Beyond the Reformer

Teaching Pilates to Children: How to Make It Fun, Inclusive & Effective

• Nic Lenny

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0:00 | 53:33

Nic is joined by Clarissa Shepherd, kids Pilates specialist, pre and postnatal educator, Club Pilates master trainer, and author of Sage Does Pilates and Babies & Barre.

Clarissa's story is anything but conventional. From working in TV news and witnessing a live on-air shooting, to packing up her car with $600 and driving to Dallas, to funding her Pilates certification while working night shifts - her path to becoming a Pilates teacher is one of grit, resilience and pure determination.

But what makes Clarissa's work truly unique is who she teaches. While the Pilates industry talks about being "for everyone," Clarissa noticed a glaring gap - children are almost always left out. 
She shares why bringing Pilates into families' lives earlier is one of the biggest untapped opportunities in the industry, and how her own experience of an absent mother during childhood became the driving force behind her mission to connect families through movement.

The conversation explores how to adapt Pilates for different ages - from babies and toddlers to teenagers and everything in between - and why storytelling, play and affirmations are just as important as the repertoire. Clarissa also shares how she's training other teachers to do this work and working towards licensing her kids Pilates framework so it can reach families around the world.

Timestamps

00:00 Intro to Clarissa 

00:32 Why families are the missing piece in Pilates 

02:51 Clarissa's backstory - news, Dallas and $600 to her name 

05:43 Discovering Pilates and being inspired by female leadership 

09:01 Funding her certification and the sacrifices she made 

13:13 Moving to Germany, becoming a mother and finding her path 

16:03 How pregnancy sparked her interest in pre and postnatal Pilates 

17:30 Teaching children for the first time 

17:40 How to adapt Pilates for different ages and stages 

20:07 Using affirmations and mentorship with teenagers 

22:52 Making Pilates a game for younger children 

24:18 Mommy and me classes and incorporating babies into movement 

25:41 The creativity and storytelling skills kids Pilates demands 

25:41 Training teachers to teach kids Pilates 

44:10 Who Clarissa works with - from ballerinas to retirees 

45:04 What's next for Clarissa 

46:24 Quick-fire questions 

48:24 Where to connect with Clarissa

Thanks so much to Clarissa for coming on the podcast and sharing such an honest and inspiring story. Please make sure to subscribe and rate the show 5 stars if you've been loving it - it helps the show more than you know.


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SPEAKER_00

Coming up on today's episode of Beyond the Reformer.

SPEAKER_01

Pilates is often marketed as Pilates for everyone, but more often than not, we always forget about our littlest and smallest clients.

SPEAKER_00

When you look at your children and you see them doing these amazing squats, they have all these amazing movement patterns just in them. Today I'm joined by Clarissa Shepherd, a Pilates teacher and the author of the children's book, Sage Does Pilates, which introduces children to the principle of movement and body awareness.

SPEAKER_01

I actually really enjoy teaching kids more than I teach adults. I mean, I think they even need it in Joe Pilates' time because when I was reading Whole Body Health, chapter 8, he talks about children need to do Pilates and it needs to be in all of the schools.

SPEAKER_00

Hello and welcome back to Beyond the Reformer. I'm Nick Lenny. I'm a studio owner, a Pilates teacher, an educator, and your host for These Conversations, where we explore the people, ideas, and stories shaping the world of Pilates. How are you doing? You know, thank you so much for being here. I am really loving having these conversations so much. And it seems that you are too. You know, I just looked at the stats today, and we're being listened to in 102 countries, and thousands of you are listening or watching the episodes each week. You can now watch the video on Spotify. I think it's soon coming on Apple as well as on YouTube. But if like me, you still like a good old audio podcast, that's still available too. I listen to them in the car when I'm on drives or walking the dog. Today's conversation was such an interesting one because it looks at Pilates from a different perspective. We so often talk about how Pilates can transform our bodies as adults, but Clarissa has been exploring what happens when we introduce these principles much earlier through movement, play, and storytelling, and this time for children. In today's episode, we talk about her journey into Pilates, the inspiration behind Sage Does Pilates, and how introducing movement to children might actually change the way the next generation connects with their bodies. We also talked about diversity in Pilates and how we can do better at representing the wider community and all of the people that we serve and all the people that we want to attract into our studios and classes. Before we get going with today's conversation, I've just got a quick favor to ask. If you could like, subscribe, follow on whatever platform you're listening or watching to this on. It really does help the podcast. It helps us get guests on that I know that you love. So thank you so much if you've already done it. And if you haven't, it would be really great if you could just tap on that button. Let's get into today's conversation with Clarissa. Clarissa, thank you so much for joining me on Beyond the Reformer this week. It's lovely to have you here.

SPEAKER_01

I'm so thrilled to be here. Super happy.

SPEAKER_00

Well, we met in Los Angeles and it's been nice to connect. It's been nice when you go to these events, isn't it? And chat to people, and then we kind of connected afterwards and set up a recording. Um, I'd like to begin with your work with children because we so often talk about how Pilates helps adults reconnect with their bodies. Um, but your work suggests something quite different. Well, some of your work, I know you do more than just this. Um, but do you think there's a real opportunity in bringing Pilates into people's lives much earlier?

SPEAKER_01

Absolutely. In fact, Pilates is often marketed as Pilates for everyone, but more often than not, we always forget about our littlest and smallest clients. And so the work that I do with kids and or their parents, it allows families to bond together through exercise and wellness. And that's really my overall mission is to try to get families healthy together. And I just happen to do it through Pilates.

