Pilates Association Podcast

In this sixth episode of Pilates at the Intersection, Bruce Hildebrand and incoming PAA President Kimberley Garlick explore the problem with one-size-fits-all Pilates and ask whether individualisation is being lost in large group formats, scripted classes, franchises and high-volume studio models. Kimberley is careful to acknowledge that group classes can be energising, social, affordable and well taught, but argues that Pilates begins to lose integrity when the format becomes more important than the person in front of the teacher.The conversation examines why one-size-fits-all programming is appealing from a business perspective: it is easier to scale, market, franchise, staff and repeat. However, Bruce and Kimberley distinguish between useful structure and inflexible prescription, warning that scripts should support teachers rather than replace teacher judgement. They discuss how observation, adaptation, relationship, progression and safety can be lost when every client is expected to fit the same choreography, pace and class plan regardless of body history, pain, confidence, experience or need.Rather than rejecting group classes or business systems, this episode calls for models that protect the teacher’s ability to observe, reason and adapt. Kimberley encourages studios to review class sizes, client onboarding, assessment processes, modification pathways and whether teachers are trained beyond a single format. The key message is that people are not one size: Pilates has the tools to meet individual difference beautifully, but only if the industry keeps teaching the person, not just the program.PAA Course Competency Criteria standardsVisit the PAA website Find us on  Facebook Join the PAA Member Forum (Members  only) Find us on Instagram Email us at [email protected]

In this sixth episode of In the Lane of Contrology, Bruce Hildebrand and Classical Pilates teacher Sharon Michau explore the apprentice mindset, and why great Pilates teachers are formed slowly. Drawing on two years of mentoring with second-generation teacher Wade Edwell through the Immersive Coaching Program, alongside her ongoing international mentorship, Sharon argues that slow is not the opposite of progress — it is the only way progress becomes real. Exercise names, spring settings and class plans can be learned quickly, but an eye, judgement, timing, and knowing when to speak and when to leave something alone, do not arrive in a weekend.Bruce and Sharon unpack the uncomfortable distinction between being qualified and being ready. Sharon describes certification as the beginning of responsibility rather than a finish line, and is clear that being a new teacher is not shameful — the problem is pretending to be complete. The conversation covers what it actually means to develop an eye, the difference between apprenticeship and simply consuming education, the realities of finding mentorship outside the major centres, and the danger of fast confidence, where the risk is not ignorance but unrecognised ignorance.Rather than asking new teachers to wait years before they begin, this episode argues for supported beginnings: start, but do not be abandoned. Sharon encourages newer teachers to seek out mentors who are clear, generous, respectful and still learning themselves, and asks studio owners to hire for teachability rather than availability, because availability fills a timetable while teachability builds a profession. The central message is that Pilates is carried by people, not by manuals or equipment, and a method passed on by rushed, under-mentored teachers quietly becomes a thinner one.PAA Course Competency Criteria standardsVisit the PAA website Find us on  Facebook Join the PAA Member Forum (Members  only) Find us on Instagram Email us at [email protected]

In this fourth episode of Pilates at the Intersection, Bruce Hildebrand and incoming PAA President Kimberley Garlick explore whether the Reformer boom has been good or bad for Pilates. Kimberley acknowledges that the boom has brought enormous visibility, accessibility and energy to the industry, introducing many people to Pilates who may never have found it otherwise. At the same time, the conversation raises the concern that for many members of the public, Pilates is now being reduced to one apparatus and one class format rather than understood as a broader movement method.Bruce and Kimberley discuss how the Reformer has become the public face of Pilates because it is visually appealing, commercially scalable and well suited to boutique group class models. The episode distinguishes between excellent group Reformer teaching — where the teacher observes, adapts, manages springs safely and teaches with purpose — and poorer versions where choreography, fast transitions, loud music and generic programming replace meaningful instruction. Kimberley also highlights the risk of mistaking “available” for “accessible,” noting that beginners still need careful guidance, screening and support when working on unfamiliar moving equipment.Rather than rejecting the Reformer boom, this episode frames it as a major opportunity for education. Kimberley encourages teachers and studios to use Reformer classes as a doorway into the wider Pilates system, including mat work, individual assessment, other apparatus, breath, progression and deeper body understanding. The central message is that popularity is not the enemy, but popularity without education can distort the method — and the challenge for the industry is to invite clients beyond the doorway and into the whole house of Pilates.PAA Course Competency Criteria standardsVisit the PAA website Find us on  Facebook Join the PAA Member Forum (Members  only) Find us on Instagram Email us at [email protected]

