In March of 2020, the world came to a standstill. I had been teaching group Pilates classes across multiple studios in the North-East Melbourne area for just over a year. 30 hours of teaching a week, double shifts, morning and night almost every weekday and at least one day every weekend. Like most during this time, I started to evaluate what my week looked like, and the amount of time I was spending travelling between studios and decided that I wanted to change things up. I wanted to condense my life and I was ready to tackle something new.
When I started teaching Pilates, I always knew one day I wanted to complete my Diploma. I had a friend who had recently graduated with the Diploma of Professional Pilates Instruction with National Pilates Training and spoke so highly of her experience. By April, I had jumped online and booked in a call with Katrina Edwards to discuss what starting my Diploma would look like. By the end of the phone call, I was excited, inspired and motivated by the prospect of learning again, adding to my skillset as a teacher and challenging myself in a new, but also familiar way.
Through my units completed in my Certificate IV in Matwork & Reformer, I was able to obtain RPL which meant I was entering the course at a lower cost and with some prior knowledge and experience of the Matwork and Reformer units, which meant I came into the course with confidence whilst keeping an open mind to a new perspective.
Over the next 12 months, with just a few lockdowns and online contact sessions in between, I learnt more about the Pilates method, the human body and about myself than I ever could have expected. I graduated with a whole new sense of confidence in my skillset, an eagerness for working with a range of different body and posture types and the resilience to know I could tackle a challenge head-on with a versatile set of problem-solving and critical thinking skills.
Through learning about different low-risk conditions, how to complete a postural analysis and undertake a comprehensive pre-exercise screening and induction process with clients, I not only gained the skills needed to prescribe movement to clients within a studio Pilates environment, but I also approached my group teaching so differently.
I programmed with a deep sense of “why” we do exercises and why we order them the way that we do so that clients can successfully make their way through a class. I felt 100 times more confident providing modifications and assistance to those who needed it and I no longer cared about how creative my class was. Teaching and educating clients Pilates and why it is so good for our bodies, became my number one priority.
Fast forward 3 years and the career progression that has come out of the skills and confidence gained within this time has been beyond what I could have imagined. By 2021, I had bought into a studio of my own, by 2022 we introduced studio Pilates to our Pilates services, meaning I can work evenly across both a studio and group environment, and by the end of 2023, I completed by teaching and assessment certificate, and I was a qualified assessor with National Pilates Training, helping to educate the future of Pilates teachers.
The power of upskilling and putting yourself in a challenging environment shouldn’t be underestimated for not only the professional, but the personal growth gained. Providing yourself with the toolkit to tackle challenges head-on, problem-solve on the spot and develop a growth mindset, only helps you to thrive within a range of environments, inside or outside the four walls of a Pilates studio.
An Article by Cecily Hemphill
Dip. Professional Pilates Instruction
Owner of NPT Affiliate Studio- Alive Pilates Studio, Greensborough
Faculty Educator – National Pilates Training