SPEAKER_00

I love that because when I I mean, I am a teacher, so occasionally I am doing Pilates at home. And the kids see you doing it, don't they? So it's really interesting about how you've said it's, you know, it's not, it could be just teaching children, but actually I love that idea of how do you bring it into their lives.

SPEAKER_01

Yes. So I bring it into their lives through my book. I have two books. One is called Sage Does Pilates, and it's based after my oldest daughter when she was about five or four, and we were doing Pilates together. And then my newest book is based after my youngest daughter, Babies in Bar, has a couple of Pilates moves, but I found that she would always get on my back when I was maybe doing a plank or something like that. So I wanted to take that experience and put it into a book. So that's a little bit of my background with that. And something that I discovered recently that I finally verbalized out loud was when I was growing up, I didn't have a strong mother and daughter connection with my mom. My mom was out of my life for about seven years. During that time, I kind of had to figure certain things out on my own. So having this connection with my daughter and bringing these books to in real time is in some ways helping me feed, I guess, that little girl that wanted her mom during my formative years. So it's kind of my way of giving back to others in the same sense in case they're experiencing the same thing.

SPEAKER_00

I love that. And we'll definitely circle back to how we work with children. But I'd love to hear your story. You know, you've touched upon some of it there, but I'd love to hear your story. Like, what is your story? When did Pilates come into your life? And maybe there's a bit of a story beforehand that we need to understand to understand you and where you are today.

SPEAKER_01

Okay. So I'm gonna be very transparent. Good. So where do I go? Pilates came into my or entered my life in 2016. I originally started working in news, and I was I hated what was happening in the news during that time. In fact, when I was working at the news station in Roanoke, Virginia, there was a live on-air shooting that happened. And I remember being in the newsroom and everybody was crying, everybody was panicking, of course, because nobody knew was this person gonna do more things and was it gonna impact our news station? Because it was our sister's news station. And it was at that moment when I realized, okay, I want to get away from news. I don't want to do this anymore. This is now this is 2015. 2016, I applied to a public relations firm in Dallas, Texas. And I had just graduated from college that previous year. And so I said, okay, I'm young, I'm 23 years old, I'm just gonna shoot for the stars, I'm gonna go for it. So I packed up my little 2007 Ford Focus, and with $600 to my name, I did not have much, packed everything up, and I drove from Virginia all the way to Dallas, Texas, and I got there in January. And it went okay for a little bit, but I really wasn't making much money. They were at the time, you know, internships were only $10 an hour, if that you know you're lucky. And I started applying for other jobs and positions, and I found this one spot. It was called Jam Box Fitness. And I have to mention it because it was the first time I ever saw a woman-owned business, and it was the first time I realized that you could actually make fitness as a career. I'd never seen those two things, I'd never been exposed to any of that. The only gyms I ever saw was maybe Planet Fitness or LA Fitness, and I it just never dawned on me that a career could happen because I guess the owners were always somewhere else. So I worked at Jambox Fitness for a little bit, still severely underpaid during that time. Still, again, $10 an hour, but the hours were a little bit more favorable. So I started applying to more jobs, and Pilates methodology popped up in Dallas, Texas. Maybe you might have heard of it. Some people probably have. And the owner at the time, her name was Rachel Lee Bryce. She, I didn't know, but she was actually a teacher trainer for real Pilates with Alicia Ungro and a few others. I did again, I was very new, didn't know what was happening. And I remember when I took that job, I was, and I took it as a front desk manager. I was a horrible front desk manager. Just to be clear, I was horrible at it. But I paid attention to the power in their voices when they taught. Because I was my very first exposure to Pilates was that it was on a classical reformer, Cadillac. It the way that she had the aesthetics of the room, I'll never forget it. It was so aesthetically appealing, but so bare, if that makes sense. It wasn't too much happening, but it was just clean and crisp. And I remember Alicia and Girl came to the studio. Juan also came to the studio, and I'm hearing just the power in their voices. And I'm thinking to myself, man, I want to do that. I feel really inspired by that. And so, all while all this is happening, there's another backstory that I have to give for it to all make sense. Also, during this time, my now ex-husband, he had to go back into the military and he got sent to Germany. Well, we were just boyfriend and girlfriend at that time, and I remember he came that late July, July 31st, actually, and he said, Well, I have to go back to Germany and I want you to come with me. And I said, Well, what does that mean? And he said, I want us to get married. So I'm like, Okay. Well, I don't I don't think I can do the news in German because I don't speak German. So what are my options here? So I was already working at the Pilates studio, right? So I kind of was thinking, all right, well, maybe I can go in that round. But then I also needed to have some money to pay for the certification because the certifications aren't cheap. So I guess another backstory. So because it will all make sense, I swear. From 2013 through 2017, I was working at a nightclub. I was a dancer, a night, a lady of the night. I'll be polite, a lady of the night. And it was during the 2016 year, okay, because I was on and off a little bit in 2016, because when I moved to Dallas, I completely stopped. And then once I knew that I was gonna get married and had to figure out career change, I had to go back because I needed to make the extra money to pay for my wedding and to pay for my certification. Around that time, a gentleman had said to me, You should invest in a trade. And I was, I said, okay, well, I think Pilates is a trade or fitness is a trade because I had now had been exposed to that, so I went for it. And so in October of 2016, I completed my Pilates certification with Peak Pilates. I did their math. I packed, I, and then I what I thought I was gonna go to Germany right away, but it didn't happen because the military really takes its time and paperwork and doing all that stuff. For those who know, you you probably have experienced this. So I said, okay, well, I want to be able to work on the reformer and all the things that I saw at Pilates Methodology. So I went ahead and I did peak level one, and I did that from let's just say March to June of 2017. I don't remember the exact dates, but it was around that time. And I was still working as a lady of the night to help me pay for it. There were many times that I would work the night shift, get off at 2 a.m., and I was working in Philly at the time. My training was in New Jersey. I would either I would get a hotel in Philadelphia and drive and maybe function on four hours of sleep, or I would drive to New Jersey, right? Spend the night and then immediately go to my training at 8 a.m. There are so many nights that were like that for me. And I also paid a lot to get privates because I didn't have access to a reformer. So I would go back and forth that way to make sure that I could pass this training and do really well. So in 2017 of June or whatever, I completed my level one and then I moved to Germany, had a baby, kind of took a little bit of a break, and then I continued on and I finished my peak training by 2020 time frame. And then I also did club Pilates simultaneously at the same time. So I know it's a little bit of a backstory, but that puts it all together.

