This week I was invited to give a presentation at the Tamanend Herb Club in Southampton PA. We made Echinacea Tinctures and Immune Boosting Pastilles (aka cookie dough balls). It was SO MUCH FUN! The club was super engaged, asked lots of great questions, really had fun getting their hands dirty (so to speak) making the tincture and sampling the pastilles. A great time was had by all. If you live up that way you should check them out!

Welcome to Pilates. I'm your instructor, Paula Billig. This is your first Pilates class? Great!

Here are some tips before you start, based on my 10 years worth of teaching new students. I teach Reformer Pilates at Wholistics in North Wales PA, but these are the kinds of things that should help newbies at most any Pilates studio.

Some people find that cute matching outfits, pants and tops and jackets and sports bras and hair ties and water bottles all coordinating, seriously motivate them. If that's you, super. You've found your muse.

Me, personally, I don't care if you work out in your pajamas. Holes, stains, mismatching socks, lack of pedicures- they don't affect your workout or me. The only thing that bothers me are stinky feet, and there's soap in the bathroom if you find yourself in an unfortunate footwear situation.

What does matter is Range of Motion. Pilates clothes should give, without being baggy- you don't want them to catch on the machine's moving parts.

You can wear tights, yoga pants, even tight shorts or tennis skorts, though be aware that rear zippers can be sharp and you may need to put something between it and the machine. 

Tops run the gamut from tight exercise tank tops to the free giveaway tee shirts everybody ends up stashing in drawers. Long sleeves, jackets and fleece tops also make seasonal appearances.

It's also worth noting that we'll do big stretches and leg circle work, so making sure you have real exercise pants, and not footless fashion tights that go transparent at full extension, is a good idea too.

No shoes here! Pilates is practiced barefoot, or in grippy socks, or in fuzzy socks with pompoms, or in fancy foot coverings with ribbons up the ankles.

You'll be doing footwork to stretch and strengthen your all of you, including the 33 odd bones and joints in the feet and ankles. Shoes are designed to immobilize (aka "support") your foot. Pilates and shoes don't play well together.

Plus, eww. Your feet will go the same places you'll sit, lean, and lie on. No bird poop or asphalt dirt or other outside bits on the Pilates machines, please.

You'll have forms to fill out. At Wholistics, I have a Pilates form for you, and the center has one that you'll need to fill out too if you didn't already. (If you signed up online you already did.)

This also gives you a chance to check out the center, find the bathroom, and observe the ease and joy with with other clients sign in and prepare for their classes! What a wonderful place you've found! Such bliss, and so accommodating and supportive!

I try to anticipate what you're experiencing so I can correct or validate what you're doing. But when something doesn't make sense, or what I've said isn't computing, pleasepleaseplease ask.

This goes for questions like, "The ill-ee-oh-what??" Or, "When do I breathe again?" But also for, "Where is the ball of my foot?" and, "Isn't this my right hand? Oh, it's not..."

There are no stupid Pilates questions. I have clients that have been doing this for years suddenly realize they just don't remember a what, where, or why. Let's clear it up right now! Plus I LOVE answering questions and getting to expound upon just about anything. Bonus points if I get to pull out my Anatomy textbook. Seriously. Ask your classmates, they'll roll their eyes. But they know where the sciatic nerve goes and what the iliopsoas is...

You're not too old. Or uncoordinated. Or inflexible. Or anything.  If you can make it up the few stairs to Wholistics' front door, you can do Pilates. (Using the ramp after class is optional!)

I say this only partially in jest. If your knees or other parts don't let you take 5-6 stairs, you may need more initial help than I can give you. Not to worry, though, Wholistics has a wonderful physical therapist who does both PT and medically-based personal training to get you ready.

Most people start Pilates with our 2-class Introductory Session package, though some prefer private sessions. The Intro sessions allow you to experience our small group or "semi-private" classes. You'll be in a real live Pilates class, and I'll make sure you don't fall off the machine or anything.

I'm kidding!

But you really will get to try 2 real classes, with all the variety and permutations that entails. (And no matter how uncoordinated or silly you feel, rest assured that no one can see you anyway since we do so much lying down.) After your first class, doing strange movements will be old hat.

Our Pilates clients run the gamut of ages (20's to 80's), activity levels (never exercised to athletes), injuries and recovery stages (just post-rehab to decades-old aches), even interest levels ("my Dr said I have to" to "I've always wanted to do this!") It's easy to fit in, since everybody is there with their own differences.

