75 episodes

Pilates is a mindset. Movement is a practice. Teaching is a relationship. We talk about it all. The Thinking Pilates Podcast is a fun, edgy, insightful, and relevant (slightly irreverent) conversation that will make ANY Pilates teacher -- or yoga, or dance, or anyone who teaches movement -- pause and reconsider how they do what they do. Join us as we probe the inner edges of the Pilates industry and the outer limits of movement science, psychology, art, mindfulness and more. We’re in search of how to be better humans through movement and the Pilates mindset. It’s a wild ride. Jump on!

Created by Chantill Lopez, founder of Skillful Teaching, and co-hosted by master teacher trainer and mentor Debora Kolwey, of the Pilates Center in Boulder, CO, and master teacher and founder of PhysicalThinking.com and owner of Evolved Body Studio, James Crader.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Thinking Pilates Podcast Chantill Lopez, Debora Kolwey + James Crader

    • Health & Fitness
    • 5.0 • 2 Ratings

Pilates is a mindset. Movement is a practice. Teaching is a relationship. We talk about it all. The Thinking Pilates Podcast is a fun, edgy, insightful, and relevant (slightly irreverent) conversation that will make ANY Pilates teacher -- or yoga, or dance, or anyone who teaches movement -- pause and reconsider how they do what they do. Join us as we probe the inner edges of the Pilates industry and the outer limits of movement science, psychology, art, mindfulness and more. We’re in search of how to be better humans through movement and the Pilates mindset. It’s a wild ride. Jump on!

Created by Chantill Lopez, founder of Skillful Teaching, and co-hosted by master teacher trainer and mentor Debora Kolwey, of the Pilates Center in Boulder, CO, and master teacher and founder of PhysicalThinking.com and owner of Evolved Body Studio, James Crader.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Ep 75: Tonya Marie Amos

    Ep 75: Tonya Marie Amos

    Grown Women Dance Collective creates cross-cultural, intergenerational, and cross-class connections, encouraging dialogue, empowering thought and action, and building cross-racial alliances through concert dance and wellness programs. Mature dancers challenge the stereotypes of aging and create artistic work that is relevant, accessible and inspiring to diverse and financially challenged audiences. We promote mind and body healing through health and fitness programs and create economic opportunities for young people.
    It is my pleasure and honor to be able to end our sweet podcast after five years with a series of three episodes dedicated to highlighting and elevating some of the visionary warriors in our movement community. In this episode I'm talking to a long time colleague and friend, Tonya Marie Amos, one of the fiercest, most dedicated, and driven people I've ever met.
    Tonya is a force and her vision to positively impact and change her community from the inside out through Pilates teacher training education, art and fiscal education, and more is stunning and powerful.
    I'm so happy to lift up her voice and her vision and CALL YOU TO ACTION in support of social justice and change!
    Enjoy. Act. Share. Create change.


    More About Grown Women Dance Collective
    Founded in 2009, Grown Women Dance Collective inspires and empowers social impact through dance and wellness. Founded by former professional New York dancers of color, GWDC is based in Oakland and Contra Costa County, California. GWDC offers a space for internationally respected, retired dancers in their 40s and 50s to share over 400 years of collective experience, hold space in our historical lineage, and celebrate African American history. It’s a space for the residents of Alameda and Contra Costa County to learn, explore creativity, find connections, and heal.
    WHAT DO WE DO
    Our annual Juneteenth celebration performance creates cross-cultural and inter-generational connections, encourages dialogue, provokes thought, strengthens self-identity, and advances racial harmony—all while challenging stereotypes of what a dancer should be. Our performances are a celebration of African American culture that incorporates a self-empowered view on U.S. history.
    Our wellness programs consist of teaching mind and body healing through health and fitness classes. These lessons both heal the individual and heal our society. Our arts and wellness programs are relevant and accessible to diverse and under-resourced audiences who traditionally have had barriers to access. 
    grownwomendance.org
    DONATE