SPEAKER_00

It makes it. I'm just really, you know, lots of people I talk to on the podcast, Clarissa. It's like often they were dancers and they came across Pilates that way, or they had pain and they came across Pilates that way. Your story is quite interesting, actually. Like, I wonder what it was from that slight sort of serendipitous you discovered it. Like you would have been seeing PTs and you would have been seeing other types of fitness instructors. What was it about Pilates that you were like, I gotta do this? Was it how you made you feel, or was it being inspired by those people that you saw? It was a combination of both.

SPEAKER_01

When I heard Rachel Lee Bryce speak, she the way that she said the cues, I actually sometimes mimics it still, it was with so much power and authority. And I had never seen that from anyone in my life before. It the way that she just commanded the room and the way that she commanded the people to do the exercises, exactly how she said it, I was very inspired. And then I also liked how it felt in my body because I came from a gym, lift, lift, lift. And so I'm thinking I'm strong. And then I completely got humbled in my first Pilates class, and it was with her. I completely got humbled. And it was that when it was that particular moment where I said, okay, let me see what this is about. Because I like a good challenge. I just didn't know that I would still be doing it 10 years later.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. Was there something as well about seeing a female in that kind of slightly more powerful role? Like you talked about you hadn't necessarily seen someone running a business, and then you're seeing somebody running a business, but also being able to command a room. That must have been quite a powerful, you know, to think of yourself in that position.

SPEAKER_01

It was. It was very impressionable for me at the age of 23 because I, my family background, we we didn't have uh business owners, we didn't have people who were really shooting for the stars in that way. You know, my mom, she was a paraeducator for 20 years. My dad, you know, he worked, you know, in and out jobs, you know, whether it be like accounting or these different things. My grandmother was a homemaker for a very long time. Uh, and my grandfather, I think, was maybe an inspector, but by the time I came around, he was retired. So it was very much play it safe, you clock in, you clock out type of vibe. My and I that's what I was exposed to. That's what I saw. There was never an option where it said, Oh, you should try for more. You should try to be a business owner. That that never crossed my mind. It never I wasn't exposed to that.

SPEAKER_00

So you come back from Germany, you've got your qualification, you do more qualifications, you're a mother at this point. Yep. Where does the story go then? Where do you work? Do you go back working? Well, how you know the how do you manage that? This is that's a great question.

SPEAKER_01

So we come back to Germany about 2018. Yeah, 2018, 2019. I'm a new mom at this point, and I am in a space where I'm thinking to myself, well, what do we do? Because I I have this new role in motherhood. At the time I was 25, 26 years old, so I still feel young and I still I felt incomplete. I think that's the right word that I was experiencing at that time. I felt very incomplete. And so I said, okay, where can I work? What can I do? We moved to Colleen, Texas, uh, and I think it, I think they changed the name now. It used to be Ford Hood, but I don't remember what it is now. But there were no Pilates studios within a 45-minute radius of where I was at the time. This is 2019. So I found a Club Pilates that was the closest one, and it was about Georgetown, Texas, so 45 minutes away. I met with them. I was hoping that I could just kind of bridge into Club Pilates, but at the time, I don't think that they had the I guess maybe awareness of other different certifications. I'm not really sure, but nonetheless, they said, well, why don't you just go through the whole thing? So I said, okay. So I went through Club Pilates teacher training in 2019-2020 time frame and COVID then happened, but I still finished because I was at the tail end of it. So I still finished, and it was just a lot of determination. One thing that you might take away from my story is resilience. Like because I've been throwing a lot of curveballs in my life, and during that particular time frame, my now ex-husband was deployed. He was in Iraq at the time, so I couldn't even really talk to him that much. And then COVID started happening towards the tail end. I'm trying to get my practice teaching hours in, my assistant teachers' hours in. I'm trying to do all these different things, all while still trying to be a new mom. So there were many times where I just brought my daughter with me. I brought my daughter with me for multiple interviews before because I didn't have anybody to watch her.

SPEAKER_00

And most of the time people understood that. And I think that's the reality, isn't it? I mean, it's the challenge, especially when you have a husband that works away or partner that works away to do that. Is that when you started thinking about how, you know, was that where the seed was sown, maybe of the children being a huge part of your life?

