Pilates Teacher Training in Singapore Part 5: Certification & Next Steps 启程
This is just the beginning
This is Part 5 of a five part series on Pilates Teacher Training in Singapore (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5)
It was a year long battle, but I finally obtained my Pilates Matwork Teacher certification! Being a goal-oriented finance person, I did a post-mortem to check whether I met all my project deliverables and ROI
How did I do?
I met or exceeded the Programme requirements within the stipulated time frame of 1 year
However, I spent double the amount of both in terms of money and time to obtain the Certification
What could I have done better?
I would have paced myself better, and not overestimated my physical ability as well as mental capacity for absorbing something completely new to me a.k.a. movement. I would also have left more buffer for things that happen a.k.a. life e.g. having to take care of a sick parent. In retrospect, getting injured was part of the process of learning about my body and my limits. I was predictably very good at theory and very bad at practical (teaching) so I submitted my 25th instead of my 15th classroom teaching video. I’d wasted a lot off time on unstructured self-practice which I had to make up for in a mad rush in the three months leading to my exam. Private lessons helped me deepen my understanding of The Work and myself. I am grateful that I was gainfully employed during the entire duration of my training, which meant I had a huge time management battle, but at least I could pay for the cost and time over runs.
Where do we go from here?
I now move better and am stronger than before. The Certification process built me a solid pilates foundation for daily living - to take care of myself, my parents and my nephew and niece and move with friends. Having lived in my brain (mind) for the first part of my life, the certification also unlocked the other 50% of myself (body), which I've never kept before tapped .
Teaching was an unexpected force multiplier. It opened up my golden mouth (cueing my students) and moved my pen again (this substack). I never knew I could be so verbose, having being morose for most of my life. Being a teacher compelled me to express myself to others with precision and clarity and forced me to adapt myself to suit others, where before it was always about other people adapting to me. I really reaped a huge reward.
Will I teach? Yes, at least my existing students, who are a bunch of busy stay home mums that I would like to help keep fit for themselves and their families. And for self-improvement: the more I teach the more I learn.
Will I do this as a career? Not at the moment, it’s just to recover cost of training. I’m ambivalent about it becoming a replacement income stream because frankly it will not be enough if I’m just a self-employed pilates teacher. What I do enjoy is the variety it adds to my life; I wouldn’t have to always sit in front of the desk by my lonesome self, but I will get to talk to a lot of people and move about (which I enjoy - up to a point)
Further down the road, I would like to do a Comprehensive Teacher Training in Classical Pilates at some point, but that will be another year long, and maybe even year and a half commitment. I would also like to gain experience in teaching different students, larger group sizes and one on one personal training
Special Thanks
My formal mentor K and informal mentor P and all the educators at my academy. Their generosity, passion for education and care for their clients inspire me
My friends B and L who were my first students and I worry I may have turned off Pilates for life because I was such a novice. The Amazing G for harnessing a formidable network so I could teach my first group class; all my students who took a chance on me
My classmates for their support, advice and encouragement through the rollercoaster of a ride
Would I do it again? Definitely. I regret nothing. Non, je ne regrette rien