There’s something comforting about working with the same teacher for your pilates sessions, week in, week out. They get to know your body and you as a person. Plus it’s a fairly personal situation, and getting to check in with someone regularly and debrief on the ups and downs, can be a wonderfully supportive element to your physical routine.
A consistent teacher-client relationship can grow to be a very valuable one, with a shared history and a ‘shorthand’ in communication. “Can I do the thing…? You know, the thing?”……… Sound familiar? Also, from the teacher’s perspective – “Let’s do the diamond necklace next” (aka. downstretch) or “It’s time for the one that works your butt” (aka. skating). It can be reassuring, and have a lot of value, to have a teacher who you’ve worked a long time with, and not just because they often remember every injury, ache and muscle strain you’ve ever had.
However, there’s also so much to be gained from a fresh set of eyes! We notice this all the time, that the change to a new teacher can bring an unexpected energy and focus. It can help you redefine your goals as your teacher notices different elements of your movement and introduces new variations of the exercises for you to try and master. Every teacher has their own weird and wonderful set of cues, both verbal and tactile, that they find most effective in their teaching, and the excitement of an ‘ah ha!’ moment, when the simplicity of a new way of explaining things helps an exercise ‘click’, is thrilling for teacher and mover alike. Plain and simple, each one of us sees and interprets movement differently.
Every teacher has found their way to pilates through a unique and rich background, sometimes through injury, or sport, through dancing or via a family member, and each teachers’ history gives them a deep and entirely unique perspective on what they see. Their pre-pilates training can be just as fundamental to their skills as a teacher as their pilates training! Training courses are very comprehensive and ensure every teacher is well equipped to manage a wide variety of clients from the get-go, from all ends of the beginner-advanced spectrum and with all manner of personal and physical history, in a safe and authentic manner. It’s what they bring to it that makes each teacher special. Throw in a personality mix, each one of us is different and each day you turn up to the studio is a chance at a different perspective, a different challenge and a different achievement.
So next time you teacher is away and you have a fill-in, or your schedule changes and you have to find a new regular time, don’t despair! There are lots of pros to the cons of getting to know someone new, and we honestly believe that you can learn something from every teacher you work with.
