Pilates by Azalea

What are my hip Flexors? The hip flexors are at the front of your hips near the top of your thighs. This group includes the rectus femoris, iliacus, and psoas muscles. This group is key to moving your lower body. Why do tight hip flexors cause lower back pain?... 1. Tight hip flexors can cause Glutes to turn off making the back do some of the glutes’ job. Creating strain for the lumbar. 2.The Psoas is attached to your lumbar spine and the top of your thigh bone. A tight Psoas will pull on the lumbar when you are standing creating an arch in your lower back. Causing your lower back muscles to stay in a contracted position making it susceptible to back spasms and increased tightness. What can I do? Stretch and strengthen, it is important to do both to create balance. If you only stretch, the muscles will never be strong enough to hold your body in correct alignment. And will go back to being tight due to incorrect movement and posture. If you only strengthen tight muscles you’re more susceptible to tearing or pulling. The key is to equally stretch and strengthen. *The Anatomy Coloring Book by Kapit and Elaine #hipflexors #tightlowerback #anatomycoloringbook #pilatersinstructor #pilatesbyazalea

My lower back is tight! Too much sitting on the couch binging shows and sitting incorrectly on hard wooden dinning room chairs. I need to stretch...but what stretch do I do first? My first go to is the lunge stretch (any variation of the lunge is good). Because if the lower back hurts from sitting too much then the first place to look at are the hip flexors. Sitting incorrectly for long periods of time freezes your hip flexors into a shortened position. When you stand up ...they won’t lengthen out as they should to allow your pelvis to go into alignment thus releasing your lower back. The lunge stretches the hip flexors by putting them in a position to be lengthened. The great part is you don’t need a reformer to do this. You can do it standing holding onto the wall, on the floor for kneeling lunge, with a Swiss ball...there are lots of variations to fit your body. Throughout the day I’ll be sharing some more stretches in my story. #hipflexors #lungestretch #lowerbackpainrelief #pilatesinstructor #pilatesbyazalea

Happy New Year! I know, I know, it’s January 2nd...but I couldn’t get in the right mindset yesterday. 2020 spun me upside down but I made it through thanks to my wonderfully supportive clients and family. I’m stepping into 2021 cautiously because 2020 left me exhausted. ... My first step is to be more intentional with my social media. Up until now I’ve been kinda random. I want to share with everyone some of my knowledge to help answer the questions I get asked all the time as a Pilates instructor and I want to share more of the things I like...like plants. #2021goals #pilatesinstructor #businessgoals

Happy Christmas Eve! Feliz Noche Buena! My first years of marriage Mark was confused why Christmas Eve was the big deal for me and not so much Christmas Day. Isn’t Christmas Day the big celebration? He’d ask. I wasn’t too sure either why did my family go all out on Christmas Eve (Dinner, presents). So I did some research and learned about Noche Buena. Because I didn’t grow up Catholic I didn’t really know about these things. ... But culture is a funny thing. Sometimes we do things out of tradition without knowing it’s origin. Merry Christmas Eve

My skin is sensitive and easily gets inflamed. I learned from my esthetician to make concentrated chamomile tea and freeze it into ice cubes. This is amazing! Anytime my allergies act up or my skin gets inflamed I rub this frozen tea on my skin and the inflammation diminishes! #takecareofyourself #staycation

I’ll be taking a much needed break. Studio will be closed for all in person sessions and reopen Sat. Jan 2. Next week, virtual sessions and in home visits will be held Mon-Wed (Dec 28-30). This week I’ll be sharing with you what I do for fun, because that’s one of the top 10 questions I get asked all the time ... on my free time I watch the bees in my garden. #savethebees #staycation #breathe

The love and support our members have showed us has been absolutely amazing! Thank you for joining this week's classes. If you haven't joined us yet the schedule is online you can find it on MBO or through our website pilatesbyazalea.com If you were a member at the beginning of March you most likely have credit you can use towards classes DM me or email me to inquire. If you've been a loyal member and lost your job or a cut in pay because of the safer at home order please DM or email me

Join Felicia tomorrow 6pm! Sign up at pilatesbyazalea.com $10 a class! #pilatesbyazalea #quarantinepilates #onlinepilatesclasses

We are officially online!! Using Zoom as our platform for classes. $10 a class Schedule through MBO or visit pilatesbyazalea.com to check out our schedule #pilatesinquarantine #transitiontoonline #pilatesbyazalea

We are closed through May 15. If you are interested in our online classes please DM me. Stay Safe! Keep moving your body

In compliance with the Safer At Home order we will be closed until April 19. Stay Safe Everyone!

Mayor of Los Angeles says we will be closed until March 31 or a later date if he so chooses. If you are a member at our studio we will contact you tomorrow regarding this closure.

*Update: studio will be closed until March 31. We will be contacting all members this week regarding your memberships. 3/16 Reformer Classes running with Felicia 9am, 10am, 4:30pm, 5:30pm, and 6:30pm