31. Rebuild Your Core / Holly Chiodo
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Holly Chiodo, Physical Therapist, Pilates Instructor, Founder of The Pilates Athlete LLC and creator of "Pilates for Back Care: A mat Pilates beginners program to strengthen and heal your lower back". Holly also specializes in pre and post natal Pilates, OOV for Pilates, and Running Injuries.
Holly's Back Care Program:
If you know you need more core strength to help treat your lower back, you can learn how to move without pain and recover faster even when you feel you can’t move. Pilates for back care are proven therapeutic mat workouts that get rid of that nagging lower back pain with core exercises that work and heal.
*With just one class you will be empowered with what exercises will help your feel strong and in control of your pain*
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HOLLY CONTACT & PROGRAMS:
Free 7 Days Pilates Mini Course: https://pilatestherapy.thrivecart.com/align-the-spine
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Katie Kay
It's such a pleasure to have Holly. She is a genius, I would say when it comes to Pilates and physical therapy. And I just wanted to share my own story to start. Yeah, because Holly and I know each other from my personal background and physical therapy. So in college, I think I was about 22 or 23 years old. I my back issues. I have a lower back disc issue. And I went to the University of Utah. And so I decided it was time to take care of this and I got the MRI and then I took it and then I went to the University of Utah physical therapy and booked an appointment and luckily I got paired up with Holly and she took me to the Pilates Reformer that she had the PT space. And I didn't really know that much about Pilates and she's also a certified Pilates instructor. And so we did a lot a lot of the therapy on the reformer doing Pilates work. And that was really my introduction to my life in Pilates and my back issue was completely healed. I felt really good And then of course, a few years later, I kind of gave up on my core work on my Pilates work. And I was doing probably just a weird movement and popped my back again. And so I knew that Holly wasn't working at the University of Utah. So I started doing some online research. And I found her and she has this incredible online business now. And she's in Salt Lake. And so fortunately, I have been doing private Pilates sessions with her to help my back. And it's been incredible just to see her and her zone of genius and just being so knowledgeable on the body anatomy, and what kind of movements that can really heal my back and what we really need to do. And, like she's kind of like this investigator like, it's really, really amazing. And so we'll get into all of that. But I wanted to share that story to start just so the listeners can see my personal connection with Holly and why I just thought it would be so empowering and profound to have her on the podcast today.
Holly
Oh, thanks, Katie. I love your energy. You're so excited. And you know, when I think back to meeting you, it was like this enthusiasm for, like, it's almost like when you started working with me, and we started feeling good. You were like, you've just like, oh, my gosh, this is what I need, you know, and I think that's one of the things that Pilates will do for people is they feel it in their body. And they know that that's what they need to do. Does that make sense?
Katie Kay
Yeah, that totally describes Pilates to me, because I was a little confused what it was, I didn't really have that great of body awareness. Even though I had been doing yoga for a few years, it was still just a different kind of relationship to my body. And that's right, when you start feeling good, when you're in pain all the time, and you start seeing some benefits. It's is really exciting. And I was really blown away by just like showing up to our, our physical therapy appointments. And I don't know, I guess I wasn't really expecting, like, I would get healed. And I would really see that place where I was like, Oh my gosh, I'm not in pain anymore. And that was really amazing, with a blown desk and just not really seeing any light. So, of course, I went back and tried to find you and I did luckily I did. And so I just I think you're like my light healer, healer star in my life. And for my back. Yeah. And so, I would love for you just to share how you got into physical therapy and why you have stayed motivated to be in it.
Holly
Yeah, you know, as a kid, I was always really active, like, I was the I was the like, neighborhood trampoline teacher, you know, like, I'd rally everyone to come and I'd want to teach them tricks and just keep people moving and having fun. And, you know, that was kind of just like, my, my, like, you know, personality as a kid. And, and then I, you know, in high school, I watched my dad go through his hips being replaced. And that really opened my eyes up to like, oh, wow, like, there's this whole field of people coming in to help him out of bed and, and recovering and moving and just watching him go through that, that rehab process I got really curious about like, the person like the person to person relationship, and then the the healing and the recovery and, and so in high school, I volunteered, we had to do like career day, you know, and I wanted to see what a physical therapist does so volunteered in orthopedic setting and fell in love with working with people teaching people learning about the body helping people understand their body. So that's when it really all started. And then I just you know, one thing led to another and I started taking classes in college and anatomy would became like my favourite subject and it just kept like the momentum going and so just kept taking more classes and then went to physical therapy school decided to and and that just was kind of the start of this path.