In this fifth episode of Pilates at the Intersection, Bruce Hildebrand and incoming PAA President Kimberley Garlick ask whether Pilates needs to separate itself more clearly from the broader fitness industry. Kimberley is careful to frame the conversation as pro-clarity rather than anti-fitness, acknowledging the value of strength, cardiovascular health, athletic training and general movement while arguing that Pilates must not be reduced to calories, burn, sweat, intensity or appearance-based outcomes.Bruce and Kimberley explore what makes Pilates distinct: its principles, apparatus, progression, individualisation, movement education and the relationship between breath, spine, limbs, load, coordination and awareness. The episode also examines the risks of Pilates being treated as “just another class” on a fitness timetable, where the method can become interchangeable and judged mainly by convenience, price, vibe and intensity. Kimberley highlights that when Pilates is absorbed into generic fitness language, public understanding narrows, teacher training expectations can lower, and allied health professionals may be less clear about when to refer clients to appropriately trained Pilates teachers.Rather than calling for isolation from fitness, this episode advocates for “integration without absorption.” Kimberley encourages teachers and studios to use clearer language, stronger standards and better public education to help people understand Pilates as a skilled movement discipline with its own scope and professional identity. The central message is that Pilates does not need to reject fitness, but it does need to stop being reduced to fitness — because if the profession does not define itself clearly, the market will define it in the simplest, loudest and easiest-to-sell terms.PAA Course Competency Criteria standardsVisit the PAA website Find us on  Facebook Join the PAA Member Forum (Members  only) Find us on Instagram Email us at [email protected]

In this fifth episode of In the Lane of Contrology, Bruce Hildebrand and Classical Pilates teacher Sharon Michau explore why the full Pilates system is much bigger than the current Reformer boom. Sharon is clear that the Reformer is brilliant, generous and valuable, but cautions against allowing one apparatus to become the entire public identity of Pilates. The episode frames the Reformer as an important doorway into the method, while reminding listeners that Pilates is not a single machine, class format or consumer trend, but a complete system of apparatus, principles, progression and body education.Bruce and Sharon discuss how the Mat, Reformer, Cadillac, Wunda Chair, Barrels and small apparatus each “ask different questions” of the body, giving teachers more informed options and clients more ways to learn. Sharon explains that when the Reformer is expected to do everything, it becomes overburdened, while the wider system offers different forms of support, challenge, feedback, honesty and discovery. The conversation also addresses the Australian reality that not every teacher or studio has access to the full apparatus system, while still arguing that limitation should not be marketed as completeness.Rather than criticising Reformer classes or the clients who love them, this episode invites the industry to restore the Reformer’s context within the broader Pilates method. Sharon encourages teachers to keep studying beyond the apparatus they know, studio owners to create pathways into deeper education, and the PAA to help improve public Pilates literacy. The central message is that the Reformer boom has given Pilates visibility, but visibility is only the beginning — the next task is helping teachers, clients and studios understand that the Reformer may be the doorway, but the full system is the landscape.PAA Course Competency Criteria standardsVisit the PAA website Find us on  Facebook Join the PAA Member Forum (Members  only) Find us on Instagram Email us at [email protected]

In this fourth episode of In the Lane of Contrology, Bruce Hildebrand and Classical Pilates teacher Sharon Michau explore Jay Grimes’ powerful idea that “you don’t teach someone Pilates — you help them discover it in their body.” Sharon reflects on how this principle has shaped her teaching over time, moving it beyond a beautiful phrase into a practical discipline of restraint, timing, observation and trust. The conversation reframes teaching as something deeper than instruction, correction or class delivery: it is the art of creating the conditions for the client to find the work within themselves.Bruce and Sharon discuss the difference between instruction and discovery, highlighting how clients can follow every direction and still not truly own the work. Sharon explores the role of silence, touch, correction, repetition, apparatus feedback and embodied learning, reminding listeners that the teacher is not the only teacher in the room — the client’s body, the apparatus and the method itself are also part of the learning process. The episode also challenges teachers to consider whether they are building autonomy or dependence, especially with long-term clients who may still look outward for approval rather than inward for understanding.Rather than presenting discovery as vague or passive, this episode positions it as precise, disciplined and deeply practical. Sharon encourages teachers across all settings — classical studios, regional studios, group Reformer spaces, home studios and allied health environments — to leave enough space for the client’s own intelligence to wake up. The central message is that Pilates teaching is not about creating obedient movers or impressive shapes, but helping people feel something they cannot “unfeel”: a connection, a breath, a centre, a moment of ease, and a stronger relationship with their own body.PAA Course Competency Criteria standardsVisit the PAA website Find us on  Facebook Join the PAA Member Forum (Members  only) Find us on Instagram Email us at [email protected]

In this third episode of In the Lane of Contrology, Bruce Hildebrand and Classical Pilates teacher Sharon Michau tackle one of the most challenging conversations facing the modern Pilates industry: when does healthy evolution become erosion? Sharon carefully distinguishes between thoughtful adaptation and the gradual thinning-out of the original method, arguing that while Pilates should continue evolving alongside modern bodies and modern understanding, it risks losing its identity when the system, principles and internal logic of the work are removed while the name “Pilates” remains.Bruce and Sharon explore the rapid growth of the Australian Pilates landscape, including the rise of Reformer fitness models, hybrid classes, short-form training pathways and social-media-driven programming. Sharon reflects on how erosion often begins quietly — not with the obvious disappearance of equipment or exercise names, but with the loss of observation, progression, breath, internal attention, relationship between exercises and the deeper educational intention of the method. The conversation also examines the commercial power of the word Pilates, the importance of honest labelling, and the difference between work that is Pilates-inspired and work that remains connected to the original system.Rather than turning the discussion into a battle between classical and contemporary approaches, this episode calls for discernment, humility and clearer industry language. Sharon encourages teachers and studio owners to ask difficult questions about what they are preserving, what they are changing, and whether the method would still be recognisable if the equipment, branding and music were stripped away. The central message is not that evolution is dangerous, but that evolution without relationship to the source risks slowly eroding the very thing that made Pilates valuable in the first place.PAA Course Competency Criteria standardsVisit the PAA website Find us on  Facebook Join the PAA Member Forum (Members  only) Find us on Instagram Email us at [email protected]

