First it was Spring. And then it wasn't. And then it seemed like every known weather system cycled through Puget Sound every day, three times per day! Rain or shine, we've got you covered. Here's how to practice your reformer leg and footwork, sans springs, indoors or outdoors.

Turn the volume up for audible cues!

Some tips:

When working in prehensile and with flexed feet, legs bend in to 90/90 and then straighten out on a diagonal. Come into an upper contraction with the fingertips behind the head. Keep your pelvis level and your low back connected to the mat. If your low back starts to come off the mat, maintain your legs at a higher diagonal. Think about folding the hips to bend the legs.

When working in turnout with the heels together, your legs will bend into a diamond.

Take a nice full-body stretch between your work in each foot position, just like we do on the reformer. On the inhale, let your shoulders come up towards your ears. Lengthen up and out of the hips, stretching from your toenails to your fingertips. Then exhale, reconnect to center, shoulders glide into their pockets.

When pulsing the legs in second position, maintain control of the pulse. This might mean you need to take the "V" of the legs a little narrower.

On the toe taps: Remember to keep your low back connected to the mat.

How did it go? For us, this felt like a lot more abdominal and hip fold work than it does on the reformer. How about you?

If you've always wanted to try Pilates but didn't know where to start, Fletcher Pilates 101 is for you!

Join us for a 4-week group class series that will cover the fundamentals of Fletcher Pilates. Perfect for beginning students.

Our Fletcher teachers Marilyn and Cristin will team-teach this series. They're ready to help you put the "fun" in fundamentals, people! (Sorry, we can't help ourselves.)

Learn simple, mindful movements that help create a supple spine, stable shoulders, strong core, and happy hips. Take home breathing and postural awareness techniques you can apply in daily life.

• Four 75-minute classes
• $100 for the series
• 8 students maximum, and we need a minimum of 4 students to run the class
  

Interested? We plan to run the next series soon, and we'd love to see you there! Please e-mail Cristin for more information.

We are seeking a professional tenant for our Wellness Room located inside our growing Pilates Studio. Located in North Ballard on 24th Avenue NW, this is an opportunity to work in a supportive environment with like-minded professionals in a beautiful space to grow your business. Large, newly renovated room with large west-facing windows, storage, 2 bathrooms, ample free street parking for your clients, easy-adjust massage table in room, comfortable chairs and table, and much more.

Please e-mail us at info@pilatesintolife.com for more information or to schedule a viewing.

Availability: Thursday 2:30pm-Close, Friday, and Sunday. Start and end times can be determined by you.

Rent: $140 per day per month,  $70 per half day per month. All utilities included.  

Lease: 6-month and multi-day per month lease preferred with $300 refundable security deposit at lease signing. (Possible shorter lease or lease for single day per month may be available on case-by-case basis)

When Pilates Style Magazine asked PIL for tips on how to hold an umbrella with proper alignment, the ideas came pouring out of us. Cristin and Teresa brainstormed, and Cristin wrote a list of tips. A few months later, Teresa was featured in the March/April issue of Pilates Style, complete with a beautiful full-page photo by Sorella Photos!

Here's our first draft of the list of tips that the magazine featured. What do you think, fellow Puget Sounders? Did we cover everything?

Tips for Holding an Umbrella

Stabilize your shoulder girdle. Cold, damp weather has a tendency to draw everyone’s shoulders up toward the ears. To create some space there: Shrug your shoulders up as you inhale. On an exhale, float your shoulder blades down the back and into their pockets.

Try “umbrella breathing.”  Further stabilize your upper body by using three-dimensional breath to bring awareness to your thoracic spine. As you inhale, imagine your ribcage is expanding in all directions, like an umbrella as it opens. As you exhale, feel the ribs settle together.

Relax your arms. A sudden gust of wind may mean you have to hold your umbrella at more than one angle to keep it from turning inside out. Keep your upper body “at the ready” or “on simmer,” as Ron Fletcher would say.

Don’t death-grip that handle! Switch your umbrella between hands periodically so you can stretch your fingers. Try “Fist to open,” a Fletcher Fundamental: As you inhale, make a strong fist. Exhale and burst the fingers open, stretching long through the fingertips. (Extra points if you jump through puddles while doing this.)

Engage your lower hemisphere. Keep connected to midline while you navigate slippery, busy sidewalks. Bring your awareness to three sets of “magnets”—one at the ankle bones, one just above the kneecaps, and one between the upper inner thighs.

Embrace the rain! It can be wonderful inspiration for movement. (Movement you’ll do once you’re inside, warm, dry and post almond-milk latte, of course.)  Here’s an image for standing alignment: Imagine a raindrop gently falling through the crown of your head, and plumb through the center of your body, until it lands on the floor between your heels.

Finally, don’t stress if you’re caught in a drizzle unprepared—some say sans umbrella is the only way a true Seattleite would roll anyway!