Author Archives: Waveforms Pilates

Move Your Self, Connect with Others, Change Your World

Category : Pilates

How do we continue to serve you in 2023?  What can Waveforms Pilates do for you beyond the studio walls?  What I’ve known to be true in my decade of teaching is that Pilates affects change; it creates movement, a wave, and a frequency that can be charted through time on small and larger scales.  How we connect and move within our bodies affects how we react to and connect with other people.  Our waves can be felt by others, like ripples in a pond spreading outward to those around us.

“Physical fitness is the first requisite of happiness.”

Joseph Pilates

At Waveforms Pilates, we strive to cultivate an environment of positive movement and body experiences.  If we feel happy and connected with our “self” – mind, body, and spirit – we can spread this happiness by how we treat the people around us.  Our significant others, our pets, our neighbors, and even our acquaintances can feel the positivity within ourselves when we interact with them.  And through these interactions, we can make deeper connections to our people and make our surrounding world a more joyful place.  

“The whole country, the whole world, should be doing my exercises. They’d be a lot happier.”

Joseph Pilates

So how can you stay connected with Pilates at Waveforms?  

• With yourself: try our one-on-one sessions.  This is time dedicated to just you with another teacher to work on your specific goals, but also adjust the session to what you really need each day you show up.  

• With others: come to our group classes or try a duet session with your friend for a more intimate and individualized group movement experience.  

We hope that the Pilates work can continue to create waves within yourself, your relationships, and your world, and we appreciate your energy.  Thank you for being a part of our community.  

Best,

Molly Jo Mathe, Studio Director & Owner

Waveforms Pilates has a New Studio Director & Owner

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Category : Pilates

Maeve at 5 months old, giggling at her dad making silly noises

Hello Everyone! I’m Molly Jo, the new owner and director of Waveforms Pilates. When I’m not in the studio teaching movement or watering plants, I’m a new mother to an almost 6 month old baby girl, Maeve. Being a mom is one of the hardest and most rewarding roles I’ve ever filled, and it’s amazing how much love I can feel for someone so little. I’m also a mom to a 100 pound rescue labradoodle, Duke – my husband Lucas’ and my first baby. He loves car rides, licking Maeve’s toes, and stealing our gardening crocs for his own chewing pleasure. You may see us walking around Neenah, as it’s our favorite activity to enjoy movement and the outdoors together while Lucas is at work. It’s also a great way for me to put my Pilates into practice outside the walls of the studio until I’m ready again to begin my leisurely jogging routine during the warmer months.

Duke, working his best version of “puppy eyes”
Lucas & I enjoying a hike in Santiago, Chile

The first time I did Pilates was at my alma mater UW-Stevens Point where I received my BA in Dance. Initially, Pilates was just my pre-class conditioning warm up and a way to delve deeper into my technique. The summer between my Junior and Senior year, I dislocated my knee at a dance intensive in Chicago and my dancing suffered. I started doing Pilates on the larger apparatus with one-on-one instruction as a post-rehabilitative tool and a way to discover more about how to align my legs and connect through my entire body. Looking back, this is when I first realized there was more to this “Pilates stuff” than just a warmup before my 10am Ballet class. There’s healing that can be done through this work, and there’s healing in movement. Pilates has met my body on this journey every day since then through feet injuries, bulging discs, sciatic nerve pain, shoulder tendonitis, debilitating hip pain, my pregnancy, and now my postpartum recovery. It has taught me joy and gratitude for what my body is capable of today, no matter the circumstances. And through my teaching, I strive to instill this with my students’ movement experience any time they come through our green Waveforms door. They make it easy to do, because we really do have the best people.

I appreciate all of you, and I feel honored to continue to serve your movement and Pilates needs. Thank you for allowing me to share my work and be part of your Pilates journeys.

Love & Gratitude, Molly Jo Mathe

“Movement should be approached like life – with enthusiasm, joy, and gratitude – for movement is life and life is movement, and we get out of it what we put into it.”