In this third episode of Pilates at the Intersection, Bruce Hildebrand and incoming PAA President Kimberley Garlick explore what truly makes a good Pilates teacher beyond choreography, charisma, social media polish or the ability to perform advanced exercises. Kimberley frames good teaching as the ability to help the person in front of you move better, understand themselves more clearly, and feel more capable in their own body — a skill that requires observation, communication, humility, adaptability, patience and integrity.The conversation challenges the industry’s tendency to confuse visible performance with genuine teaching. Bruce and Kimberley discuss why choreography is not the same as education, why charisma without skill can be misleading, and why social media can create a narrow image of competence that overlooks the quieter skills of observation, cueing, emotional safety and professional judgement. Kimberley highlights that a good teacher sees beyond the shape of the exercise and notices breath, tension, fear, confidence, compensation and readiness.Rather than defining quality teaching by popularity or polish, this episode centres the client, the relationship and the teacher’s capacity to adapt with care. Kimberley encourages teachers to develop their eye, listening, reasoning and patience, while also seeking mentorship and reflective feedback rather than relying on experience alone. The key message is that a good Pilates teacher sees the person, understands the method, and has the humility to keep learning.PAA Course Competency Criteria standardsVisit the PAA website Find us on  Facebook Join the PAA Member Forum (Members  only) Find us on Instagram Email us at [email protected]

In this second episode of In the Lane of Contrology, Bruce Hildebrand and Classical Pilates teacher Sharon Michau ask why Classical Pilates still matters in a contemporary industry. Sharon pushes back on the idea that classical work is old-fashioned or rigid, describing a method that is very much alive and keeps revealing more the longer it is practised. The conversation frames the real question not as how to preserve Pilates in a glass cabinet, but how to honour the original method while teaching modern bodies with intelligence, warmth and relevance.Bruce and Sharon examine the tension between discipline and freedom. Sharon argues that the order of the work is never meant to override the person, and that teachers go through the discipline of the system before they earn the freedom to move within it — the difference between respecting the system and hiding behind it. The episode also separates innovation from escape, warning that teachers sometimes add more as a way of avoiding going deeper, and that changing the work before a client has had time to discover it can rob them of the depth that repetition builds.Rather than making a case for nostalgia, this episode makes a case for stewardship. Sharon is candid that classical teachers can become defensive and that contemporary teachers often have extraordinary eyes, and is clear the conversation should not become tribal — Pilates is Pilates. The central message is that classical work is not asking the industry to go backwards, it is asking the industry not to become shallow: the roots are below us, not behind us, and they can help lift us up.PAA Course Competency Criteria standardsVisit the PAA website Find us on  Facebook Join the PAA Member Forum (Members  only) Find us on Instagram Email us at [email protected]

In this opening episode of In the Lane of Contrology, PAA Podcast host Bruce Hildebrand begins a new conversation series with Classical Pilates teacher and PAA Committee member Sharon Michau by asking whether the industry is still teaching Pilates, or simply using Pilates equipment. Sharon draws a clear line between the apparatus and the method, arguing that the Reformer, Cadillac, Wunda Chair, barrels and small apparatus are not Pilates by themselves, but tools within a complete system that relies on intention, progression, breath, control, body organisation and discovery.Bruce and Sharon explore how the Reformer has become the public face of Pilates, expanding awareness while also narrowing understanding. Sharon explains that equipment-based fitness may still be enjoyable and beneficial, but it is not necessarily Pilates if it lacks the deeper internal logic of the method. The conversation highlights the importance of the full system, where the Mat, Reformer, Chair, Cadillac and Barrels each teach the body something different and “speak to each other” in ways that are lost when Pilates is reduced to rows of Reformers.Rather than dismissing modern studios or group formats, this episode invites teachers, studio owners and clients to ask more honest questions about what is actually being offered. Sharon encourages the profession to educate without arrogance, distinguish between Pilates and fitness on Pilates equipment, and return to the work with curiosity rather than defensiveness. The central message is that Pilates lives not in the machinery, the exercise names or the visual appearance of a class, but in the method: the intention, progression, control, breath, system and discovery that happen inside the body.PAA Course Competency Criteria standardsVisit the PAA website Find us on  Facebook Join the PAA Member Forum (Members  only) Find us on Instagram Email us at [email protected]