Long time no chat!

It’s been a while since I shared regular posts and video. A year and a half, in fact! And while I’ve sure missed showing up in your inbox every two weeks sharing my movement ahas, there’s been no shortage of aha moments and connection in my world.

I’m reaching out today to share some news and update you about what I’ve been up to.

For as long as I can remember, I have felt a deep, inherent drive to work with others in a way that improves lives. This drive showed up in different ways as I’ve evolved over the years and was always present throughout my hairstyling and movement careers.

About seven years ago, I began feeling an internal pull to work with people on a deeper level than just Pilates or body alignment. I had my own painful cracking-open experience that set me on a path of personal development. More and more, I realized that the changes we want to make with our body, or any area of life, start in the mind.

After 12 years of actively teaching in the movement world, something else became abundantly clear to me. There is no right way that works for everyone. There’s only what works for you and only you have access to that information, even though you may not realize it.

I used to be baffled by how gloriously an exercise would work for one person with back pain, only to see the same exercise completely fail for someone else experiencing the same symptoms. Or, to hear some people rave about the changes they made in their lives and bodies after coming to Pilates, only to turn around and hear other people rave just as much about the same life changes experienced thru a completely different modality, like Crossfit.

There really is no single answer, or one-size-fits-all solution.

Each and every one of us has a unique way of making meaning in the world. And it’s your unique way of thinking and making meaning that ultimately determines the value you receive from your efforts and how good you feel in life.

The original reason I took a break from the blog was to focus on my Nutritious Movement™ Restorative Exercise certification (which I completed!) and take a deep dive into Integral Coaching®.

What is Integral Coaching®?

I am currently a certified Integral Professional® Coach and, come this November, I will have completed my certification as an Integral Master® Coach.

I fell in love with Integral Coaching® because it answered so many questions for me around all of the different, unique, beautiful and painful ways we humans make meaning.

Integral Coaching®, which is deeply rooted in Ken Wilber’s Integral Theory, offers an incredibly effective method for creating sustainable change in areas of life that deeply matter to you. The method helps tease out problem areas and goals that remain out of reach and helps identify key ways of thinking and being that are blocking you from gaining real traction and success.

I first experienced Integral Coaching® through a one-on-one program I signed up for back in 2014. I had reached a point in my life where I knew something needed to change, but I felt blocked and unable to access another way forward.

I also knew that it wasn’t therapy or counseling that I needed.

I needed someone to ask me powerful questions to help me illuminate the answers for myself. Someone to offer an alternative perspective I had never considered, or thought could ever be possible. Someone to walk beside me on my path of change, shining light on my roadmap of possibilities and supporting me in identifying and developing the capabilities I needed to make those possibilities a reality.

A Life-Changing Experience

That Integral Coaching® program changed my life. It supported me in making changes I never believed possible. And, what’s really cool, is that I still continue to feel the positive ripple effects of the seeds planted during that program almost four years later.

I now understand how and why certain approaches, or exercises, work for some and not for others. And I have a new level of understanding and skill in holding a container of support as others make changes in their own lives.

This understanding and skill has certainly changed my approach and work in the studio, which is still rockin’ by the way! (The Pilates Tonic teaching crew is always available for your Pilates, movement and Monkey Gym training as ever and I’m grateful for their big-hearted, passionate and excellent skills!)

But, if you’re at a point in life where Pilates or Crossfit or other similar body-centric methods of changing your life for the better aren’t as effective as you’d hoped, this could be a powerful alternative (or addition) to your efforts that I feel can make all the difference. It did for me!

Much love,

Sydney

PS. If you're local, stay tuned, I’ll be reaching out soon with some fun studio news and updates!