    More About Tonya Marie Amos
    TONYA MARIE AMOS (Founder & Artistic Executive Director of Grown Women Dance Collective) 
    Tonya received a BA in Cultural Anthropology from U.C. Berkeley & trained four years on full scholarship at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center. A member of Actors Equity Association, she has appeared with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater & Donald Byrd, was a member of Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble, Footprints & Amy Pivar Dances, performed in the International Tour of West Side Story, the National Tour of Sesame St. Live, Sacramento Music Circus’ The King and I, and has been featured in numerous print ads and TV commercials.
    She is the owner of Aspire Pilates Center, for which she was awarded Pleasant Hill Chamber of Commerce’s “100 Women of Influence” in 2010, Women’s Initiative’s Concord Female Entrepreneur of the Year in 2011, Concord’s Small Business of the Year 2013, Community Focus’ Reader’s Choice Best Pilates Studio in 2015, and Concord’s Best Woman-Owned Business of the Year in 2016.
    The former author of a monthly Health & Wellness column for the Community Focus newspaper, Tonya is currently proofreading her Foot Pain prevention and recovery book, running Pilates retreats internationally, and developing Pilates education programs to help make this impactful work accessible to diverse communities. Shifting Aspire’s operating model

    • 46 min
    Ep 74: Rupture, Repair + Listening to Your Nervous System

    Ep 74: Rupture, Repair + Listening to Your Nervous System

    If the right way is not my nervous system’s way in this moment then I’m going to override what my nervous system is telling me and I’m going to suffer both physically -- physical injury -- but my psychology also suffers because I’ve now disconnected and thought what my system is telling me is not okay.My work was always with complex trauma survivors and so isn’t that what they bring? They’ve been told that what's happening in here either really isn’t happening, because what you see out here is not going on, or what’s happening in here is not okay, you need to disavow it. -- Deb Dana
    I'm always amazed at how synchronistic life is. When I'm feeling anxious, pushing, worrying that I haven't done something in the "right" time, I'm rewarded by relaxing and simply being present with what is. That's how this interview manifested. Talking with Deb Dana couldn't be better timed although for a long time I'd wished we'd have gotten to it sooner.
    After listening to the interview again, I'm confident that it will be eye-opening, insightful, infinitely informative, and transformative for the way you relate not only to your teaching but all that's happening in the world -- your personal and professional spheres and in your relationships to the larger world.
    If you are interested in finding something that will support you in attending to all that the world is beggin you to attend to, but more importantly, what your own nervous system is asking you to contend with, this will go a long way to do that.
    And, as always, we're funny and thoughtful and it's just a damn good conversation. ;)
    Listen. Really listen. Take it in. Notice where it applies to you and your life. Smile. Rewind. Smile some more. Pass it on.


    More About Deb Dana
    My passion for Polyvagal Theory guides my work, my writing, and my teaching. Polyvagal Theory, developed by Dr. Stephen Porges, offers a way to understand the human autonomic nervous system and directly engage with habitual patterns of response. Through a polyvagal lens we can learn to listen to our embodied stories. Using a polyvagal perspective, we can let go of self criticism and bring an open heart to exploring our daily experience. 
    Out of Stephen Porges's brilliant work developing Polyvagal Theory, a world-wide community of Polyvagal-informed people and systems is developing as we better understand the power of the autonomic nervous system to guide our movements and shape our stories. My work as a clinician, consultant, andlecturer is focused on using the lens of Polyvagal Theory to understand and resolve the impact of trauma and create ways of working that honor the role of the autonomic nervous system as we move through states of protection and connection in an ongoing quest for safety.  
    Deb Dana's website: Rhythmofregulation
    Learn more about her books:

    Polyvagal Exercises for Safety and ConnectionThe Polyvagal Theory in TherapyClinical Applications of the Polyvagal TheoryPolyvagal Flip Chart
    Learn more about workshops and opportunities.


    Connect with Us
    Chantill - chantill@skillfulteaching.com + (707) 738-7951Debora - dkolwey@gmail.com James - j.crader@evolvedbodystudio.com
    Email us at thinkingpilatespodcast@gmail.com or use the form below.
    Like us on Facebook at The Thinking Pilates Podcast
    Leave us a review on iTunes.