Ron Fletcher

Appleton Monthly January/February 920 Feature

Category : Pilates

To kick of the new year, 2021, Waveforms Pilates owner and instructor Courtney Holcomb was chosen to be the 920 Feature for the Appleton Monthly Magazine. The 920 features area code 920 locals that are doing unique things in the greater Fox Valley. Courtney is so excited to be sharing her passion for movement through the Pilates Method with the Fox Valley area, alongside with her other instructors.

Read the article here to learn more about why Courtney chose Pilates as her profession, how Pilates varies from yoga, and the types of students who seek out Pilates training.

The 920 – Jan/Feb 2021

Pilates Elements

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Category : Pilates

Getting The Most out of your Pilates Practice

Have you been wanting to try Pilates but feel too intimidated to dive in to a class? What if it’s too difficult? What if you don’t understand the exercises? What if you do it wrong? What even IS Pilates?

Maybe you’ve been told from your Physician, Physical Therapist, best friend, or family member that Pilates would be helpful for you. They’ve told you that it would help you post-operative, pre- or post-natal, with sports performance, improve flexibility, help your balance, improve your posture, decrease your back pain, decrease your stress, the list could go on and on.

Whenever starting a new practice, it can be a little intimidating. That’s why we designed the “Pilates Elements: Getting the Most out of your Pilates Practice” -formerly named “Defining Essentials’ – four-week Pilates workshop series.

Over the course of four weeks, we take an active learning approach to teach about the Pilates Method and Pilates Movement Principles.  Learn about the fundamentals for a safe and effective Pilates practice to begin your Pilates journey, or use this course to help deepen your existing Pilates practice as we return to the foundational work of the Pilates Method. 

Each class in the series is 75-minutes in length and the format will include 20-minutes of conversation/lecture on material relevant to understanding a Pilates practice, and conclude with a 55-minute movement class to execute and practice the learned exercises and material.

Each week we will review and build-upon material from the previous weeks, and by the end of this course, students will be set-up for a rich personal Pilates practice.  Workshop will be capped at 6 students per session to allow for a rich and individualized experience for each participant. 

This course is co-taught by the Pilates Instructors at Waveforms Pilates. Each instructor will teach one week of material, and the workshop concludes with a class team-taught by all instructors. Everyone’s learning style is different, and each teacher has a different teaching style–this helps us to share the same information in different ways, to ensure that everyone leaves with a deeper understanding of the Pilates Method.

During week one will cover the themes of “Breathing, Aligning our Body to Neutral, and Core Stabilization”. Week two we will build upon ideas from week one and add in ideas of “Spinal Mechanics-Flexion, Extension, and Side Bending”. Week three continues to layer in “Whole-Body Movement & Building Abdominal Strength”. And we culminate with week four: “Putting It All in Practice & Enhancing a Practice with Props”.

This course covers the following Learning Objectives:

  • Know the basic History of Pilates
  • Learn various breathing techniques
  • Learn basic skeletal alignment in all body positions: standing, seated, supine, prone, side lying
  • Learn the basic parts of the core system
  • Build confidence and awareness of safe protocol for a Pilates practice
  • Be aware of modification/adjustments for their own body when taking a group class
  • Have exposure to the types of props and tools we use in group mat classes
  • Develop an understanding of the Pilates Method & Movement Principles
  • Learn various Pilates Terminology
  • Physically practice over 40 Pilates exercises

How do I sign up?

We would love to have you join us! The fee for the workshop is $90 total (cash or check). The workshop is open to ages 13 and up,  any level of experience is welcome. Remember, we only have 6 students per session, so reserve your seat early. If interested in participating, please fill out the below survey link: 

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/22W9N9K

After you complete the survey we will reach out within the next few business days to let you know what the next workshops dates are, and detail on registration. You will also be added to our monthly newsletter list for future sessions of the workshop.

If you have a friend you’ve been trying to get in the door, this is a great entry point for students!  Rich in material and great value for a month of Pilates. We hope to have you join us in building or growing your Pilates practice.

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to Molly Jo via e-mail or phone at info@waveformspilates.com or (612)219-6255.

