The Face of Pilates for About.com Shares her Story
With online media going mainstream and Pilates one of the top searched words in the fitness category on the internet, YesPilates.com was curious to speak with the person in charge of running the top online internet Pilates resource, pilates.about.com.
Marguerite Ogle tells YesPilates.com how she landed one of the most sought after jobs in the Pilates industry.
YP Marguerite, About.com ranks within the top 100 websites in the world, with yahoo, google, and youtube.com usually the top three. How did you get connected with About.com to be the face of Pilates for them? Please tell us how it came to be?
MO A friend of mine found out that About.com was looking for someone to do a Pilates site. Knowing that I had a background in Pilates, web design, and marketing he called me and suggested I apply. After sending in my resume and credentials, I was invited to take part in a three week competition with other people who wanted to do the site. Luckily, they liked my work and I got the job.
YP When you were offered the opportunity, did you feel scared? Excited? Did this seem like a big deal for you or just a natural fit? Why did you think you were a good fit?
MO I was a little scared and very excited, but beneath those feelings, I was calm because I knew it was a natural fit. I had the passion for Pilates. I had experience with communicating on the web, and I had already done a lot of writing about health and wellness. I was so full of ideas that I was mostly just ready to get going. I love being paid to explore and share Pilates.
YP What is your most favorite and least favorite part about being a public face for About.com?
MO About.com is great web resource. Since the New York Times bought it a few years ago, the quality of the sites and information to be found there has soared. I really do take pride in part of a very professional group.
I also enjoy the part of my work that connects me to other Pilates enthusiasts. Even though my site is information intensive, it’s not impersonal. Readers know that I am a real person. I get emails, people comment on my blogs, and I have an active forum where many of us exchange questions and ideas. Connecting with readers inspires me to do my best, and directs my work because I know what people are interested in.
style=”text-align: justify;”>My least favorite part is the also “public face” part. Sometimes I feel a little over-exposed when by nature I am a quiet, private person.
YP You have been involved with Pilates, dance, yoga, and more…how much time do you spend doing Pilates for yourself?
MO Oh boy. You got me there. Sometimes I find that I’m doing a lot more writing about Pilates than practicing it. But my body loves to do Pilates. If I don’t do it regularly, I don’t feel good. I review Pilates products like DVDs and equipment, so even if I don’t get to workout at the studio, I have lots of options at home. Right now I take equipment class at least once a week and workout at home, mat or equipment, twice more. That’s my minimum and I try not to let it slide.
YP Some people say they find Pilates purely physical, while others find spirituality in Pilates. With your passion for natural healing and Buddhism, do you connect the two with Pilates?
MO Yes, I do. We could do this whole interview about that, but I’ll be brief because when it comes to Pilates, the spiritual connection is a very personal choice. It’s rarely overtly addressed in the way that one finds in yoga, for example.
My life is a spiritual journey and my Pilates practice is part of it. Joseph Pilates saw Pilates (contrology) as a means of integrating body, mind, and spirit. I agree with him and work with it that way. For me, Pilates is uplifting. It connects my mind and body, it expands my awareness, and it increases a sense of wholeness. Just to be clear, I’m not talking about religion. I’m talking about presence. It’s really personal.
YP What is your take on the whole East Coast Pilates, West Coast Pilates, authentic Pilates, and modern Pilates thing? Where would you place yourself within this?
MO The hard part about this question is: Where do you draw the line? When is a method or style so changed from the original that it’s not Pilates anymore? Those questions are often on my mind as I develop pilates.about.com. I don’t have a solid answer, but I find that just holding the question sheds light on decisions I make about what I present and how.
I am very respectful of the classical heritage of Pilates. There is a large group of Pilates folks who have devoted themselves to preserving Joseph Pilates work and I think that is extremely important. We need to know where we came from. Especially now, when things are growing so fast and some of the offshoots of Pilates are so wild, we need a root. Whether that gets called East Coast, New York Style, Authentic or whatever is beyond me. I like classical.
I see myself as being somewhat more on the contemporary or modern side of things. I’m very interested in exercise science and I can’t overlook some of the contributions from that quarter. Neutral spine, modifications, new equipment, adjusting the order of the exercises – all are aspects of contemporary Pilates training that make it work for me. I also think that the spirit of innovation is very authentic to Joseph Pilates’ legacy. As for what I present on pilates.about.com, contemporary Pilates influences the exercise instructions I write, but I happily report on both styles.