So I feel like physical therapy really helped me deepen that knowledge of like understanding the body and helping people recover. And after physical therapy school, I decided I wanted to travel, I was like, Okay, how can I combine my love of traveling and moving and physical therapy, so traveled for about seven years in as a physical therapist, mostly in California and love that and got to see just a variety of settings and people and experiences and honestly, I was just mostly trying to figure out what I wanted to do like where I wanted to end up and and, you know, I just kept thinking, gosh, you know, I'm not getting like these great results with people with lower back pain and I was so intimidated working with it. And so life gave me a back injury and I got I lifted someone out of bed and I got hurt and I realized okay, this is I know what to do. I can help myself. But it was like a limited focus, like I didn't really know like how to really treat my whole body. So a friend of suggested Pilates and I was like, Okay, I'll try it. You know, I don't know much about it, I learned a little bit about in school. And once I tried it, I was like, This is my, this is what I need, kind of, I think what happened with you, like you had that experience of like this, my body feels safe, it feels like supported, it feels like this is intuitively what I need. So I just went on to study and get certified in Pilates and, and then, you know, just kept having more and more success with people and more confidence, treating people with low back pain. But then something just felt didn't feel quite right. It wasn't like there was like this confidence in Yeah, if I do this, I'm going to get this result. So I just kept experimenting with exercises and in different protocols. And anyway, to kind of lead into what I've created, which is now Pilates for backcare. I was diagnosed with degenerative disc disease when I wrote before I got married. And it was weird, because I hadn't had back pain, like I was fine. I was doing fine with my plan. And I was like, well, this, this needs to be something that's like, I'm confident in treating people, I need to have my plan my protocol. So I created after that diagnosis, I created Pilates for backcare and started teaching it at the EU. And it was a great success. I had a mat based program, and people were getting great results. And so went into this. And then it just became my program. So this is what this is what I have now to offer. And I keep teaching people and it's what I go back to. And I can tell you more about it after having a baby. But it's been just like my foundation of how to keep my back healthy and safe and feeling good.
Katie Kay
Yeah, amazing. The way that your career has evolved, and your personal experience with your body and the back, it's like, I think I heard once a stat of it's something upward of 90% of people at one point in their life will feel a back injury. Comfort.
Holly
Yeah, I mean, everybody is at least at some point going to experience it. Right, like 90 bucks. That's a lot of people, nine out of 10 of us.
Katie Kay
Yeah, yeah, it's pretty insane. And really a place that we need that Pilates and physical therapy. And I think Pilates is in a sense is physical therapy, I can see it being used in the gyms as a exercise. But also, it's really profound as far as a therapy to treat injuries or for athletes. Can you get into a little bit about describing what Pilates is, especially for the listeners that are new to Pilates? Or maybe tried it a few times? And maybe just a short description of what is Pilates?
Holly
Yes, great question. So Pilates in general, is a conditioning method. So it's a strengthening and conditioning method of the body, typically the whole body. So very holistic approach. It's mindful movement. It's traditionally known to strengthen the core. So a lot of people think core when they think Pilates. It was created for people in bed, believe it or not. Joseph Pilates created these exercises when people were laying in bed in World War One, as part of his teaching, he would take the springs out from under the bed and hook them to the back of a bed and put bars across the springs and have people pull on the bars. And that's what we now know is like the trap table and the reformer with the straps and and so he helped people learn how to breathe, which is one of the main principles, he helped people learn how to connect to their core strength. And I believe just really helped them become more in their body, like more aware of their body, how they're moving, how they're feeling and tuning into it listening to it. And so excuse me. So Pilates is an exercise method. Yeah, real simply. Why I love it in physical therapy and why I blend the two is Pilates is a great way to assess your movement. So in physical therapy, we think, you know, there's definitely some structural issues when you have an injury or structural limitations, right. So there could be a joint issue or, you know, a bone issue or muscle issue. But for the most part, a lot of how we use our body we call that the strategies, the muscle strategies come from how we move. So how do we use our posture? How do we how do we optimize our alignment with our sitting in our standing and our running and our moving and hiking? So with Pilates, we can assess that we can assess your strategies and we can retrain it really easily so that your body is more organized, we like to call it so in physical therapy, we can assess it we can pinpoint the problem. And then with Pilates, you know, we can treat the movement with the right exercises, the right order the right sequence so that you feel good moving again.
Katie Kay
Totally great explanation. Thank you. Totally, that makes sense. For all types of people. That's what I've experienced myself and with injury without injury, going to the gym and taking a mat Pilates with the music with the fun with the less direct experience with a therapist, but really just a movement class that's really focused on core strength. And I still love to go to, to those. And it's just yeah, it's like any person can use Pilates in their life. And what you specialize is really important as far as back care, because strengthening our center bodies, strengthening the core strengthening the back, and the hips. That power house system is our support and stability that carries us through life. So important for the back health, and body health overall. Amen. Preaching to the choir.
Holly
well, just to that note, like why it's so beneficial, I believe, for healing the low back, is whenever we have like a tissue that's injured, so whether or not it's your muscle, your joint, your nerve, your disc, whatever's going on, we might not always know what's causing that that pain, right and the low back can be hard to diagnose. But what we do know is if we can stabilize the spine, like stabilize the back, use those deep core stabilizers together, the deep transversus, and the deep multifidus muscle, with the pelvic floor with the diaphragm like this nice, we call it a force couple. If we can use those muscles to stabilize everything, we'll call that stress down in the low back. So inflammation calms down and the stress comes down. And then we can start optimizing our alignment, optimizing our strength and building on that foundation. And so I believe that that's kind of what's giving me this powerful tool. And I when I think of Pilates, I think, Gosh, it gives me so much purpose, right? Like there's a purpose to every single thing we do, like every single movement has a purpose, whether that's to help with your alignment, or help with your stability or help you with motor control or, or just to help you feel better so that you can move, you know, so, so yeah, so in general, the exercises that I believe we start with are the ones that bring that stress down. And and that is not only just to the tissues, but to the whole body, our whole central nervous system. And just another thing that I've been exploring a lot lately is how do we calm the whole body through the vagus nerve. I don't know if you've heard about the power of the vagus nerve, but we can calm the whole central nervous system, so that we're more prepared to move without pain, we can bring down just general stress of life and in the muscles and, and just allow us to like feel more comfortable in our bodies. There's a lot of exercises that we can do for the vagus nerve, but one of the most powerful is is the breath and using the exhale and using and using the inhale. And, and strategically using those those breaths, the breath pattern is a tool. And so it's just kind of up to the teacher on how creative you want to be with that. But it's fun. There's just so many possibilities, right?
