Latest / The Permission Slip / S2 | E4 Pascale Falempin, Pilates & Breathwork Instructor

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S2 | E4 Pascale Falempin, Pilates & Breathwork Instructor · The Permission Slip

• S2 • E4 Falempin === Kosterman: Yep. So we're recording. I don't need to listen to that. And there's no video, so it will just be audio. I've only, that's Falempin: good. I was wondering about this 'cause I don't know if I still had those when I arrived, but I went to acupuncture Kosterman: before. Oh, did you? Falempin: was face down today. Kosterman: Oh, in the cradle. Falempin: was literally like, here. Here. Kosterman: Oh yeah. No, no, I don't video. It's just so much more work to set up the cameras and do the whole Yeah, there's no, there's no real, I guess people, I guess people like to, to watch it, but I, I don't know. I don't listen to a lot of podcasts, which was one of the reasons why I was, Falempin: You created yours. Kosterman: well, I was very hesitant. I, it was, I kind of on my mind for a here and there. Kosterman: Oh, maybe I do a podcast. And then I worked with this woman, Renee and who's a, she was a licensed therapist, but she let that drop and she does, um, like a bunch of books here. Um, soul Retrieval and Entity Removal and Feeding Your Demons. And she blends all these different shamanic modalities and. And so we do sessions every month or so, and she says, one day, a year and a half ago, oh, you should do a YouTube channel. Kosterman: You know, all these people and all doing all this interesting stuff. And I just like felt this energy come into my body. And I was like, well, I feel that. She goes, well, you know, let it in. And, and so I was like, okay. And it was just like, it became overwhelming. I just started crying 'cause the energy was so strong in my body and I was said, well, I guess I'm doing a podcast. Because if I don't listen to that, then what am I listening to? Falempin: Absolutely. Kosterman: My guides were up there, you know, turning it up to 11, as they say in the spinal tab. Okay. All right. I got, okay, this great job. I guess this is what I'm supposed to be doing right now. It's been great. I mean, I think in the next couple of weeks I'll be up to close to 30 episodes, so. Kosterman: Great. Yeah, it's been good. Um, all right, I'm getting rolling. welcome back to the permission slip. This is Matt, if you hadn't guessed. And today I am here with, uh, the lovely Pascal Femin. She joins us from, I know her from Beyond, which is a holistic health club and coworking space that I'm a member of in Chicago. Um, welcome Pascal. Falempin: Hi Matt. Thank you. Kosterman: Thank you. Thank you for being here. Kosterman: Pascal is a Pilates instructor, a yoga instructor, Falempin: Uh, not Kosterman: not yoga, not yoga, uh, Falempin: uh, breath work as Kosterman: breath work as well. Breath work, sorry, Pilates and breath work, and a dancer. She came up an dancer. Dancer, retired dancer. A retired dancer. And she is originally from Corsica, Falempin: Yes. Kosterman: which we were just going over the geography of it. It's, uh, off the south of France in a very. Kosterman: Beautiful part of the world that is much warmer than the high of nine that we got in Chicago today. Falempin: yes. Definitely. Ms. Kika Very much today. Kosterman: today. Today, especially today. And I think we, yeah. What are we about minus 25 in Celsius today? Or something like that? Something like, yeah, it's quite cold. Um, so yeah, I invited Pascal to beer. Kosterman: She's created a, a, a a program recently that you can, um, uh, explore online. Um, and, uh, just I love to chat with people who are on this process of helping people to become embodied and, uh, to which in my definition means becoming, getting into right relationship with your mind and your body and your spirit, and lining all those up. Kosterman: Um, so. Um, tell us a little bit about your background, Pascal. What was it like growing up in Corsica? What was the It was like to like, to kind of have everybody on, you know, we all come from such different places and yet we have so many of the same experiences. Falempin: experience. Falempin: True, true. No, it was, it was lovely. It was quite, um, privileged in the sense that, um, you know, like beautiful island, beautiful nature. But also we were quite, I felt at least maybe it's different for, um, these generations now, but like back in my days, I felt quite sheltered. Mm-hmm. Uh, it was still very, yeah. Falempin: Sort of like sheltered from the world. It was sheltered from the rest of France and whatever was happening, it was just very simple life in a way. Kosterman: it's a French citizenship. It's a French Co. It's part of France. It's just an island. Yeah. Yeah. But you said about 400,000 inhabitants on the whole island. Falempin: In the whole island, more or less. Falempin: Yes. Yeah. Kosterman: So it must have been idyllic in many ways. Falempin: Yeah, it, it really was. It really was. Um, it's funny because. Like I'm jumping into, fast forward into the future, but when I, um, then moved to Paris, uh, for university, I was like, wow. I would like literally walk the streets, like looking up to all, like to soak up all the architectures. Falempin: And, and, and I remember thinking the first weeks of, of even months of university meeting up with classmates and it was like, oh my God, they're so, like, the culture is immense. And I was in Corsica and it was like in my hometown, there was like one theater with like such a like small like programming. And I was like, oh, I missed out so much and I have so much to catch up on now. Falempin: Like, I don't know this artist and I don't know that writer and