What are you doing this Memorial Day weekend? Hopefully being with loved ones, good food, making memories and maybe... grilling?
Take your dessert up with this yummy recipe for Vanilla Grilled Pineapple from the New York Times by Martha Rose Shulman. (And check out their Cooking App if you haven't yet).
Ours didn't look quite as pretty as theirs but it tasted amazing. Wonderful on it's own, as a side to grilled fish or over vanilla ice cream. Enjoy!
Dear Swan clients and friends!
There are some big changes happening at The Swan this spring. Julia is moving out of the city to the midwest and her last day of teaching at The Swan is April 1! The tears of sadness and joy are falling from all of our eyes (and hers!) as we wish her so much happiness in her new ventures!
Since Julia is such an integral part of The Swan we do not feel right continuing the studio in the same way. We will continue our blog and are currently working on a contact page featuring all of the amazing Swan instructors, staff and interns who have contributed to this community over the past few years. TheSwanPialtes.com will become a landing place for interesting reads, at home programs, instructor information, and lots of Swan love but will no longer be the landing page for our Manhattan studio. We will finish the edits of the website by the end of March so so check back with us! Heads up - we are in the process of taking down online scheduling so email is the best way to reach us for appointments!
This studio change also means a transition for current clients. As we move into March and April, you will contact your instructor directly for all scheduling and payments. As your current package runs out, your instructor will walk you through all of the details involved in this transition. Please see the complete contact list below and feel free to reach out to your teacher now with questions!
You may be concerned about your continued practice - we completely understand. All of the current Swan instructors will either be teaching in the Pilates studio at Broadway Healing Arts (our current location in suite 403) or at other locations in the city. It is our intention to assist all clients in continuing with their practice! We have a wonderful network of instructors both here and all around NYC!
Have immediate questions on how to continue your practice? Please email us at TheSwanPilates@gmail.com or ask your instructor the next time you see them in the studio.
Thank you SO very much for your continued support of The Swan. We endlessly appreciate our clients. Here's to lots of positive changes, love and great Pilates to keep us moving onward!
Love,
Eleanor and Julia
Teachers Contact Information
Johanna Meyer . . . johanna@thinaar.com
Travis Sisk . . . info@manifestbodyworks.com
Alaina Mallory . . . lengthenwithlaina@gmail.com
Emma Fitzsimmons . . . emmaloweryfitz@gmail.com
Kathryn Meany . . . kathrynmeanybuckley@gmail.com
Katie Vason . . . katie.vason@gmail.com
Alexis Zaccarello . . . Alexis.zac@gmail.com
Julia Edwards . . . itsmejuliaye@gmail.com
Eleanor Hullihan . . . ebb.ebh.ebh@gmail.com
A guest post by Swan Instructor Katie!
Plastic is a material we could use less of! What better way then to cut down our use of plastic water bottles and plastic bags! Over a lifetime, the use of reusable bags by just one person would save 22,000 plastic bags (at least!). How crazy is that? And did you know that only 25% of plastic water bottles are recycled each year, meaning that 75% are thrown in to landfills or the ocean. What an insane statistic considering there are such simple solutions. Buy your own resusable water bottle and fill up with tap water. The EPA's standards for tap water are more stringent then the FDA's standards for bottled water, plus NYC has some of the best tap water around. Reusable bags are also so easy to incorporate into daily life- many fold up conveniently so you can just throw them right in your purse or backpack when leaving the apartment or house.
Here are a few sites/local stores that sell bags, water bottles, and other reusable containers, although you can find them pretty much at any grocery store. We only have one earth and if we each become more aware of how our actions impact the environment, together we can make a huge difference!
Talent like his needs no introduction and the song title should tell you why this tune is on our minds!
We try to keep your bookshelves lively in our reading recommendations with a wide span of categories to tickle parts of your brain that help you imagine, escape or emote. This round however we are unleashing our love of anatomy reads. There are so so many great books on this subject but here are a few of our favorites!
Image from Albinus on Anatomy
Albinus on Anatomy: If you have stretched at the ladder barrel and discussed the deep front line while doing so, you too already love this book.
Anatomy of Movement: This book gives excellent movement and imagery that help you understand the anatomy from a more somatic perspective.