Katie Kay
So many possibilities. And you can see how it's all linked. The nervous system, vagus nerve breathwork, that connection and that awareness that you were talking about that intuitive connection to your body, which I found so valuable through my work with Pilates and through physical therapy, even when I wasn't in a place where I was injured, and I just wanted to have a sweet six pack and wanted to work out in the gym. And it made me feel really good. It was interesting how I didn't really realize at the time, that mind body connection I was getting, and I just knew I felt really centered and aligned. And it was an exercise that made me feel really good and confident. That was probably the biggest word confident. I think part of it was that core engagement, that solar plexus kind of chakra energy of feeling that stability in your center body. And I think another part of it was just being intuitively connected to my body in a new way, kind of that quality of movement. And it's interesting for you. It's interesting to hear you bring up the vagus nerve and I haven't really thought about that before. So I would love for you to dive into that. If there's any other specifics. How does that relate to their nervous system? Is it just kind of a kamin? Is it a connection? What is that vagus nerve all about?
Holly
Yeah, yeah, let's go there. So most people have heard of the fight or flight response. So that's our sympathetic nervous system. So we have a sympathetic nervous system that kind of gears us up to, like Chase, or to run from the tiger or to, you know, go to the bathroom before a big race are just to like, kind of just go use all the energy to the muscles, right. So a lot of adrenaline, a lot of heart, you know, heart rate response, a lot of breathing response, it's kind of can be that spike of stress that we need to, to utilize energy to run from a tiger. Or it could be just this low grade stress that we feel because of COVID. Or because of, you know, life or so we might have like a low grade adrenaline cortisol kind of response. Well, there's a, there's another system that balances all that. And that's called the parasympathetic nervous system. That's the vagus nerve. So that's going to bring the heart rate down, that's going to help our breathing rate it's going to help calm it's going to allow for digestion, it's going to allow us to rest and repair and recover and rebuild and, and so when we stimulate the vagus nerve, we stimulate that part of the nervous system, that parasympathetic nervous system. So that's kind of like just, you know, physiology one on one there. And, and so the vagus nerve is really powerful, because it talks to the heart, the lungs, the gut, and we can stimulate the vagus nerve through like working with our neck and our face. And like really basic things, our breath. So I've been experimenting with my patients during my Pilates sessions, like to helping them like exhale with the big noise, like Make, make a noise, like, let's have fun, let's play. Let's, let's, you know, maybe work on another tool I use is this mouthwash tool. I don't know if you've ever heard of that. You can imagine you're swishing mouthwash around. And you're just like, kind of getting a stretch in your cheeks. And it's just like little simple things like that can help you stimulate the vagus nerve. How we know or how I know, that it's working, is you'll see somebody on, it's so easy, like, you'll just see them start to relax, you'll see their body kind of, you know, and I just there's, you know, of course, so much to learn with the vagus nerve, but I've been seeing really quick responses in people. And then they're just more setup to like, move easier, you know, they feel better. They're like, Oh, I feel so much better. After people say that to me, every, every time I work with them, I feel so much better. Just like in five minutes, you know, it's not, this doesn't take much.
Katie Kay
and you have such expertise and all of these different areas. And I know from coming to you and chatting during our Pilates that you just love to learn and go to conferences and learn more and more about the research behind the body and how everything's connected. And you can just tell, as I can tell, when I come see you. And when I first came to see you, it was so different than and I don't want to talk negatively on other physical therapists because I know we all have our own place and some are better match for others. But for you, it was really comforting when I came and just I just knew that I was in a safe place. And you did a full analysis of my alignment and checking my pelvis and checking my back and and that's just like, that's just was a cue to me as far as like, okay, like this lady has such a great understanding of the human body and also just knows how to approach it in the right way. And through our working together. It's almost this investigative analysis every day, what's work, what's working, what's not working, where do you feel it? What's going on, let's check your alignment again. And you know, lay down on your back lay down in your stomach, I feel your pelvis and your SI rotation and all of those links. It's just really I feel like I'm really safe in my body and I really feel like okay, this is this is some hope. That's probably the word I'm looking for is some hope, as far as I can really start to feel better. Because if some of our listeners are feeling in pain or they have a chronic issue in their body, it can feel a little hopeless and especially if you've gone to a few people that don't really feel like you can be in tune with your body and really feel safe as far as the whole process of you talking to me and telling me this is what I'm doing. This is what I'm seeing this is what's going on. It just it creates a very empowering and confident area to be in and learning I learn new stuff about my body every day and especially with you coming in it's just like this fun Little, like I keep saying investigative, but that's probably the best word to describe it. Can you go into an analysis of when a new client comes in? What is that process look like? And why do you do all of those alignment checks? And why is it every time I come in, it's a new kind of process to try and understand the body and in bring in all those components?