I am a connoisseur of 'hairy eyeballs'- the dirty looks people throw me when they're working reeeely hard. I love em, the hairier the better. You can yell at me, or complain, or just lay there and sweat. It's all great.

But when your back hurts, when your neck strains, when the knees aren't right, when something hurts in the wrong way, we need to stop that quickly. It's much better for you to end a few reps early, or to take a break, readjust, and return to the set properly, than it is for you to push through with bad form and bad pain.

You're in Pilates to learn, among other things, control and stability. Some days one or both stayed at home in the bathroom cabinet. There are endless modifications for everything, and you don't need to feel that by modifying an exercise you're necessarily making it easier. We'll make it easier for what isn't working right that day, but the rest of you will still work!

Pilates isn't competitive; or if it is, you're only competing with yourself. How much smaller can I make my pulses? How much more can I lengthen that leg? How much higher can I curl? How much better can I do this thing without forgetting to also do all the other things?

You'll learn precise control, amazing control, of your whole body. Everything from your golf game to lifting a basket onto the conveyor belt at the grocery store will feel different and be executed more strongly. Sitting at work becomes a practice in posture because it's more comfortable that way. Yes, your clothes will fit differently and your body shape will change with Pilates, but the inside of your body will change too and that just feels cool.

Take Pilates at your own speed. Do your moves more slowly till you learn them. Try them faster to challenge your control. Then slower again because that makes it harder. Then try them on lighter springs because that's even more difficult. I tell my students frequently, "The lighter the spring, the more the core."

So there's no prize for rushing through a sequence to just get it done. But you'll love the prize you get for working as much of you as you can, as best you can, on every repetition. Until you experience it for yourself, just take my word for it. Or don't, and ask your classmates! Drop a little question like "So what do you think Pilates is doing for you?" into a quiet moment and see what you get. It's hard to explain but everyone loves trying.


Are you already loving Pilates? Feel free to share your own nuggets of wisdom. Words from Pilates students and devotees really resonate with their experiences.

"Somehow, there's something about Pilates that makes you forget where your elbows are."

Truth.

Don't run away screaming!

It's a real thing to clean your face with oil, and it makes real sense. Your face produces oil, and like dissolves like. So massaging oil onto your face will dissolve excess oil, bind up dirt (there's a pH thing going on here), and moisturize at the same time.

So, what, you just rub oil on your face?

Well, yes.

The type of oil varies, and the best way to discover your skin's favorite is to experiment a little. Start with oils you have at home: olive, coconut, nut oils, grapeseed, sesame, castor, even argan or jojoba if you have it for your hair. Use single plant oils so you know how each reacts. (You can blend later). Use organic whenever you can, as this is sensitive skin.

Wet a washcloth with warm water and rub your face to soften and warm it up. Pour a little oil in your hand. (This is not an exact science. Too little and you won't feel oil smoothing around your face. Too much and it'll drip so you'll have to clean the bathroom. You'll figure it out.)

Then, "wash" your face with your hands! Massage the oil in and enjoy the pampering.  Rewet the washcloth and hold it over your face to 'steam' it a little, when you're done. Then use the washcloth to wipe excess oil and dirt away (choose a washcloth that can become your dedicated oil cloth.) Enjoy your smooth, healthful glow. You can even use a little more to re-moisturize after wiping your face off.

Benefits to oil washing include: reduced blemishes, as blocked or dried oil ducts are dissolved. Moisturized skin. Thorough makeup removal. No dryness or stripping of skin thanks to soap removing all oil. Happiness with your new, crunchy, skill.

Makeup Remover
1 part organic UNTOASTED Sesame oil
1 part (or less) Castor oil

Rub them together in your palms and apply. Pay attention to eyes and lashes to get makeup off. Sometimes I'll dab a cotton swab on the oil before I start massaging to clean off my eyes, sometimes I forget and use my gentlest fingers. It's a good idea to remove contact lenses first.

Exfoliating Oil Wash
1 part Coconut oil
1 part (or less) baking soda
a drop or 2 of essential oils, optional

Scoop the Coconut oil into your storage jar. Soften the Coconut oil if your house is cool by placing it in a warm place -the stove, a heating vent, near a lightbulb. Add the baking soda and essential oils if using, then mix to form a paste. I keep this one in the shower.

