Teacher:Laura Guarnera www.lauraguarnera.com
Joseph Pilates hoped to reach every possible age and demographic with his method. In this spirit, there has been an increase in Pilates outreach for children and Teens in recent years, I am a Pilates foundation Teacher and Yoga Teacher as well as a Dancer /Choreographer, I have been teaching in London and worldwide for over 25 years. I am a Mum of an 11 years old, a very sportive child.
In the last year I have noticed amazing changes in my son`s body and although he practice football, Tae Quando e swimming, I have noticed very little awareness is given to Teens about Dynamic Alignment, Core Stability, Breathing.
Because their young bodies are still developing, there is a need to prevent sports injuries caused by working incorrectly or lifting a weight they aren’t ready for yet..
A Pilates Class for Teens can increase strength and flexibility, and perhaps more importantly, body awareness. The sooner a young person learns about how their body works and feels, the sooner they will start to live in their body instead of just inhabiting it.
Some kids seem detached from their bodies and completely unaware of how it works and what it needs. Pilates can be a first step to better body awareness.
The studies are there. Teen and childhood obesity is becoming an epidemic. 16-33% of teens are obese and they stand an 80% chance of being obese adults.
Regular physical activity can prevent heart disease and diabetes down the road. The time to start taking care of their bodies is now. With today’s academic and social pressures, not to mention the physical and emotional changes teens experience, it may take some time to get your kids motivated.
Pilates can assist teens in increasing blood circulation and sculpting their body. When a body is sculpted and fit the teen has increased energy to accomplish other daily tasks.
Teens find confidence to do Pilates successfully because anyone no matter their present fitness level or ability can do Pilates as it is designed. Pilates is also accessible to teens as Pilates is so popular that classes are generally readily available in most cities.
Teens who choose to participate in after school fitness programs such as Pilates do so with the knowledge that their decision could have a positive impact on improving academic achievement and give them a competitive edge in sports.
Stressed out teens will be able to learn how to use the mind-body connection taught during Pilates lessons to help them deal with the stress of school relationships or home life.
Teens should be reminded to wear comfortable fitting clothes such as shorts tightest-shirt or tank top. They can forget the shoes as Pilates is usually done without them.
Teens who do not relish getting all sweaty can use the natural strength and flexibility benefits of Pilates by taking each movement slow. Teens desiring to increase the heart rate in order to burn calories or receive an accelerated workout can of course take the exercises at a faster pace as long as they remember that the movements should be fluid in nature and done with proper breathing technique.
Teens typically are bored easily so Pilate’s appeals to them as it has a lot of built in diversity that can hold a teen’s attention.
The founder of Pilates Joseph Pilates purposely built variety into the exercises giving users fewer repetitions of a number of different exercises rather than lots of repetitions of just a few exercises. Pilates can be done in a group or alone after the initial instruction period is finished; giving the teen the options to go it alone at their own pace or to continue with a group for social and support benefits.
My Classes.
6-week Course
Class: 45-50minutes
1. Keep it fun!
Teaching children is much different than teaching adults,“With children you have to focus on helping them focus and understand the benefits of Pilates and at the same time make Pilates fun.” kids really responded to exercises with animal names, so now I renamed a lot of them. “We do a lot of happy things. I teach them a standing Roll Down, calling it an “elephant with a trunk.” Sometimes I lets the kids name the exercises. “It might be one name in one class, but in a different program, the kids call it something different.”
2. Trust your instincts
Even though children are different than adults, the fundamentals of teaching Pilates are still the same. Just like with adults, some children are stronger,more fit or more flexible than others. “It’s the basic things that you’ve learned as an instructor—you use those same principles with children,” starting with a basic fitness test to assess what level my students are at. Looking at how many can do the Hundred with their knees bent or head up. “I break my class down that way. That will tell me where they are,”. “We all try to work together, but I also teach modified versions of almost every exercise.”
3. Keep classes small
I like to limit children classes to 10 students, especially with the younger children, so I can give them individual attention. “I’d rather teach two classes than 20 kids at one time,” I’ll make an exception for teens who have Pilates experience: in that case she’ll allow 15 at a time.
4. Talk about all the benefits of fitness
“In my class, we don’t talk about weight,”. Instead, I stress the other benefits you get from Pilates and fitness in general: centering, concentration, posture, alignment, flexibility. I often start a class by breaking down the letters in the word Pilates and assigning a different word to each letter. (P stands for posture…) “Kids want to become more flexible, they want to be stronger, they want to be like whatever athlete that they love…but then I always go back to how it will help them with their studies,” . “It’s amazing when children can say that ‘before the test I was really stressed out and then I took your class and I was able to focus and did better
5. Let the kids teach each other
I have found that a lecture-and-demonstration format works well with kids classes, meaning she demonstrates an exercise and then they all do it together. I also choose a student to be a “guest teacher” every week to teach the class an exercise he or she has mastered. “It’s a great way for children to learn—from their peers—because they’re so impressionable on each other anyway,” she says. At first, the kids were shy about teaching the class. “But now, that’s the main focus—who’s going to teach today?” I also likes for her students to call out the names of the exercises before they do them, “They know the names of the exercises when I get in to the positions!”
6. Use language children can relate to
“Younger kids have no clue what the core is. It takes a long time to get to that level,” kids understand the navel-to-spine connection when she says things like, “Pull your belly button in,” or “Bring your belly button to your back.” “My belief is that if they’re focusing and trying to do some of it, they’re going to receive the benefits from it, and eventually they will move on to the next phase,”. To explain “inhale” and “exhale,” I work with images” Ideokinesis”I ask the students to fill up their lungs with air, i” inflating a balloon” and let the air out of their lungs” Let the balloon deflate” and asks them what that feels like. What does a belly button that’s not pulled in look like i class? “You’re always drawing from a childlike mind when you’re teaching,” And believe it or not, you can come up with a thousand things that you didn’t know you had.”
Time: Class run for 50 minute in a format of 6 week Course.
Spring Term: stating on the 10th-01-2011 ending on the week commencing on the 14th -02-2011 and than other 6week course starting on the week commencing on the week of the 28th -02-2011ending on the week commencing on the28th-03-2011.
Summer Term: starting on the week commencing on the 26th-04-2011 ending on the week commencing on the 30th -05-2011 and than starting on the week commencing on the 6th -06-2011 and ending on the week commencing on the 4th -07-2011.
I am very please to offer a tester class at half the cost of a full class.
Number of Students: Limited to 10-15 students per class.
After school Monday- Tuesday –Thursday and Friday or during school time.
Cost: 6 week course: £ 360 cost per individual class: £ 60
Contact: www.lauraguarnera.com email:lguarnera@msn.com