Holly
Yeah, definitely. I just wanted to quickly speak to what you said about feeling safe. Is that okay, really quick, please. So one of the things I think that that you and I worked so well together on and is so important like to speak to the vagus nerve as well is that we do as a, you know, as humans, we need to feel safe, right? Like, we don't want that sympathetic response. And so with the vagus nerve work, and I think Pilates is really great for that a good kind of opening a door opening for that is we can learn what's called co regulation. So we can kind of work together to like help our nervous systems kind of match. And so I can help you feel safe, you can start moving and feeling safe. And then there's just this regulation, so that eventually you're going to take that skill, and you're going to take it to your life, so you can regulate your own nervous system. So there's like, that's a whole nother thing, right. But this whole idea of we need to learn how to regulate, like, how do we self regulate? And I think definitely tapping into the breath work definitely moving in a way that feels good. Like, that's all I think, the power of Pilates as well. So I just wanted to add that in, because you really touched on that in a really powerful way with your experience. For Yeah, so when people come to me, I'm going to be looking, you know, I was taught a real traditional form format, for looking at alignment and posture and strength and motor control, and just just a whole bunch of general kind of physical, we're looking for what's called physical impairments, so kind of a technical word, but I just want to know, kind of what what's off, you know, where? Where is the system out of balance? And so I get a lot of information that way. So I'm checking. And so remind me your question, you're wondering what that process is, or?
Katie Kay
Yeah, I'm just curious, because I know you know it so well. So it probably comes second nature. But when a client comes to see what is that process of checking the alignment, and kind of working through that investigative analysis, continually just to kind of see, like, where the person is at, and I guess there's just so many moving parts. And for somebody that's not really in tune with anatomy, or really knows, like, I mean, you were talking about the vagus nerve, and that being connected to the body, there's just a lot going on. And so I feel like for me, and probably a lot of the listeners are confused by, like the type of process that you really need to go through it to heal the body. And what does that process really look like?
Holly
Yeah, I think if I could distill down, like, what would be the most helpful for your listeners, like, first of all, like, I'm gonna take a history, right? I'm gonna listen to you. And I would say, do that for yourself. Listen to your own body, like listen to your cues, like listen to what your body language is saying, like, do you feel stiff? Do you feel tight? Do you feel weak? Do you feel like, like you have a pain, what's getting your attention, that's going to be like the first step, because that's what I'm going to do. If you come see me, I'm going to kind of really try to investigate all of those aspects of what your body has been telling you what we've been doing with your body, kind of how the body is, you know, been talking to you, because there's a relationship there, right, like, and I think that's probably one of the, the best things that I've taken away from this journey, is my relationship with my body is really good now, like it used to not be. And I feel like I have so much gratitude for what I can do who I am, like my body weight, like, all of the things that like used to, I used to be so hung up about, right? And so now there's a relationship and that I'm so incredibly grateful for and I think I can give my Pilates path that credit for sure. Starting with listening to your cues is huge. And knowing what those cues mean what you can do about it, because there's there's a kind of a direct link, they're like, Oh, well, when I'm feeling stiff, okay, what does that mean? And if you know what that means, you can usually go oh, I need to go lay on my back and maybe do a couple imprints or maybe a couple pelvic clocks to help release it, or maybe I need to adjust my posture or, you know, what can I do? And that's, I think, where the empowerment and the the self confidence comes from.
Katie Kay
Yeah, that's a great way to to describe it and I could really with what you were talking about, like there's some things that just no longer bother me or I've kind of moved past and There's some things about my body that I'm still I still get stuck on. And like one of those things may be when pain shows up, I might get overly emotional about it, like maybe some anger I'll come up or some frustration or I've been working on this, you know, I've been doing this stuff and like a narrative goes on in my mind. Or like bodyweight stuff, when you brought that up, I've, in the past been so over consumed mentally and physically with trying to lose weight, not feeling comfortable in my body. And again, it's kind of this like over thinking brain repeat this repetitive story that's really keeping me in this overthinking kind of this loop of negative cycle of, you know, guilt, food guilt, or, you know, I didn't do enough exercise that day, or I'm eating too many calories, I need to start cutting back. So I'm always feeling like I need to improve. And I just see that you're talking about this kind of step by step process. And it all starts with that awareness. And even if it's emotional, or the thinking mind or being stuck in a negative loop, not saying weight loss goals are bad, but just when it becomes something that is really stressful and negatively impacting your life, being able to transition to a more positive way to approach it. And just starting with that awareness. And that's where I started to, it's just being aware. So when those things come up now, like the pain, or maybe a negative thought about my body, I'm really able to quickly come back into alignment. And it's because I've just gone through the process, and I just realized, this isn't working. And now I need to transition and, and it's opening up this space for new perspectives. And just like Pilates, you start to get a new perspective of your body in space and move how does movement feel and, and that intuitive connection, feeling into your body and that confidence, starting to kind of really realize what's happening. And again, bringing in that awareness, but it's just so interesting to think about how emotionally mentally, physically everything is connected. And a lot of the time we kind of get stuck in the just the brain, there's the thinking. And just an example, like this morning, I Well, last night, I had a big dinner, I emotionally a after I had a bowl of cereal, and not the healthy kind of sugar, sugar kind. And, um, was what I emotionally needed that night. And I was really serving myself in that way. But of course, those old thought patterns come up the next morning, and I started feeling kind of like pudgy in my stomach. And that's always kind of where I gravitate towards I start to notice that area. And it's the ability to bring new awareness. So I thought about, oh, you know what, that's my center of confidence. I'm just not feeling confident today. It's not actually about my body weight, right? It's not like I caught it, right? You catch it and you realize I don't, you know, it's not about the weight loss. And I'm able to have that awareness. And I bring this whole big story up because the Pilates in the way that you're describing physical therapy, it's just linked with so many different things and so many different aspects in the way that you just described, it was a really powerful way to, to understand
Holly
when there's so many layers, like you're saying, right, like, and I think that is part of the journey to like, if you're going to be a student of Pilates, you're going to start unraveling, like so many different layers to you know, your alignment with yourself, your alignment with your body, your alignment with other people, for example, you know, and, you know, I think the main thing I'm hearing you say is that not only did you tune in and you became aware of what was going on, and you caught it, but you knew what to do, like, you know, I think that I'm hearing you say that you got like you kind of got through it quicker. And I would say that, you know, most people come to me you know, without really a lot of body body awareness or, or really understanding of how to how to move in a way that feels good. And the first step I would say is you just need to start kind of being the watcher you know, like the listener like listen to your body like without judgment, right and I think we can teach that in this work it can be about okay, what does your body want here? Okay, what do you want to do want to move there? Do you want to move move there? Have you ever tried this, you know, and, and there's this kind of nice innocent witness that that happens. And I you know, I know Eckhart totally talks about that too. Like this whole, just be the watcher and You can become more present in your body. And, and I love that so much because it's like you can, it just takes the judgment away it takes, it just takes like all the emotion out of it so that you can start moving and feeling better too. And, you know, and it doesn't have to always be that deep. But it just, it's just another way that if you are ready for it, it'll, it'll show up for you.
