Grey Matter

My first reformers were Black. Which makes total sense. Everything was simple then. Black and white. Lists. Rules. Lots of Nevers and lots and lots of Always's.

Some time along my Pilates path I needed to dial back in to my heritage and converted everything to Blue. The color of the equipment at my Pilates home, Drago's gym where I studied for a decade  under Romana Kryzanowska. The blue phase was generally understood by all to be a tribute to our Pilates roots and to pay homage to the original work. 

More than twenty five years after I began my Pilates teaching career we've settled into a deep warm grey color. Not accidentally. 

With each day, each client and each class we teach we have learned to allow for space in-between the black and the white. In these spaces, the individual student can grow, adapt, and develop their practice. The grey matter of the brain is responsible for all sensory perception and motor control without which - Pilates would be simply impossible to execute. The shades of grey that instructors need to embrace over time will imbue your teaching with nuance, your clients with finesse and your mutual progress with something pretty damn close to fairy dust.

If you are new to teaching - keep it black and white. The black and white sets the stage for the grey which will surely arrive. Just give it time.