Ky Russell Of Blessful Body Pilates On How Pilates Can Improve Your Health and Wellbeing

Thank you so much for joining us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’?

Thank you so much for inviting me to share about the benefits of Pilates. I am honored to be a part of this series. I am also excited that you are focusing on the health benefits of Pilates, as these can often be overlooked for the more obvious physical gains one sees when practicing Pilates.

My first movement love was ballet. I started dancing when I was five years old, and it quickly became my life. I went to ballet boarding school, which was a pretty unhealthy experience for me, and ended up making it to apprentice level in my local ballet company. After an injury delayed my ability to audition for other companies, I decided to enroll at UC Berkeley as an undergraduate. I had always felt torn between my academic and physical pursuits, and when I got into my “dream school” I took it as a sign to hang up my pointe shoes. I had been exposed to Pilates sporadically while dancing, and certainly liked it, but I didn’t have the opportunity to pursue it until I was out of college.

I graduated in 1999 with a BS in Conservation and Resource Studies, and took a position at a nonprofit on sustainable fisheries. I loved that I was helping further sustainability goals, but was emotionally and mentally drained in that position. I desperately missed movement, so decided to jump back into ballet. Unfortunately, I wasn’t conditioned well enough to dance en pointe again and ended up breaking my foot. It was a minor stress fracture initially, but after ignoring my pain and dancing on it for six months I ended up with a lot of inflammation and soft tissue damage.

Luckily for me, I found St. Francis Hospital in San Francisco, which had a Sports Medicine Clinic with a Dance Medicine division that utilized Pilates rehabilitation. I was there as many days a week as I could go to rehab my injury, and basically kept coming long after my injury had healed, and continued when I went back to dancing. I had learned so much about my body, how to care for myself, and eliminated so much persistent pain that I previously thought was just an inevitable part of living. After a year or so, one of my favorite teachers suggested that I should get certified and start teaching Pilates myself. It had never even crossed my mind until then, but as soon as he said it I knew that was my path.

Back then, it was the early days of formal teacher training programs, and I was blessed to train with Nora St. John, who later founded Balanced Body Education, a worldwide Pilates instructor training program that I am now a Master instructor with. I got my certification and began teaching as a Dance Medicine Specialist back at St. Francis Hospital — it was a full circle moment! I quickly realized that I had found “my thing.” It was the perfect blend of moving and thinking — teaching (and practicing Pilates) completely satisfied my brain and my body. I was finally able to merge my love of movement with science and research, and I helped people feel better!

Fast forward over twenty years, and I’ve been teaching Pilates ever since. I’ve added certifications in yoga, grief yoga, mindfulness meditation, and obtained my Master’s degree in Kinesiology at San Jose State University, but Pilates is still the primary tool I use for my body’s well-being as well as my clients’. I am now a Master instructor for Balanced Body Education and have traveled the US teaching at Pilates teachers at conferences and studios. While I was in graduate school at SJSU, I was asked to join the Kinesiology faculty and I currently teach Stress Management at SJSU. I founded Blessful Body Pilates in 2019 to provide high quality Pilates and stress reduction instruction online, and to increase equity and accessibility so cost and convenience would not be an obstacle to good health through Pilates.

Pilates has helped me dance, perform with a circus, be active through my pregnancy and recover postpartum. It helps me be a more present and active mom. It also helped me through emotional challenges like miscarriages, and caring for and losing my mother to dementia. Now, Pilates is my go to in perimenopause, keeping me strong and able to stay active, engaged, and less stressed while I’m on this exciting hormonal roller coaster. I’m blessed that I get to share this work and its benefits with other people, especially those who identify as women, it’s my small way of bringing more joy to the world.

Can you share with us the most interesting story from your career? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘takeaways’ you learned from that?

Oh my gosh, I have so many stories because every client has a beautiful story to share really. I’ve taught thousands of hours of Pilates and remember so many of the details about what brought my clients to Pilates and to me — they’re all really interesting!

One story that immediately pops up is: I once had a client who started Pilates in their nineties, because she had started having some pain and difficulty walking, and she was used to walking all over San Francisco. It was pretty early on in my teaching career and I wasn’t quite sure what we were going to be able to do. Once we started working together I realized that you really can take the Pilates principles and apply them diverse movements and achieve great results for any client.

