We were lucky to catch up with Carissa Floyd recently and have shared our conversation below.
Carissa , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I am the last person I expected to be in the movement industry. I didn’t grow up playing sports, aspiring to be an athlete, or even with a good sense of coordination. I was clumsy, felt disconnected from my body, and due to chronic issues associated with a rare genetic disorder (Eherls-Danlos Syndrome), I often had pain or a joint dislocated from simple, everyday tasks.
Fast forward to college, and I was watching a dancing completion show on TV. I don’t cry at most movies or shows, but would be moved to tears watching how connected these dancers were with their bodies, how strong they were, how fully they could express themselves. And there was a small video clip in the show of a dancer, on a Pilates Reformer. I had no idea what she was on, but assumed it helped her in her practice. Moments later I’m on google searching “machine with springs for dancers”. The word Pilates was not something I knew, and it certainly wasn’t something I had access to. I found a “cheap”, but very pricey to me, reformer online that used bungees instead of springs and waited for it to arrive, hoping it would morph me into a dancer who could move fearlessly.
My reformer arrived and I quickly realized I needed help. I started watching videos online and following along. I didn’t become a dancer, or eliminate all of my pain. But something magical did happen. I moved my body for the first time, feeling my muscles, and not feeling any pain in my joints! It was this lightbulb moment for me, realizing that I was capable of changing how I felt in my body and that maybe, while not a professional dancer, I could move with more connection and less pain that I had previously thought possible.
It wasn’t long and I joined a local Pilates studio. I was gifted a one month membership for my birthday and I went almost every day. The amount of information I learned about my body, the strength I felt, and the autonomy I felt over how my could feel was truly life changing for me. I signed up for the teacher training courses, with no intention of teaching and every intention of learning how to care for my body better. I became so excited about what I was learning that I sharing my practice with friends, family, and eventually other pilates students happened naturally.
11+ years later I’m still teaching, and the proud owner Pilates Haus in New Braunfels, TX.
Pilates Haus seeks to offer a safe and inclusive space for all bodies to work towards connection. It truly is the space that I never had growing up. I had to work to create an environment, seek out mentors, and find support that honored my vastly changing health needs. I know first hand the struggles of chronic health issues and how much work it takes to find movement support that honors the nuances of what our bodies need.. Some days we can push ourselves, some days our energy levels are severely lacking, some days we need to move gently and some days we need to feel strong.
Most of my students come to me with chronic health issues, autoimmune disorders, post-rehab, and now even with EDS. Being able to truly meet students where they are at each and every session is heartwarming. Our sessions are all private, which means every student gets a customized session and never feels lost in the crowd of class, left to wonder if they are doing something right or if they will feel hurt by them tomorrow. This format of teaching alows us to truly partner together, as opposed to a student being along for a pre-determined plan. I have seen so many people over the years find confidence in movement, learn skills to care for their body for the long term outside of the studio, gain strength, and learn ways to work with their ailments instead of feeling at war with them.
Pilates Haus is not the trendiest studio out there. It is a home for those that have struggled to feel at home in their bodies. I am so grateful everyday for the work that I am able to do, the support I can offer that took me years to find for myself, and the good good care that people learn to give their bodies as a result.
If you’re looking for individual sessions that honor you’re self, in person or virtually, please go to [email protected] to learn more, and book a complimentary virtual meet and great!
Wherever you land on your movement journey, I truly hope it brings you one step closer to find home within yourself.
Other than training/knowledge, what do you think is most helpful for succeeding in your field?
How to talk to other people kindly, clearly, and as an empathetic witness is the biggest skill I’ve developed over the years. My own life experiences,marriage, parenthood, and health struggles of all added to my communication toolbox. The longer I teach the less I recite an imaginary manual and the more I speak to the experience of doing Pilates. My time with my students sounds a lot more like an encouraging conversation and a lot less like someone listing off breath and movement patterns. Learning to see others perspective, truly listen, and validate their own lived experience is an invaluable tool for anyone who spends time communicating with other people.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
Perfection. As a very type 1 oriented individual, I have tendencies to gravitate towards order, control and perfection. Pilates can have a lot of precision. In Pilates training I felt I needed to move perfectly and precisely for many reasons. Firstly, so that I would not injure myself. Secondly, to be doing any of the moves “correctly”. I was also taught to micromanage students in the same way. I’m not stranger to being hard on myself, but telling other people what to do with their body as if I was the expert and they had no idea, down to moving their feet over 1 cm to be in “alignment” never sat well with me.
I’ll never forget being in a training and doing a moving that focused on rotation. I was really struggling with it. At one point I had 3 instructors manhandling my body to “help me” find the “correct” position. While one person was poking my ribs, one person holding my legs, and another moving her hands around my ribs to help me feel the rotation, one of them shouted “That’s it! That’s pure rotation”. And I remember thinking this can’t possibly be what any of this is about. I learned nothing about my body, I felt completely defeated, I didn’t learn how to find a new skill or connection on my own. I learned that I was seemingly incapable of this very subjective “pure rotation” and that I needed 3 people to move my body for more if I were every to achieve it. I was completely overstimulated and just wanted to get out of there. But it was also in that moment that I realized this is often the experience many students find themselves in. They are shown, whether intentional or not, that they are wrong, that their body can’t do something, that how their intuition is wrong, and that the only way to do it perfectly and therefore correct is with help from someone above them.
That moment changed me as a teacher forever as it became crystal clear to me what I stand for, how I want to support others in their movement journey, and how I am absolutely not okay showing up as an instructor. It also showed me where that perfectionism leads in my own practice. It didn’t lead to more movement or connection, It lead to freezing and fear and shutting down. Being kinder to myself is always a journey, but I know now the importance of kind care to myself, and what offering that experience unlocks, more movement, more learning to trust my intuition, more connection and less fear.
Contact Info:
- Website: Www.wearepilateshaus.com
- Instagram: @wearepilateshaus
- Facebook: @wearepilateshaus
- Other: Email: [email protected]
Image Credits
Hunter Floyd Films