SPEAKER_01

Absolutely. It started when I got pregnant with my first daughter in 2018, because I was trying to find, I knew my body was changing. I knew I couldn't do what I could do before, but I was more focused on what I could do versus what I couldn't do. And so that kind of, you know, made me think outside of the box, okay, pre and postnatal, which is why I do have a training for that. And then once my kids came out of me, I said, okay, well, I still want to exercise, but I can't always go to the gym or I can't always go to Pilates too when I want to, because you know, my spouses, they have to work. So what do we do? We find a way to bridge the gap, bring it to them, and I did it in a fun way where they enjoyed it.

SPEAKER_00

And when did you start then thinking about actually teaching children?

SPEAKER_01

Well, I started teaching children the first time was in 2019. I remember I brought my stroller with me to a school. My daughter was, she wasn't even one yet. I I don't remember the name of the school, it was in Texas, and I remember I had a board, there was a board, and I wrote pie lattes, because I knew the kids would think that was funny. And I made a little picture and they had their mats, and that was the first time, and I was going there maybe weekly. It was the first time I started teaching children, it was about 2019, and then I just kind of kept going with it after that.

SPEAKER_00

I'd love to explore teaching children a bit more if I can, Clarissa. How do we change our approach to teaching Pilates when we're teaching children? What do we need to do?

SPEAKER_01

I think you need to be more lighthearted and less rigmitted. That's what I found. It has to be more fun, it has to be um more lighthearted and approachable. And you have to kind of think to yourself, it's okay if they make mistakes. You have to meet the children where they're at, also. And for me, I guess a little secret, I actually really enjoy teaching kids more than I teach adults because it's more it's more forgiving or it's less forgiving. You can you can kind of do anything with them, and they're not like that's not Pilates or this is like they don't care. They just want to have a good time.

SPEAKER_00

And so And how do you approach it? So I guess it depends on the age of the children that you're working with. Yes. Um, but we're, you know, we as a studio, we've been asked now a few times to go in and teach in schools. It's an interesting challenge to think, how might I teach some teenagers, but how might I teach some eight-year-olds? I guess it's quite different.

SPEAKER_01

It is very different. So when I'm teaching teenagers, my especially with young girls in particular, I focus a lot more on affirmations. So let's just say the children are doing the roll-up. I have them partner up with each other. And then when they come up to the roll up, I have them say something nice to the person who's sitting across from them. Because I think about how I felt as a teenage girl and how I felt maybe unsure, uncertain. And I sometimes just needed to hear something to pick me up. So that's what I focus a lot more on when I'm working with teenagers is affirmations, self-confidence. I talk a little bit more about hygiene. I take more of a mentor role than an actual Pilates teacher role because that's kind of what they need. I also pay attention to how they're feeling because sometimes, especially teenagers, they feel very overwhelmed and they feel very stressed because whether it's their parents, their coaches, they're putting a lot on them because they want their future to be fantastic. So I use my Pilates class when working with teenagers to just listen to them. Hey, you need to lay here for a little bit for two minutes just to get your mind right. I let it, I let it happen. Uh, do we need to hold that stretch and saw a little bit longer because you're really tight in your back? I let it happen. So that's my approach with the teenagers.

SPEAKER_00

I really love that. I mean, I I always I got I got into Pilates probably about the same age as you, about 22, 23. And I remember thinking, I really wish I'd known some of these ideas when I was younger. Um, and it's you know, affirmations, but also that listening to your body. Because I think there's something quite interesting, Clarissa. I was talking to someone the other day that it feels like from the moment you go to school, your life is like you will start at this time, you will have lunch at this time, you'll finish at this time, you'll go to bed at this time, and then you finish, and then you're in the workplace. And it's like, lunch is one to two. I don't really care if you're hungry at 12. And I think, you know, whether it's adults or teenagers in this case, as we're talking about, this idea that from a young age you can get them to realize, like, I still am a person, I can feel and I can sense. That's incredible. I mean, that's made the neck, the hairs in the back of my neck stand up. Like, I love that idea. I wish someone had done that for me. Um, I don't think I understood anything about any sort of mindful or meditative practice. I didn't understand that my mind was not meant to run at a million miles an hour all the time. So I think that's incredibly powerful to do that. But it sounds like you're still teaching what you would recognize as the repertoire in that. Do you have to change the way you would cue it for these teenagers? Or can they kind of figure it out at that point?

SPEAKER_01

I would say they can figure it out at that point. What you do have to keep in mind, especially when working with teenage boys, is that the girls tend to grow faster than boys. And there's a certain hormone that fires off, and I'm blanking out on what it's called right now. But boys tend to be a lot less coordinated than girls at the from, I want to say maybe from 12 to about 17, and then they they catch up like crazy. But you have to kind of focus more on the root of the exercise, and then maybe you can add on later. But when I'm just starting out, I keep the exercises very basic still within the repertoire, but I'm not adding all that extra razzle dazzle, like lengthen, lift, but no, sit up, turn.