YP Where did you do your Pilates training? Do you have any mentors in the industry?
MO I came to Pilates in 1990 with a dance and movement arts background. I was also already a certified movement therapist and I had studied experiential anatomy with some of the leaders in the field, like Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen and Irene Dowd. Those experiences remain hugely influential in my approach to my Pilates practice and teaching. They taught me how to go deeply into my own body for answers and how to “see into” movement in a way that I wouldn’t have had my training been purely academic.
I did the bulk of my early Pilates training through the PhysicalMind Institute, when it was based in Santa Fe, NM. There, I was fortunate enough to train mostly with Raymond Kurshals, someone I consider a master teacher. Ray is now an Olympic trainer and the owner of Pilates Santa Fe. He continues to be a friend and mentor. My early certifications, like my first mat certification, were from PhysicalMind programs in California.
I’ve been very eclectic through the years. I experiment with different approaches and integrate them into a practice that works for me. For example, one of the important pieces I picked up along the way was when I briefly studied Fletcher Work at Kyria Sabin’s Body Works Studio in Tucson. That experience taught me a lot about the importance of working with the breath in Pilates
I‘ve also spent many years living in places where I was the only Pilates practitioner/teacher. So I’ve done some intensive time in self-teaching mode. I had a portable reformer, and some videos from Physicalmind and Stott Pilates that I used a lot. (I think those old videos from Stott Pilates account for my meticulous style of writing exercise instructions today.) I’m glad I had that long period of being on my own because it prepared me to identify with my readers now – all of whom are on my site because they have the gumption to learn things for themselves.
For the past few years I have been at Kolesar Studios in Colorado. Owner, Lara Kolesar, and instructor, Susie Donaldson, have been significant influences during this time.
YP What do you find most challenging in the Pilates industry? Where do you see the opportunities?
MO I think my challenge with Pilates is the same as that of a lot of people. Right now anybody can call anything Pilates, and they do. It’s a hot marketing term. The ones that bother me most are those that disregard the movement fundamentals of Pilates. Also, the cheap certification outfits that give people who may have had no prior experience with Pilates before they walked in the door, an instructor certificate after only a few hours study, are doing a big disservice to everyone.
As for opportunities, this is very exciting time. Pilates is one of the fastest growing fitness trends in the world. People want it. Pilates relevance as a support for all kinds of sports is bringing into mainstream fitness scenarios, its power as a rehabilitative tool is making it an accepted part of the physical and occupational therapy world, and it offers something for everyone from elite athletes to seniors. That says to me that there is going to be room for more qualified teachers and teachers of teachers, as well as room for more innovation in Pilates equipment and support materials. And, here in the 21st century, there is an explosion of media that we can take advantage of to teach and share Pilates through.
YP What questions do you receive the most?
MO I get all kinds of interesting questions, but the ones I get most are about how to lose weight and get flat abs. I consider both of those to be fabulous side effects of doing Pilates, and not the core purpose of the work. Nevertheless, Pilates does make nice looking bodies and I’m happy to help people out with any aspect of Pilates they want to explore.
Another question I get a lot is about the roll up. The roll up seems to be the first exercise that people find really frustrating as they go through the mat work. The volume of questions I had coming in from email and in my forum recently prompted me to do an in-depth set of 3 articles just about the roll up!
YP You’re the author of The Abundant Nutrition Cleanse Handbook. Do you plan on releasing any other books?
MO Yes, Absolutely. I’ve been approached by a couple of publishers, but right now I am finishing my Masters Degree in Holistic Nutrition. I can’t wait to finish that so that I can turn my attention to writing more books. The The Abundant Nutrition Cleanse Handbook is available as a PDF, downloadable online. I like that format because it is green, inexpensive, and easy to get to for lots of people. But I have some ideas that are going to make beautiful regular books. I’m also interested in other kinds of media. We have a recording studio at our house, so there’s no telling what I might branch into.
YP Wow… good answers Marguerite. Thank you for allowing us to get to know you a little better. While you seem extremely approachable, more people should find out, like us, that you really are.
Tags: marguerite ogle, pilates.about.com