Teaching is an Artistic Skill: A Guest Blog Post by Aly Marie Moniz

Make sure to check out podcast episode 87 with Aly.

Teaching is one of the greatest artistic skills one can develop in their lifetime. I call it an artistic skill because getting your point across to someone who has no idea what you're talking about, and getting them to a point where they feel confident that they can execute, build upon and expand upon that information to share with others is truly art. 

Everything one does as a teacher in the classroom can be transferred to Pilates as everything still applies but the environment, tools, and things being taught are different, just like one studies math, science, art, social studies, etc. or attends gym/physical education.  Just like a teacher plans for class, so does your movement instructor. The environment is vastly different, but Pilates could be used during gym/PE.  Regardless, if the subject is relating to movement or not, a baseline still needs to be established. It is important to know where one is starting from and begin to plan where to build from there. Teachers establish goals in order to provide direction for growth, and test or checkpoints along the way to see if one is progressing in the intended direction towards those goals or is there an area where a bit of refining needs to occur in order to successfully achieve those goals.

This requires a whole person approach: physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually.  One could say it involves a connection of mind, body, and spirit - which is the definition Joe provided for Pilates when he was alive.  Teaching is not only about getting the person you're working with toward some set goal but also about having the space for the person you're working with in order to really let the art of teaching shine and create a plan that will allow the person you're working with to thrive.  In fact, the more you teach your person to be successful or able to do the thing, set the goals, etc. without you, the teacher, the greater teacher you are. You teach more than just confidence, you teach self-efficacy and empowerment, which are the greatest and foundational skills anyone can teach.