SPEAKER_00

The basics, yeah. I love that. Just like the like, what is the basics of this exercise? That's so great. Very, very basic. So if we were then gonna go into sort of what we have at the UK primary school, like the younger children, the I mean, I don't know what age we could pick. My daughter's eight, so eight's what pops into my head. But like, how would you then, you know, does it because I we've been asked, I mean, it we've been asked to teach actually in a deaf school, so that's a whole other challenge as well. But we were kind of thinking, you know, is it just movement at that, at that age? Or do you still feel like, are you looking at what repertoire you're like, you know, roll up, like lie down, sit up, you know? Is it that? Or do you just completely deconstruct it and do something else with it?

SPEAKER_01

So I still teach the repertoire, but I just change how I teach it. I because I have my daughter seven, so she's getting ready to be eight, similar to yours. So I make it more of a game. So it's still the repertoire, but I say things like, imagine your body is like a caterpillar getting ready to be tickled. Roll up, crunch up, and relax. Or with rolling like a ball, I'll say things like, Who here has been to the zoo? Have you seen a giraffe? Have you seen a chicken? Or have you seen an armadillo? An armadillo, what does an armadillo do when it gets scared? It gets tightened to a ball. Now, let's imagine that we are balls and we're gonna go right into rolling like a ball. So I make it more of a game for my younger kids. And I would say from a maybe four and to up to maybe 10, I'm making it more of a game. Middle school is a little tough. You gotta find that sweet spot between making it a game to treating them like they're mature because they all want to feel like they're 25, even though they're 12. All right. There's that sweet spot. And so, and then with my babies, usually it's mommy and me. So I focus a little bit more on the mom. And my my selling point is like, hey, this will help you with your postpartum recovery. This will help you feel stronger, this will help you lift the baby, and I incorporate the baby in the workout so that way the baby's an extra weight for them, so they're getting the strength component while also that bonding experience.

SPEAKER_00

I think you have to do that, don't you? Like you have to bring the babies in. We we trialed like having a mom and me reformer class. It's tricky, I think. I think mat classes and bar it works really well because if you've paid money to come to reformer and then you kind of are at the side because you need to breastfeed or you like you're gonna be annoyed. So I always think it's better just to come and have an hour to yourself. But I think in mat work, it's a really good idea to think about that. What I'm hearing from you, Clarissa, is the creativity that you need. Maybe that's not everyone's bag, because even to teach those children and that storytelling, that's a real skill, isn't it? To be able to, I might be able to, in my mind, go, okay, yeah, I'm an armadilla, but then how do I make that into a story? Because I can't have the next thing where you're a bridge or the next, you know, like I need to create it to keep their attention as well, I imagine, is a challenge. That's exactly what it is.

SPEAKER_01

You have to be very creative. And luckily, I'm a very creative person. So I've been able to tap into that creativity, tap into storytelling with the little kids, and that's how I keep them engaged. My classes for small children uh are only 30 minutes long. I found that to be the sweet spot, even when I go into schools, because I've gone to several schools, just what two weeks ago I was out of daycare teaching a class. So um it had 30 minutes max. It can't be super long.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, that makes sense. And do you train teachers on this topic?

SPEAKER_01

I do. I just had a kids' Pilates teacher training workshop February 25th, or this past February 25th. And so I'm in the process now of trying to figure out how to license it so that way I can have other people across the world teach others how to teach kids Pilates because it's a market that I don't think people have thought about or tapped into.

SPEAKER_00

I don't think they have, and I think people talk about you need you know, you need to be a storyteller and you need to be playful. Right. But many of us need a bit of help with that. Like it would be great if we had some framework around and some ideas to help us with that. Because, like you said, that comes naturally to you, but it doesn't come naturally to everybody.

SPEAKER_01

Absolutely. And that's why with my Kids Pilates teacher training, I pretty much give you the framework because I created a manual for it. I have the copies of my books that come with it, which pretty much kind of tell you you can read this if all comes a fail. I also have a cartoon called Sage Does Pilates. So if they want to pop in the cartoon for the little ones and try to emulate it, they can totally do that as well. And then I also, in my manual, I made a um, I guess not a spreadsheet, but a document that can be used to reach out to schools, kind of like a template, so they could reach out to schools. At least they have a good place to start and then they can change it.

SPEAKER_00

Why do you think we need to be reaching out to schools? Because I think do you see that there is a shift in lifestyles these days and kids need movement more than ever?

SPEAKER_01

Absolutely. And I think, I mean, I think they even need it in Joe Pilates time because when I was reading Whole Body Health, chapter eight, to be particular, he talks about children need to do Pilates and it needs to be in all of the schools. So I'm not sure what happened where we kind of pulled away from that within the last hundred years, but we need this more now than ever because the the rate of children being uh unactive is really starting to increase. And I want to start to erase the stigma that the only way your children can be active is if they are doing a sport. I don't think that that's true because the reality of it is this once most of us hit 18 years old and we go off to college, we stop playing sports. Most of us. You know, only a handful of us play in a collegiate level, and then even a smaller percentage play on a professional level. And that's and it's I just think that starting group fitness at maybe 18, 20, or even 25 years old, I don't want to say it's too late, but why not introduce it a little bit earlier? Because that's where you kind of make some of your best friendships as well.

