Student Shoutout: Susan/A Pilates Voyage

  Student Shoutout: Susan/A Pilates Voyage

By Kerry De Vivo

The portability of Pilates was on display this past month. EPA client, Susan, and her husband took a boating adventure from Annapolis down the Intracoastal Waterway to Florida. And, as her Pilates teacher, I had the pleasure of joining them. Well… remotely via Zoom sessions once a week. How fun it was to arrive to Susan’s weekly Zoom Pilates session and be surprised as to where she was.

I had a feeling this voyage would be special when Susan sent me a video of her Pilates practice on the bow of the boat. This was before we started our Zoom sessions. I received this on Thanksgiving day!!!

"Indeed, I was grateful!!" 

Here's a pic from the video.

Dismal Swamp, near Chesapeake, Virginia

Week one, I found Susan in the bathhouse at a marina in Cape Charles, Virginia. Yup, that’s the first session I ever taught with toilets and a plunger in the background. But, perhaps never has Susan’s commitment to Pilates and herself been more evident!  We focused on opening up her chest and shoulders since the day prior she endured 8 hours of heavy seas down the Chesapeake Bay. To no surprise, the title to Susan's blog post for this day was... 

Pilates with a Slight Smell of Clorox.

Week two I taught Susan on her boat in Belhaven, North Carolina. Her mat fit perfectly within the walls and on the beautiful teak floors. 

Week three; well that was fun! Susan did her session on a floating pier. Wow, that redefined balance! Very impressive Open Leg Rocker and Teasers!! 

Gravity was defied in Isles of Palms, South Carolina.

Week four was back on solid ground, or solid pier, in Jekyll Island, Georgia. After two days of long bike rides in this beautiful part of Georgia, we focused our session on maximizing the stretch for both legs and opening the chest. It was a great session under blue skies and morning rays of sun shining in.

Susan and I found ourselves with one more Zoom session on her return home, back in Belhaven, NC. As we were solidifying our session times, Susan said "We have been really rocking and rolling at the pier. Even in a protected marina, 35-50 knot gusts just shove you everywhere. But right this minute, it has quieted. So let’s try sooner than later.  We had tornado warnings all around us that are about to expire so I think everyone is doing a collective sigh in this town.”  So as I taught Susan while snow was falling all around here in Annapolis, and a good 8” of snow was on the ground outside my window, Susan dodged a tornado warning and we had a great session back on her boat. I will miss hearing the water splash against the hull of the boat during her sessions, but it will be great to see Susan back in-studio soon. 

In this session we made a few modifications to
"fit" in the space of the boat.
Susan is using an arm variation in Spine Twist.

We love teaching Pilates in-studio, but we are grateful for Zoom to keep Pilates practice going with our clients near and far. I admire Susan's sense of adventure. Also admirable is her commitment to finding a way to keep her Pilates practice during this truly awesome voyage. And of course, as a boater myself, it was great fun to share the journey. Happy New Year Susan, thanks for inspiring us all!!

Below are photos of Susan demonstrating the proper use of the bow of a boat 😀

in Johns Island, South Carolina. 

Beautiful!