The "Heart Behind Your Heart"

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

Good Morning, Friends!

Before the day gets moving, take one moment to check in with your body.

How are you standing?
How are you breathing?
How are you holding yourself?

Most of us wake up already a little tight - shoulders rounded, chest closed, neck tense, low back gripping. That’s why mornings are such a powerful time to connect and reset.

You do not need a long workout to make a difference. Sometimes one small cue is enough.

This week, think lift through your spine, open across your chest, and gently glide your shoulder blades down into place.

You are not forcing perfect posture. You are simply reminding your body of better alignment, so you can move through the day feeling stronger, taller, and more at ease.

Let’s talk shoulder blades.

In Pilates, we often call this scapular-to-rib connection, but here’s the simpler way to picture it: imagine your shoulder blades as two halves of a heart resting on your back. Now gently glide them down and slightly inward, as if they’re sliding toward your back jeans pockets. You’re not pinching or forcing, just guiding them into a more supportive position. Almost like you’re creating a “heart behind your heart.”

This simple cue connects your upper body to your core. It opens the chest, lengthens your neck, slims your waistline, and resets your posture in seconds.

Why it matters:

If your shoulders are constantly creeping up or rounding forward (hello, phone time), your entire alignment is off. Learning how to connect and glide your shoulder blades down creates lift, space, and confidence without strain.

This one cue? It’s part of the reason clients often say, “I feel taller already.”

It’s one of those subtle Pilates skills that looks simple, but once you feel it, you understand why it matters.

Before you change your posture, you have to shift your perspective.

If you’ve ever caught yourself thinking:

The truth is: You’re not old. You’re just out of alignment.

And alignment can be retrained.

That’s what this newsletter is about → real shifts, inside and out.

When you believe change is possible, your body listens. One of the things I always tell my classes and clients, “The body wants to do what the mind is thinking.”

This week, we are working on a simple posture reset you can use throughout the day: the shoulder glide.

Start standing or sitting tall. Let your spine lift naturally through the crown of your head. Take a slow inhale, and as you exhale, gently glide your shoulder blades down and into place → as if they are settling into your back pockets. Keep the movement soft. No bracing. No pinching. Just enough effort to feel support across the upper back and more openness through the chest.

Then pause and notice what changes.

Do you feel taller? Less tense through the neck? More connected through your center?

That’s the kind of awareness we want to build.

Try this a few times during the day, while standing at the kitchen counter, walking, waiting in line, or sitting at your desk. These small resets teach your body a new default.

Little by little, better alignment starts to feel more natural.

No fancy props needed this week, just a hand towel.

Roll up a small towel and place it behind your upper back while sitting in a firm chair or resting against a wall. This gives you gentle feedback and helps you feel where your upper back and shoulder blades are in space.

It is a simple way to bring more awareness to posture and make that shoulder glide easier to understand.

Sometimes the body learns best when it can feel the shape of the movement.

Follow-up from our last newsletter:

We had a lot of interest in our ’Become a Founding Member’ program. Stay-tuned for more details in the next few weeks.

I'm still looking for 10-20 founding members who are ready to commit.

As a founding member, you’ll get:

Reply to this email: “I’m in” if you’re interested in founding membership

Did you know Joseph Pilates originally called his method Contrology? The art of controlled movement.

It was never about working out harder. It was about working smarter → with full-body awareness, precision, and learning how to move with powerful intention. Good posture is part of that foundation.

When your alignment improves, everything else works better. Move smarter first. Strength follows.