Kosterman: Yeah. Yeah, Falempin: you know, so, um, but then like now getting older, like it was just like temporary. That feeling I was just being like, I felt so, I don't know. I had some catch up to do in a good way. Yeah. Um, but now looking at it, I'm just like, yeah, but I wouldn't give that for the world, you know? Falempin: I had different things. It's just different. Kosterman: different different experience. Yeah. Yeah. Different experience. And you signed up for it. Falempin: Exactly. Kosterman: Some part of you, some part of you Falempin: part of Kosterman: signed up for it. Yeah. Some point in time. And so, uh, we were chatting earlier you said, so it was idyllic in terms of the set and setting and the beautiful place and uh, but uh, you went through a bit of trauma early on in life with your family. Falempin: Yeah. Good, difficult, uh, complex setup. Like many, uh, my dad's, you know, suffered from mental health, like his mental health would not. Uh, really linear. He suffered from depression and, and bipolar as well. Yeah. Um, so yeah, it made, it made it very, very challenging at times. And, and, um, uh, as a result, my, my parents split when I was quite young. Falempin: I was like five or six. Okay. Um, and this resulted in my dad moving away. He stayed in Corsica. My dad was not from Corsica originally. Um, my mom is, um, so, you know, he stuck around, but he just went and lived in like, like a hermit, like literally in a, in a small village. So yeah, my, I didn't see much of him Kosterman: Yeah. Falempin: in, in my childhood. Falempin: Um, but also mostly because after that split, those were like, like very dark years for him and, you know, in and out of psychiatric Kosterman: of HO hospitals. Falempin: Um, so yeah, that, that was a lot, but that was a lot when you don't really understand what's going on Kosterman: Not Yeah. Falempin: you know, I was so small. And then, you know, that big thing well, like no judgment at all, but that big thing of like, no explaining either as a parent, because you're just like that, Kosterman: right. Falempin: she's not understanding. Falempin: Anyway, she's five, you know? Kosterman: Yeah. Yeah. Falempin: Yeah. But you soak up so much as a child, even though you can't, yeah. You don't have words to describe what's going on. So yeah, that was, that was difficult knowing. And yeah. And, uh, breathing it all, but not, not really understanding and making sense of any of it. Kosterman: And so when did you, is that, do you, when did you take up begin dancing then? Kosterman: When did you start? Falempin: Yeah, around that time actually. Like I started at five years old. Wow. And that was, yeah. Instant. I clicked instantly. That was, I loved it. I think sanctuary. Yeah, I think it was a bit of night. Looking back, it's probably a bit of an escape, but I also clicked with, um, yeah, the way, a new way of expressing myself that I didn't have to put words. Falempin: Like words seemed so concrete. You had to really describe something and be precise with movement, it's just up to interpretation, right? Yeah. So that's the nice thing about it. Um, yeah. Kosterman: And, and it was, ballet was the first, Falempin: it was ballet. First It was ballet for a while Kosterman: of course. Kosterman: 'cause it was France. So it has exactly. Falempin: And also by nature, like from my personality, I think I clicked with ballet because of the discipline. Falempin: I quite, I like, I liked the discipline. I like liked it from like a very young age. I was not that sort of like rebellious, right? Um, child breaking rules. I was quite happy to. He told me to do something and, you know, as long as I liked it, I would be like, okay, Kosterman: okay, good. Kosterman: I'll keep, Falempin: put the work in and yeah. Falempin: And make it work. Kosterman: Work. So, so you were, you were fortunate in some ways at a young age to, to under, to understand this concept of embodiment, whether you understood it or not, but you were, you were it, like you were expressing yourself through your body and listening to your body, uh, as well, which so many of us, myself included, don't always do or know how Falempin: well. Falempin: It was not that, that understanding was not like, you know, it's not a straightforward path because Yeah. I think I had, you know, it, Kosterman: it did, Falempin: it filled, um, yeah, it was, yeah, it filled up its mission when I was a child. But then, yeah, like, you know, growing up I've. Kosterman: like Falempin: I fell out the wagon a little bit with like movement and I was not always that like super mindful and conscious and aware of my body as, as I, you know, I'm trying to be today. Kosterman: Yeah. As you got into the teen, the teenage years and Falempin: Oh yeah. That was a bit more like, yeah. Kosterman: But then you, Dan, you joined a co you joined a company to dance a Falempin: Yeah, I was very lucky. It was actually my ballet teacher, so she had her local school where I, you know, first signed up when I was five years old. And then she created for the young aspiring dancers in Corsica. Falempin: 'cause you know, being an island you're like a little bit, you know. Cut, cut off from the rest of the continent, even if it's not very, very far. Um, Kosterman: had to take a boat or a plane to, to go. Exactly. Falempin: also like, it has an economic impact because if you want to join a company even in Nice, you know, it's, it's a cost. Falempin: And if you are, you are young, so your parents want to come visit you. It, it is just like a lot of extra cost to it. So she had the wonderful idea of creating, um, a semi-professional company in Corsica. So pulling it all the dancers for every part of the island