KOB Pilates + Yoga

Happy Valentine’s Day This Valentine of mine was my first and willing student when I had no idea what I was doing as a new teacher. He is my most honest critic who can see right through me. And he’s always been my biggest advocate as I’ve navigated my way to my calling as a teacher. Thank you my . His big birthday week is here, too Here’s to a week of loving and celebrating @tobrien711 : @lauraresenphotography Styling: @debdapstyle

New photos are in and I them! I collaborated with some pretty kick a$$ women to capture some new pictures. Thank you to the talented perfectionist @lauraresenphotography, and @debdapstyle for the hair/makeup and styling. The combination of these two women made the experience (and outcomes!) next level! New website and logo (by @lizyjoy ) in the works! Can’t wait to show you all what I’ve /we’ve been cooking up . It takes a village!!!!... #youvebeendapped #pilates #yoga #sonomavalley @ Sonoma, California https://www.lauraresen.com/ http://debdapstylist.com/

Meet Coco. I think my boys named him after the Disney movie? I’ve always wanted a skeleton to do yoga with . Miss you all! Stay safe out there!

How are you feeling? This is how I greet each student before we begin a session. And I actually, really want to know... I’ve been reading @mark.brackett ‘s book, Permission to Feel. In it, he profoundly points out that we ask this question to others and also respond to this question countless times a day, without answering in any meaningful way. Ironic isn’t it? Brackett says If we don’t express our emotions, they pile up like a debt that will eventually come due. ... In my years of teaching almost every possible body type, elders, teenagers, children, I have found this to be true. The body keeps score is what my teacher once told me. While you can come see me at my studio or online and respond Good! Just busy! to this question, I’m sorry to say that I can see resistance or protectiveness when you move. Or I can also see the way you use your movement to release and find joy. Students know that when they see me, they are going to be asked to be extremely introspective. I feel it’s my job, above all else, to help you really answer that question through movement. I teach teachers and students to identify movement patterns that don’t serve them well, offer ways to change them and then learn to strengthen your body to reinforce new, healthier patterns. With that, today I ask you: How are you feeling? Be honest with yourself, or at the very least, take a breath and give yourself a moment to try to answer the question honestly to yourself or a friend. See more

I’m Teacher Assisting these next several weeks for Madeline Black. Her first virtual online teacher training. What an honor and nerve racking ! Close to 100 teachers participating from all over the world. This week’s focus: moving through the foot . What an amazing sight to see all these brilliant and eager minds coming together despite shelter in place! Gives a whole new appreciation to the saying, what a small world , doesn’t it?

A 5 minute yoga sequence I do with Keelan. Try at home with your littles and add/subtract as your day allows . Be patient. There are no mistakes. Namaste

Tech rehearsal/dry run for tomorrow’s Periphery to Center master class with @madelineblackpilates and @jamesbdsilva. 1.5 hours of movement to explore and reconsider our notions of CENTER, followed by Q&A that I’ll help moderate. Join us tomorrow! See link in my bio to sign up.

I’m feeling pretty giddy and humbled to be moderating a conversation between @madelineblackpilates and @jamesbdsilva (founder of @thegarudamethod) next Sunday. Will you join for this Master Movement class that challenges us to rethink (and re-feel!) our notions of Center in our bodies? Over a full hour of movement by these two brilliant and world renown teachers (which I’ll need after turkey dinner!), followed by q&a that I’ll help moderate. Info below and how to sign ...up. Hope you can join!!! Sign up here: https://www.madelineblack.com/the-periphery-to-center #Repost @madelineblackpilates with @make_repost Where is the center? How and who defines it? Discover where center is in the movement at my next and final masterclass of the year. In this special 2-hour advanced movement masterclass, I’ll be joined by @jamesbdsilva , founder of the Garuda Method. In this one-of-a-kind masterclass you’ll experience our distinct approaches as we guide you to stimulate the most outer parts of the body and wake up the quiet places. Together, we’ll explore space and move the whole body in an applied biotensegrity way. You’ll flow and roll through the joints moving in multiple mediums and notice the possibilities they present, making movement abundant and fun. Join us and discover different impulses when moving from extremities, shifting centers and changing the nervous system’s response and thus creating a powerful training effect. You’ll leave the class more energized, stimulated and confident to be more creative in your approaches with clients! The class includes over one hour of movement, plus a discussion and Q&A to follow. This class is $50 and goes live on Sunday, 11/29 at 9AM PST with 1-week of unlimited replay for all who sign-up. The full duration of the class is 2 hours. Replay expires on 12/06. No one will want to miss this rare opportunity! Sign-up today and share! . . . . #madelineblackmethod #garudamethod #pilates #pilatescommunity #pilatestraining #center #movementtraining #matpilates #movement #movementscience #onlinepilates

We have rain in Wine Country . Rainy day flow for my tight and sore shoulders and hips today after a few tough trail runs.

Trail run with Zuki and checking in on my diaphragmatic line up. Some osteopaths believe we have as many as 22 diaphragms in the body . While I can balance on my hands, my next personal goal: can I align my cranial, upper thoracic, thorax and pelvic diaphragms in that one beautiful straight line ?! Through more diaphragmatic work, I don’t flare my ribs (thorax) *as much! One day I won’t be too scared to straighten my neck . Work in progress!

I have not been very vocal on social media about the unrest I'm feeling in my heart. In our own way, I know we all feel it, and I've always wondered if writing *another post would just exacerbate the lethargy and sadness we are experiencing in varying wavelengths. Today, I found out that my yoga studio homebase in San Francisco, @yogatreesf, is shutting its doors. Memories of Yoga Tree and the countless hours I spent there (either learning to be a teacher, or just practici...ng) are irreversibly intertwined with my fond memories of living in San Francisco for almost a decade. Many firsts there: handstand (in this picture, I was walking home from Stanyan street studio with a fellow training teacher and we wanted to keep practicing), and feeling Keelan kick in my belly for the first time while chanting Om Shri with my teacher cohort, among others... Without an end in sight for this pandemic, I know this may not be the first of these personal landmarks I will see close down. Please, continue to support your local studios and teachers. Yoga, Pilates, gyms, massage studios, etc. provide the connection to our bodies and minds that is so needed in this world right now. I'll miss you @yogatreesf. RIP. See more

Week 2 of Madeline Black Pilates teacher training and I’m preparing to help other teachers study the figure 8 movement of the pelvis It’s 10:50pm, boys are asleep and mom studies. While I love going to bed early, how else can I fit everything in with a house full of early risers? Do all other parents have this dilemma too? What do you do to make it all work and fit?