“If you enjoy understanding “the why” behind an exercise and geeking out on human movement you’ll enjoy working with me.”

 

Q & A Session with Sydney Craig

Q: What do you love about teaching?

A: I love helping people discover how easy it can be to make sustainable, lasting changes in their bodies while enhancing their ability to move with more freedom and ease.

I know it’s ironic, considering I teach movement and own a Pilates/Restorative Exercise Studio, but my goal is to give people the tools and information they need so they eventually don’t need me and they come to the studio because it’s fun and they enjoy it, but not because they feel they have to.

I’m fascinated by the human body and its ability to adapt and change no matter how old a person is.

And I love sharing this knowledge with others in a way that gives them confidence that they’re not just at the mercy of the aging process!

Q: What is it that makes your work unique?

A:  Pain and discomfort in my body brought me to Pilates in 2001.

I have Scoliosis and was a full-time hairstylist for fourteen years. There was a time that the combination of how I used my body to cut hair, my scoliosis, and my love of fashion culminated in chronic back pain that at times was debilitating.

Pilates helped my back feel better, and that inspired me to go through the rigorous training to become a Pilates instructor.

I started teaching Pilates in 2004.

Soon after completing my certification, it became evident to me there were significant gaps in my knowledge that prevented me from working with people on the level I so desperately wanted to provide.

These knowledge gaps set me on the kind of scavenger hunt that became my movement teaching career. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

As a result, while I do teach Pilates, it is not in a normal or traditional way.

I specialize in alignment and helping people connect to their deepest core structure. When you have this foundation in place, the strength and complexity you can build on top is never-ending.

I love working with people who have Scoliosis, back pain, and foot, and ankle issues as these are issues I have personally struggled with. As a result, I have a lot of experience and ideas to help convey a deeper understanding to others.

Feeling better in my body has been a process and I can whole-heartedly say I feel better and stronger in my mid-forties than I ever did in my twenties!

I had to dramatically change the way I carried myself and how I moved my body during Pilates and in life.

And it took time to get used to new ways of connecting and creating new, ideal alignment habits. I took Pilates for years, not having a clue what I was doing. I loved it, but I definitely didn’t “get it.”

So, now I know what it’s like to feel the awkwardness of creating new patterns; but I also sincerely appreciate the rewards and the opportunity to help others with similar issues.

Q: What are your 5 best attributes?

1. I love teaching and am always exploring new ways to help people move and feel better in fun creative ways.
2. I also have a variety of approaches and ways of saying the same thing.
3. I am consistent.
4. When it comes to exercise, making sure it’s functional matters to me A LOT. Exercise that directly and easily translates into how you use your body in daily life, in my opinion, is key.
5. I’ll never stop learning. The more I learn, the more I uncover how much I still have to learn, and the more fun teaching becomes!

 

Q: Who do you find yourself working with most often?

A: If you enjoy understanding “the why” behind an exercise and geeking out on human movement you’ll enjoy working with me.

I tend to work with people ready to try a new approach and willing to feel things differently when it comes to exercise.

If you’re just looking for a workout, I’m not the instructor for you. That said, if you connect with and apply what I teach, there’s a high probability that you will feel better, stronger, and move with more freedom and ease in your body than ever before!

 

 

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Sydney’s Bio

Sydney is a fully certi­fied Pilates instruc­tor through the Pilates Method Alliance (PMA). Before finding Pilates she was a full time hair­styl­ist at Arrojo-Cutler and educator for Bumble and bumble. She appren­ticed Nick Arrojo (from TLC’s ‘What Not to Wear’) and Rodney Cutler (of Cutler Salons in NYC and Miami) for two years.

Her adventure with Pilates began in 2001 in an effort to manage back pain from years of hair­styling, a lifetime of bad posture, and scol­io­sis. She was so inspired by her own improve­ments with Pilates that she dedi­cated herself to the intense instruc­tor training to become a Pilates teacher.

She completed the 450-hour Concen­tra­tion 101 certi­fi­ca­tion through Phys­i­cal­Mind for her primary training. Since then, Sydney’s Pilates educa­tion has contin­ued with a variety of master instruc­tors includ­ing, Kristin Steven­son of Pilates Training Insti­tute; Jennifer Gianni of Fusion Fitness; first gener­a­tion Pilates teacher, Lolita San Miguel; Rebecca Leone; Michele Larsson and Marie -José Blom.

During her work with Stretch Therapy creator, Kit Laughlin, she found Stretch Therapy was a perfect compli­ment to the Pilates Method. She now feels it’s one of the keys to helping people unlock their bodies so they move and live in the most func­tional way possible.

Sydney’s path has led her to deepen her study of the role fascia plays in the health of the human body. She received her Fascial Fitness™ certi­fi­ca­tion from the Fascial Fitness Association in 2013. In 2014, she attended the Fascial Research Summer School in Ulm, Germany.

She is also a Nutritious Movement™ certified Restorative Exercise Specialist and CFST- Level 3 trained in Fascial Stretch Therapy™ (FST) through Ann and Chris Frederick’s Stretch to Win Institute.

In November of 2017 Sydney became a fully credentialed Integral Master Coach™ through Integral Coaching® Canada .  She is passionate about helping others develop and transform themselves in areas of their life that deeply matter to them.

Her goal is to help everyone she works with find a strong connec­tion to their center that will help them improve their lives and activ­i­ties outside of the studio.