To all of you teachers near and far, of Instgram and Youtube: THANK YOU! I recently sold my studio of 18 years where I worked next to THE most amazing teachers...and then I wasn't anymore. At which point, I decided to use social media simply as a tool to stay current; keep my pointed toes dipped in the Pilates pool, if you will. What I didn't expect was how deep that pool was! All of a sudden, I had access to an infinite number of incredibly educated teachers who were located all over the world. I understand that social media doesn't take the place of learning from real people and in real time. I really do! However, I also now realize that social media is a powerful platform where te

give /ɡiv/ verb gerund or present participle: giving 1.freely transfer the possession of (something) to (someone); hand over to. Giving is a simple concept ranging from giving a compliment, to giving a gift, to giving a pet a home, or giving money. It nourishes the soul because its given and then accepted with love. Recently, we've had an extraordinary amount of natural disasters, one far surpassing the previous in size and devastation. Earthquakes in Peru, Hurricanes in the US (including Puerto Rico), Wildfires etc. Many are still without homes, water, electricity and/or food. ALL of these people and regions affected, continue to need our help. Just because the newest one is in the new

TODAY IS MY HALF BDAY! So, I thought I'd repost this. You'll prob see it again in 6 months. Happy Saturday peoples! I'm 49. I'll be 50 July 20th. Yep! There it is! Out there for y'all to know. 1. I expect mannnny bday wishes now that I've told you! 😁 2. I feel really great! I also think I look pretty good! I often hear that I "look good for 49". Thank you! I think...but, for y'all who say that, I know you mean well but it's a weird reply. What's that really mean anyway? That I look good for being old? Older? Almost AARP? Here's what you should say when SO shocked (😜) that I'm almost 50: "Awesome! How do you feel?" To which I answer: "I look and feel great for 19 or 29 or whatever age I

Do you want to be safe and good, or do you want to take a chance and be great? -Jimmy Johnson This is one of my fav quotes bc he's awesome! Not because of football (which I know so little about) but because he always appeared to live like that quote! He seemed to walk that walk which I found inspiring. It is SO remarkably important to take chances; feel the fear and excitement and eventual success..or failure. No one succeeds without failing, somehow. Not one of those who've found success, and who've failed, ever saw that as anything other than a learning experience. Assess your life and what you want to do today? tomorrow? next year? . What's your gut telling you? Take that chance. E

Woke up this chilly, 50 degree morning (yes, chilly! IYCBT!) and felt nothing but completely blessed. So simple eh? Rare -and it felt really, really aaahhhmazing. Y'all must know, I am not a hippie, yummy, feel-good person...I mean, I want to be! I'm positive and all...but just not that Yoda-like persona. So, having this strange euphoric feeling without having to count my blessings, is not norm for ksj (me)! I have been beyond stressed, frustrated and anxious about the plight of our world. I worry about our future. Always feeling and thinking the earth and its peeps need a BIG f'ing breather. But today?! I felt that all is workable (around me/us) and I have choices and I can create chang

Hey y'all! II was thinking today how much I like posting workouts for you, my friends and family! But...maybe I should help empower you to find your own! Given, I have SO many exercises and routines stuffed in my little head, it does make it easier for me. So, what do you do if you're not an exercise freakazoid? Look on Instagram, Pinterest, Self.com, and/or any other of the sites that give you ideas. Why there and not a paid app? 1. this is free 2. the workouts are fun, innovative and short 3. it's free! (o...I said that) 4. you literally can choose any type of workout ("5 minute leg routine")! Enjoy and you're welcome!

"Why not upset the apple cart? If you don't, the apples will rot anyway" Frank A. Clark

Get your walk on! "If you look at it, if everyone did just 10,000 steps a day in America we would probably decrease healthcare budget by $500 billion a year and that shows how few people actually do it, and two how big a reduction in chronic disease we’d have if more did," according to Roizen, who is also author of Age Proof: Living longer without running out of money or breaking a hip.

As I was waking, I was thinking how many people I've recently met that either know nothing about Pilates and/or if they do, they think it's "for women and super-yummy-stretchy. It. Is. Not. (mostly) Pilates was created in the 1920s by the physical trainer Joseph Pilates (1880-1967) for the purpose of rehabilitation/regaining strength. Some of the first people treated by Pilates were soldiers returning from war. Women and dancers only later glommed onto it because they recognized the strengthening-while-lengthening effects. Nowadays, most athletes do Pilates in conjunction with their regular routines...I'm talking Pro Football Players, Texas Longhorn Players, golfers, tennis players etc et

You are super amazing. Sharing a compliment really can make someone's day. So...go ahead! let 'em rip. Whenever the mood strikes and watch as you change the air around you. You'll change peoples lives; create happiness, bond with people you meet, make your friends feel great, and leave all your interactions on a more positive note. Ultimately, you are changing the world around you. Studies have shown that the brain works the same way giving a compliment as it does when receiving money. According to Professor Norihiro Sadato, the study lead and professor at the National Institute for Physiological Sciences in Japan, "To the brain, receiving a compliment is as much a social reward as bei

We all have days that we don't want to do this or that. Exercise is WAY up there for most people. Yet, most of those people aren't happy with their bodies and/or how they feel. Here's the scoop: you won't succeed at anything by doing the bare minimum or only when you feel like it! To have success, you must constantly strive for your own personal greatness which requires consistency and dedication. Granted, we're talking exercise at this moment but it pretty much is a blanket statement. This is the only body you get, take care of it!

Knowledge is power. While the true origin of that famous quote is unknown (possibly Sir Francis Bacon), science has recently given some credence to it. Scientists have named this: Neuroplasticity. Crazy word right?! Studies suggest that strengthening neural pathways (imagine freeways in your brain) through resistance training and methods of exercise such as Pilates by which you have to truly focus and concentrate, you could increase the brains plasticity or strength. In turn, this could make you stronger AND smarter! Now, go take care of your body. It's the only one you get!

....Perhaps the most well-known human study was done by Mayer, the UCLA researcher. He recruited 25 subjects, all healthy women; for four weeks, 12 of them ate a cup of commercially available yogurt twice a day, while the rest didn’t. Yogurt is a probiotic, meaning it contains live bacteria, in this case strains of four species, bifidobacterium, streptococcus, lactococcus, and lactobacillus. Before and after the study, subjects were given brain scans to gauge their response to a series of images of facial expressions—happiness, sadness, anger, and so on. “This was not what we expected, that eating yogurt twice a day for a few weeks would do something to your brain.” To Mayer’s surprise, the