This past year was an exciting one for Merrithew^®, as it marked the company’s 30th anniversary. Co-founders Lindsay and Moira Merrithew reflected on the history and journey thus far with our first blog in 2018. Throughout the year, we shared a wealth of exciting news regarding programming, events, instructors and more. Plus, we shared plenty of instructional blogs and videos to keep our community updated on practices to best serve their clients and build their careers as instructors. Here are some of our most popular blog posts from 2018!

New education, programming and events

In addition to our 30th anniversary, we announced a number of new programming offerings including the launch of our ninth STOTT PILATES Specialty Track, a new series of STOTT PILATES Foundational Movement workshops that teach movement assessment, postural default strategies and how to apply small props to improve movement quality. What’s more, we have new workshops for our STOTT PILATES^® Post Rehab program that provide the latest practices on supporting clients with Osteoporosis and Scoliosis.

Inspirational community stories

This year, we featured an array of incredible stories from our Mindful Movement community around the globe. Check out our numerous Studio and Instructor Spotlights that highlight their journeys into mindful movement, what they’ve learned throughout their journey so far and how they became successful business owners.

• Instructor Spotlight: Claudia Fink—see how she grew her successful business, a Merrithew Licensed Trainer Center, in Italy
• Instructor Spotlight: Cholthicha Srivisal—we share how she transitioned from professional dancer, to banking, to Merrithew Lead Instructor Trainer
• Studio Spotlight: Sky Pilates (Tokyo, Japan)—learn how Kanako Funabashi and Tatsuro Kannan combined their love of dancing and Pilates
• Instructor Spotlight: Daniela Gonzales Ares—read how she transitioned from training racehorses to taking over Complete Body Movement, a Merrithew Licensed Training Center in Ireland
• Instructor Spotlight: Terri Todd—see how this Certified Instructor combined Pilates with her love of giving back to the community
• Instructor Spotlight: Chandana Mannedi—learn how this doctor successfully built her studio, Flex Pilates, in Hyderabad, India, when no one in her city knew what Pilates was at the time
• Instructor Spotlight: Holly Furgason—read on to know why this Merrithew Lead Instructor Trainer always asks ‘why’
• Instructor Spotlight: Jenna Hansen—see how Pilates changed the entire course of her professional life
• Instructor Spotlight: Norm Spence—learn how knee and hip injuries led this Certified Instructor to embrace Pilates
• Instructor Spotlight: Sharon Currie—read more to learn how Pilates helped this Instructor Trainer with a debilitating spinal condition, and inspired her to open Merrithew’s Licensed Training Center in New Zealand
• Instructor Spotlight: Michaela Bimbi-Dresp—learn this Lead Instructor Trainer’s success story in opening up one of Merrithew’s first Pilates studios in Munich, Germany
• Studio Spotlight: Vivian Zapanta Pilates Studio—see how this Lead Instructor Trainer has grown over 40 years to become a leader in Pilates in Singapore

The experts share

We asked our knowledgeable Instructor Trainers to tackle some of your most pressing questions about teaching, health, equipment, techniques and much more. Some of our most popular Ask the Expert blogs included:

• Ask the Expert: How can I make sure clients have structural awareness in Total Barre^® classes?
• Ask the Expert: What are global slings and how do they relate to fascial movement?
• Ask the Expert: Protecting your body when teaching
• Ask the Expert: Heel Spurs

In addition, many of our Instructor Trainers contributed insightful content on a number of topics. Merrithew^® STOTT PILATES^® Rehab Instructor Trainer Sara Baker provided an in-depth explanation on therapeutic Pilates-based exercise progressions for hyperkyphosis; Lead Instructor Trainer Sarah Jarvis shared a video demonstration on how to build flow in a group Reformer class and Master Instructor Trainer PJ O’Clair contributed a series of videos about props for Fascial Movement—such as this video that demonstrates how to use a Twist Ball^™ for Fascial Movement.

More instructional videos

This year we wanted to include more video content that provided a wider breadth of exercises for clients of varying fitness levels in any program. Here’s a list of some of our favorite series:

• STOTT PILATES^® Rehab Series for Exercise of the Month, featuring exercises for the lower back, rotator cuffs and more
• Athletic conditioning exercises from blogs such as: Agile Body, Agile Mind: Building a Workout for Strength and Speed and Halo^® Training for Elite Athletes: Mountain Climbers with Crossover in Standard V Configuration
• A series on ZEN•GA^® for yoga practitioners, such as this video demonstrating how to perform the Camel
• A series of Total Barre^® exercises for dancers, such as this video explaining how to ensure alignment in your ribcage and pelvis

After such an exciting year, we can’t wait for you to see what 2019 has in store! If you have any inspiring stories to share or ideas for what you want to see on the blog contact us at communications@merrithew.com