Links of my work –

http://samsarapilates.livejournal.com this is where you'll find the schedule, news of interest, and general goings on at the studios.

http://youtube.com/samsarapolestudio to see me teaching and many of the practices I do and teach.

http://www.mysomaticpath.blogspot.com my somatic writings and articles

http://fullembodiment.livejournal.com a nudes photo project I began. If you want to participate please post to me at mjmacourek@gmail.com

http://www.outbreath.livejournal.com my Buddhist path and meditation classes.

http://www.melimacourek.livejournal.com a support to the Embodiment Session I teach, please see Embodiment Sessions page for more information.

http://melissamacourek.com future home of my books and writings.

Note: Because I teach and study so many things, below I give a list of what I do, teach, and study, and write a bit about each, so you get a feel for the range of work I practice.

I love helping people explore themselves through introspection and body movement. To me, the journey of connecting with our body, and deeply within our self, is a life long path. I believe when we honor our body and follow our heart amazing things happen.

Pilates is my greatest movement love, but I love all things revolving around the female life experience. I specialize in working with the female pelvic floor. I teach a variety of classes to understand the pelvic floor and support it in all the work it does!

I teach a way of tracking the menstrual cycle and provide education opportunities in this method. I wrote a book on it called, Menstrual Cycle Tracking: A Guide To Getting To Knowing Yourself Deeply.

Through my Pilates practices I found Aerial Pole work and fell in love with the ways it is playful, and supportive of the pelvic floor, and connections to the feminine existence during our fertility life phase. This goes right along with the pre and postnatal work I love to teach.

My background is varied. I practiced figures skating very seriously. My whole family skated, and my grandpa ran the ice rink. To support my skating I practiced ballet, which was my first introduction to the Pilates technique. When I found Pilates again as an adult I could not believe it was the same thing my ballet teachers were having us do, and just not calling it anything. I fell right in love and committed myself to studying the Pilates Method. Between skating and Pilates I studied and taught several forms of movement including swimming, martial arts, and worked at the YMCA teaching anything they’d give me to teach (aerobics, personal training, tri-athlete training, weight training, walking, core class, and eventually Pilates matwork).

My current study interests are my continuing education with Marie-Jose, my studies and collaboration time with Nan Feist, and my somatic studies, emotional anatomy, evolutionary anatomy, Taoist practices, and whatever else I can find that helps me understand the human experience within the body. I also do teacher trades with as many good teachers as I can find. I love teacher play dates.

I’m extremely happy about the birth of a new way of teaching the work I believe is vital to every student. It is through a series of 14 Sessions covering posture, emotional body, somatics, breathing, pelvic floor (optional Jade Egg session), pelvis to foot, spine, shoulder girdle, head and neck, evolutionary experiential movement, brain and hormones (optional menstrual cycle tracking session), meditation, and integrated movement. I meet with students in one-on-one sessions, but will also offer small group studies.


Pilates

As I wrote above, I love Pilates and will practice it my whole life. If you asked me to name the thing I teach I love the most, it would be this.

I love doing Fundamental work with new or injured bodies, teaching them the biomechanics of their body. I love inviting bodies into fully integrated movement using the Repertoire on the Reformer, especially, as well as the other apparatus and the mat. And, I especially love teaching new teachers about the Method and how to see their own student’s bodies and understand how to work with them. I also do teacher trades whenever possible. I’ve developed friends throughout the world who love and teach Pilates too, and we connect through in person meetings, online video trades, and writings.

I teach Pilates work in different ways, so please look at the Pilates page here to find more, and watch the videos in that link, or through my Youtube account to see more of what Pilates is, and what I do.

Here is a video of one of my practices in our old shared studio.




Somatics

Here are some videos of mine on Somatics.

Somatic reaching exercise based on Mary Bond’s book New Rules of Posture, with some of my own opinions added in.




Here is another based on Mary Bond’s work about Somatic Hand Prints.




Aerial Pole Work

I describe what I do and teach as Aerial Pole Work. In my studio students learn the biomechanics of aerial pole spins, climbs, and inversions, and study how their unique bodies respond to the different challenges. I do not teach much floor work (exotic dance) other than some basic sensual movement. Instead, I focus on the aerial work and combine this training with Pilates support work, as well as Somatics.

Here’s a video of one of my practices.




Pelvic Floor

Here is Part 1 of a Youtube video about the PF.




Sex

I love the subject of sex. I especially love to teach about the body and its biomechanics/anatomy, hormones, and sexual responses. My favorite subject, other than the anatomy of the PF in sex, is the Internal Clitoris. The clitoris is really 90 percent bigger than most of us think, and it is a joy to me to educate women and men on this amazing part of our bodies.

I teach many kinds of workshops about sex, as well as giving private lessons. Some of the workshops I teach are revolving around the anatomy of the pelvic floor, some are about more alternative subjects (post to me to find out more about this).

Private lessons are educational sessions with one student, or a couple, or small group, where I help each unique body find the best support for sexual exploration through understanding posture, ways to prop body issues, teaching about hormones and how they affect sex and orgasm, as well as teaching the anatomy of the pelvic floor in sexual play.

I teach a FREE workshop twice a year to women about the female pelvic floor in sex. Workshops are in January and June. Please contact me to get the upcoming dates and to register.


Evolutionary Anatomy

I love to study the evolution of human development. I teach this in lecture form, but also as Experiential Anatomy (going through movement patterns to feel how we evolved). Understanding where we came from, and where we are in this continuum is useful for better understanding our body today, its pains, how modern culture causes issues, and then better make movement and life decisions based on supporting our body in the ways it needs.

Here is a video about the Primary and Secondary Skeleton mostly driven toward Aerial Pole Work, but good for all to see.





Experiential Anatomy

One of my most favorite ways to learn and teach Anatomy is through Experiential Work. To ‘feel’ how our body moves and imagine the nervous system patterns, and anatomical changes is wonderful for creating a more integrated body, as well as learn how the body works.

Here is a video of my teaching the Lion Exploration which is meant to help student’s learn how their Fight or Flight Reflexes work, how their eyes, ears, paws/hands, nose report to their primal brain where they are and if they are safe.

Menstrual Cycle Tracking

Studying and teaching the menstrual and sexual hormones is a passion of mine. I have a book coming out on the subject, Menstrual Cycle Tracking: A Guide To Getting To Know Yourself Deeply, that teaches my own method for tracking hormones to better understand yourself and how you change each day of your cycle, and how that affects your life, relationships, and sexual experiences.