Katie Kay
Yeah, and I think it's so powerful as an instructor, to be able to have that awareness yourself so that you can provide your clients with that same compassion, and allow that space to be that witness and observer and without having to label it or attach any kind of emotions.
Holly
And especially who you need to be, yeah, exactly. Let your body be accepted for what for what it is, watch it move and like start to change, like, really simply simple ways.
Katie Kay
Yeah. And the listeners now it's around the holidays are right after the holidays. And I know for me, it's like a time where I'm really judgmental of my body. Because I've probably partake in a lot of drinking and eating. And so fun, right? Let yourself just like have a blast, because the holidays are just like we get to connect, especially this year be around family, hopefully. And, and, but there's still obviously that side of judgment and not feeling great in your body. Because you may be over consumed.
Holly
Yeah, I get that blah, feeling good. That blah, feeling Oh, yeah.
Katie Kay
it's great to have, I'm just like, I'm so empowered with your program and your online business. And I just want back us to uplift it, obviously. But I want also to realize that there's a direction that you can take that can be really hard on your body, you want to lose those calories, you want to get back into the gym, and work through it, power through it, and just rely on motivation, and control. And we all know that only works for a few weeks, and then we stop because motivation is the control motivation is in our best resource. But you offering this program right after the holidays, I just think is so awesome. Because the people that can join and be a part of it. It's like what you were just talking about the being present, being that observer, like taking care of your body in this profound way. It's so cool. Like, I've just so excited for it. And so much. Yeah, of course, well, thank you for offering it. And so I definitely want to get into it, and I want you to just talk about it and explain what your program is all about and who it might be for. And yeah, just kind of share, share what you would like to, uh, with our listeners, and let's see, what's the right word I'm trying to find? Hmm, maybe just, I just, like just share the program and when it starts and what it's all about?
Holly
Awesome. Well, you know, I really truly believe that good health care starts with self care. Like, you know, we are our best doctors really, I mean, no, you know, I look at all of my providers. You know, my doctor, my massage therapist, my, you know, physical therapist, I look at everyone as a guide. Like, they're helping me, they're facilitating me and my goals, but I want to I need to listen to my own body, I need to, I need to empower myself with as many tools and skills as I possibly can. So self care is like at the top of my list. And I'm always working on, on cultivating that throughout all the seasons of my life. And I believe that Pilates, you know, in general is going to help you with whatever you're dealing with. It's gonna it's just a great path. But what I did is I created Pilates for backcare. For people that have general low back pain, it's maybe chronic, it's reoccurring, and they want that core strength. You know, everyone has heard that Pilates is good for core strength. And that's definitely a component of it. But we want to take care of our bodies with these exercises that feel good, you know, let's start with what feels good, what feels safe, what we know is safe, it's gonna be best for people that aren't having like, you know, anything acute like no acute like balance bladder loss or fractures or any of those acute like medical kind of you need to address that medically. And I go through screenings like that in my program, but you know, no acute like nerve reading ating down your leg type of back pain. You want to be screened for that first. This is for somebody that wants the strength component and they want an exercise plan that works like they want that protocol. So it's a series of videos that you can do on your own at home and I guide you through it and I teach you the breath. I teach you the alignment I teach you the course exercises and teach you how to tap into that vagus nerve and just cultivate cultivate taking care of yourself and really setting yourself up for success. One of the interesting things about this path for me is, you know, I was able to like go through my own back injury when I was an early therapist, like I mentioned, but then, and then it was fine after discovering Pilates and then kind of had a couple injury injuries and was fine. I kept going back to these exercises, I'm like, this is really working and then teaching my patients. But what was really interesting is after having a baby, so three years ago, I had a little boy and went into my pregnancy really strong, really healthy, and came out of it with the C section, unplanned C section, and you know, we're covered and did fine. But I really, truly felt like I had a whole new body. It was like just really eye opening. And I think what was mostly the most eye opening was not only the strength piece, because I had the strength piece going in. But just the lifestyle piece, you know, I was sitting more I wasn't eating well, I had gained a ton of weight, I had had abdominal surgery, I wasn't getting as much support. So I was carrying him a lot and holding him and not just the lifestyle piece. And I think most people need to really, you know, give that the credit it deserves because how you use your body all day really makes a huge difference. And the strength is one component for sure. And so with carrying and lifting and holding and doing all those things, the car seat and all the stuff that comes with babies is my back, like flared up like crazy. And it cascaded into like other things a knee and pubic bone, and all this other, you know, stuff I was not expecting. But what brought me back was this program again, like I just went back to the basics and was able to bounce back, I found more resilience through it. So now I would say at 46 years old, I'm the healthiest and the strongest I've ever been. And you know, I just keep striving for that next, you know, level of performance and fitness and health and well being and, and I just Yeah, so I'm hoping that this program will guide people in that beginning phase, so they have a place to start.
