Using the BASI Block System to Structure a Positive Pilates Session

Dominique Lesperance

By Dominique Lesperance

I used to begin Pilates sessions by asking my clients, “How are you feeling today?” “What would you like to focus on in your session?” “Is there anything bothering you?” I believed I was helping by asking them these questions. It took me 15 years of teaching to understand that I was setting both of us up for a session that was sure to leave us feeling unfulfilled.

It’s not that I don’t care how my clients are doing or what bothers them. I care very much. Which is the reason I no longer begin a session with any of the above questions. Instead I say, “I’ve got such a great session planned for you!” “You’re going to feel amazing at the end of it!” The intention is exactly the same, I ultimately want my client to feel great. What’s different is that with the first approach, I gave my client the opportunity to tell me what was wrong with her and, potentially, for negative thought patterns to emerge. Some responded along the lines of “I feel great! I can’t wait for what you have planned!” Far more common, unfortunately, were responses such as “Well, actually, I gardened all weekend and my back hurts.” That sort of thing.

Over the years, I have come to believe that the quality of your life is largely determined by the quality of your thoughts. And what we focus on, grows. Everything in our life that we nurture, grows: children, plants and yes, thoughts.

The information I needed to conduct the session safely and effectively always came out anyway, once my client had started her first roll-down and gone into the warm-up. But instead of becoming the focus of the workout and potentially causing us both to dwell on them, these issues became a passing thought, like a breeze coming in the window. We noted them and moved on. Moved on to the next block and to making sure we gave a balanced workout targeting every part of the body.

As Pilates teachers, we are inherently nurturing, caring people and we’re also consummate problem solvers. Not to mention that because Pilates has become such a popular method of physical therapy, the lines between actual licensed Physical Therapists and Pilates teachers have become a bit blurry. Tell a Pilates teacher that your hip hurts and the session easily becomes focused around fixing the hip pain.

The problem with this approach is that it’s focusing on what’s wrong, instead of what’s right; something our Western culture is very, very good at. This tends to take us out of the scope of our practice. Most of us are not physical therapists, we are fitness professionals. Our job is to motivate our clients to achieve healthier, stronger and more balanced bodies.

This is where the BASI® Block system completely changed my approach to teaching and allowed me the freedom to ultimately teach a more positive and impactful session.

I had been teaching Pilates for over 10 years and was originally trained by an organization whose approach was focused on therapeutics and modifications for special populations. I came out of my training thinking that every client I would encounter would be broken in some way and would need to be fixed – hence the “how can I make it right?” dialogue with my clients.

I went into the BASI certification course mostly because I was drawn to Rael. I had been going to conferences for 10 years and taking workshops with all of the well-known master teachers. And every year the one who I kept gravitating towards was Rael. I thought I was taking his workshops to learn exercises. Even though I learned lots of repertoire that I had never been taught in my previous training, it wasn’t the exercises that kept bringing me back to study with him.

It was Rael’s overall approach to teaching that resonated for me. I found his focus and drive inspiring and his enthusiasm and passion infectious. I always left his sessions feeling both physically challenged and emotionally rewarded. As a teacher, he has a quality that inspires students to want to please him. He expects you to put in 100% effort and he knows that, when you do, you will reap the benefits. His classes seemed to flow effortlessly and everyone participating always gave it their best.

I didn’t realize it then but at the heart of the BASI approach (Rael’s approach) is the structure of the Block system. I know it might sound a bit contradictory, but structure is very liberating. Pilates teachers are creative beings and, without some structure, it’s very easy to get distracted and have sessions go off the rails into problem-solving tangents. Entire sessions being spent on one area of the body. When you structure a session with the Block system, you don’t have time to fixate on a problem; you’ve got to get through all of the blocks – and with 12 of them, it’s no easy feat.

The Block system is what gives me the freedom to keep a session on track. Clients have a full-body workout every time and not a single moment is spent focusing on what’s bothering them. Instead, they leave feeling strong, energized and, need I say, positive. Often they even forget what was bothering them in the first place.

As Pilates teachers, we all believe that the mind and body are connected; so let’s exercise our powers of healing and happiness – both our own and those of our clients – by starting each session as positively as possible.

Dominique Lesperance is owner of Bodies in Motion, the BASI Pilates host studio in Aptos, CA.