SPEAKER_00

So I think it's also about you know, getting people educated on that movement and exercise isn't just competitive sports. That was certainly my story. And I always think, like, you know, when you look at your children and you see them doing these amazing squats and they can be there for ages playing a board game and they're in this brilliant full squat, or they're they naturally sit in a Z sit and they have all these amazing movement patterns just in them. And then it's quite interesting to see where is that point where those movement patterns start to go. My understanding is it's around the age of six and seven because that's when they have to go to school and sit down, and they sit down all day. And so you're absolutely right. Like that was the same in our day before, well, my day, I'm a bit older than you, before devices. Now, of course, the kids have devices, so even at home. And I agree with you. I felt like for me at school, it was here's a basketball, play basketball, or here's athletics, do that. I was in my 20s before I realized that exercise could be something that was just for me, and I didn't have to be competitive about it. So I think and I think schools are trying to do more of this, but I think it does mean that people should reach out to them because they're not this isn't really happening in this way, or it's being kind of incorporated. Like I think about my kids' PE and it's you know, once a week, and you think this is not, this is not really enough. Although I did hear, I do have to say, I did hear my teeth, my one of my daughters got a newly qualified teacher. I can only think it's because she's newly qualified and she's not burnt out yet. But they have movement breaks and they watch these things on YouTube. Have you seen this? Where you basically are following like Minecraft or something like that, and you have to jump the obstacles and duck. I think this is a great idea. Like, how can you bring like movement into the classroom? And my daughter said it's really great fun and it really helps the ADHD kids kind of calm down and things like that. But I think bringing stuff in, um, and I love that idea of not just the movement, but the belief systems and you know, you are enough and you know, affirmations. I mean, that's incredibly powerful, Clarissa.

SPEAKER_01

Thank you. I I really appreciate that. I've I've put a lot of thought, especially as it relates to my kids' Pilates training or when I'm working with children, because I think back to how I felt as a child, and um, and as I watch my girls grow up, I'm trying to stay in tune with all the things that they're experiencing and feeling. So that way I'm never so out of touch that I can't relate. So those are the kind of the things that I keep in mind when working with kids.

SPEAKER_00

I'd like to talk about your books. Um, your I'd love to understand, you know, your journey from kind of coming across Pilates, really having to work hard to fund that, getting work. Like, where was the point you thought I could put this into a book? And how what was that process like? Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_01

So I had thought about it maybe in 2021, but I kind of just shelved it because I just had too much going on, like my divorce, you know, from my ex-husband. So that's probably why I kind of pressed pause on it. And then after I met my now new husband and I had a baby with him in 2023, I had a little bit of extra time uh during the tail end of my pregnancy. So I said, okay, let me see what else is out there. So I was going to the library, I was taking my oldest to the library and I would look at all these different books and I would say, hmm, I don't really see a lot of movement books for kids. I would see yoga, but I said, I don't see a Pilates book. Where is that? And then if I did see a Pilates book or a movement book, the little girl didn't look like her. And so I said, Okay, well, I don't see it. I even went on Amazon. I don't see it. I guess it doesn't exist. Let's give it a go. That's kind of my thought process. It didn't take me too long.

SPEAKER_00

It was just like, all right, let's try this out. So Sage Does Pilates is a book. Explain it to me. It's to inspire the children or to inspire the parents with the children to do it together.

SPEAKER_01

So it's a little bit of both. It's a great, it could be used as a book in the classroom to read. It can be used as a nighttime, which you read before bed, or it can just be read at any point. It goes over the basic original order of Matt Pilates. So the first, the very first page, I say something like, um, hi, my name is Sage, and I love to do Pilates together with my mommy because it's fun. And it's a picture of me uh in front of a reformer, and she's just like there, kind of waving. It's it's really, really cute. I would get it, but I know it's downstairs.

SPEAKER_00

I love that. I mean, I feel like that's like my daughter's like, you know, sees mommy doing Pilates. Yes. And you mentioned already, you know, Sage is a girl of color in a book. It is a challenge, is it not, that the representation in the wellness industry in general isn't the best. Is that kind of, you know, not just from a children's perspective, but it isn't generally out there. Would you agree?

SPEAKER_01

I would say that things have definitely changed, and I think that there is a lot more representation than what we used to have, but yes, overall. But my main focus is trying to get young girls and boys of color to start doing Pilates or start doing movement practices outside of sports early on, because that's when habits are built. So, yes, I definitely feel like it's that way from an adult perspective. But if I can get to you younger where you're still formulating your habits and your activities, that's kind of where my mindset and focus is right now.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, and I think, you know, the power of having a practice at home. This is what I love about Matt Pilates, especially. I mean, you know, it's free. You can do it at home, do it anywhere, and that's such a powerful thing to do. And it must be lovely for your girls to see themselves somewhat featured in these books and try and shift that, like you said, shift that belief of what is possible.

SPEAKER_01

Exactly. I mean, I've I've read in my daughter's classroom a few times, and she's like, Oh, mommy, they think I'm famous. They think I'm famous. Yeah, she she gets a little shy and a little bashful uh with it. We've also we've been on the TV a couple of times, and she gets a little shy, but also excited at the same time. So it's really, really beautiful to watch her just be really happy about the book. She's starting to get a little older now, so her mindset is shifting because I wrote the book when she was five, so now she's seven, going on eight. So her mindset is a little different. So I have to change my approach to doing Pilates with her, but she still loves it. My little one, she does, she doesn't care. She'll do whatever. She's two. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00

And how do you think we make more young children feel inclusive in our world? I mean, I guess it's through representation like this, but do you have any ideas of how we could go further? The studio owners that are listening, the teachers that are listening, is there things that we could be doing?

