pilates, Uncategorized

ON DEMAND PILATES MAT classes!! available to view at Community Fitness

*all classes start with a dynamic standing warm up before beginning a more classical Pilates mat sequence.  The length of ‘warm up’ varies depending on the class, but may include cat/cows, squats, lunges, some balance work, and plank variations.

Below shows the DATE & the FOCUS of each class:

3/24 – “Balancing Mat”

Warm up is 20 minutes. Mat sequence is intermediate including side leg series, teaser, mermaid.  The class concludes with a 2 minute standing arm weight sequence.

3/31 -“Boomerang Mat”

Warm up is 20 minutes.  Mat sequence is a strong intermediate including the roll-over, fun variations on side leg series, kneeling side kick, side bend, and my personal favorite, boomerang!

4/7 – “Toning Mat with small weights”

Warm up is 5 minutes.  Arm standing weight sequence is 10 minutes.  Mat sequence is shown with small light weights(optional).  Some highlights include some reformer exercises such as rowing, pull straps, arm swatqutee, chest expansion and thigh stretch.  I also highlight leg scissors and bicycle(option to use block for support).  A nice variation of teaser is also shown.

4/14 – “Dynamic and Fluid Mat”

Warm up is 5 minutes.  Continued warm up including arm weights is 8 minutes.  Mat sequence is shown with some exercises using a thera band(optional); such as roll down, single leg stretch and a lying prone stretch.   Some highlights include an overall fluid sequence with a focus on opening our front spine integrating movements to stretch open our hips and shoulders/chest.  Some new exercises I will highlight in todays class are leg pull back and the ⭐️ star.   The computer crashes before I can show star on the second side…you’ll figure it out though!

4/21 – “Planking Mat”

Warm up is 25 minutes with several plank variations.   The mat sequence is a fluid flow that keeps the body moving!  I highlight a new way to stabilize hips in single leg circles and revisit the exercise, star.

4/28 – “Sideways Mat”

Warm up is 13 minutes focusing on opening up the side of the body!  The mat sequence includes several classical moves, but is more modified and does not show the “series of 5,” rolling exercises, and lying prone for swan and single/double leg stretch.  The highlights include fresh variations on side planks, lying on your side etc.  The class concludes with an 8 minute standing arm weight series.

5/5/ – “Creative balancing Mat” 

Total warm up is approximately 30 minutes including 5 minutes standing no weights, 20 minutes standing with weights incorporating some balance work, and another 5 minutes on the mat working with plank variations.  The mat sequence is about 20 minutes and starts with some pelvic mobility exercises.  The sequence also incorporates weights in several exercises including a quadruped sequence that enhances our lower body integration.

 

Pieces

by lebureauetc, posted in inspirations, Pilates

Pieces

Trusting myself enough to let go, in an effort to better connect and grow.

 

I returned from LA a few weeks ago.  What a fantastic time with The Vintage Pilates staff, and other “Work” participants.  I feel so blessed to be a part of this beautiful like-minded yet diverse community. My understanding of how I can use the method of Pilates to better myself in “The Work” is coming together and I know this is just the beginning.  In this post I will be reflecting on the idea of connection; how can we better connect all our pieces to what or whomever we are interacting with, to better understand ourselves?

Jay Grimes, Pilates elder, along with the amazing Vintage Pilates Teachers for “The Work”, will usually never end a session without first saying; “do not neglect your ‘partner’” (meaning the apparatus; whether that be the reformer, the chair, barrels, cadillac, guillotine, ped-a-pul, etc).  Jay would then typically follow this statement by saying “KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT and JUST MOVE.”

Although not a Jay Grimes nor a Vintage Pilates saying, this next quote(also a favorite of mine from the movie “EAT, PRAY, LOVE”) complements what I believe Jay and my teachers for “The Work” are saying…

“People think a soul mate is your perfect fit, and that’s what everyone wants. But a true soul mate is a mirror, the person who shows you everything that’s holding you back, the person who brings you to your own attention so you can change your life. A true soul mate is probably the most important person that you will ever meet, because they tear down your walls and smack you awake. Soul mates, they come into your life to reveal another layer of yourself to you.”

I think Jay and my other teachers of “the Work” would agree that their idea of a ‘partner’ is our ‘soulmate.’  We should then treat the apparatus we are using with that awareness and allow it to teach us something about ourselves.   The more connections  we make with our ‘partner’ the more lessons we should receive.  Hopefully, we come away from our workout or our interaction having learned something about who we are.  Perhaps also discovering something we need to work on.  Can’t have one without the other.

I believe finding more connection is different for everyone.   Perhaps for some of you, the struggle lies in concentrating on connecting to your “partner”; for others it is trusting what your partner is revealing to you and giving in to this trust as you continue…   Personally, after this past trip to LA, I am discovering that when I trust more in my “partner” and act more instinctual I am able to make stronger connections and learn more.  Listening and trusting what I feel is right and acting accordingly is definitely hard work, but I believe a challenge worth fighting for.  Be persistent and listen to yourself!

How about you?   How do you stay connected to your “partner?”  Do you need to trust more in yourself to connect all your pieces like me?  Maybe you just need more of a steady effort?  Some need more of one than the other.   We all need to find our own ratio.

I hope you all can trust your “partner” and continue to strengthen and make new connections that bring meaning to you.  Every day is a new day and another opportunity to expand your awareness and your connections and put the little pieces together one by one.  If you feel disconnected and loose your pieces trust your partner more!  Can you trust and listen to what your connections are telling you and act accordingly?  Takes a lot of courage to follow through!   You can do it!  I believe in you:).

Do it right, keep it tight!

Brooke

ps – check out the song “Pieces” by Andrew Belle