I also learned an incredibly important life lesson, to never give up on yourself. Most folks in their nineties don’t have the outlook to start something new or invest in their longevity. My client had this incredibly positive mindset that energized herself and those around her. I was in my twenties and she made a really big impression on me regarding how I wanted to approach aging and life in general. Working with her helped me see that it is never too late to make big changes in your life. As Joseph Pilates said, “every day can be the beginning of great things.”

You are a successful leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?

The most important trait that has helped me in my career, and in my life, is positivity. I’m not talking about the toxic kind of positivity where one pretends that everything is all good. I’m talking about a deliberate practice of mindfully and honestly acknowledging the bad in a situation and then choosing to look for something positive. When I broke my foot it wasn’t great and I was very unhappy. However, instead of focusing on all I couldn’t do and what I lost (a soloist role in a production that I really wanted for example) I focused on finding something good in the situation. In that situation I got to have some of the best Pilates instruction in the world, and since it was rehabilitation, it was covered by my insurance! If I hadn’t been consciously focusing on finding the bright side, I don’t think I would have been open to all the good this brought me: a new career, a lifelong passion, and a whole new nourishing relationship with my body.

Another trait that has been crucial to all of my successes is my willingness to accept opportunities before I felt ready for them. I developed this during my dance career. When I was dancing with the professional company I was often an understudy to soloist roles even though I was just an apprentice and still in my teens. Once I got a call that I was needed to join the company on tour to perform a solo role I had been understudying. I had to leave right away and would have only a few hours to rehearse with the rest of the company. I was absolutely terrified, but knew I had to say yes! First, I don’t think anyone else knew the part and second, I had enough awareness to realize that if I ever wanted another solo role in that company I better step up and take one when it was offered. So I did, and it was a great experience. My performance wasn’t perfect, but it opened the door for a lot more opportunities in the future. When I look back at my career, I see the same pattern frequently repeated. I didn’t feel ready to teach at the first Pilates conference I taught at, or to teach at SJSU, or ready to create my online Pilates membership, yet the opportunities presented themselves and I accepted them when they arrived.

It’s important to note that this only works out well if you’re accepting opportunities that are in alignment with your overall goals and your phase in life. When I was caregiving my young child and my mother with dementia at the same time, I passed on a lot of opportunities because I didn’t have the time, space, or emotional resources to stretch myself and go for a new experience. It’s a fine balance between expanding into new roles and making sure you don’t do anything harmful to yourself in the process.

The third trait that has led to my success is persistence, and more persistence. I am persistent to the point of being stubborn. I can sustainably do this because I am focused on the long game and prioritize the journey. If something isn’t immediately successful, I’m okay with changing course while staying focused on the long term vision. Many roads will lead to the same point, and sometimes you go down the wrong road. I’m okay with turning around and finding another route that will eventually lead me there. But I will always stay persistent on the journey overall.

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that might help people?

I’m excited about a couple of new projects that I’m developing to help people cope with stress to improve their health and happiness. Chronic stress is incredibly detrimental to well-being, yet it doesn’t have to be. I’ve taught embodied stress management for years at the University, and have already merged stress reduction and Pilates together to create Blessful Body Pilates, a monthly membership that offers daily Pilates workouts, meditations, and stress reliving tips.

I’m expanding on my current work and offering a new workshop for people experiencing physical pain and discomfort exacerbated or caused by stress. This live class will teach folks my process for relieving stress and tension through release work, meditations, and Pilates based movement. These workshops are for anyone who has back or neck pain, headaches, muscle spasms or even stomach aches — all of which can be made much worse by stress. The class will be online and interactive so folks can ask questions and get feedback, and they’ll leave with a plan and tools to help them they next time they experience a flare-up. I want people to be able to manage their pain quickly and be able to help themselves because I know how much we all lose when people are debilitated by pain. It’s hard to be positive and productive when your back aches.

The other thing coming up is I’ll be teaching a workshop on Pilates for Enhanced Stress Relief for Pilates teachers. I’m excited to get to present at conferences again, and really want to help other Pilates instructors design programs and classes that effectively reduce stress. We’ve seen significant increases in people’s overall stress levels since the pandemic, and this can negatively impact overall health. Pilates is already a great stress relieving tool, and with some additional techniques teachers can significantly increase the stress reduction in their classes!

Ok, thank you for all that. Now let’s shift to the main focus of our interview about Pilates. To begin, can you tell our readers a bit about why you are an authority on the topic of Pilates?

