NEWSLETTER FALL 2005

One Size Does Not Fit All by Roxanna Cohen

I was recently in a women's boutique and came across what appeared to be the perfect little tank top that I had been looking for. The top I picked up was obviously too small and searching for the right size, I was disappointed to find the top was “one size fits all”. I was grateful to have the common sense to realize that I did not fit the “one size” category (and so were the fashion police). It made me wonder… in how many instances in our lives is this not the case? How often do we fall prey to advertising, and popular consensus? As the medical and fitness communities continue to embrace the benefits of Pilates and yoga, are we falling prey to flavors of the day? Are these systems just the latest fads? Does “one size” fit all? And if not, how can we get the proper fit?

To answer these questions we must look at a historical perspective.

Pilates began teaching his system of mind/body fitness around the time of WWI. His teaching was done primarily one-on-one with each person receiving a personally tailored program for them. Group settings were something that you graduated into and were supplemented with continued individual attention.

Yoga was transmitted this way as well from guru to student for thousands of years. You were only taught information that was pertinent to you, that you were ready for. By the time you ventured out into the group you were taught to develop an awareness of how to discern what was health-affirming be it mental, physical or spiritual and what was not, for you.

Hopefully what came with this awareness was that inner “core strength” it took to make choices that maybe were not the same choices as the group. A good fit was ensured because the teaching was designed for you, not the group.

This is not necessarily the way it is done today. As teachers we have a responsibility in group settings to teach to the level of the class for what the majority needs, giving modifications to alter the difficulty appropriately. While this is responsible, one can only progress at the level of the majority which may not be the same as the need of the individual. Too hard, students gets frustrated or hurt and drop out all together, too easy the students get bored and feel they are not progressing at the pace they would like to. Not a good fit.

As students we have a responsibility in class to develop self-awareness and build our core strength to make good choices about what is ok and not ok for us as individuals. If a class does not work, do we need a different class or do we need to supplement the class with individual instruction? Maybe we just need more information to make better-informed decisions so that what really is so good for us fits us perfectly.

back to newsletter index