I had an hour session with Ms. Goradia to look at some issues I was having with back pain and my rowing posture. Her studio is new and very clean, though also quite plain. She has a Reformer and some other Pilates and physical therapy apparatus, though in my session we used it only as a padded table to work on. She took a thorough history and looked at it carefully, which is always a good sign in any therapist.
She was able to show me some seemingly minor adjustments to my back posture and leg alignment that make lots of my daily activities easier. She also showed me some small adjustments to the exercises I've been doing for the back that are already helping, after just a week or so.
The adjustments to my rowing posture are helpful, but they will take longer to incorporate into my stroke. The first row after my session went very well, and I felt stronger than I have for a long time. But since then the results have been more mixed. When we've been rowing awhile, fatigue sets in and old habits re-emerge. So it will take considerable practice before I'm doing it right consistently.
Since I'm unfamiliar with Pilates terms and ways of thinking about the body, to say nothing of the medical names for the muscles, I had to ask a few questions to make sure I understood what Ms. Goradia was trying to make me understand. But I left with a great deal more knowledge than I arrived with, and with some excellent adjustments to the exercises I have been doing.
I found Ms. Goradia very warm and friendly, but the real reason she gave me confidence was that she spent a lot of time on diagnosis before she began prescribing. I'm sure I got pretty basic advice, but it was tailored to me and my condition, and it has helped me in both my daily activities and in my rowing.
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