I’d say I am an authority on Pilates because I’ve immersed myself in it from an experiential and academic lens. I’ve practiced and taught Pilates for over two decades, so I’ve logged thousands of hours in the studio exploring the Pilates principles and choreography on myself and countless clients. I’ve also trained with as many diverse teachers as I could, and have taught Pilates instructor training programs since 2008 through Balanced Body Education. Being able to teach others how to do what I do jumped my knowledge and ability to communicate about Pilates to a whole other level. I also studied Pilates academically and conducted my own research on Pilates and yoga while obtaining my Master’s degree in Kinesiology. I know the existing research on Pilates and its limitations, yet I also get to see directly how Pilates impacts people’s lives through my teaching.

Let’s start with a basic definition so that we are all on the same page. What exactly is Pilates?

Pilates is an exercise system developed by Joseph Pilates (And his wife Clara) during the early part of the 1900’s. It consists of floor based movements, and exercises performed on specialized equipment created by Pilates such as the Reformer or Wunda Chair. There has actually been quite a bit of debate over the years as to what is and isn’t Pilates. Some believe that only exercises taught by Mr. Pilates and/or included in his book qualify as a Pilates exercise. Others, like myself, adopt a more inclusive view that looks to the essential quality of the movements to determine what is and isn’t Pilates.

For example, there are certain principles that are at the essence of what Pilates is. The exercises integrate breathing, concentration, centering, control, precision, balanced muscle development, flow, whole body movement, and relaxation. How you do the exercises are just as important as what you are doing. Including these principles is what brings gives you the amazing benefits of Pilates. Moving with breath, concentration, precision, and control creates the mind-body connection and makes Pilates a type of mindfulness practice, so you get the benefits of mindfulness on top of the movement experience itself. Mindfulness and breath also help decrease stress and gives psychological benefits. Moving while balancing muscle usage and focusing on relaxation when possible help to decrease pain and improve posture. Each of the principles are associated with numerous benefits, which is why I believe that the principles are the basis of Pilates movement.

How is Pilates different from other movement modalities that you have practiced?

One of the most unique aspects of Pilates is how diverse and well-rounded the principles are. Other movement forms may include mindfulness or breath like Tai Chi, yet they lack the focus of centering the movement so you aren’t necessarily connecting the core musculature and strengthening from the inside out.

With yoga, another popular mind-body exercise, the movements are very different. You tend to hold a yoga pose or a long time, but in Pilates you flow through the movements, so even though a snapshot of the exercise may look the same, they are actually quite different. I love yoga and enjoy tai chi, but they complement my Pilates practice instead of replace it as I find that Pilates is really a whole body and mind training system that isn’t matched with other mindful movement forms. I’m sure lots of yogis may disagree with me, but for my body and my teaching I prefer Pilates.

And, of course, because Pilates is a form of mindful movement it greatly differs from other forms of exercise like running or walking. One can really zone out while doing a repetitive exercise, but you really can’t zone out in Pilates for too long or you’ll get lost. The mental focus required to do Pilates helps to reduce stress and helps to focus attention too.

In terms of performance, Pilates greatly differs from dance or even sports because it is a process focused skill instead of a task or performance focused skill. The motor learning is quite different. While I was dancing professionally, the goal was to master certain skills like jumping and turning so I could perform them well. It didn’t matter how painful it was, or detrimental to my body. I’ve seen the same thing with the athletes I’ve worked with. What’s important is the performance in the game. With Pilates the goal for me is to heal and restore my body, to create healthy movement patterns, and to a large part enjoy the movement experience. That’s what I want to give to my clients too, a love an appreciation for their body and movement. Creating those movement moments actually helps someone perform at a higher level, which is why so many athletes train with Pilates. Practicing Pilates also helps you do other exercises and sports better because you’re keeping your body healthy and fit so you can hike, or dance, or even lift something heavy safely and efficiently, that’s pretty unique compared to the other movement modalities I’ve studied.

On a personal level, what are the biggest benefits that you have gained from regular Pilates practice?

Practicing Pilates has given me so much through the years. Something I am incredibly grateful for is getting to live life relatively pain free. Sure, I have an occasional body ache or sore neck due to stress, but I am able to recover quickly when it happens. I know how to care for my body with restorative movements, release work, and stretches — all of which I’ve learned through practicing and teaching Pilates.