and bringing in amazing, amazing. Teachers, choreographers, dancers. Falempin: So we would have, um, great workshops and we did like creation work as well. Uh, so we performed, we actually had choreographers coming and we would work for like months on, um, gala, I dunno how, how to call Kosterman: Sure. Sure. And, uh, Falempin: and uh, and then get to perform and, and, and tour all theaters within Corsica. It was like beautiful. Falempin: 'cause it was like a full, um, 360, uh, you know, dancer experience. Kosterman: Yeah. And this was in like as a teenager or as a young Falempin: I joined the company uh, when I was 13. Okay. Kosterman: Okay. And, Falempin: And I stayed until 18 when then I, you know, I had my uh, end of high school diploma. Right. And, and then left. Yeah. Yeah. And then went for university. Falempin: University. Kosterman: It's funny there a little, a little known fact that I actually danced with a semi-professional ballet company for, for one two performances in Florida. Kosterman: They needed, they needed men. What? And, Falempin: What? I didn't know that. Kosterman: know that. Yeah. Yeah. And we had done, I had done a lot of theater work in high school and my friend's mother convinced us who she helped run a small company in, in Clearwater, Florida. And she convinced me to convince my buddies that all we needed to do was waltz. Kosterman: And they needed men. They needed men for the, uh, the graduation ball was the, so we did, we costumes and we, we rehearsed for several months with the, with the young women. And it was fun. 'cause we were all like 17, 18, and the girls were like 16, 15 for, you know, so we were, we were very much looked up to in the, even though we were not great dancers, but it wasn't, also, wasn't true that all we had to do was waltz. Kosterman: We had to lift girls. I mean, it was a, you know, we, we performed it at a, it's called Ruth Eckert Hall. It. It's almost like, um, our version of the Chicago Theater down in it was, it was a, it was a bigger deal than, than I realized when I signed up for it. So I, I have a bit of, um, understanding and I, I know. Falempin: do you miss your dancing days? Kosterman: I don't really mess my, although I, I did, I've been taking some lessons, uh, not in ballet, but in some, uh, swing and whatnot just to move, move my body. Um, it was fun. It was a good time. But I, I can appreciate the, the, the immense amount of training that goes in, Falempin: it is, it is a lot. You know, when I look back, it is, Kosterman: it, Falempin: it really is a Kosterman: It's a lot. Falempin: It's like long hours and, you know, you are, you are a teenager essentially, and you have choreographers or teachers like pushing you so much to that point, and they tell you after, because I remember. Falempin: I remember what, at some point we were rehearsing, so we had put that piece together with this amazing choreographer that had come from Paris. And it was really, it was really Kosterman: It was tough. Falempin: he was, that was contemporary dance. Kosterman: contemporary Falempin: Modern dance. And so we were in the theater, we had a residency, so we had like a week of like sort of like final rehearsing in the space with the lights. Kosterman: was like constantly just, Falempin: yeah. For like a week. And at the end of the week it was like the first performance and would literally be in the studio from 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM mm-hmm. Maybe a half hour launch. Launch. Mm-hmm. Um, and I remember like that time in particular, we do that last rehearsal, so it's like. Falempin: Condition like, like it's the performance, you know? So you're just like, you are like, you've Kosterman: rehearsal, full, everything. I was looking Falempin: looking for that, that word in English. So full on dress rehearsal, it's like nine 30. You're like exhausted because it's already like five days. You're doing these like 10, 12 hours per day and he's all like, this was terrible. Falempin: And he screams at us. This was shit, really? This was terrible. Uh, we can't open on like Saturday, blah blah. And we all like started to cry. Yeah. Because we're like literally like, what do you want from us? It's abusive. And then, yeah, no, honestly it's like borderline abusive and you know, that was like on my like small scale, you know, semi-professional dance company. Falempin: So I'm still guessing. It was nice. You know, I can't even imagine like, uh, Kosterman: yeah, like a full, like a, Falempin: The school of the Paris. Opera or you know, anywhere else or in Russia or something like, God, God knows. Kosterman: they're hitting you. Kosterman: Yeah. Falempin: I literally, and, and then the next day, like we show up, we're just like, completely like the opposite. We're like demotivated. Falempin: We're like, oh, we're useless. We can't even dance. But, and it's just like we do another one. It's like, oh yeah, that was good. You see? And basically they push you to the brink of like physical fatigue. Okay. Muscle fatigue. Mental fatigue as well, because they think at some point beyond that, it's a bit of a bet Kosterman: for like Falempin: uhhuh for like teenagers. Falempin: Beyond that, you're gonna unleash and uncover like that new resilience or strength and you're gonna show something else. Um, which, you know, sometimes, you know, most Kosterman: it's a bet though. Kosterman: It's a, it can, it's a bet. It can go either way, Falempin: But it could go either way also, because yeah, we are not, you are not fully formed. Adults or anything when you are like 14 or 15 or even, you know, 16. Falempin: Sure. No, no, no. So yeah, I remember that. That was, that was tough. I don't, um, I look at