Getting to Know Nani Andres

Category : business , Pilates

Waveforms Pilates Apprentice & Teacher in Training

Aloha!  I’m Nalani (Nani) Andres, an island girl living my best life in Wisconsin with my husband Zach, and our Miniature American Shepherd pup, Rooney.  I grew up in Hawaii on the island of Oahu with my three siblings. There we enjoyed the sunshine and spending our Christmases on the beach. After graduating high school I attended Michigan Technological University to study Mechanical Engineering, and in the program I met my husband Zach. Degrees in hand, we began our search for careers in the field. We both ended up landing jobs in the greater Fox Valley region where Zach grew up.

From left to right: older sister Kaili (Kai), younger sister Hokulea (Hoku), Me, and my younger brother Toshi

Three years into my job as an engineer, I realized I needed a stress reliever.  I played sports throughout my entire childhood, and missed experiencing movement on a daily basis.  I googled, “Pilates near me,” and got connected with Courtney.  I started taking One-on-one Sessions and group classes with Courtney when Waveforms was still based in her home, and had an instant connection to the Pilates Method.  Pilates provided me the perfect combination of a mental stress relief and a physical challenge.  

With Husband Zach and Pup Rooney

I realized my career and degree wasn’t giving me the fulfillment I wanted, so I decided to take a step back and figure out what was next for me. After many conversations with my husband, family, and support system, I realized that all my life I wanted a job that helped people live better lives. I realized that Pilates was that thing for me.  So, I decided to turn my hobby into my career!  With Courtney’s encouragement and support to help me along with my teacher training, I realized this was the perfect opportunity.  I started the Balanced Body Teacher Training Program in the summer of 2019 with the Movement Principles Course, Anatomy in 3D, and the Pilates Mat Courses, and I’m working toward completing my certification to become a Comprehensively Trained Pilates Teacher (Mat, Reformer, and all other Apparatuses). 

Here are 10 things you may not know about me:

  1. I’m half Japanese, half Caucasian, and I’m very interested in different cultures and languages.
  2. I fancy ice cream, but I’m lactose intolerant. 
  3. I love Marvel and Transformers.
  4. I enjoy challenging myself both physically and mentally.
  5. I did jazz and ballet in high school, and danced hula since first grade. 
  6. I’ve dabbled in gymnastics, and tried a ton of sports. 
  7. Softball was my main sport, and I played pitcher.
  8. I memorized 30+ digits of Pi to get extra credit in sixth grade, and I still can’t forget it. 
  9. I like strategy games, puzzles, and legos. 
  10. I enjoy reading books in series.

Having a background in sports growing up and knowledge of mechanical engineering has allowed me to understand and teach Pilates in a unique way.  I view movement from both a biomechanical standpoint and a movement standpoint.  I’m excited to be a part of the Waveforms Pilates team, and I look forward to serving you and helping you become the healthiest version of yourself!  Mahalo!

-Nani Andres
Working out on the Pilates Reformer with studio owner and mentor Courtney Holcomb

Dance Bright Workshop Series

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Category : dance , exercises , mind-body , movement , Pilates , Pilates , resistance training

By: Courtney Holcomb

Over the years I have worked with hundreds of dancers on both technique, choreography, and conditioning. I’ve said a lot of the same corrections over the years, seen a lot of the same injuries, and witnessed the gap in traditional dance training to teach the HOW TO of many corrections. The purpose of a dance class is to keep the class moving, which means there is not always time for teachers to break down body mechanics and explain the corrections they may be giving. That is why I’ve designed the Dance Bright Workshop Series.

Dance Bright is a workshop series that focuses on movement education and intelligent strength and conditioning specifically for dancers. The purpose of Dance Bright is to help dancers improve their body awareness, better understand their anatomy and alignment, and learn about proper muscle recruitment and release techniques.  These workshops dig deeper into specific concepts and corrections that come up often in dance classes, but that a dance class setting doesn’t always have time to fully explain or explore.  Dance Bright will help close the gap between what dancers are told they should be doing, and how they can do it.

Workshops combine an element of lecture, movement exploration, strengthening, and stretching. 

The series is designed for dancers ages 12-adult.

Join us for our first workshop in the Dance Bright series, “Understanding our Hips and Core”, Wednesday, August 21st, 1:15-3:30 PM, located at Waveforms Pilates, 210 S. Commercial Street, Neenah, WI.