Katie Kay
Definitely. And it sounds like from your own experience. It was just really hard to go through that change. I can imagine not feeling like you will or living in the same body. You were before. Can you tell us how that was? And what that was like for you as a really uncomfortable just not feeling like yourself? Or maybe
Holly
as a pregnant mama you mean or as a new new mama of
Katie Kay
new mama? Yeah. Yeah,
Holly
it was like an almost like a, like a re like defining of like, like, how do I feel in my body? Like how, you know what, who am I now like, this is different, you know, I've got this huge pooch that like sticks around for like four to five months. And yeah, I just it was kind of like a process of, you know, I can't work out like I used to be, you know, I don't have the time, like I'd can't do the things I used to do to keep me fit and feeling thin and strong. And, and so it was just this whole, like shift I had to make. And I had to really honestly, just accept it. Like, I just had to surrender and say, How can I make the best of this, you know, I've got, I've got naptime. I'm going to take him for a walk, I've got you know, husband, on the weekends, I'm going to give myself a little self care. Like I just had to really redefine what, what healthy meant what physical, like my acceptance of my body looked like. And I just kind of redefined like what tools I needed. So I found more tools to help me you know, to get like, so I could lose weight. And so I could feel strong again. And of course Pilates with that foundation as well. So, so yeah, acceptance. A lot of acceptance came in. And so I'm grateful for that. You know, because now I feel like yeah, I might not have like, the most fit thin body of anyone. But that's not me. Like I'm fit, I'm strong, I can do what I want. And that's really what I think it comes down to like, can you do what you want to do? Can you go out and hike that mountain? Can you ski? Can you help? Good? Can you feel? I think it's more about that. Like how good can you feel?
Katie Kay
Yeah, I can relate to that for sure. And I feel like a lot of our sensors, a sense of self is wrapped up in our body and how we look but also our own relationship to how we feel and it can be really hard to go through any kind of change. And I'm just thinking about recently, I've had some anxiety come up and whenever anxiety comes up, I also have that just little bit of depression show up and it's like, I have been through that whole thing before and I just, I'm like oh, you know, here it here it showing up again. And it's just it feels a little defeated. Like, I feel a little defeated because it's like, Oh, I thought I kind of work through that. But life is ever changing and of course things pop up for reasons, I truly believe, and you said this at the beginning that our struggles show up for a reason. And for you, going through your own personal changes in your body and your back struggles, has led you to be an amazing teacher in that specific field. Right. And so there was a reason for it. And for me, it's like, if I can keep that perspective of whatever I'm struggling with, there's a reason that it showing up in my life at that time. And I truly believe with the podcast to any kind of struggles I'm going through, it just makes me more compassionate and a better guide and teacher, for whoever needs me. And so I can relate to as far as like old patterns, old, you know, whatever it is old things that you thought you work through, and then they pop up again. And you do you have to have this level of acceptance just for being able to start all over again. Yeah, start at the basics.
Holly
exactly and read in just in its opportunity to realign right, like, realign your wiser you know, more, you can go fall back on what works, you know, like I relate to anxiety and depression as well. And when I feel those feelings, and I catch it, I'm like, Okay, what do I know, works? Okay? Well, I know, if I go for a walk, I feel better, okay, if I know I have this, you know, smoothie or whatever, you know, it can, it can be whatever tool you need. But I think it's a, it's a refining, and it's like, you're wiser. So I just, I think that helps me, I don't know if that helps you, but to kind of just continue to just keep refining, you know, and then just it reintegrates. And then eventually, then that's not as loud of a problem, right. And I think that happens with the low back to we, we have this you know, injury or pain, and it can, it can totally throw us off off our game. And then that's like all we focus on. But then, you know, down the road, you've learned all these tools, you've learned all these skills, you've done all these things, and then you get a little flare up, and it lasts for an hour, you know, or less for a day or maybe a week, and you just catch it quicker. I think that's been a theme for us today. Like we we can like tune in, we can pay attention, we can catch it, we know what to do. Like it's self care, like you're just constantly checking in and tuning in. And, and it's that relationship with yourself, that just keeps getting stronger and stronger.
Katie Kay
totally. It's like you have a new awareness and new tools in your toolbox to be able to deal with the same things that pop up. And sometimes you just try new new ways as well. But I do think a lot of the time when we have to go back to the basics, it's feel it can feel a little defeating. And it's like, Oh, I was I was improving, I was getting there. And now all the all the sudden I'm set back and it just perspective, right? That doesn't that's neither good nor bad, it can just be a neutral perspective. And you're right, having new tools, or having old tools in your toolbox that you are able to look at now and use or just like going back to what you know, and just starting from the beginning, and there might be a reason for it. And with your program, it's like those basic components of breath work and just starting to understand your body again, bringing that awareness what we've talked about, I go back to those over and over again, whether I'm in pain or not. And it's just something that it's not, should not be considered as defeating or setting you back or starting at the at a beginner place. Because those are our tools that we can always come back to over and over again in the future that exactly last, like it's our foundation,
Holly
and asking yourself, What can I learn here? Like, what is this trying to teach me? Like, I listened to a podcast yesterday that was just really spoke to me. And it was like, What is this negative experience trying to teach me like, and that that's just really profound. And I love that we can kind of dive into this deeper stuff, but it is like, is there a learning here that maybe I haven't learned yet? You know, maybe I need to really, you know, be more consistent. Or maybe I need to, you know, try this or do that or, you know, just listen more, right? Like, I think if anything, I'm a better listener now. I listen, and I catch it quicker. And I think that's a valuable skill. totally invaluable skill for our health, for sure.
