A New Year is fast approaching! What a great time to think on goals for the year Pilates teachers, personal goals for your Pilates teaching skills and education.You have been thinking of taking your Pilates teaching to a new level and having a deeper understanding. You want to  find out more of what your style is as a Pilates teacher. It’s easy to feel a little lost in our teaching and need a recharge. This is the year to find a Pilates mentorship for you!

Imagine if you set the goal of that Mentorship where you will be in a year! What changes you may feel or see in your teaching? I thought it might be fun to share what my Mentorship Gal Jolie had to say on this matter. She is halfway through her year long Mentorship with me and we have gone on such a journey together.

She had been teaching for over 5 years and was feeling a bit lost, wanting to reconnect with the work and her passion. When she came to me it was to dig deep into the Pilates method and look at things a bit different than she had been while teaching.

Jolie had some great changes that she has seen in just the past 6 months for her and how she teaches and sees the work of Joseph Pilates. The great thing if you find the right Mentor is the year is about you. What you feel you need or are missing from your teaching or helping to find that path that maybe you got lost on.

Here is Jolie’s tips for you on hiring a Pilates Mentor:

1. Seeing the system as a system not bits and pieces. I knew this deep down but was dazzled by variations of the work.  Sometimes it seems once we get into the teaching world things can get confusing for us. Yet, if we truly understand what we are doing in terms of our teaching, the exercises and the hows and whys then it isn’t like just picking out exercises that maybe seem fun or just throwing things at the client.

2. Being content with who I am as a teacher. This is very important. For those teachers who are people pleasers you may want to think ahead and try and force those “aha” moments with variations, fusions of modalities and while sometimes they have a place, Pilates can be enough especially when seeing the body as a whole and working in the system.It’s all there! Surprise!

3. Finding my own practice again I feel so much stronger overall in my own body and more connected to the work. Which makes me a better teacher for my own clients. I have been able to challenge myself in new ways which has made me more confident as well.

4. Feeling like I have a connection to the Pilates universe.  I have my own practice and home studio where I see clients. Over the years I have taught in other studios but being out in the sticks is isolating sometimes and having my Mentorship meets, getting to be more with other teachers in the Pilates community has given that support and guidance in my Pilates world.

Having those lightbulb moments each week. When I chatted with Hilary about doing the yearlong mentorship she sent me a questionnaire asking very specific questions on my wants, needs and reasons. This Mentorship for me has had lightbulb moments that have led to a new way of seeing Pilates, my teaching, my clients, my path and my journey! I am only halfway done and the changes for me have been career changing.