SPEAKER_01

I think you have to, at least right now, you gotta start reaching out to summer camps. Summer camps is prime time, it's prime time season for summer camps. You know, figure out different initiatives that are going on within your community. There, I mean, we have Royal Pilates Day coming up. I think it's May 4th, right? Or I think that's the right date. We have June team celebrations, Mother's Day celebrations, all these different summer camps going on. So I think this is an opportunity for us to really start integrating ourselves in that realm. Because right now, when I think of Pilates just as a whole, it's it comes off very aesthetic, very, you know, matching sets. I got my matcha and I love matcha, so no shade to the people who like matcha. I do. But it's very just aesthetic, aesthetic, aesthetic, you know, luxury, luxury, luxury. And if you want to be, if you want to have more access in that world with kids, it can't be about that. Kids don't really care what set you got on. I mean, unless it's maybe like a like a go Danny Go shirt, then cool, you're winning there. But outside of that, it doesn't matter.

SPEAKER_00

And I think it's the thing I love about Pilates is I mean, most of my home practice is literally in my pajamas. I think I don't even need kit on. You could just wear anything. And I love how you talk about, you know, thinking about making Pilates actually a family practice. Is that something that's possible?

SPEAKER_01

Absolutely. I mean, I'm living proof of that. I've been able to teach my kids and myself, you know, Pilates throughout this process. And then just recently, with the workshop that I did, I have a couple of those ladies who went out and are doing a couple of mommy me and kids stuff. And then I think previously, because I I did the kids' Pilates training last year also, a couple of them gone to the YMCA, or a couple of them gone to a summer camp, or they've used the book to help. So absolutely, the the goal is family. That's the underlying tone with my mission there is family, family, family, bonding, bonding, bonding.

SPEAKER_00

I love that. I love the idea of actually bringing the kids a bit more into my workout. Maybe they I'll get them involved next time and get them to play. I've just got a chair at home because I realized I couldn't fit a reformer in. So I've got a chair in my kitchen, in my kitchen. Do you know what? It's fine. I feel like it looks like a piece of furniture. But the kids absolutely love it. I mean, I did have to sort of say, guys, I think you need to chill out a little bit. It might be dangerous. But it is so great to see them, you know, just being involved with this stuff. Um, so yeah, I love the idea of bringing that in into their lives. Tell me, Clarissa, your what your work is like today. Am I right in thinking you've got a studio now?

SPEAKER_01

Yes, my studio turns one in April. I'm really happy and excited about that, that I've been able to sustain this long. And I mainly do privates and duets at my studio for the time being. Hopefully I'll be able to expand next year. But I am really, really excited about that. I have a MAT teacher training coming up in April. So, and that can be done at my studio or hybrid options there. It's really geared towards people who maybe come from the contemporary world and want to start learning more about classical Pilates, but they're not quite sure because maybe the stigma they they might it might come off a little bit standoffish sometimes. So coming from my world and my background with being peak Pilates and Club Pilates trained, I'm able to kind of bridge that gap, which is hence the name a little bit.

SPEAKER_00

And do you see that as a challenge out there? Because I think, you know, a lot of people listening to the podcast are wanting to know more, you know, they're wanting to educate themselves. And do you think there is a what do you hear from, you know, like you said, often these are people who are already qualified. What are you hearing from them? Are they feeling that there's something missing in their practice? Or they, you know, what are their reasons for wanting to explore the Pilates world a bit wider?

SPEAKER_01

They want to know the why behind the movements. They want to know what's the like what's the point of doing single leg stretch? Or why should I, you know, kick my leg all the way up in the air versus keeping it down? They want to understand modifications versus progressions versus variations, because I I explained that very, very clear during my training. They want to understand special populations a lot more, particularly working with prenatal and postnatal moms, because what's happening in the world right now is that women are waiting to have children. And being that they're waiting to have children due to being more financially stable, these this is the population that we're seeing in the Pilates world. And I don't I think we'd be remiss to completely ignore that. So people want to know more how to work with that population. So these are some of the things that I'm hearing. And so I said, okay, how do I incorporate this in my training? And that's what I'm doing. I'm trying to bridge that gap and answer the questions in a way that is non-intimidating. Because I know sometimes the perception, because I don't think it's true, but the perception of classical Pilates can be standoffish or this, you know, all these different things. And I don't I personally don't think it's true, just like I don't think contemporary teachers are just making up stuff all the time. I don't think that. I just think that if we have a little bit of more clarity and empathy and understanding, I think that wedge that we have would start to close a little bit.

SPEAKER_00

It must be interesting from you, Clarissa, coming from that classical world, and then you know, the work that was available was Club Pilates and you went and did a training with them. Like that must have been an interesting place for you. Did you how did you feel shifting the way that you were teaching to work for a studio? Because I think lots of teachers out there, if they work at multiple studios, like you have to shift your style to the studio's ethos often. Um, how did you find that?

SPEAKER_01

At first I found it a little bit difficult because I was used to like I did learn some modifications during my peak training at the time. But it, of course, you know, you don't learn every single thing or every single way. So then you're like, okay, well, what do I do now? And then it also was my first time where I had to teach 12 people. So I found that I had to be a little bit more. Performative, if that makes sense. The way that I said my words, the cadence in which I said it, the flow and understanding a flow from a contemporary standpoint versus flowing in classical Pilates is very different. Right? Like a flow in contemporary Pilates can mean using the magic circle in a in a cool, fun way to kind of help you feel this, that, and third. Whereas flowing in classical Pilates for me seems more how do I transition? Like to kind of similar, but then kind of not when you think of it from a group class at Club Pilates versus going to a classical studio and there's only four or five people. It's just a little different.

