I received the email below last week and it made my heart skip a beat!
Dear Carrie,
I am a new instructor, and I’m really struggling with cueing and confidence. It all seems so hard for me, and I thought I would enjoy teaching Pilates. Not the case at all. I am so nervous all the time and find it hard to manage. Did you have the same experience in the beginning?
-B.R.
YES, YES. 100 TIMES YES! Here’s what my early teaching experience looked like. Two months after receiving my certification, I took over another instructor’s entire schedule because she was unexpectedly put on bed rest in her 2nd trimester. Overnight I was teaching 25 hours a week to clients who were used to a seasoned instructor. I can remember feeling nervous every single session of every single day. I also remember thinking I shouldn’t feel that way. I thought I should just be able to walk into the studio, take control, and teach like my mentors. After all, I had just spent over 450 hours immersing myself in Pilates that year and had memorized every single exercise, repetition, and breathing pattern. Shouldn’t this be easy? The answer is no. Becoming a confident and proficient teacher takes time, not memorization skills. Just like getting the exercises of Pilates in your body is a process so is your journey in teaching Pilates. Be patient and trust the process, and know that even if you’ve been teaching for 17 years like me it doesn’t mean that you’re free from those feelings from the question above. I still get nervous, make mistakes, and worry if I’m making the right choices for my client’s bodies. It does get easier though and I promise it happens sooner than you think it will. Just keep showing up, doing your best, and if you have to “fake it ‘til you make it!”
I just finished my certification program and have been stressing over all the same things.
Although I find myself worrying more about teaching in front or around other teachers in the studio. I know all the exercises and am slowly developing better cues, but I can’t stop stressing over what they may be thinking or noticing when I teach. I thought other instructors would be more helpful. My teacher is awesome and I have been seeking her advice more. So all you newbies out there… your not alone:) Thanks Carrie for your supportive words. So glad I found your website!!
I’m so glad you found the site too! I really appreciate you sharing your encouraging words to other new instructors. It’s so important to feel like you’re not alone!
I’m so glad this post resonated with you! Thanks so much for reading!
I’ve been teaching pilates for several years and I am struggling with the receptiveness of the phrases. By the end of my shifts I’m EXHAUSTED from talking for hours on end. The hours and times we have to teach is also burning me out. Getting up at 4am/5am and then having to put the studio together and being super friendly at that time and energetic is hell. Plus then going back in the afternoon to do it all again I’m spent. Absolutely hating my career right now which breaks my heart because I really enjoy pilates and teaching it. the clientele is always of a little higher income but for most part they’ve been super nice. I’m so burnt out I don’t even want to watch pilates, see pilates, do anything that has to do with pilates in my spare time. I used to LOVE LOVE LOVE pilates.
Thanks for sharing this informational post!
I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Hello,
I got my Pilates mat certification during the pandemic when I was 6 months pregnant. Ha ha ha. Oh boy, was that interesting. Because I wanted more confidence (and couldn’t hardly do any regular Pilates moves postpartum) I got certified as a Pregnancy and Postpartum Corrective Exercise Specialist. Oh my goodness so much information. Anyway, all these certificates don’t give me the confidence I need. I’m currently teaching here and there at a lovely pilates studio. The manager let me set up a postpartum pilates workshop once a month, but I don’t really know that many people and o don’t know how well it’s advertised because either no one signs up or 1 person signs up. I recently took on a Mommy and Me Mat Pilates class on Wednesdays there. Today was my first session with my kiddo. Oh my word, it felt like a disaster to me. My kid screaming here and there and the client being too worried about her own kiddo to focus on the deep core. She did say a couple things we did helped her low back feel better though. Should I continue teaching Mommy and Me? Are there good resources for doing Pilates standing up?!? Ha ha ha. That way we can keep an eye on our kids. Should I continue teaching at all? God, does it get easier? I don’t want to throw in the towel yet. How do I get people to sign up? How do make these deep core classes fun? Seems like most of the population needs these slow modified movements (modified from regular pilates).