This workshop explores pelvic placement/alignment, proper core function and use, strengthening strategies for our hip stabilizers, as well as release techniques for tightness in the hip area. Through a combination of lecture, movement exploration, strengthening, and stretching, students will leave with an understanding of how to align and stabilize their hips to support the dynamic movements required while dancing.

Cost of workshop is $59 and includes a pinky ball and Franklin air ball for dancers to take home with them to incorporate the exercises and stretching strategies they learn at the workshop.

The Dance Bright Workshop Series was designed by Courtney Anne Holcomb.  She is a professional dancer, choreographer, PMA®-Certified Pilates Trainer, and owner of Waveforms Pilates in Neenah, WI.  She received a BA in Dance, and brings over 15 years of dance and fitness instruction, 9+ years of Pilates training, and professional performance credentials.  She’s worked with dancers ages 2.5-adult to help improve their technique, alignment, confidence, and expression through movement.

To join our specific mailing list for Dance Bright follow this link.

Specialty Monthly Offerings at Waveforms Pilates

Category : fitness , mind-body , movement , Pilates , workout

Did you know that besides offering customized one-on-one training and small group mat classes we have other monthly offerings?  We wanted to share more with you about what each our our specialty classes are about, and some other ways you can train at Waveforms Pilates.

Formerly known as our Cardio-Infused Pilates Mat class, join us monthly for Amped Up! Pilates Mat:

This high-energy class is rooted in the Pilates mat work, but moves through the repertoire at a faster-pace designed to elevate the heart rate and increase cardiovascular health.  By working through a high number of repetitions of each exercise, the yield is an increase in overall muscle strength and endurance.  Cardio-bursts are added in throughout along with H.I.I.T. style circuits and lively music to keep you focused and energized.  All movements are low-to-no impact and variations are offered throughout the class to accommodate all levels.  This class occurs on the second Tuesday of each month at 7:00 PM.  Get ready to sweat, connect, and get Amped Up!

Our second monthly offering is our Unwind Series:

The Unwind Series is designed to combat chronic tension in the body through spiraling, twisting, and rolling while executing dynamic and active stretches often found within the Pilates repertoire.  Occurring once a month, each class has a different focus and uses various small equipment or props to help guide the body into more awareness and relaxation. There are six workshops in the series: Unwinding Mat, Invigorate Your Breath, Free Your Hips, Unlock Your Shoulders, Supple Spines, and Unroll Your Legs.  Join a class, and go from bound to unwound.

Share Pilates with a friend with Duet Sessions

Want to share a Pilates session with a friend or loved one?  Waveforms offers duet sessions on the Pilates equipment.  The Pilates equipment provides additional resistance and support to help elevate your practice.  Duet sessions are a great way to get in an extra session during the week, or to supplement your mat class training.  Duet sessions are 55-minutes in length, and have a rate of $46 per person.

Reach out to us via phone (612)219-6255 or e-mail info@waveformspilates.com to sign-up for one of our specialty offerings. Questions? Reach out as well!

Pilates offers Freedom, So Let’s Get Moving! “What Pilates Is and Why I Teach It”

Category : business , entrepreneurship , mind-body , movement , Pilates

By: Courtney Holcomb, PMA-CPT, Owner Waveforms Pilates

What Pilates Is

Pilates helps to close the gap between your physical moving body, and what your mind believes is your movement potential.  My role as a Pilates instructor is to assist in building confidence in your movement potential. 

What Pilates Is Not

When I first tell people I teach Pilates, I often get the response: “Oh, I can’t do Pilates, it’s too hard!”  Though there are many advanced movements in the Pilates repertoire that is just a small limb of the work. That is not the essence of the work.  Pilates has the unique ability to meet any body where it is at, and propel it forward to its potential.  I don’t practice or teach Pilates to be able to master a pose, to develop super strong muscles that can make shapes, or to perform high-performance elitist tasks.  It’s not about poses, or positions, it’s about movement.  I do Pilates so that I can move, so that I can be capable of moving, and so that I have more pain-free options throughout the day.  It’s all about movement potential, not about building rigid shapes, forms, bound muscle, or tense bodies.  Movement and Pilates gives me freedom to do whatever I might have to do during the day, and to experience my body in the world with the physical experience I was designed to have and enjoy.

