Human brains are so fascinating. We constantly look for patterns, desperately wanting to make meaning. We like to learn new things, but only if they’re not too hard, yet we’re easily bored if it’s too easy. We’re a lot like Goldilocks: we want things “juuuust right.”
But what’s just right for one person is rarely the same for the person standing next to them. One way to have more similar expectations is to place yourself among others with the same desires. Anyone who visits Pilates in Holland has chosen to be there, meaning it’s a self-selected group of people with the same general goals. But even among that group, we will have different mindsets about how we show up and participate in any given class. Some days our threat buckets are overly full, others we’re raring to give our bodies a huge challenge. In either case, we can come with a mastery mindset, open to being present and curious as we move.
One of my jobs is to welcome new clients, get them set up with newcomer sessions, and explain our group classes. I’m often asked which classes are going to challenge them or make them sweat (subtext: when can I get into a Mastery class?). I understand that people want to get the most out of their time in the studio, but it’s made me take a moment to reflect on what makes a class “harder” or “a better workout” and it comes down to mindset. Yes, there is that thrill of being told you’re ready to try a Mastery class. Terree still vividly recalls being told by Mandy that she should try one and she felt so proud of herself and all her hard work. It was an achievement.
But I wouldn’t call mastery classes necessarily harder in the sense that you’re getting more of a physical workout. What makes a Mastery class harder is that the teachers assume you know the fundamentals:
- You have a good baseline knowledge about your body in various positions and have developed a higher level of trust and safety with the equipment.
- You know your body well enough to move in ways that will challenge you without being unsafe.
- It’s paying attention to the names of movement and spring weights: being a student of Pilates versus showing up and just wanting to be told what to do and how to do it.
This could mean the instructor offers less information or education, expecting good form with less cueing of transitions and basic moves, knowing that you know you need to tuck your pelvis before starting a bridge, or immediately putting your eyes up when you do swan. This allows the instructor to move the group to more advanced skills. For our mastery classes, we may do some of the same basic exercises but find nuance in a different cue, and apply what you have discovered in this exercise to other exercises. It’s understanding subtle cues through greater body awareness, as well as experience.
Not everyone is ready for a mastery class, but we are all capable of a mastery mindset. A mastery mindset makes any class the class you want it to be. So what is a mastery mindset? I asked the masters themselves, our PIH teachers, for their input, and it fell into 2 categories.
Coachable:
Mastery is also about being coachable, about being willing to listen to the instructor and make small changes and not assume you know what you’re doing because that’s how you’ve been doing it all along. It’s about not assuming you know everything. But it’s also about listening carefully and trying to make the change requested even if it doesn’t make “sense” to you, or to ask for clarification or hands-on help. About being dialed in. It’s a back-and-forth process of small tinkering and staying present, seeing what you learn by how you feel in the experience. It’s about having a beginner’s mind or a growth mindset.
Continually curious to discover more, never consider yourself a master:
A mastery mindset is being an observer and learner of one’s body. Asking questions to yourself: what’s working? where am I compensating? It’s knowing when to make modifications and hold back and when to (and how to) make a movement more challenging. It’s incorporating what you’ve learned from past experience.
A mastery mindset is finding the “hard” in the simplest of movements; being able to attend any class, with any teacher, at any level, and finding the work. It is owning the work, the movements, and one’s personal practice. It’s challenging your brain to constantly reconnect with your body. Mastery is when you realize, despite all the time you’ve already invested, you haven’t mastered your craft and find you’re excited that you have so much more to learn. It’s about cultivating a healthy curiosity. If you ever get to the point where you think you know it all, you have ceased to be a master. The rub is that when you’re ready to start a Mastery class, you’re capable of making any class you attend “harder” all on your own. ;)
Mastery is about what you want to invest in the practice. It is being open to new ideas and concepts and having the confidence to experiment and keep learning. I love how Lesley Logan always refers to Pilates as “a practice, not a perfect.” Let’s keep practicing, my friends.
See you in the studio,