    What We're Up To
    Chantill

    The Science + Psychology of Teaching Master's Program! Learn more about the programJoin our Facebook group: Bold, Brave + Boredom-free Teaching RoadmapLots of Online curriculum right now!The 28-Day Course - Writing For Resilience, Safety + Positive Change - Starts July 19thObservation Empathy and Intuition in Teaching - Zoom Workshop, Friday, June 26th 11 am - 1 pm PSTEnter the Vagus (12-hours of video, audio, reading, discussion, exercises and more) Name Your Own Price
    James

    Check out James' new website - JamesCrader.comLearn more about SOS
    Our Episode Sponsor

    Momentum FestZoom Live Event: June 26-28
    Momentum Fest™ is a three

    • 1 hr 10 min
    Ep 73: The Spark of Human Movement

    Ep 73: The Spark of Human Movement

    Movement is life. If we go to all life forms, there's movement even breathing in the cells of our bodies -- or in multi-celled creatures -- there’s always movement and vibration and the movement of fluid. It’s through movement that we meet the world and the world meets us, and we have a chance to interact and grow. -- Mariko Tanabe
    This conversation has been a long time in coming with Mariko Tanabe, Body Mind Centering Faculty and Program Director of Esprit en Mouvement in Montreal. James and I recorded this interview many months ago and because of the world being on its ear, we've simply been delayed in giving it to you. You're really going to enjoy this conversation about the "spark of human movement" and the journey to connect to it with Mariko. James and I had the pleasure of working with Mariko last March (2019) at a BMC workshop.

    Listen. Move. Breathe in. Breathe out. You. Are. Alive.


    More About Mariko Tanabe
    Mariko Tanabe is inspired by the healing powers of human movement and expression. She has been performing and presenting her choreographic works during the past 25 years in Asia, Europe, and North America. Mariko teaches workshops to dance companies and at universities, art centers and schools throughout the world. She mentors artists and maintains a private practice working with individuals of all backgrounds. For 12 years she worked with American dance master Erick Hawkins in NYC as a principal dancer, teacher and rehearsal director. She is a Certified Teacher and Practitioner of Body-Mind Centering®, as well as an Infant Developmental Movement Educator, Yoga teacher and Registered Somatic Therapist.
    Mariko's website: MarikoTanabe.com
    Mariko is also the director of Esprit En Mouvement, the Body Mind Centering program in Montreal


    Connect with Us
    Chantill - chantill@skillfulteaching.com + (707) 738-7951Debora - dkolwey@gmail.com James - j.crader@evolvedbodystudio.com
    Email us at thinkingpilatespodcast@gmail.com or use the form below.
    Like us on Facebook at The Thinking Pilates Podcast
    Leave us a review on iTunes.


    What We're Up To
    Chantill

    The Science + Psychology of TEaching Master's Program! Enrollment begins Monday, March 23rd!Learn more about the programJoin our Facebook group: Bold, Brave + Boredom-free Teaching RoadmapLots of Online curriculum right now!Enter the Vagus (12-hours of video, audio, reading, discussion, exercises and more)James

    Check out James' new website - JamesCrader.comLearn more about SOS

    Our Episode Sponsor

    Momentum FestDenver, CO June 26-28
    Momentum Fest™ is a three day Pilates and movement celebration. Feed your body, mind and soul with empowering fitness classes, motivating conversations and uplifting connections. Momentum Fest 2019 will be held June 26-28 in Denver, CO. Join us as we laugh, breathe and move together.
    FOR ANYONE WANTING TO FIND THEIR TRUE STRENGTH
    Students, teachers, young, old, beginners, professionals – Momentum Fest is holding a place for you. All you need is a love of movement and a desire to live inspired.
    momentumfest.com


    The Science + Psychology of Teaching Master's Program
    Explore A Whole New Universe of Teaching (NEW Cohort March 2, 2020)
    Dive in to critical areas of teaching NEVER before directly addressed in a full-length certification program: brain science + education, humanistic psychology, motivation science, Polyvagal Theory + more.