Katie Kay
Same here. I feel like I've learned to just pause and just give it space. Yeah, that sometimes do we nothing is the best thing I can do.
Holly
Yes, yes. And we need that so much in our culture, don't we so bad, and sometimes we're forced to it. I think sometimes injury and pain can force us to stop and that's we don't want it to get to that point. Hopefully it doesn't but if it does, sometimes it can be a big blessing. And a lot of people do have breakthroughs. They're not they totally, because they know, oh, this is what I needed to wake up, you know,
Katie Kay
totally. And I think with my back, I believe that there's multiple things going on. I believe there's an emotional component that I haven't yet discovered. And I also believe that physical movements, Pilates coming to see you is going to be really healing and my journey. So it's interesting, because I know there's a lot of things I need to learn, and I'm trying to be as patient as possible. And I think that's just where I need to be at is like patients learning and not getting swept up in the drama of it. And it'll unfold, you know, as it needs to. And wherever it leads me, it'll be perfect. But where it's led me so far has been outstanding. I mean, if I don't think that's, like we would have ever connected I know, you know, so it's, it's great. And who knows, like the podcast? Who knows? Who knows, right?
Holly
But yeah, you done so well, with the work like you just are such an amazing student, you get it, your body gets it so fast, I think one of the things I see with you is you're really in tune with yourself, like more than most people, and so you can pick up on it quicker, and you can progress faster. And, and that's really neat to see. Because then I can do things with you that, you know, it takes maybe weeks for other people, you know, and so that awareness and that listening, and you're you're just cultivating that with all these other things you're doing in your life.
Katie Kay
I'm so glad you brought that up, because I did want to mention yoga, in comparison to Pilates, because I think I can attribute for sure I can attribute my body awareness, a lot to yoga, and I'm a Yoga Instructor. And so thank you for that compliment. And yeah, I mean, I practice it, right. Like, I want to be in tune with my body as much as possible. And it's, you know, my body, and it's my relationship to food. And it's my relationship to relationships. And it's, it's interlinked with everything. But I did have a question about, one of the listeners was asking me what the difference between Pilates and yoga is. And I do think it's really common to ask that question, because we kind of lump them up into this mind body movement. And what would your response be to that?
Holly
Yeah, I have a couple of thoughts, because I used to do Bikram yoga. And so that was my pre Pilates experience. So I have an experience about it, and then just kind of a professional thought about it. My personal experience is I would always get hurt with Bikram yoga. And I think it's because of the end range focus, like a lot of the postures were focusing on a lot of end range flexibility. And in my personal body, I just wasn't strong for that. So I would get internal quite a bit. And so I needed something to really kind of rein me in and just really stabilize me. And so I think that's where I can gravitate to Pilates more professionally, I think, I think they're both really amazing. I think yoga has such a does has it done such a good job with the mind, the meditative the, you know, just the awareness piece, like you're talking about and, and there's so many branches of it, too. I mean, I don't even know like all the different branches. But the breath work there are so many things overlap, right, the breath work and the core and the stability, I would say, it seems to me and I could be totally wrong. But it seems to me yoga maybe focuses more on flexibility, and mindset and meditation. And that whereas Pilates a little bit more on the core and integration. That's just like a real simple understanding of it. But what I you know, my my focus is on rehab. So I'm thinking more about the rehab side of Pilates. Whereas in yoga, I don't know how yoga is Yogi's wouldn't do medical yogi, you know? Yeah, but I do think they both have their place. And I think we just have to make sure that you're not pushing and range with, you know, with people that do yoga, because they can get hurt quite a bit and cause you know, cause cause more pain than they need to. But Pilates can cause people pain, too, if they're not doing it right, as well. So, like anything. Good, good. Good instructor for sure.
Katie Kay
Yeah. And I'm glad you brought up in your own body. This is what you've experienced, because it's like, it's like you're saying it's like both or they have a place and also both have a place for individual bodies and the podcast, I really want to uplift just everybody's authentic abilities and authentic body and what makes you feel good?
Holly
Yes. Yeah. And that like builds your health and strengthens you and because I do believe we all have to find that path for ourselves. Like there's no one path for everyone you know, but you can probably take from different paths to like I love the meditative side of yoga and restorative side of it like To me that feels really calming and balancing and, and supportive to my other practices.
Katie Kay
Yeah. And I think I gave you a loaded question for sure. But you did a beautiful job of simplifying it. And it just like there's like you're saying, there's just like so many different components. There are so many different types. Like, there's power yoga, there's hot yoga, there's restorative, meditative, Bikram vinyasa. I mean, the list goes on so many. Yeah. And same with Pilates, reformer apparatus, trapeze table, Mat, all the like, all of the different types. So it's like classical contemporary
Holly
fitness rehab. Yeah, there's so many different habits. I think, you know, for the listener, think of what's your intention? What do you want to get out of a movement practice that can change? You know, just ask yourself what the intention is like? Is it to? Is it to heal your back? Is it to relax and just, you know, decompress from the day after a long day at work? Is it to learn more about your body? Like, what do you want from the practice?