it fondly though, Kosterman: Yeah. Yeah. Look, looking back, school Falempin: of life. Right, Kosterman: Right. Well, I, I mean, I think it's probably similar to a lot of people's athletic Absolutely. Upbringing with coaches. And it's the same, they're living out some childhood stuff of their own. Yeah. I mean, I was, I was, recently, I photographed an event out on the west coast with one of the top, uh, the guest speaker was one of the top collegiate coaches of all time. Kosterman: And I remember hearing his story about his childhood growing up and how his father treated him and the coaches. And I was like, well, well, that's abuse, that's trauma. Like, Falempin: yeah, Kosterman: that's, you know, but it worked for him. Like Falempin: Like Kosterman: said, it's a bet. Falempin: It's a bet. Yeah. It's a Kosterman: a bet. And some people will crack and Falempin: Yeah. And we would see, I would see like, you know, friends of mine that's, I think like again, I had the, I had the Thrive and I had, and I responded well, I think, I don't think it's any merit of mine. Falempin: I think I responded okay to that kind of abuse, I dunno what it says Kosterman: it mm-hmm. Falempin: to that, like being tough. But I knew I could see the purpose and, and, and that would sort of like, push me to give more, but I could see, like, some of my friends were like, oh, enough of that, I don't care. Kosterman: don't, I don't care enough about this. Yeah. Yeah. Falempin: So, Kosterman: yeah. And then did you continue when you went to university, did you continue dance studies? I did continue, Falempin: yes. I did continue. Um, so I studied in Paris. I went into something very, very general, very, it was like cultural studies, so it was anything. Applied to the arts world and the cultural world. So, you know, I did a bit of law, but, you know, sort of like think intellectual property, Kosterman: Mm-hmm. Falempin: um, sociology philosophy. Falempin: It was very, very interesting history of arts. Kosterman: Yeah. Yeah. Falempin: Um, and you know, especially the first few years you gave me like a lot of free time to, you know, go from the university to rush to like a few dance studios that I liked in Paris. And I kept, I kept on, uh, dancing, but then I, I just, I just didn't, I didn't pursue it. Falempin: That was my idea initially to go and start doing auditions and, and, and give it a real go. And then, I don't know, I had too many things I was curious about too many things. Um, Kosterman: it takes a single-minded focus like you have to, you, you, Falempin: it's religion. You, you go into it, like you go into religion and that's it. Falempin: It's like the amount of sacrifices, it's Kosterman: How did your body hold up through all of it? Falempin: you know? Incredibly well. Okay. I was, I was, um, yeah, and I've always, I, I always, when I was kid, I was so skinny and like I remember in school I would get like self bullied into like, did your parents give you some food? Kosterman: You eating enough? 'cause Falempin: I would like look at them. Like, what, what do you mean? Like, what is that question? Uhhuh? No, I was always very skinny, but I think it was just my constitution, but I was like, I was strong because, you know, like, yeah, I could, I could handle all of these. So like I was Okay. Okay. Um, and at least I guess I didn't have all the anecdote. Falempin: Like we had a, a ballet, uh, teacher in, in this company and every now and again it would put us in line. The first time we had no clue. I was doing like, was it choreography? What is it? All the girls just in line. And then he would come to you. Kosterman: and Falempin: like 2, 3, 1. And we're like, what is he talking about? And those numbers of kilos you're supposed to lose Kosterman: lose. Falempin: But again, we're like teenagers. Imagine Kosterman: kilos is, two kilos is like two kilos, like two and a half pounds I think. Falempin: Oh yeah. Sorry. Kosterman: That's okay. Yeah. Yeah. So to put it in, yeah, the US I think it's about 2.6, something like that. Kosterman: So, so you're talking about Falempin: more like double, Kosterman: Yeah. Five pounds, 10 pounds. You were already thin and they're telling you needed to lose. Falempin: Oh no, I was, I was the lucky one because him, to me didn't say anything. So at first I was like, God, he didn't say anything to me. He said anything to everyone else. But like I was, I was already like, okay, Kosterman: you didn't, yeah. Kosterman: You could keep eating the Falempin: looking enough to Kosterman: Wow. Yeah. Falempin: the test. But it's like, it's, it's crazy when you think about it, and I don't think, and this is an example, but again, in like professional ballet schools, this is probably, this is just routine. Yeah. I remember watching so many documentaries about the Paris Opera and at the school, they, they weigh you at the beginning of term, uh, you know, midterm. Falempin: Like Kosterman: you gotta make weight. Kosterman: Yeah. Wow. Yeah. That's, Falempin: a tough, it's a tough world. Definitely. And now thinking about it, I can see, and, and especially the way like the teacher I am today and the way I see movement, and it's contributed to not so much for me, but I can see how it contributes to like body, like a distorted body image, like so much. Kosterman: And so, and let's circle back around to that, but what took you to the, when did you begin on the path of like, the fitness and, and, uh, Pilates learning, learning Pilates and learning breath work Falempin: always, um, Kosterman: what was the, Falempin: after Paris, I moved to London. Yeah. So I studied in Paris for about five years. And then I did, when I decided to sort of like, quit dancing, I like quit dancing. Kosterman: Yes. Falempin: Because it was just too painful, you know? It's like you break up with the love of your life. Kosterman: mm-hmm. Falempin: Mm-hmm. And you don't wanna be Kosterman: try to go to di try to go to dinner with him. And it Falempin: Because you're just like, oh, it's kind of like all or nothing. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Um, so that's how he felt. Uh, for me with dance, I, I didn't even go take any dance classes every now and again. Falempin: I just, I just couldn't do it. Just like that, just light. Sure. Um, so then, yeah, I moved to, I moved to London. And, um, started working in theater production. I studied some more and then started working in theater. In the theater world. Theater production. And then it was an encounter, one of those that you're like, it was a epiphany. Kosterman: Mm-hmm. Um, Falempin: I had just moved to a different neighborhood and I had a lot of free time because I had just lost my job and I was sort of like freelancing here and there. So working from home and I went to my local, not even like a fancy studio, it was a community center. And I met this amazing, amazing Canadian woman. Falempin: She wouldn't want me to precise that. She's Canadian. She's quite proud about that. Kosterman: She would want you to emphasize that she's Yeah. Yeah. Proud Canadian. Falempin: she was, she would, uh, start a class every time. Because, you know, it's true that sometimes, um, English people, like, they always like pick like they. Falempin: They hear a twang and they're like, oh, where are you from? Yeah. Yeah. So she would arrive and be like, okay, so we're gonna do these, blah blah. By the way, I'm Gail, the accent is Canadian. Get over it. And then she would like, Kosterman: Let's, let's go ot. Falempin: That would literally like her like intro to almost every single class. Falempin: So I, I started going to her class. I just, you know, suit my, my schedule and I just went and uh, and at the time, this is very important to you, she was 78. Kosterman: Oh my goodness. Wow. And this was a Pilates class. Falempin: And this was a Pilates Kosterman: class. Okay. Reformer or Matt? It was Matt. Matt Pilates. Okay. With Falempin: like this huge community center room and it was like Mat Pilates and it was amazing. Falempin: I was like, oh, I love that. And you know, because it was community center as well. It was just probably, I think it was seven pounds. Kosterman: Uhhuh, Falempin: Uhhuh, um, the cost. The class. Yeah. Kosterman: Yeah. Falempin: So I started doing, I started going every day. I was like, well, I'll have the time. It was in the morning and then I can get back to work. So I started going every day and it was amazing. Falempin: It was like a tough moment as well because, you know, I had just, I think I had gotten through like a, was going through a breakup as well, and then I had lost my job and I was in this new neighborhood and, you know, it was start of the year when you have so much hope for the start of this new year is gonna be different. Falempin: And then you're just like, well actually it's even worse than the last, what is this, Kosterman: in, in America it would be the, the, the foundations of a country Western song. Falempin: Yeah, Kosterman: Exactly. Your dog ran off and you Falempin: Exactly. I should, I should have written a song about it. Maybe I'd be rich today. Kosterman: Lost the job. Lost a boyfriend. Yeah. And I discovered Pilates. Falempin: So yeah, I started going to like literally all her, all, all of, uh, GA's classes and, um, but just because, you know, I would, it was a moment of reconnection. For me to movement. I was like falling in love with the movement. Again, it was not dance, but it was my way back into movement. Into movement and I loved it. Falempin: And then she planted a seed because one day she was like, why don't you do the teacher's training? Kosterman: Mm-hmm. Falempin: I was like, no, I, I could never, I've never seen myself as a teacher as well. I couldn't, I could never teach someone, you know. She was like, yes, you can come on, do it. And she started like every day, have you signed up? Falempin: I've sent you all the info though. Kosterman: Really? Oh wow. But Falempin: wow. But she actually planted a seat because I, like, I started to think, well, in this arts world, like the job I'm doing right now, it's not exactly like I'm always working Uhhuh, so be precarious. So wouldn't hurt having a second job. And I enjoy it. So I, I, I, I did it. Falempin: I took my, I took my certification. Kosterman: and it's a lot of hours. Falempin: It was a lot of hours. It's a lot of anatomy. Kosterman: Of anatomy. Falempin: Oh my God. You never, you, you don't realize how many muscles there are in your body until you have to study them all Kosterman: 500 and somes, I think. Right. So many. Kosterman: Yeah. Falempin: But it was fascinating. It was painful at times, but it was, it was, I was so into it. Falempin: Okay. It was a lot of like many months of, um, studying all the anatomy and the theory and, you know, some path, you know, back pathologies for example. Um, and then you have that first exam that is, um, all theory. So return exam, and then you start doing all your practice. You've got weekends, like workshop, weekends with a teacher, like practicing. Falempin: And then you have that second exam, which is on the, on the practice, but sort of like putting it all together Okay. As well. Kosterman: And so that was, and and, and this was what, 15 years ago? How many? Kosterman: It Falempin: It was 13 years ago. It's 2013. 