Relationships take work. Including the relationship between me and my wellness. Like a long marriage, it’s important to take stock and renew my vows from time to time. When my library books are about to expire, they kindly send me a note, but when it comes to my personal fitness, I’m the one who has to make the effort.

My goals have evolved over time, so updating my commitment on a regular basis is key to keeping the most current iterations of my objectives at the fore. At 50, strength training is at the top of my list, and how I feel is a lot more important to me these days than how I look. Although my recent trek was challenging in a lot of ways, I felt proud that all the work I did beforehand to build strong legs and mobile hips, knees and ankles was worth it. The altitude may have slowed me down, but my glutes kept on going!

In the words of Joseph Pilates, “Physical fitness can neither be achieved by wishful thinking, nor outright purchase.” Basically, we need to do the work, a minimum of twice a week to see progress and results. Many of you reading this post are already camped out at the studio, but if you’re feeling like you want to re-up your goals, let this be food for thought.

Retrofit celebrates 23 wonderful years of Pilates this month. It’s a great opportunity for all of us to renew our connection to the method we love, and the studio that we call home. What do you want to get out of the next year? What commitments are you making to yourself? How would you like your practice to evolve? For me, I want to make sure I’m tackling some of the more difficult exercises in the repertoire, even the ones that scare me, and I want to make sure I carve out time for my personal practice, even after a long day of teaching. I’m also going to attempt the 30-Day Challenge this month–will you join me?

Pam Ferguson
Retrofit Master Instructor
Lead Instructor/Operations Associate