Aha Atlas Video Newsletter | Issue 20 | The Nervous System (Free Edition)
December 2022
The Nervous System
Welcome to the 20th issue of the Aha Atlas Newsletter! This month, we’re talking about your nervous system, specifically your sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems.
🧠 Learn some nervous system anatomy, and why it matters to us as Pilates teachers.
🤸 Take care of your own nervous system – Move with Talese in a mini class that will make you laugh and feel good about yourself.
🌱 Grow with us by exploring how you can support your client’s nervous system in your teaching.
🧊 Then Chill with us by playing our game “Which Pilates Class Type Are You?”
Try upgrading your subscription this month. With the Member Edition, you’ll get full access to videos and member perks (for this issue AND all past issues).
Learn
Let’s explore a teaching concept.
Vibes. You can just sense them, right? They’re your nervous system responding to a person or an environment. As instructors, we create our own vibes in a session or class. Watch this video to learn more about your autonomic nervous system. By the end of this issue, you’ll know how to create good vibes for yourself and your clients.
Move
Move with us in this mini-class (10-20 minutes).
Leave perfection and technique at the door in this movement journey with Talese. You’ll explore your parasympathetic nervous system (PNS), ease into your sympathetic nervous system, and return to your PNS. Will you experience homeostasis? Press play to find out!
Props: 2 small/medium couch pillows (or maybe a cushion for your head and your favorite stuffed animal to hold)
Grow
Boost your confidence and resilience with us.
Have you ever had a client show up for their session stressed out and out of breath? Or seen a student in class looking exhausted, or having a hard time focusing? What can you do to help?
Join us in this episode where we chat about how to support your client’s nervous system in your teaching. You’ll grow your teaching skills, and learn ways to manage stress.
Chill
Come chill with us
Which Pilates Class Type Are You?
If you were a Pilates class, which kind would you be? Do your own self-assessment by 👀 the class types below. You could be a combo of class types! If you want to post your class type(s) on your social media stories, you can screenshot the slides at the end of this email. If you do, please tag @ahaatlas.
Restorative
You discovered Pilates through an injury. You like your workouts brainy, stretchy, and thoughtful. Just like the people you date. Your favorite piece of Pilates equipment is the Ladder Barrel – you just don’t know it yet because no one teaches it enough. You’ve thought about going to PT school. You move like a sloth doing Pilates. And when you do Footwork, you have one of those bands that keeps broccoli together around your big toes.
Athletic
You played competitive sports throughout your youth. Now you alternate between CrossFit, Peloton, and Pilates. And you’re training for your next marathon. You thought Pilates was weird when you first tried it, but it made you so sore you had to come back. Your fave piece of Pilates equipment is the reformer, plus ankle weights, resistance band, magic circle, and kettlebell (preferably all at once). When you’re planking on no springs, and sweat rolls down your brow into your eye, it makes you so happy. And, yes, you are always competing with the person next to you in Pilates class.
Jumpboard
You skipped down the sidewalk on your way to work today. You cannot imagine life without music, Pilates class included. A jump class with a solid playlist is how you de-stress, detox, de-your ex, de-everything. Your first childhood memory was jumping in a bounce house. You either have an instep that dancers envy, or you are a dancer. Your roommate vetoed your idea of installing a trampoline in your place, but you think you can convince them to get a reformer with a jumpboard attachment. (Who needs a couch anyway? They’re so 2020.)
Classical
Footwork, first, always. You love the routine and repetition of classical Pilates. It lets you get in the zone and move. Almost like running…if you liked running. You think the reformers with the metal frame, clanging wooden handles, gritty tracks, and barely padded carriage are the most beautiful. Your cats are named Joe and Clara. You are the loudest breather in class. And you’ve done Elephant a million times, and still have those aha moments.
Advanced
You were a circus performer in a past life. Or maybe a gymnast. Everyone else freaks out about being upside down, but that’s when your head is the clearest. If one of your co-workers sees a weird Pilates move on Insta or TikTok, they send it to you so you can try it. If you’re a parent, you’re the tall human swinging across the monkey bars. If you’re not a parent, you’re the other tall human using those monkey bars. You do Footwork with your pelvis up in a bridge…or Semicircle, that counts as Footwork, right?
All Types
Ah, your body just aches with gratitude as soon as you feel the carriage move out and in underneath you. You’ll take a yoga class because it has “Pilates” in the class description. And whether you’re piking on a megaformer, or struggling with a foot corrector, you love it all. Heck, you even love the Wunda Chair (that little cupboard of torture). If you’re not already a Pilates teacher, you should think about signing up for a teacher training program. Seriously.
Support
We’re here to support Pilates instructors, and here are some ways you can help!
Spread the Word. Forward this newsletter to fellow Pilates lovers, and tell everyone you know about Aha Atlas.
Share your Thoughts. Take this short survey and let us know what content you want to see from Aha Atlas. You can also share feedback with us by replying to this email.
Subscribe. Subscribe below to get the Member Edition of this newsletter, with full access to amazing content for Pilates instructors.
We want to create the newsletter that best supports you, so the more you share with others and with us, the more we can do that. We’re ever grateful for your support as we build this community together.
However you plan to send off this year, we wish you a good time. See you next year for our next issue! Until then, catch us on Instagram or TikTok.
xo Talese and Kai-Ting