    FINALLY! Bring Something BIG to Life
    As a project-based program we’ll help you create the curriculum, workshop or research project you’ve been dreaming of; take the larger stage, make a bigger impact + experience a more rewarding and lucrative career. This is not just another teacher training!






    Intimate, Interactive, Challenging + Rewarding
    The Master’s Program is a HIGHLY INTERACTIVE process of learning + implementation that supports you every step of the way to immediately integrate what you learn. Get 1:1 coaching, LIVE group discussions, daily feedback and guidance +

    • 1 hr 1 min
    Ep 72: Bringing Every Cell To Life

    Ep 72: Bringing Every Cell To Life

    Why should we care about embryology as movement educators? Why should we care if all of our cells are in a creative mode or not? Is there a history in us from the time of the moment of our making that can inform how we express our bodies today? Join me and Debora Kolwey with Body-Mind Psychotherapy creator, Susan Aposhyan, for this wonderful conversation that kicks off our final season.

    The way I define embodiment is on a cellular level. Cellularly we can be in a physiologically creative mode or be in more of a routine, somewhat shutdown, minimally functioning mode. It used to be that people were saying a lot of “I was my body, I was out of my body,” and I’d say it’s not that simple, that’s not helpful to reduce embodiment to a binary set of states. But if we think about it on a cellular level…out of our 37 trillion cells how many of those cells are in a creative mode and how many of them are in a habitual mode? That’s how I define embodiment. If you look at every other creature on the planet they’re hovering close to 90 percent to 100 percent of embodiment. In that sense embodiment means that whatever that is coming in to the organism, whether it’s material or immaterial, in the case of thoughts and perceptions, is processed with no holds barred, and then expressed out with no limitations. So there’s a free flow of energy. Stuff comes in and energy, behavior goes out. So for example you don’t see coyotes trying not to fart. It's just input output, input output… .That’s a very concrete way that we stop our embodiment, that we stop our physiological processing. We’re trying not to belch or fart or smell or sweat, but also we’re trying not to laugh or cry or express our pain or jump up and down if we’re in a classroom, or run away if somebody scares us. There’s so many ways we stop our embodied flow. And as adults we’ve learned how to do that. Human adults are unique really in their ability to put cells into a habitually fixed mode and leave them there for decades at a time. 
    Listen. Get quiet. Question what you know. Enjoy and share.


    More About Susan Aposhyan
    Susan considers her work a convergence of dance, psychology, meditation, Body-Mind Centering.
    Here are some of Susan's answers to her pre-interview questions...
    Q: What has been one of the most difficult challenges to overcome in your professional life?
    A: Division between physicality, psychology, and spirituality
    Q: What inspires you about the future of your profession / field?
    A: Unification
    Q: What worries or concerns you about the future of your profession / field?
    A: Rigidification
    Susan's webiste: Body Mind Psychotherapy
    Explore Susan's books: here

    Body-Mind PsychotherapyNatural Intelligence
    Find out where Susan is teaching: here


    Connect with Us
    Chantill - chantill@skillfulteaching.com + (707) 738-7951Debora - dkolwey@gmail.com James - j.crader@evolvedbodystudio.com
    Email us at thinkingpilatespodcast@gmail.com or use the form below.
    Like us on Facebook at The Thinking Pilates Podcast
    Leave us a review on iTunes.


    What We're Up To
    Chantill

    Enter the Vagus - Friday, Jan. 31 - Monday, Feb. 3rdSanta Barbara @ Aligned Pilates StudioA la carte options available for partial enrollmentWords Matter - Feb. 10th - April 12thOnline Writing + Verbal Cueing WorkshopJames

    Check out James' new website - JamesCrader.comLearn more about SOS

    Our Episode Sponsor

    Momentum FestDenver, CO June 26-28
    Momentum Fest™ is a three day Pilates and movement celebration. Feed your body, mind and soul with empowering fitness classes, motivating conversations and uplifting connections. Momentum Fest 2019 will be held June 26-28 in Denver, CO. Join us as we laugh, breathe and move together.
    FOR ANYONE WANTING TO FIND THEIR TRUE STRENGTH
    Students, teachers, young, old, beginners, professionals – Momentum Fest is holding a place for you. All you need is a love of movement and a desire to live inspired.
    momentumfest.com