13 Kosterman: 13 years ago. Wow. Yeah. Falempin: And then she gave me her first gig. She was, she's amazing. Yeah. She's, she's amazing. Falempin: She gave me my first gigs because every now and again, I would still go to her. I would con, I continued going to her class and halfway through the class, that's when I was studying for my, for my practical exam. She would stop and be like, Piscal, get up. You finish the class. And I would like be like completely, like, I can't do that Friday. Falempin: And there were like 25 people, you know them all. You've been coming to classes anyway. Yeah. Uh, but Kosterman: she was saying you were done 'cause you were fi like what? I don't understand. To clarify. Kosterman: She said you were finished because you've done so well or you Falempin: Oh, no, sorry. She would, she would tell me like, oh, you finished the class you teach. Kosterman: Oh. Oh, she wanted you to teach, Falempin: the class. To give me, she was amazing. So to give me experience and opportunity, uh, to practice before my practical exam, she'd be like, okay, get up. Like now. I'm like, yeah, Kosterman: You show them how Falempin: them through like a few exercises just to close the class. I'd be like, what are you saying? Are you insane? Falempin: Yeah. And then she gave me my first gigs as well, when I actually got my certification. Um, she would, she would make up excuses and be, oh, I can't teach on Thursday. Can you, can Kosterman: can you take it, Falempin: can you sub for me? Kosterman: at this point she's like 80, right? I mean, she Falempin: Yeah. By the time, yeah, by that time she was, yeah. Yeah. Now she's 90, now she's 90. She turned 90 years old, uh, last year. Kosterman: Wow. Still teaching. Falempin: Wow. Still teaching. So she's not, she's no longer teaching, but she's still doing exercise at home. She had a, she had a, it's, she's, she's hilarious. She's really, really funny. She's a writer as Kosterman: well. Falempin: Okay. She always select my first job. Um, but a few good few years ago, I don't know exactly now, but she had a hip replacement and she had such a speedy recovery. Falempin: She was in her eighties already. She's probably 85 Uhhuh, Kosterman: Uhhuh. Falempin: and, and we would speak on the phone and I'd be like, how are you doing? You know, I'm very upset. I can't do the split anymore. Kosterman: I can't do the split anymore. Falempin: well, you know, Gail, you're 85. Maybe it's not, maybe it's okay that you don't do that. You can't do this. Falempin: But she's like, no, it's not. I've lost my flexibility. So hilarious. Kosterman: she got an artificial hip. Yeah. And so that was training for both Matt and Reformer or? Falempin: so I did just my math first. Um, I, I love, I love mat work. I love reformer as well, but I think mat work is my, was my first love. And is the Kosterman: with the dance Falempin: Yes. I think maybe it spoke to me in a different way and, and I was very adamant with that. I was really wanted to take my math certification first teach for a few years, and then I took like three, four years later, I took my, uh, reformer Kosterman: certification. Okay. Falempin: I just wanted to, for it to sit in a little bit. Falempin: Yeah. Yeah. Kosterman: And then you began teaching classes and doing private instruction? Falempin: Yes. At the beginning. So I was still, I was still in London and I had an office job, but, uh, I would teach on the weekend. I would teach some evenings after work. I would teach some early mornings. I had like some, like 7:00 AM to 9:00 AM and then run to get to the office. Falempin: Um, yeah, Kosterman: to do your desk job. A Falempin: a couple years Kosterman: Yeah. And who, um, what was I gonna circle back around to, sorry. We were talking, I said, because I wanted to see how you got into the Pilates, and I've lost the thread on that. Um, you, you had said at one point you were, you were teaching in London, like eight classes a day, was this Falempin: Oh, so that was, that was later. So after, after, after London, I, Kosterman: I, Falempin: I actually grew a bit, there was no sort of like immediate progress in, in my, um, arts job, let's say, my office job. And it was just so complicated. And, um, and on the other hand, the teaching was like very, very like growing on Kosterman: me. Mm. Fulfilling. Falempin: really, really loved it. Falempin: Um. And the other thing is, after seven years in London, I was just, I had come to a point, it was that Brexit year as well. And, and I was just, I can't, I can't stay here anymore. I'm just, I literally have two jobs. I I, I, I live in a tiny room, but sharing my apartment with someone, I don't know. I'm 30 years old. Falempin: I a bit of, a bit of a crisis. I was just, I was, I was not happy. Ah, I was like, okay, I'm not happy. I did a lot of, uh, growing that year. A lot of, uh, self introspection and something needs to change. Something needs to, it's funny 'cause it was exactly 10 years ago. Um, I left London at the end of 2016. Um, and the universe helped me because I had, I wanted to live London. Falempin: I didn't know where to go. I didn't wanna live without a job. And I, someone approached me, uh, from, um. Gym, sort of like, kind of like same bit similar to beyond a, a bit of an exclusive gym inside a hotel in, in London. And uh, so they wanted me to join the, the team joined the gym in London, but doing my research before that first, uh, interview, um, I read that they had just launched the same context, so that gym inside that, it's the Bulgary Hotel Kosterman: Okay. Falempin: in Milan. Kosterman: Oh. Falempin: So I went in there, listened to the, what they had to say and they were like, do you want to join the London teams? Oh yeah. Would like it? Do you have any questions? Like, what about Milan? So I was like, I'm