Creating Presence: The Science & Practice of Facilitating Transformative Mat Classes
How do we create classes where people leave feeling not only stronger and more mobile, but also more grounded, clear, connected, and present?
This three and a half-hour experiential workshop explores the art and science of creating movement experiences that support presence, awareness, and flow—without sacrificing the physical challenge or integrity of the Pilates practice. We’ll look at emerging science and established principles related to attention, interoception, consciousness and awareness, nervous-system regulation, and flow states, and consider what these ideas can teach us about the environments we create as movement professionals.
More importantly, we’ll put the concepts into practice.
Through movement, observation, discussion, and teaching exercises, participants will explore how voice, language, breath, rhythm, repetition, challenge, sensory attention, silence, transitions, music, and the physical environment can influence the experience of a class.
We’ll practice giving enough information to guide the experience without filling every moment with instruction. When we create space for people to notice what is happening within them, the experience itself becomes part of the teacher. Our role shifts from directing every movement toward facilitating the conditions for awareness, exploration, and discovery.
We’ll explore:
- The relationship between attention, awareness, interoception, and movement
- What neuroscience and flow research can—and cannot yet—tell us about states of presence
- How nervous-system state can influence attention, learning, movement, and connection
- Creating an arc that moves from arrival and grounding into challenge, flow, and integration
- Using breath, rhythm, repetition, pacing, and sensory awareness intentionally
- The power of silence and creating space between cues
- Asking questions rather than always providing answers
- Using language that directs attention without dictating what someone should experience
- Balancing physical intensity with opportunities for internal awareness
- Helping clients recognize and trust their own experience
- Developing your own presence as a teacher and understanding how it influences the room
Participants will leave with practical techniques they can immediately weave into Mat classes – and a broader perspective on the role of the movement teacher: not simply leading people through exercises, but creating the conditions in which movement can become an experience of greater presence, awareness, and connection to self.
This session is part of the two-day Polestar International Intensive with Shelly Power and Christi Idavoy – two amazing international senior Polestar Educators.
To register for this particular session, you will need to register for both days – individual sessions are not available.
Please review our Registration Policies here before signing up.
