I believe we teach what we ourselves need to learn. Even, and especially, if we aren't aware we're doing so.

I have no doubt this is why I became a Pilates instructor. Although I didn't know it at the time, teaching was the only way for me to learn how to internalize new connections that my physical body so desperately needed. When I made the decision to pursue teacher training, I was completely oblivious to my physical imbalances.

As I learned new physical connections that helped straighten out my spine, alleviate discomfort and sculpt my physique, I also found a new mental skill patiently waiting in the wings to develop.

In fact, it turned out that underneath the foundational physical work I was doing was an even deeper and more profound foundation of awareness that I have continued to discover in my ongoing daily life.

Just as I am compelled to share the physical discoveries I've made, I also feel I must share the discoveries, or awakenings, I've had when it comes to consciousness, happiness, gratitude and presence. These are all lessons I’m still learning and by sharing them with you, I discover even more. I hope you find my personal lessons and discoveries helpful.

So, with that thought in mind, I'd like to share a big learning moment I had recently. It's a little embarrassing, but that's why it was such a powerful teacher!

A Story About Keys and Moving Too Fast

A few weekends ago I was at a lunch meeting and my kids were there too. The restaurant was pretty noisy so as soon as we finished eating we were ready to get out of there and get some fresh air. I stopped at the restroom before heading out the door, but everyone else went outside.

I had my phone, iPad, bag, car keys and my son's hat in the bathroom stall with me. My mind was, once again, racing ahead of me a mile a minute with thoughts of everything that needed to be done. I was not present.

With my hands full, getting ready to exit the bathroom stall, I flushed the toilet and the next thing I know, I had lost control of my keys and they were falling…

Now, this was not your average toilet. It was one of those supersonic toilets with flushing options. I had pressed the number-one flush option and next thing I knew my keys were flying toward the bottom of the toilet.

In that instant everything shifted into slow-motion bullet-time.

As I watched, the keys landed in the bottom of the bowl and at the exact same moment the supersonic flush took off.

I remember thinking for a split second that my keys were way too heavy to be sucked into a toilet. But as soon as I had this thought I knew I'd better get my hand down there and grab those keys just in case.

My fingertips brushed them for a brief fraction of a second and then…. the keys were gone.

I knew I wasn’t getting them back.

But I still went elbow deep into the toilet hoping they might be somehow lodged in the pipe.

But no, there was nothing there. Those keys were gone for good.

I stood in the bathroom stall with my arm soaking wet and dripping everywhere. Then it got worse as I realized I'd have to go outside and tell everyone we'd have to find another way home because I just flushed my keys down the toilet.

Did I mention that I drove everyone to the restaurant in my car?

Luckily, this is where my gratitude practice kicked in.

A younger version of myself wouldn’t have handled this situation so well. There was a time when I would have beaten myself up about how stupid I was for doing such a thing.

But I've learned to question that negative voice when it arises and I've also learned that getting pissed off and wishing things were different than they are only makes them worse.

I stepped out of the bathroom stall, washed my hands and prepared myself to break the news to everyone. I noticed how not-present I had been up until this moment and so paused and took a deep breath.

I became present and reviewed my reasons for being grateful. I trusted that there was a greater plan.

Considering that flushing my keys down the toilet was one of the most ridiculous things I could imagine doing, how could everyone get upset, right? I hoped they would find it as funny as I was starting to feel it was.

When I was calm and ready, outside I went to break the news.

As I heard myself tell everyone what I'd done, I really started laughing because it sounded so ridiculous spoken out loud. And that laughter felt so good. I forget how good laughter feels and how important it truly is. And then I realized that my own laughter was something I was also grateful for.

Just as I'd hoped, the others laughed too, especially my kids, and we all agreed it was a pretty rare and hilarious thing to do.

Since it was such a beautiful day outside, we collectively agreed to take the electric shuttle as far as we could and then walk the rest of the way to my husband’s car.

Chattanooga has a free electric shuttle, because it’s progressive like that, and for this I was also exceedingly grateful.

Honestly, I think we were all a little excited to ride the shuttle and go for a walk. It felt a bit like being on vacation for a little while. We even stopped for ice cream on the way.

My shenanigans with the keys added a couple hours to our day and completely shifted what we had originally planned. But that turned out to be exactly what we needed. And because we chose to look at it as a positive experience (we looked for the good in it), it turned out great.

Lessons

So here's what I learned in a nutshell:

1. To get out of my head and be present in what I’m doing each and every moment, especially in the most high-speed and challenging moments.
2. To have gratitude for the small things.
3. When life flushes your keys down the toilet, trust there is a greater plan.

I can't emphasize enough this idea that your mind is always spread out beneath your physical body working as a deep and overriding foundation. And it works either for, or against you depending on your choice to ignore it, or become present, especially in the moments that most challenge you. This affects everything you do, especially your experience with Pilates. 🙂

Your mental practice supports your physical practice of Pilates—every movement you make is either based on presence or non-presence and so the results of your Pilates practice will either re-enforce your positive goals, or not. This is why some people see amazing benefits in short time periods with their Pilates practice and others might see little change over a longer period.

We have a choice and can change the way we think in any single moment.

I love Pilates because it requires you to stay so very present—it's a wonderful opportunity to train your body AND mind at the same time. Marie José Blom even has a great quote about it—you must keep, “…every moment in the movement.”

Love that!

See you in the studio,
Sydney

P.S. Our free mini workshop on the foot is still available. You can read more about it and register for immediate access: Foot-Talk: A Powerful Foot Align­ment Training