Today was all about the hands-on technique; building up our “tool box” to use Billy’s words. The more techniques we learn and the better we get at using them, the more transformative the process will be for the client. Well, let me tell you that I have a lot of work to do. Assisting someone when they are barely moving, like in Pilates, is one thing. Assisting someone when they are moving at a fairly good speed is another thing. Your hand-eye coordination has to be better. The ability to place your hands at the right place without stopping the flow of the movement is a challenge. Have you ever tried to step right behind someone very closely and start walking the way they do? I do this with my husband. I find it fun but it’s really hard. More often than not, I end up stepping on his Achilles tendon or heels. And that ‘s how it felt for me today.
In addition, one has to use one’s body for leverage instead of one’s hands and
My room in New Yorkthat was my biggest issue. Assisting in Gyrotonic® is a workout itself. You have to learn to use your entire body. Billy reassured us by confessing that it took him a few years to become really good at it. He also mentioned that it was all connected. The better we understand the movement in our body, the easier it will be to assist others in reaching the same level of understanding. That’s why I feel that it’s fair for me to offer classes at reduced prices for the next year as I will need the feedback of my clients to know how I’m doing. As my own understanding expands, I will be in a state of flux, thinking: “Am I confusing them or helping them expand into their body?”
Today, I worked with Silvia- the extremely funny girl from Italy. I admire her. She’s not only learning everything else I’m learning but she’s also learning English. This morning, she got up at 6am and went online to get the translation of all the words that she could not understand from yesterday’s class . She had two pages of words! At lunch time, she asked to see my notes and shortened her lunch to take additional information from my notebook.
There is one thing I complained about today. I knew that everyone else in my group felt the same way. All the ab series exercises are right after lunch. That’s really wrong. Because I can be forthcoming, I decided to raise the issue and was told to get used to it. Billy had no pity for us. He simply said: “Make sure you have a light lunch.” By 1pm, I’m starving. Light lunches are not really an option for me or I won’t make it until the end of the day. Did I mention that we have no breaks except for a few minutes at the end of our warm-up for for water and/or a bathroom break?
Every warm-up is different. They are taken from the Gyrokinesis® workout and a new principal is introduced each day. Today it was about finding your emotional body and to linking it to the physical body. The entire day I thought about it and even though my range of motion was drastically reduced, I felt that my movements were more fluid.
I love this course; what it covers seems so vast and ever-expanding. Juliu, the founder, is a very busy man that never ceases exploring. That’s just brilliant to me.
See you tomorrow.
