Swan instructor Alexis is here to help you connect with your breath and organize your body. Another southern transplant and lover of movement, Alexis infuses the studio with her passion and excitement.
We like to let our instructors speak for themselves. See what Alexis has to say about Pilates, travel, mammals and more! Check out all of our Swan Q&A's here!
Can you tell us a bit about your philosophy of teaching, what interests you about the body, and any influences that have shaped your practice and your teaching?
I'm interested in how people live inside/outside themselves and how that manifests into more physical ways of carriage and movement. I'm interested in initiation of movement and follow through. I like to help folks build different relationships to physical pain, strengthen and lengthen and explore efficient paths of Movement. There is some kind of shift that happens when we find midline and for me I see it extend beyond our physicality. It's different for each person. That's cool!
What is your favorite city to travel to?
I really love how beautiful and accessible Amsterdam is (all the streets and buildings are so people-sized!). The summer is just gorgeous. Those people know how to enjoy a moment or two.
How do you feel that being a Pilates instructor is informed and informs other parts of your life?
For me Pilates, and teaching, is like this great lens that I'm so grateful to have in my life. I spend a lot of my life in movement so Pilates lends me the eye to see motion very directly. So much that we do in daily life (as well as more physically rigorous activities) are lopsided OR overly strengthen, stretch, or neglect certain muscles which can facilitate less direct ways of moving. I'm pro efficiency and ease. Pilates also lives within my dance work. In movement realms I'm so fascinated by how MUCH is in the body right now. We aren't just talking about abdominals but also what about the digestive system in there? And fascia. And fluid. Sometimes people get so obsessed about looking thin and tight in the midsection, and I'm all for looking super sexy(!!), but I'm into knowing all the other things at play in there.
If you could only eat one thing for a week, what would it be?
It's winter, so: Soup! But I wish it were summer so I could say WATERMELON!
What is your favorite bone or muscle and why?
I have favorites for the different people I work with. For myself, it's the diaphragm right now. Sculpturally the sphenoid bone is just absolutely stunning! (The 2d images just don't do it justice)
Elephant or whale?
If it means I get to swim in water all day- whale whale whale
Anything else you want to share with The Swan community?
I'm really excited about my JSR class on Wednesdays . Don't be intimidated- we're gonna jump the right way and I'll prep you well.