SPEAKER_00

And it is interesting, isn't it, seeing how the different schools of thought, you know, program differently, think about these things differently. I feel like I've talked to so many people on the podcast now from all these different worlds. I mean, they all teach you something. So I can imagine having quite different trainings has actually made you a much more rounded teacher.

SPEAKER_01

I would a thousand percent agree. And then, of course, since then I've done a couple of mentorships and stuff. So yeah, it's it's made me a lot more well-rounded. I feel as though sometimes I can be uh a chameleon a little bit. I can I can kind of blend, you know, wherever I need to go. And and I would like to think that it also, in some aspect, people respect me in the industry because they see the root in what I'm trying to do. They see the why in what I'm trying to do. And they may not necessarily always agree with the move, but they see where it came from. Or if I'm doing something on the different realm of more classical Pilates, a contemporary teacher can say, Oh, I think I might have seen that before. I'd like to learn more about that. So I kind of walked the line a little bit.

SPEAKER_00

And I think in an ideal world, we would know the classical work to feel like we understand where it comes from and then we understand the deviation. The challenge is that's a lot of training, isn't it? So sometimes people are being are coming in and being taught at that slightly more creative level. But you know, it's interesting. So it's interesting hearing your take on that. And what are the kind of clients that you're working with today in those uh duets and um privates? Are they, you know, a whole mix of people?

SPEAKER_01

Oh, yeah, they're a whole mix of people. Some are professional athletes, some are former athletes, some are moms, of course, some are people who are retired or getting ready to retire. That I've had a 13-year-old ballerina to a 12-year-old basketball player, to a 72-year-old woman with osteoporosis, to yeah, knee replacement. I've had it all.

SPEAKER_00

And that's the beauty of this work, isn't it? Is that I always think, what other practice do you have where you can have this, you know, wide range of people in even in one day? And what's coming next for Clarissa? What's on the the horizon for you?

SPEAKER_01

Oh, what is on the horizon for me? Hmm. I think continue to grow and evolve, but more importantly, to stay flexible. I want to always stay flexible. And when I say that, I I want to be able to bend but not break, no matter what direction life may pull me, whether I lean more into kids' Pilates or pre- and post-natal Podates, or when I start working in my studio and I'm training, you know, different athletes, or my mat training, or doing uh things with club Pilates because I'm a master trainer for them. I just want to stay flexible. I I always want to learn. I never want to just be stuck or in one space. So that's probably what's next. I can't really say for sure.

SPEAKER_00

No, I love that. And I think that, you know, because who who knows what's coming next? And I think I really like that answer as well because it's very easy, I think, to listen to the greats out there and see how they've niched down. I personally think I'd get quite bored if I talked about one niche and that's all I talked about. So I love the fact that you've got a niche, but you know, you're flexible and bending it to the people that you're working with. So I think that's a great, that's a great, great inspiration. Clarissa, I always end our episodes with some quickish fire questions if I'm in.

SPEAKER_01

Okay.

SPEAKER_00

What's your favorite Pilates exercise right now? Right now, the hundred.

SPEAKER_01

I don't know. I feel I feel invigorated when I do it.

SPEAKER_00

I love it. Um, what movement do kids love the most?

SPEAKER_01

They like seal because I go art, art, art with it.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Do you find yourself, is there a cue that you find yourself using with children a lot? You kind of hear yourself saying.

SPEAKER_01

With children a lot. Hmm. Smile. Have fun. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

That's not what you might think. Have fun. No. Smile. Which I think links me into my next question is is there anything that the adults could learn from the way that children are doing this work?

SPEAKER_01

Be flexible. You got and not just in your own body, but just your line of thinking. It's okay if it's not perfect. You're just doing the best with the information you have at the time. So that's what I would say.

SPEAKER_00

What do you hope the children feel after doing Pilates with you? Inspired. And what gift has Pilates given you?

SPEAKER_01

I was already resilient, but motivation. I would say motivate. It's it's kept me motivated.

SPEAKER_00

And it sounds like as well, you know, from your story that you so kindly shared with us, that it took you on this path of life as well that sort of just landed in front of you. But you, you know, I always think to when people say, I need signs for things. It's like the signs are there, but you gotta follow them. And you did, you know, you kind of you allowed yourself to feel. Thank you so much for sharing your story, Clarissa. If people want to work with you, how can they find you?

SPEAKER_01

Yes, they can find me on Instagram at Pilates Mommy or and or on YouTube and Facebook. They can also go to my website, PilatesMommy.com, and that's spelled P-I-L-A-T-E-S Mommy M A M I I dot com with a little spice.

SPEAKER_00

Amazing. We'll put the links in the show notes. But thank you so much. It's been a joy to talk to you today. Thank you so much for having me. I appreciate it. Thank you so much to Clarissa for joining me. It was so interesting to think about how we would bring this work to working with children. Something that I think about when I'm trying to teach my own kids movement and they're coming to play in the studio. And I know there's some really interesting trainings out there looking at how we can bring the Pilates world to children. We actually got invited as a studio to go into a deaf school and to teach some deaf children, which has been such an interesting project, and it's been really interesting to hear Clarissa's ideas around that. So I hope you enjoyed today's episode, and I look forward to talking to you again next week for another episode of Beyond the Reformer.