Pilates Instructor of the month: Jennifer Kries

Where do you teach?

She teaches in the US and around the world

My teaching tips

I think it’s very important to remain a forever student and keep your own practice and imagination alive. I have endless technical tips and tricks to offer (and they can be found  in my DVDs ... ) but for the purpose of this forum, I would underline this very simple advice. The quality of our teaching and what we can offer others gets infused with new energy and life when we attend lovingly to ourselves and avail ourselves of others’ expertise and attention, keeping fit, pushing our own limits and growing. We can then pass our enriched “storehouse” of information on to others as a gift, and they in turn pass it on, elevating the level of mind-body-spirit teaching and wellness everywhere

Favourite Exercise and reason why

I am a big fan of qigong and I especially love an exercise called “Opening the Energy Gates,” which is one of the most beautiful and immediate ways to connect with yourself and nature-- with the powerful and limitless, “universal” “chi” energy that exists around us and direct it into the body to heal and rejuvenate our organ systems. Standing with the feet hip-width apart, knees soft, pelvis slightly tucked, and the arms down by the sides, breathe in deeply through the nose and slowly lift the arms up to shoulder height, to the sides of the body, as you imagine inviting abundant healing chi into your body. As you exhale, bring the arms back down to the starting position and feel the feet rooting even deeper into the earth energetically to draw earth chi up through the soles of the feet, as you release what no longer serves you. Wonderful exercise! It’s shown in my “Hot Body Cool Mind Life Force Power Workout” 4-DVD set.

In a nutshell, tell us a little bit about yourself and your experience in the industry

I started out as a professional dancer and choreographer and then became an author, Pilates master teacher, yoga instructor and lifestyle expert.  I discovered Pilates at age thirteen at The School of American Ballet in New York, and then turned to it as a means of rehabilitation while I was in London on tour at the Pineapple Dance Centre on Langley Street, where I discovered I had a gift and that it was something I should learn to teach.  I then went on to study with three of Joseph Pilates original disciples and knew that I was meant to carry on the tradition of Pilates’ remarkable contribution to health and fitness in addition to teaching yoga and other conscious mind-body-spirit movement modalities that had shaped me along the way. I am responsible for launching many of today’s most respected professionals who teach Pilates, and was in fact, the first to bring Pilates to the masses--- my award-winning videos, The Method Series revolutionized the fitness community, helping to start the explosive wave of enthusiasm for Pilates mind-body exercise. Aside from several other titles, I most recently created two groundbreaking DVD series, Hot Body Cool Mind: The Life Force Power Workout, and Jennifer Kries: The Pilates Method Master Trainer Series, the definitive resource for Pilates professionals, teachers-in-training and Pilates devotees. I have a deep love for Eastern healing techniques, anatomy and energy dynamics, and get inspired by tuning in to the collective unconscious to put my finger on the pulse of what is needed by people and what would benefit and move them the most.

Do you have a motto or mission statement?

Over the years, my passion for discovery and my dedication to learn more about myself and the world around me has only grown and become an even more powerful source of life force within me. My passion for blazing trails and leading others by example has never waned, but instead grown stronger. One of the ways I source my own fulfillment and inspiration and one of the most powerful ways that I heal and evolve, is by helping others to do the same. I am a catalyst for change ... an avatar, a torchbearer, a fitness and lifestyle expert, inspirational speaker, integrated wellness advocate and pioneer. I am moved by helping people to cultivate compassion and discover the highest in themselves and live their best lives through my unique, integrated approach to fitness, wellness and life. I want to inspire you to light the path of change for yourself and for others ... I want to inspire you to evolve and transform, to reap the rich rewards--- freedom and peace of mind. When we invest our energy and dedicate ourselves to healing, when we heal ourselves, we heal others, and we heal the world.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years from now?

Continuing to serve and inspire others to embrace their humanity and evolve into their best selves through a variety of conduits--- workshops, books, and films-- continuing along this path where I help to explain that through this never-ending circle of learning, growth and integration, we gain wisdom by going the way of nature instead of opposing it egotistically. As we learn to balance and harmonize our physical outer body with the subtle inner alchemy of the body's energy systems, we will start to experience true fitness, total balance and glowing good health. We will learn through an integrated approach to fitness and wellness that we can discover our true nature and embrace our timeless essence, and focus on what is truly essential and important in our lives and in our interactions with others.

*Jennifer is the creator of The Pilates Method Master Trainer Series, a 5 DVD collection that teaches you how to teach Pilates brilliantly in the most accessible, expedient and effective way. THE definite resource for Pilates professionals, teachers-in-training or Pilates devotees wishing to deepen and refine their practice. The most complete DVD series available to help you understand every aspect of the Pilates Method and truly learn the “art of teaching,” with Jennifer’s simple cueing formula! Her entire teacher training course, a 10-hour, interactive format, highlighting all aspects and exercises of the Classical Pilates syllabus is available to you now at a 10% courtesy discount!

Visit www.jenniferkries.com to purchase Jennifer Kries dvds and receive 10% off the price!