Do you use exercise as punishment? Have you been wanting to change your relationship with exercise and movement into something more positive and fulfilling? Can you allow yourself to be a beginner again? In this podcast episode, Dr. Cristina Castagnini speaks about Pilates and transforming your life with Leslie Logan.

MEET LESLIE LOGAN

Lesley Logan is the founder of OnlinePilatesClasses.com, the largest catalog of free Pilates video tutorials, and the only on-demand platform that helps Pilates lovers of all levels have accountability and community. Lesley has been teaching since 2008 and was trained by one of Joseph Pilates clients making her a 2nd generation instructor. She has trained hundreds of teachers and taught thousands of people around the world. She helps women ditch perfection, take messy action, and prioritize themselves first so they can do life better.

Visit Leslie's Website, check out Online Pilates Classes and connect on Facebook and Instagram.

FREEBIE: Free full body 15 minute-workout

IN THIS PODCAST

  • Do you punish yourself?
  • Remember, size does not equal health 
  • Movement is for holistic health 
  • Movement in every size 
  • Be a beginner again

Do you punish yourself? 

Your body does the best that it can do with what you give it, and with what it has been programmed to do to survive.  Your body doesn't understand - or want - dieting, and it doesn’t understand being forced to exercise excessively. It tries to hold you together and it does the best that it can with what you give it, so don’t punish it for something that it simply is not able to do.  Leslie helps people reconnect with their bodies so that they work together instead of against one another, and so that people can learn to treat their bodies with love and respect instead of punishment or blame. 
It’s been so cool to help people get to know their body versus trying to punish their body for something that it didn’t do wrong. (Leslie Logan)

Remember, size does not equal health 

It cannot be stated enough; size or shape does not equate to health. A certain body type is not automatically healthier or better than another if it is smaller or thinner, that is simply not true. 
I, when I was at my thinnest, was the most unhealthy. I had doctors doing my bloodwork who were very nervous [about] my health. (Leslie Logan)
You cannot tell whether or not someone is healthy only by looking at them. 

Movement is for holistic health 

Movement, exercise, or whatever you would prefer to call it should not be used as punishment. Movement and exercise offer you ways to: 
  • Connect with your body 
  • Feel your body 
  • Live a long life 
  • Appreciate your hobbies, skills, and passions 
To limit the whole world of movement simply to punish yourself is to alienate and diminish an entire aspect of being alive, and being a person, because as physical people movement is an integral part of our lives. 
So often there is this promotion of weight loss or of a certain body type as the goal for doing that exercise and what I love about you is … that’s not the reason why you work with people, or the reason why you encourage people to do pilates. As you said, it’s [more] about the mind-body connection, for optimal health, for longevity, and the people that [are] working with you are all in different shapes and sizes. (Dr. Castagnini) 

Movement in every size 

Leslie is passionate about creating a pilates space where all the instructors have differently shaped bodies, whether they’re smaller, bigger, taller, or shorter, and it’s not just about size inclusion but about understanding the exercises themselves.  Having a very tall person do a pilates routine will look different to a shorter person doing the same routine, just simply due to the fact that their legs or arms are longer, for example.  Showing this diversity not only makes people feel more comfortable trying something new because they see someone who looks like them doing it, but it reminds them that exercise looks different for every type of body. 
I’m not built to teach every body because the way … I feel something in my body is going to be different because I don’t have the same body experience that someone who’s 5ft.2 has! … It’s important for those teachers to have a space on my platform so that they can say something, maybe even the same way I say it, but because someone can look at them doing it and it looks like them, it can resonate better. So to me, it allows every body to have a better experience. (Leslie Logan) 

Be a beginner again 

As adults, we are expected to already know everything and be competent in everything that we do, so much so that people forget that at some point everyone was once a beginner themselves.  If you want to try something new but you’re afraid to try it mostly because you’ll be a beginner - guess what? The only way to get past it is to just do it!  Find a beginner's class, and go from there. Even if you’re a mom, you need to make time, because it only brings benefits to you - and therefore to your kids too. 
There are so many different ways to think about it [because] we have to stop with the thing of moms coming last, because it’s not helping anyone. (Leslie Logan) 

USEFUL LINKS

MEET DR. CRISTINA CASTAGNINI

I am a licensed Psychologist and Certified Eating Disorder Specialist. While I may have over 20 years of clinical experience, what I also have is the experience of having been a patient who had an eating disorder as well. One thing that I never had during all of my treatment was someone who could look me in the eye and honestly say to me "Hey, I've been there. I understand". Going through treatment for an eating disorder is one of the hardest and scariest things to do. I remember being asked to do things that scared me. Things I now know ultimately helped me to get better. But, at the time, I had serious doubts and fears about it. If even one of my providers had been able to tell me "I know it's scary, but I had to go through that part too. Here's what will probably happen...." then perhaps I would not have gone in and out of treatment so many times. My own experience ultimately led me to specialize in treating eating disorders. I wanted to be the therapist I never had; the one who "got it". I will be giving you my perspective and information as an expert and clinician who has been treating patients for over 2 decades. But don't just take my word for it...keep listening to hear the truly informative insights and knowledge guest experts have to share. I am so happy you are here!

THANKS FOR LISTENING

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