Began Pilates with My Gyrotonic Instructor

K, my dependable Pilates instructor has closed the loop with all her clients and gone on maternity leave and easing into a new chapter as a new mother. My Pilates classes still go on, but I'm taking it at a new studio with JY, who is my Gyrotonic instructor. Hehehe.  

JY is a newly certified Pilates instructor. And I thought I would give her some encouragement to also have me as a client for Pilates. Like I said, I prefer my instructors to be also dancers, athletes or be fitness advocates. JY is an experienced Gyrotonic instructor and would completely understand the difference in the mechanics and purpose of both disciplines. I was happy to do a 10-class set of Pilates with her. 

It was a fun first class with JY that was obviously not a class for newbies. She didn't take me through the newbie program and we simply went straight into exercises and movements that suit my body needs for the week. She knows all my weak spots from Gyrotonic, and these spots wouldn't differ too much in Pilates. 

A few classes on, I'm pleased to note that JY doesn't teach Pilates in the same way as she teaches Gyrotonic. Sure, her tone of voice, attentiveness and how she catches my lazy methods are the same. However, in Pilates, she looks at different muscles and formulates different movements. Like I said, Gyrotonic focuses a lot on spiralling and rotation — slightly gentler. Pilates can be full on strength-building and resistance training. JY is very clear on how these two movement disciplines differ.

Of course I'm curious about other Pilates studios, and other styles of 'Pilates'. We'll see how it goes. K's going to be on maternity leave for a few months, so I'm free to explore. Heheh. I'll finish these 10 classes with JY, then I'll see where I'd like to try out. I'm still more keen on classical Pilates than the ones mixed in with HIIT or modified reformers using TRX straps. 

Instructor JY doing a demo for some of the movements.