Netter's: This is a serious amatomy book for great, detailed anatomical drawings.
Anatomy Trains: You may have been hearing a lot about fascia in the last few years. This book breaks down anatomy from the lens of how the fascia interacts with the body. This is a different understanding than your average muscle and bone understanding.
Anatomy Coloring Book: For the visual learners out there, this is a really great workbook that is only a slight step away from a color by number.
Thinking about starting a new fitness program? Be SMART. Change in the body doesn't happen immediately and you need to be very patient and specific with how you work!
The New York Times Magazine recently ran this short story by Michael Cunningham while featuring metamorphosis as the Culture Issue theme.
CreditIllustration by Yuko Shimizu from The New York Times Magazine Website.
I can't make this soon enough. GF Pumpkin Pie done. #YUMS
Welcome to the stressful, too-many-parties, family-filled, end-of-year wrap up, glittering time of year. You know what you need to do? STRETCH! This series should take less than 20 minutes. Make sure to do the whole sequence in order for the full effect. Enjoy!
1. Breathe. Lie on your back and take a few full breaths. This stretches your insides and is an important first step to any stretching process.
2. Hamstring Stretch. Draw one knee into your chest and loop a strap (belt, long towel, scarf) around the sole of your foot. Extend your leg to the sky at an angle that allows you to keep an even pelvis and long spine. 1 minute each side.
3. Figure Four. Cross your right ankle over your left knee and bring your left leg to tabletop. Hold behind the back of your left leg and gently draw your legs towards your chest keeping your lower back long. You may like adding a gentle rock from side to side. 1 minute each side.
4. Quad Stretch. Lie on your belly with long legs. Make sure you line your self up in a straight line (not like a banana!). Bend one leg, bringing your heel towards your pelvis. Hold your ankle and direct your knee straight down. 1 min each side.
Hamstring Stretch
Figure Four
Quad Stretch
5. Hip Flexor Stretch. Stand vertically on your knees and step one foot forward into an upright lunge. Use your abdominals to lift your hip points and level your pelvis. Tuck your tail slightly and gently shift your aligned pelvis and spine forward into a stretch. 45 sec each side.
6. Straddle. Sit with your legs open to the sides like a large "V". If you cannot sit comfortably like this, sit up on a blanket or yoga blocks. Point your knees and toes up to the ceiling and have a very upright spine. If you are able, slowly tip your spine forward, hinging from your hips to move deeper into the stretch. 1 minute.
Hip Flexor Stretch
Straddle
7. Chest. Stand clasping your hands behind your pelvis. Reach your knuckles down towards the ground as your open the center of your chest to the sky. 30 seconds, and then switch the way your fingers are crossed. Repeat!
8. Neck. Here is a link to a series of neck stretches we think are fabulous for relieving neck tension. Trust us.
9. Breathe. Yes, again :).
Pain is a complicated, deeply individual, layered experience. If you remember some of your own experiences of pain it will be a spectrum that may include paper cuts, muscle pulls, child birth, a churning stomach, traumatic injury, grief, sports injuries (acute and overuse), stubbed toes, head aches, traveling chronic aches, or a broken heart. Every experience of pain has its own texture, intensity, duration and unique message.
We often conceptualize pain occurring at the site in which we feel the pain when in fact it is created in the nervous system. Context, tissue damage, emotions, pathology, thought patterns and environment all influence how and why the nervous system uses pain as a signal to get our attention. These same factors affect how we receive and process the message of pain. It’s complicated!
Here a few resources to help you understand where pain comes from, how it occurs in our systems, and the multitude of factors that influence each instance of pain we experience. This is a huge field of research and this is not even the tip of the iceberg. Remember if you are in pain right now it might be hard to digest all of the information in the resources below. Take time to carefully listen to and understand your own pain and then seek out any necessary, professional support.
Here is article from the NY Times about Forgetting the Pain of Exercise.
This podcast from The Liberated Body is rich, educational and explores pain via an interview with Neal Pearson. This is well worth a listen.
Explain Pain is a book by Dr. David S. Butler that helps guide you through how pain works and how you can work with it! Note- the electronic version of this book is hard to read. We recommend hard copy.