    The Science + Psychol

    • 59 min
    Ep 71: Jill Miller

    Ep 71: Jill Miller

    The first question I wanted to ask Yoga Tune Up creator, Jill Miller, but didn't was how do you perceive your level of success?
    I didn't because there wasn't a natural opening that wouldn't have left you all feeling like "Why the hell is Chantill derailing this conversation".
    However...we DID talk about Korean natural gardening, bulimia, hip replacements, learning to walk, and many more strange and offbeat things that are sure to leave you feeling like you just watched a Wes Anderson movie. (Good thing.)
    How does someone who's made a life in movement and movement education hold kind and compassionate space for her own pain, dis-ease, recovery, and rehabilitation?
    It's a story I think will resonate with a lot of you.
    And in between we GEEK out on connective tissue, the vagus nerve (her starstruck moment with the man himself, Stephen Porges), current research, and being with people.
    It was a wonderful curiosity exclamation point to wrap our third and final (full) season.
    Read on. Listen. Enjoy. And be kind to yourself.

    In my 20s when I was researching my own disease, my bulimia, I came across of the work of the dr Michael Gershon and his findings on the enteric nervous system. That was the first time I ever learned anything about the vagus nerve and that the vagus was exclusively responsible for your digestion. I knew there must be a link for myself with the erraticness that I created with my disease and this relationship to my nervous system; the feedback that my organs must be giving to my brain via the vagus. This is something that was a quest and an inquiry for me a long time ago. More About Jill Miller
    Yoga Tune Up + Tune Up Fitness
    Find her on Instagram:
    @yogatuneup @tuneupfitness
    Facebook:
    @jillmillerfaust @TuneUpFitness
    Other interesting and relevant links:
    Dr. Michael Gershon on The Enteric Nervous System: A Second Brain
    Korean Natural Farming


    Connect with Us
    Chantill - chantill@skillfulteaching.com + (707) 738-7951James - j.crader@evolvedbodystudio.com
    Email us at thinkingpilatespodcast@gmail.com or use the form below.
    Like us on Facebook at The Thinking Pilates Podcast
    Leave us a review on iTunes.


    What We're Up To

    Join Chantill and James at Momentum Fest this coming June.Learn more and get your tickets HERE

    Our Episode Sponsor

    Momentum FestDenver, CO June 21-23
    Momentum Fest™ is a three day Pilates and movement celebration. Feed your body, mind and soul with empowering fitness classes, motivating conversations and uplifting connections. Momentum Fest 2019 will be held June 21-23 in Denver, CO. Join us as we laugh, breathe and move together.
    FOR ANYONE WANTING TO FIND THEIR TRUE STRENGTH
    Students, teachers, young, old, beginners, professionals – Momentum Fest is holding a place for you. All you need is a love of movement and a desire to live inspired.
    momentumfest.com

    The Science + Psychology of Teaching Master's Program
    Explore A Whole New Universe of Teaching (NEW Cohort Fall 2019)
    Dive in to critical areas of teaching NEVER before directly addressed in a full-length certification program: brain science + education, humanistic psychology, motivation science, Polyvagal Theory + more.

    FINALLY! Bring Something BIG to Life
    As a project-based program we’ll help you create the curriculum, workshop or research project you’ve been dreaming of; take the larger stage, make a bigger impact + experience a more rewarding and lucrative career. This is not just another teacher training!
     

    Intimate, Interactive, Challenging + Rewarding
    The Master’s Program is a HIGHLY INTERACTIVE process of learning + implementation that supports you every step of the way to immediately integrate what you learn. Get 1:1 coaching, LIVE group discussions, daily feedback and guidance + fantastic LIVE EVENT in California!
     