Why I Like and Teach Pilates

If you are wondering why I like Pilates, it’s because it’s a tool that helps me move and experience freedom in my body.  That is the type of message that I like to send with the way that I teach my students.  That is the way that I want my students to feel when they leave the studio space.  That they are more capable of moving in their bodies, and that they experience and feel more freedom in their bodies.  I want to help them feel more capable and build self-confidence in their movement than when they first stepped foot in the door.  I want them to find a sense of liberation from any of the list of conditions or symptoms they may feel they are experiencing that they believe limit their ability to move freely.  They are not an accumulation of all of “those things”, but a wonderful, capable, and free body, with great movement potential.

As a Pilates instructor, I will help you build confidence in areas you don’t believe you are capable, to offer the options that you may not have thought were available, to help your mind and body work to free you of any restrictive “labels”, and to help you feel at ease in both mind and body.

For me, being a Pilates instructor helps me offers freedom.

So, let’s get moving!

From dancer, to Pilates student, to Pilates instructor, and beyond…
It’s all about MOVEMENT.

“Understanding Our Hips and Core For Dancers”, 2-day workshop

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Category : dance , mind-body , movement , Pilates

Courtney led a two-day workshop titled “Understanding Our Hips and Core For Dancers”, to the Conservatory dancers at Celebrate Dance Academy, in Arden Hills, MN. The purpose of the workshop was to help their students figure out their pelvis placement to support the dynamic movement required while dancing. They were taught about proper core function and use, as well as release techniques for any tightness in the hip area.

Did you know that Waveforms will design specific workshops for special populations? Dance is definitely a specialty, but we also have provided workshops for: athletes, vocalists, musical theater students, creative movements for pre-K, pre-natal, post-natal, business professionals/offices, active-aging adults, etc.

Reach out if you have a group you’d like us to serve. Workshops are a great way to get specific cues, tips, and conditioning to help work towards your goals, and help with building a deeper understanding of our ever-changing bodies.

“12 Days of Pilates Transformation Challenge” – January 2019

Category : community event , fitness , Pilates , workout

By: Courtney Holcomb, Waveforms Pilates

As we ring in the New Year at Waveforms Pilates, we want to challenge you to bring on some transformation!  We believe in the power of Pilates to transform people, mind, body, and spirit.  Which is why we would like to challenge you to “12 Days of Pilates”.  We are asking you to commit to do twelve, 55-minute sessions of Pilates during the month of January. 

Why Twelve? When people begin their Pilates journey, the first question I often get asked is “How often should practice Pilates? How many times a week should I come to feel the benefits?”.  When Joseph Pilates created the Pilates Method, he designed it to be a daily practice.  Though this may not be practical in our busy schedules, with a commitment to frequency and consistency, the benefits can be seen and felt that much sooner.  My short answer to this question is typically, 1x/week yields injury prevention, 2x/week serves for strength building, and 3x/week brings transformation.  This is why we are challenging you, for the month of January to “12 Days of Pilates”. What would it feel like to do Pilates 3x/week?  We want you to feel what it’s like to truly experience the transformative benefits of the Pilates Method.

How do you participate?  First, message us to let us know you are joining us for the challenge! Then begin by downloading our challenge form to log your sessions.  There are many ways to get in your twelve Pilates sessions, group classes, one-on-one sessions, and from home. We have some suggestions for you here.

We will launch our “12 Days of Pilates Challenge” on New Years Day with a LIVE Pilates Mat Class, at 10:00 AM, CST, with a Facebook Live video class on Waveforms Pilates Facebook Page.  If you don’t currently follow us on Facebook, please do, and join in January 1st, 10:00-10:55 AM, from the comfort of your own home for your first mat class of the year!  All levels are welcome, so have your mat set up and join in!  

Are you ready for the challenge? Bring on the transformation. Message us to schedule a session, sign-up for a class, or do a little bit of it all!

(920)740-3085,
waveforms@yandex.com

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