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Beyond the Reformer

The Truth About Pilates Cueing Nobody Talks About with Shelly Power

Monday · 1 hr 23 min · 60.2 MB
0:00-1:23:33

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"We're not gonna cue muscles to cue a movement."

In this episode, Nic is joined by Shelly Power, Director of Curriculum for Polestar Pilates and one of the most respected educators in the industry. Shelly has been teaching Pilates since 1992, has led teacher trainings since 2000, and has examined and mentored Pilates teachers all over the world, including Nic herself.

They explore why great teaching has no finish line, and why the best Pilates instructors stay curious long after they're certified. Shelly breaks down why cueing individual muscles ("tighten your core," "shoulders down") often works against the body instead of for it, and shares the story of a professional ballet soloist whose chronic knee pain disappeared the moment her cueing changed.

They also get into the current state of the Pilates industry: the "trickle down" effect that turns founders' teaching into rigid dogma a few generations later, the pressure of the online "Pilates police," and why rushing to defend a method matters far less than actually helping the person in front of you.

Timestamps

00:00 Intro to Shelly Power

04:17 The "trickle down theory" of Pilates dogma

13:31 Teaching without shame: the "climb a tree" story

17:05 Nic's exam story and what it means to be an empowering teacher

29:57 Belief over anatomy: the ballet soloist's knee pain

48:55 Why we need to stop cueing muscles to cue a movement

1:17:56 Curiosity, beginner's mind, and Shelly's closing advice

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