Another huge benefit is being confident in my body’s abilities to do fun and amazing things. Even though I’m in my 40’s, I don’t hesitate to try new physical activities (like rock climbing, a dance workout class, or enjoying a surf lesson when on vacation). I know that my consistent Pilates practice has made me strong and agile, so I don’t worry about getting injured!

Who do you think can most benefit from Pilates?

More and more, we’re seeing that almost anyone will benefit from practicing Pilates. I’ve taught people as young as age 6 all the way up to 96. I’ve taught professional dancers, postpartum moms, athletes, weekend warriors, and everyone in between. I honestly can’t think of a group of students who didn’t benefit from their Pilates.

I have found people experiencing perimenopause and menopause can especially benefit from practicing Pilates. During the transition to menopause it’s harder to cope with stress and maintain muscle strength. People’s satisfaction with their bodies can often plummet during this time.

Pilates is ideally suited for this time in the lifespan because it is a gentle yet challenging way to build muscular strength, and it’s one of the best forms of exercise for relieving stress. Because it’s also process focused and builds the mind-body connection, it helps to foster more positive self-images. I’ve seen these benefits in so many clients, and I’m also experiencing this personally now too!

Pilates can sometimes be expensive. Can you share with our readers your perspectives on why Pilates is worth its costs?

Pilates can feel expensive when comparing it to many other types of exercise classes, yet the value one receives in a Pilates class often goes way beyond mere exercise. Students learn how to care for their bodies, improve movement patterns, reduce pain, and establish a connection to their bodies that many have never before experienced.

These amazing benefits are possible because certified Pilates instructors complete thousands of hours of training to receive our certifications, and commit to regular continuing education to maintain our certifications. I’ve invested countless hours and finances in honing my craft, as have many of my peers.

That being said, there are now more low-cost ways to practice Pilates as technology has increased access. I used to strictly teach private sessions or small group classes, and now offer workouts online both on-demand and live with feedback. I’ve found that the experience is different, but not less than; especially since I can anticipate common issues or problems my student might have during each exercise, so I can cue around them even when my students aren’t in the same room. It is a different experience than being in the studio, but you’re still able to get high quality instruction and many of benefits of a Pilates practice online, for a fraction of the cost of a studio session. Don’t let cost keep you from trying Pilates!

Based on your research or experience, can you please share your “5 Ways That Pilates Can Improve Your Health and Wellbeing”?

I love this question, because in my opinion health and well-being are the most important kinds of benefits from Pilates. I know that many folks come to Pilates because they’ve heard it can strengthen their core or create long, lean, muscles, which is absolutely does. However I’ve found that the overall health benefits are so much more life-changing for my students.

1. Stress reduction — I’m going to start the list with one of my passions, reducing stress. Not only can stress negatively impact almost every aspect of our health it can also keep us stuck in survival mode so we aren’t comfortable taking risks or enjoying our life. Fortunately, Pilates is a great way to reduce stress. It combines exercise, breathwork, and mindfulness — all of these on their own are powerful stress relievers but when combined together are even more potent. I think this is such an important benefit that I’ve developed protocols and tools to bring even more stress relief into a Pilates class. My students tell me that this is one of the biggest gifts they receive from their practice, because when they are able to manage stress their bodies, minds, and spirits feel better. I find that I don’t yell at my family as much when I’m practicing Pilates everyday, which is really important to me!
2. Sleep — Multiple research studies have shown that Pilates helps improve sleep. This is so important to overall health because sleep impacts your body and mind. When we’re sleeping better, digestion is improved, our bodies can grow stronger, our immune systems function more effectively, and our brains function better too. Pilates can improve sleep by helping to reduce stress, reduce body aches and pains, and helping us wind down before sleep. It’s important to tailor your Pilates workouts depending on what time of day you’re practicing. For some, a rigorous or energetic class late in the evening can keep them awake. If that’s the case, I recommend doing a slower, more deliberate class if it’s at night.
3. Quality of life — Pilates helps people feel better in their bodies and minds, it decreases depression, decreases anxiety, reduced pain, and improves mood. I’ve seen studies that show this, and have heard this time and again from my students. Not only is quality of life explicitly improved, but the ripple effects of this are huge! When we’re feeling better and enjoying life more, we feel more energetic and are more likely to engage in active leisure time activities, which are linked to numerous health benefits.
4. Decreased menopausal symptoms — While this may not affect everyone’s health and well-being it is a huge health issue for many people (including myself). I’ve had clients tell me repeatedly that the breathing and movements we do in Pilates help them navigate hot flashes, sleep better, and feel more connected to their bodies as they are going through changes in perimenopause. Research studies support this, and have shown that Pilates also helps improve body satisfaction and decrease anxiety in perimenopause as well.
5. Reduced pain — This is one of the most well-known physical benefits of a Pilates practice. You’ve probably heard that Pilates reduces back pain, and it is definitely supported by research and my direct experience. What you might not be aware of is that Pilates can reduce pain throughout the body. I’ve helped my clients eliminate neck, shoulder, knee, hip, pelvic floor, and even systemic diffuse pain throughout the body. As folks are strengthening and stretching their bodies in proper alignment they are improving biomechanical function so their joints will often start to feel and move better. They stress reduction and relaxation that results from Pilates helps to lower overall inflammation in the body and halts the stress pain cycle. And as people begin to move more efficiently and mindfully they have more positive movement experiences which can have a huge impact on overall amounts of pain. One of the most powerful side effects of reducing pain is that people want to be more active, they walk more, they start to do more fun activities, and this often helps to further reduce their pain. I’ve also worked with so many clients who had been in chronic pain for years who reduced their pain significantly and completely transformed their mental and emotional outlook. Even for those who didn’t completely eliminate their pain, they were able to be more positive and enjoy their life more fully.

