Instructor of the Month: Liz Koch
Where do you teach?
I teach in the USA, Canada, Mexico, and UK/ Europe.
My teaching tips
Having taught for 30 years I must say I have learned a great deal. My students are my greatest teachers. I recommend feedback sheets – ask positive questions that also leave room for explanations, for example: Did you leave feeling confident to begin applying what you learned into your personal practice? ---If not, what might have occurred to help with your unmet needs?Another lesson: Less is always more. People need time to actually sense their own experience. During an exploration, rather then give too many cues, I provide space for the experience to go deeper. I’ve learned not to ask a question that suggests an expectation such as “what are you feeling? –Rather I ask an open-ended question like– “what is happening right now?” You'll find gems in what they tell you!
Favourite Exercise and reason why
Constructive Rest Position (CRP) - on your back, knees up feet on the floor the width of the front of your hip sockets, because CRP allows the organism to locate neutral and when one moves from a place of neutrality, which includes a neutral spine, then it is possible to initiate any exercise from core integrity.
In a nutshell, tell us a little bit about yourself and your experience in the industry
I began as a sculpture instructor exploring movement as an avenue for creativity and ended up resolving pain, trauma and dysfunction. The niche that I developed manifested from following (and trusting) my own internal process. It was a natural outgrowth of my love of the core psoas, which now allows me to flow between incredibly diverse systems ( i.e. Pilates, Yoga, Massage, Somatics, Dance etc), while not being part of any one system. This freedom not only offers me the opportunity for creativity, it allows me to work in a way that is very responsive to what is being called forth. At the same time I've been recognized as an "authority" and am nationally certified to teach continuing education courses, give keynotes at international conferences, publish my ideas in national and international magazines, and travel the road less taken....where I meet fabulous people from all around the world.
Do you have a motto or mission statement?
As an educator my mission is to establish the importance and significance of the iliopsoas muscle complex in all forms of massage, fitness and bodywork education. My goal for each practitioner/instructor is to understand, sense and experience first hand the iliopsoas muscle and thus be able to implement techniques to assist and educate their clients to understand their iliopsoas muscle.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years from now?
My current intention is to bring the psoas muscle to the world stage – so few people even know they have a psoas let alone experience its full power.
Liz will be visiting the U.K this year and is putting on an exclusive weekend workshop on behalf of Pilates Union UK. Check out our Pilates Instructor Workshops section for booking information. 18-19th September 2010. Demand is expected to be high and places are limited so book early to avoid disappointment.
