New Year, New Goals! 🎉

Bi-weekly tips, habits, and practice guide for building a better back—improving poor posture that is making you look (& feel) old.

Happy New Year, Friends!

I hope you're stepping into this new year with a sense of renewal, expectation, and gratitude. This newsletter is for anyone who loves Pilates—including those scrappy exercisers curious about how to keep a youthful, pain-free, strong back and powerful inner core.

The calendar has flipped, and it's the perfect time to dive deep into learning Pilates. Whether you want to improve, maintain, or regain a healthy back and hips, reduce aches and pains, or build a stronger core so you can stay mobile and independent for decades to come—this is your moment.

Here's the truth: the quality of your 70’s and 80’s depends on what you do now. Short, simple practices done regularly at home pay off with BIG dividends in the long run.

But First: What IS Your Core?

There are hundreds of definitions, ideas, and visions of what the core means. Most people think of those coveted six-pack abs, right? Who doesn't want visible abs? But your core is so much more than that superficial layer.

Here's my simple answer: your core is everything except your arms and legs.

Think of your core as a cylinder—your entire torso, including your neck and head. At the base of that cylinder are your pelvis, hips, and glutes. At the top is your rib cage and diaphragm. Understanding this full cylinder is key to aging well with a strong, supportive spine.

The Deepest Layer: Your Inner Corset

Those six-pack abs (rectus abdominis) are the shallowest layer. We want to go deeper—to your transverse abdominis (TVA), which wraps around your waist like a corset. This is the muscle that stabilizes your spine every time you move.

When we move in Pilates, we follow a simple process: Find it. Feel it. Move it. Or as I also say: Stabilize. Activate. Execute.

Our goal is to take care of your back and posture with laser-focused, stabilized core movement—so you can age with a strong, healthy spine and sincerely upright posture.

Reframe How You Think About Core Strength

When learning a new skill like Pilates, one of the first things we need to shift is our mindset about what a "strong core" really means.

It's time to move away from a purely vanity perspective (six-pack abs) toward a more functional, health-conscious approach to aging with the healthiest spine possible.

Here's why: As we get older, our priorities naturally change. It becomes less about how we look and more about how we feel and what we can do. Can we lift our grandkids? Can we travel without back pain? Can we garden, hike, or play without fear of injury?

As we age, we need to work smarter, not harder. Taking care of our bodies means understanding the proper concepts and teaching our bodies the right patterns—which makes everything easier.

Shifting your mindset takes time and practice. But once you understand how your core truly works, you'll move with more confidence, less pain, and greater ease.

Find Your Deepest Abdominal Muscle

Here's the first thing I want you to work on: finding your TVA—that deep inner corset we talked about.

Here's a tip: Teach this to someone you love—a friend, roommate, or partner. When you can teach it, you'll connect to it faster in your own body. We want to be quick learners in this process!

Find it. Feel it. Connect to it.

This deepest abdominal muscle wraps around your waist like a belt. When you draw it in, you:

👉 Watch this 2-minute video to get started.

Your Two Homework Assignments

In this section, I'll share resources to improve your at-home practice—whether that's a prop (like a mat, ball, or blocks), a private podcast, a Spotify playlist, a tracking PDF, or even a healthy recipe. We'll mix it up and keep it fresh!

But this week, I have two assignments for you:

1. Get a mat.

If you don't have one, run to the store or order one online. Your mat is your dedicated space for movement, self-care, and renewal.

2. Find your mat spot.

I know it can be hard to carve out space—especially with kids, dogs, or busy schedules. But rearrange what you need to. Put the dogs in the backyard. Ask the kids to give you 20 minutes. This is YOUR time.

One of the best habits you can build this year is using your mat as a sacred space for "me time"—personal rejuvenation, body care, and strength building.

Need help finding the right mat or setting up your space? Reply to this email—I'm here to help!

One of my favorite Joseph Pilates quotes:

"If at 30 you have a stiff and inflexible spine, you are old. If at 60 you have a strong and flexible spine, you are young."

Your spine is the key to how young you feel—and how well you age. Let's keep yours strong and flexible together.

Cheers to some mat time in the new year!

Keep moving,

gianna