In my own Pilates practice, I stress the importance of precision in Pilates. Based on your experiences and research, what are your thoughts about why precision is important in Pilates?

Precision is incredibly important in Pilates, whether you are focusing on learning how to isolate and utilize a particular muscle, or executing a complicated exercise like the Rollover of Boomerang with control. In fact, precision is one of the main movement principles that is at the essence of what Pilates is.

To move with precision, one has to achieve a balance of coordination, agility, and control. If you’re not doing that, then you’re not practicing Pilates. Mr. Pilates was very clear about this in his writings and his teaching. It’s more useful to do a few controlled, precise reps of an exercise than to haphazardly do dozens of reps. How you do the exercises are what matters, because you’re training your body and mind to move effectively. So do you want to train your body to move with grace and ease or with struggle? Moving with precision is the key to creating healthy, pleasant movement patterns and is truly at the core of a Pilates practice.

You are a person of enormous influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

I see a huge need for healing our relationships to our bodies. It is so challenging to accept our bodies, and not compare them to the “ideal” body images we see in the media. I feel this personally, and many of my clients tell me they feel the same. It is common with everyone, but especially pervasive for women. It’s sad to think about how much thought and attention people spend worrying about, and even disliking their own bodies. Not only does this lead to much unhappiness, but imagine all the good those people could be creating in the world if they felt more confident, accepted, and loved just as they are. I really pray that we can change this for the younger generation. I want everyone to know that you don’t have to be skinny to be healthy, and you are so much more important than your size.

What is the best way for our readers to continue to follow your work online?

The best place to find me is at my website: https://www.kyautumn.com/ You can find free resources plus all of my upcoming workshops and classes. You can also sign up for a free coupon to try out my membership, Blessful Body Pilates. It’s the perfect way to get started with your Pilates practice.

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for the time you spent on this. We wish you only continued success.

Thank you for having me, it’s been a pleasure!

About The Interviewer: Maria Angelova, MBA is a disruptor, author, motivational speaker, body-mind expert, Pilates teacher and founder and CEO of Rebellious Intl. As a disruptor, Maria is on a mission to change the face of the wellness industry by shifting the self-care mindset for consumers and providers alike. As a mind-body coach, Maria’s superpower is alignment which helps clients create a strong body and a calm mind so they can live a life of freedom, happiness and fulfillment. Prior to founding Rebellious Intl, Maria was a Finance Director and a professional with 17+ years of progressive corporate experience in the Telecommunications, Finance, and Insurance industries. Born in Bulgaria, Maria moved to the United States in 1992. She graduated summa cum laude from both Georgia State University (MBA, Finance) and the University of Georgia (BBA, Finance). Maria’s favorite job is being a mom. Maria enjoys learning, coaching, creating authentic connections, working out, Latin dancing, traveling, and spending time with her tribe. To contact Maria, email her at [email protected]

Source : https://medium.com/authority-magazine/ky-russell-of-blessful-body-pilates-on-how-pilates-can-improve-your-health-and-wellbeing-90c890e4ae26