Katie Kay
Oh, that's such a beautiful question. And it kind of comes back to that awareness. Once you start being really aware and give yourself that pause and just kind of witness what's going on. That's a powerful way to start to figure out your own intention with your practice and movement and being being able to just try out new things and, and see what feels like what actually feels intuitively good in your body. Letting go of that this is right. And this is wrong. And this is what I should be doing. This is why I shouldn't be delayed.
Holly
Yes. I'm curious. Have you heard of Emily flutter? No, I was gonna ask you that before. So I recently tuned into. She's a yoga instructor. meditation teacher, I think she calls herself. She's changed my life for sure.
Holly
Emily Fletcher, she has so many great videos on YouTube. And my physical therapist that I went through, who was a good friend and colleague helped me after baby with my pelvic floor, she turned me on to her as far as you know, just learning how to manage the stress of having a newborn right and just like homing myself, but she has a really great and powerful meditation that I use. I'm trying to use it now daily. And for the listeners, if you really just want to tap into your, your know your intuition, like he's talking about or just tune into your body a little more, a great place to start, is her exercise called come to your senses. And it is awesome. It is just beautiful. And she says that when you really tune into your senses, then it really helps your intuition come alive. And I just totally love that. Because it's, it's true, like you can become I mean, as women, I think we all we all feel intuitive, you know, hopefully some more than others. But that's just powerful right there just to like, get in your body, feel aware, feel good about your body, and then just happen to like, what do I need? Now? What what does my body want? What do I need?
Katie Kay
Thank you for sharing that tool. I will definitely put it in the show notes. And that was actually a perfect lead in to my next question. What are some wellness tools that you use in your daily practice that you would recommend? And just to, you know, get an idea of what you like to use and the listeners can, you know, take it if it resonates or leave it if it doesn't resonate? But just curious as far as what you have found that you really like?
Holly
Yeah, so I just mentioned Emily Fletcher, she's, she has started Ziva meditation. So that's when you think of like, body mind spirit. Like that's my spiritual side of it. I'd love listening to her meditations. And she can help you at the body awareness as well. So I would say Ziva meditation, I love of course, Pilates. Hopefully, that's obvious. You know, I love being in nature. Nature's a tool I use, just even if I'm just going to go outside and stand in the grass barefoot, like just to be able to ground down. That's really helpful if I'm feeling stressed or anxious, or just going outside on a walk. Like I didn't realize, until I had a baby, how powerful just going on a walk was just that simple walk like in nature is so it's so good for the body. So and I used to be a triathlete, so I used to like to kind of go go go and you know have a lot of energy but just walking. I love intuitive fat or intermittent fasting. That's another tool I use. And that's been really powerful for me with my body image, my energy, my balancing my hormones. I talk a lot about it with one of my patients that are struggling with weight loss. I had a I had a 40 pound weight loss after baby that was really a really big body image shift for me to be 40 pounds heavier than normal. So intermittent fasting has been a great tool for me. Music is another awesome tool. Even just listening to a favorite song can shift my mood and Really. And then I work with my naturopath and she gives me supplements if I need to, to help through different moods or with hormones or whatever, you know, I think just looking at, you got to look at it from a whole person perspective. Right. So I've given you a few of my favorites.
Katie Kay
Awesome. That was perfect. Thanks, Holly, for sharing all of those, of course. And, yeah, I just want to make a note on that intermittent fasting, I have had a friend that really loves that he, he just kind of gravitated towards it. And it already kind of fit into what he was already doing with his eating, and it just worked out. And I also heard I took an Ayurveda course. And kafirs are apparently the only Boeotia that should do cleanses or should do intermittent fasting. And I just make that point not to say that you shouldn't or should, but it's just dependent on your body. And I, I think like with any kind of trend, or not even a trend, but maybe just a particular way of eating or approaching your body, it's just good awareness that like it can be really good. It can be really beneficial, like anything, it can also not work for your lifestyle or not right for your body. And the only reason I bring that up is just like we all just have different tools. And when I asked that question, I just want the listeners to like if there's something that really resonated like, oh, I want to try that. I've been thinking of that. And that might really work. And that feels like a Yeah, like a little nudge. Yeah. So that was the only you know, thing that came up in my mind that I had just take a NY or beta course. So yeah, that's great about that. Yeah,
Holly
yeah. And it is really just finding your own secret formula, right? What's gonna work for you at the season of your life? Like, I'm really big on like, what season are we in right now? You know, like, not only like, you know, the the climate, but what season of your life like I'm in my postpartum season, you know, so my life's gonna be different than one of those triathlete, you know. So I'm going to have different needs and different, different different desires for what what are my goals,
Katie Kay
goals, intentions, all of this stuff about today. I love it. Awesome. Holly, thank you so much for being here. Are there any last words and also let us know where we can find you? I will put all the links in the show notes for your program. They can find more about that. If there's any last messages that you want to talk about for your program or anything else? Please let us know. Oh, awesome.
Holly
Well, this has just been so much fun that Katie, thank you so much for having me today. Yeah, you can find me at Pilates with Holly calm. And I have a free like mini course for your low back. If you want to just check it out and get like a three to five minute video every day for seven days. That's a great place to start. I've gotten just amazing feedback about that course. And then my back program is also there too. So Pilates with Holly calm, you can always email me if you have any questions about if it's appropriate for you. And Pilates therapist@gmail.com as well and just thank you so much. It's been so much fun. I love talking with you.
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