This week handed my butt to me on a platter. Just served it right up. It was a great week, busy and exciting, but I ended up not writing any posts like I promised I would.

I started to get all in a twist about it, then I stepped back. Some days I just don't have words in me to write, only to speak. And I speak to LOTS of people in a week! Some days I do have writing words, like today, and I'll get them out.

I apologize for the dead air this week. But I also encourage you to practice self-forgiveness when you encounter your own dead air. It's OK to take a shower or get 30 extra minutes of sleep or make a hot meal or even get a hair cut, instead of doing something else you ought to. It'll be there when you get back. 

Also today, a spring time picture! I spy with my little eye...

Sleep is a great mystery. We don't know exactly why it is that we sleep, or how it happens. And the trade in sleep remedies is huge!

While  there are lots of herbs that help people sleep in various ways, sometimes I find myself just not wanting to get up and find them. Sometimes I'm almost there, almost asleep, but I can't quite do it. Here's a technique that has helped me innumerable times:

First, check for tension. In me, it's in my hands. If my hands are closed, not even in fists but gently balled up, I won't sleep.

Then, I count my exhales. On each one, I try to relax more. Almost inevitably I lose count, which is fine. I just start over. If I get to 10, I roll over and start again. Usually, I don't make it that far.

Something about focusing my mind and actively relaxing just shuts me off. May it help you too!

Do you know about Ginger Honey Crystals? They are a serious happy-making item!

I'm pretty independent, and I value self sufficiency, and and and- pour a packet of these magic babies into a mug, add hot water, and you have one happy Paula. Especially tonight, when it's chilly and damp. Ahhh.

Just honey, and ginger. Fantastic.

Coconut oil as deodorant. Reeeeeely, you say with skepticism. Yes, really!

Coconut oil is naturally anti-microbial (do a Google search. You'll find plenty of sources) which makes it an easy and effective odor barrier. Body odor comes from the waste products of microbes on your skin that thrive in dampness, and using an anti-microbial to stop the stink seems much safer than using aluminum to block sweat pores in the first place. Blocking body functions rarely ends well, in my experience.

I've had all sorts of problems with anti-antiperspirants/deodorants since puberty. I've tried the strong ones, the crystal ones, the 'natural' ones. I've layered products, I've sprinkled powders, I'd just about given up.

So I tried making my own and surprise surprise, it worked perfectly.

For exactly 24 hours.

24 hours and 1 minute later, stinkola.

Here's what I do. It's a 2 step process. That's not the end of the world, Take a little time for yourself!

First, the oil. I melt coconut oil and put it in a reused small jar, like a washed out face cream or mini-mustard jar. I add some liquid vitamin E for its additional anti-microbial properties and just to be nice to my arm pit skin. I also add a few drops of Lavender essential oil. I like Lavender, and it's also anti-microbial (as are most essential oils.) Shake it up to mix and done.

To apply, I scoop up about an index finger nail's worth, assuming it's rehardened. In the summer time, 2 fingers dipped in is usually enough. Arm up, rub it in, repeat other side. There you go.

I follow with a dusting of powder, a mix of cornstarch, baking soda and arrowroot powders, using an old clean makeup brush. These help absorb some dampness, and any accidental odors.

However, I don't use the powder in the summertime when I'm wearing tank tops. I find that I get a friction burn around the edges of my pits, and the skin there feels grainy like the powder, when I don't have a shirt to brush off excess. And I still don't smell! My theory is that the exposed pits (in tank tops) dry faster than shirt-covered ones, so the oil is enough.

None of my clothes are stained by using these products, either the oil or the powder. I've been making my own deodorant for over 2 years now. The only time it failed me was when I had a little cleansing episode last fall and everything about me stank. Whatever left my body that time did so by all means possible, and all I could do was shower more to wash it off!

Yesterday my acupuncturist issued me a challenge: Do new things, and report back to her at my June appointment!

Getting into the spirit of the idea, I'm declaring a 30 Day Blogging Challenge for myself. Everyday I'll post something.

Today, it's a picture from a Spring Plant Walk held at a local park last weekend, hosted by the American Herbalist's Guild and local herbalist Sarah Washington. The park isn't safe to eat from thanks to local industry, but I saw some unfamiliar plants like Solomon's Seal, plus all our usual friends like the Violets and Dandelion in this shot. Love your weeds!