    Learn more HERE and get signed up for an upcoming Q + A Call and be eligible for tuition discounts not available any other time.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more inf

    • 1 hr 35 min
    Ep 70: Anna Hartman - The Best of Us

    Ep 70: Anna Hartman - The Best of Us

    Anna Hartman is the best of us. She is deeply intelligent and unfailingly kind. She is generous, curious, willing, open, and creative. She cares about people in a way I've seen few others. This interview is a wonderful opportunity to experience the potential of brilliance infused with a willingness to be wrong.
    Meet my dear friend and colleague, the tinkerer, Anna Hartman.
    Listen. Delight. Smile. Feel inspired and alive and renewed.
    Pass it on.

    {My work as I see it is to} ultimately, get people to appreciate and love the act of critical thinking and exploring. And actually it’s funny to say it but return to the foundation of the scientific method, which is to have a hypothesis and try to prove it wrong, or prove it right. Not feel like a failure when it doesn’t work the way you thought it would, but feel like that’s just more information and go from there.In teaching people that…often times people watch me practice or watch me work with somebody or explain what I do and will say ‘Oh, it’s very intuitive.’ It is but it’s not.It’s just a curiosity for “Hey, what if I try this, what happens? What if I try this?" And if you boil that down it’s what we first learned in grade school when we were learning about the scientific method -- is that it’s okay to be wrong, in fact you’re probably always going to be wrong, and the beauty in it is proving it, is discovering…In the act of trying to prove it right or prove it wrong you’re going to discover more and more questions. More About Anna Hartman
    Anna Hartman AT, MS, ATC, CSCS(R), PMA-CPT(R) is an Athletic Trainer with 17 years of experience working with athletes in the NFL, MLB, NBA, USTA, WTA, PGA, LPGA, NHL, MLS, and Olympic sports. Anna is also a PMA Certified Pilates Teacher, comprehensively trained in Polestar Pilates, has completed a 200hr Vinyasa Yoga training, and is a NSCA Certified Strength and Conditioning Coach. For the past 6 years Anna has been studying and practicing The Barral Institute’s Visceral, Neural, Vascular, and Articular Manipulation techniques for assessment and manual therapy as well as exploring the integration of osteopathic philosophies within her movement, rehabilitation and performance methods. As an athletic training professional, she’s presented at world-class conferences such as the National Athletic Trainers Association Annual Symposium, and has been featured in on big-name fitness sites such as USA Today Sports, Women’s Running and ESPN, just to name a few. 
    Now, Anna is the Founder of MovementREV and utilizes manual therapy and movement working with professional athletes to restore and revitalize their body in order to enhance their performance, decrease their injury potential, and create space in their body and mind. Anna also consults with various professional athletes during their season, traveling on a regular basis to keep them healthy, moving well, and performing at a high level.
    MovementREV’s 6 month online group mentorship program for sports healthcare providers called: REVitalize offers a new, unique perspective for sports healthcare while providing long term support for assimilation of information into your work, helping you to be more efficient and effective in your practice so you can feel fulfilled, inspired, and successful and ultimately avoid burnout.
    Previously, Anna was the Director of Performance Physical Therapy at EXOS (formerly Athletes’ Performance) where she worked for 11 years. When she’s not traveling, speaking, healing or teaching, you can find Anna close to the water with a margarita in-hand or taking even more movement and professional education classes. To find out more about Anna, go to www.movementrev.com. 

    Connect with Us
    Chantill - chantill@skillfulteaching.com + (707) 738-7951James - j.crader@evolvedbodystudio.com
    Email us at thinkingpilatespodcast@gmail.com or use the form below.
    Like us on Facebook at The Thinking Pilates Podcast
    Leave us

    • 1 hr 13 min

Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5
2 Ratings

2 Ratings

martipilati ,

Outrageously helpful, informative, thoughtful.

I discovered Thinking Pilates as I started my teacher training. The podcasts have been, and continue to be, a constant source of inspiration to me. Immense knowledge is selflessly imparted with wit and warmth and really encourages self exploration and wonder. Brilliant stuff. Thank you sooooo much.

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