just gonna go for it. Yeah. And the guy was like, what do you mean? Do you wanna go to Milan? I was like, why not? Falempin: And he's like, music to my ears, because I launched a project I'm struggling to find, um. I dunno, instructors that I like right now. And Kosterman: do Falempin: wanna go, that was October, do you wanna go? When can you go? So like, well I kind of need to like close a few things here, but January okay. It's like, yeah, fine. Yeah. Falempin: So once I had that I was like, okay, I'm not going without a job with nothing. Yeah. So I can go, but that was a big jump because I left, I left an office job, which gave me stability. Right. Uh, to really dive headfirst into freelance, freelance life teaching in a new country. I didn't speak Italian, but I was all like, detail. Kosterman: Yeah. That's minor, minor, minor detail. Falempin: I'll be fine. I can learn. Right. Kosterman: Did you have a, did you have a, any kind of a, a spiritual, you know, nature about you a, a connection with sort of. Kosterman: With source with, uh, that the universe will provide for me. Falempin: I, I. Kosterman: did you develop that? Falempin: quite, I developed it for sure 10 years ago, maybe a bit less, but I still had this thing that, okay, if this is happening, everything else will align. Falempin: I really was convinced of that, or at least I manifested Kosterman: it. Kosterman: Mm-hmm. Falempin: And what's very interesting is that at the time, it was in the back of my head already for quite a few years to go to a tarot reader. Kosterman: To a tarot reader. Okay. Falempin: I just really wanted to do it, but I was a mix of like excitement and, and being scared about what they could tell you, you know? Kosterman: Right. Falempin: And also, I didn't know anyone. Kosterman: know, I that did that. Falempin: Exactly. I didn't know anyone that did that. I didn't have like a valid recommendation. I just, I didn't want to just go to someone because Right. Kosterman: Psychic neon sign. Falempin: You, you know, there are so many in, in, in Chicago Kosterman: are many. Yeah. Once you start looking for them, like there's one down in the loop and the Yeah. Falempin: seen so many. Yeah. Um, Kosterman: and there's nothing wrong with those. It's just some of them are very, quite good that Yeah. You don't know. Falempin: like, you don't know. Um, Kosterman: but it's that, it's that there's that stereotype of, you know, true. They're gonna look into the crystal ball. Falempin: Exactly. So I had just had that first like appointment with the, with the gym owner that tell me that told me, okay, what do you wanna Kosterman: go to Milan? Falempin: was kind of done, and I went to Paris for the weekend and my sister-in-law was like, but it was just really random. She's like, oh, I've been. Going to this tarot reader. Falempin: She's amazing. And I'm like, what? Uhhuh? Yeah. Yeah. I've been going for like years. I even got your brother to go and my brother was like the most skeptical like person about these Kosterman: things. Kosterman: Oh, no kidding. Okay. Falempin: I was like, do you think you could get me an appointment? She's like, yeah, sure. Uhhuh. And over that weekend I was in Paris, I went, so I was still a bit like, I'm not going to say too much, you know, so I didn't say like, I literally said nothing. Falempin: But anyway, she asked me for my, uh, like astrological Kosterman: Oh, sign, Falempin: then that's it. That was it. Kosterman: But Falempin: But it's so funny that that spread, like, I don't know, she flipped over three cards and she was like, are you moving country? Are you moving away? Kosterman: And Falempin: I was just like, well, I don't know, you know? And you have these Kosterman: you don't want a skeptic. Falempin: I don't wanna give it too much Uhhuh. And I was like, I don't know. She's like, yes you are. You are sued. That's such a good move as well. You're going to a sunny place where you are right now. It's just not good for you. It's like draining you mentally, emotionally, physic. It's just not good. Yeah. But I see like sun there, like you're going to a sunny place, it's gonna be so good for you. Falempin: Everything is gonna align. And I was like, what the hell is going Kosterman: Wow. Falempin: And then I started like, like feeding her mimo and you know, information obviously it became like a bit of conversation. She was like, oh my god, that's the, that you have to do that. And you know, my wor my worry was like, okay, am I gonna find like, because I needed more gigs in in other Pilates studios, obviously I Kosterman: it wasn't enough to Yeah. Falempin: I was like, I'm but am I gonna find work? And and she was just like, the moment you, whether you go, I remember she said whether you go in January or you go in May, or you go like you'll just find Kosterman: something, you'll find it. Falempin: E everything's gonna align. And honestly, that's exactly what happened when I moved to Milan. Falempin: I felt like welcomed Kosterman: the doors of the, the gates opened Falempin: Incr and I spoke so badly. Kosterman: The Italian. Yeah, yeah. Falempin: But it was incredible. Kosterman: and it just, it just lined up. That's wild. I, I, I did a, uh, have you ever done an Aura reading, uh, aura photo? Kosterman: Oh, no. I did an, I've done that. I did an Aura photo. I've done a couple, but the first one was in Sedona, um, several years ago, four or five years ago. And she didn't, I think she asked me my name. She didn't ask me anything about myself. And I sat, um, or, or is by Jamie. I'll even put a plugin for her. She travel, she, she speaks at corporate thing. Kosterman: Corporate events, and she took my picture with the curl, and it's called a Curian camera. You put your hands on the metal things and, and then she sat down and spent 15 minutes telling me all about myself. Like, you know, all just boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. All these, just looking at the colors of the thing without, without any other information. Kosterman: So where, wherever she was getting it, she was like. There was not. Yeah, I never went, oh, no, that's not me. Like every single thing she Yeah. Uhhuh, Uhhuh. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, Falempin: yeah. Kosterman: yeah. It's fascinating what the information that's there. So then you, so you went to Milan and you got all kinds of work Falempin: and it's true that all the Yeah. Pilates studios, all the gigs started to line up and yeah. So that's when to cir to circle back to your point, that's when I, like, I was working a lot also because I felt, you know, insecure in that, to that jump into the solely freelance, uh, job. Falempin: So I, I would say yes to every, ev everything. Yeah. So I, I did work a lot of hours. I worked every day. I think I only had Sundays that was off. Kosterman: It's sort of like the, uh, the story about the Beatles, you know, they seemed like an overnight success, but they had been playing in gigs in Hamburg for years exactly like every, like multiple nights of the week. So you, this was your, like your, your fire. Kosterman: This was what forged your. Falempin: But that was the best training because I worked in different settings as well. So I was in that like hotel. I did a bit of corporate teaching. Um, I worked in studios and especially the main different studios, but the main studios, uh, I worked at, you had the regular. Falempin: Pilates class. It was mostly reformer, regular Pilates classes, but then you also had a lot of um, rehabilitation. Okay. And I love that. That was very, that taught me a lot. Um, Kosterman: really had the call on your anatomy elderly Falempin: who have like very registered, um, mobility, uh, you have people sort of like using this as their physio post-surgery on their, I don't know, torn ACL or whatever. Falempin: Yeah. Uh, and it was really great. Kosterman: Yeah. Yeah. Amazing. Amazing. And, and so you did that for a number of years and then Falempin: Yeah, I did that for five years. Wow. Kosterman: You were saying earlier when we were chatting earlier that sometimes like eight classes a day. Falempin: Yes. It was like eight classes a day. Yeah. Seven days. A we have six, sometimes seven, but six days Kosterman: Six days a week. That, that's a lot of teaching. That's Falempin: lot of teaching. Kosterman: a lot of teaching. Yeah. Um, and then meanwhile you kept up a bit of your own, like you had to keep up your own practice. Falempin: Yeah, trying to keep up my own practice. So anytime I had free, I would just, that's, those are the perks of being an instructor. Falempin: It's like you can go and take classes in the studios as well. Sure. So, um, so I would, I, any chance I had, I would do that. I did some sort of like exchange as well, because I had a, at some point it was, it was lovely. I had this guy come to me and I would at the studio and, uh, we did private sessions together because he was just, uh, recovering from a surgery on his knee. Falempin: Um, but then at some point he told me, you know, like, I can't actually. I would like to continue, but I can't pay like the full, Kosterman: okay. Falempin: private session rate. Why don't we do an exchange? He was a personal trainer at like a big gym. I think it was like a virgin or Kosterman: Oh yeah. Yeah. Nice. Um, so you were able to get, Falempin: He was like, we've got reformers, so why don't, like I sneak you into the gym and you know, like I, I coach you. Kosterman: Right, right. Falempin: And, uh, and in exchange you, you uh, you give me like a plus session. So I was like, that worked for a few months. So that was Kosterman: Oh, nice. And what's the, like, what is the, how, how would you characterize for people who are listening the core, you know, what's the tenet? What's the, what's the underlying philosophy of Pilates? Kosterman: Like the structurally, um, philosophically and the ben, you know, and the ben and how does that turn into the benefits for people? What, what's the Falempin: compared to. One of the main, so, so always have people asking me, like, people always like a comparison, right? But like, what is it compared to yoga? So in Pilates, there's no like spiritual dimension at all. It's mechanical. It's mechanical, it's functional. You want a more functional, um, body, you want a pain-free body, you want to get rid of your low back pain, strengthen your core. Falempin: So then one of the pillars, um, is breath. So I think that's what slowly took me into actual pranayama and breath work because the importance of. Breath in Pilates, it's really one of the main like principles. Yeah. Um, but again, all these to get into, that's, it's this like, they are pragmatic breathing, basically. Falempin: It's like lateral. You inhale and expand your rib cage and when you exhale, you engage through your core, you fill your pelvic floors, uh, pelvic floor muscles, lay lift up, and you find that, so like you tighten that corset of muscles a little bit. Um, the transverse Kosterman: abdominis and the whole everything. Falempin: All that core unit. Falempin: Yeah. The core muscles, that core unit. Um, so, but again, breath here doesn't have any kind of transcendental like dimension to it. It's, it's, I don't wanna say mechanical. It's, it's just functional. It's functional. Sure. You want your, you know, diaphragm to perform well and, and be efficient and breathe efficiently. Falempin: That's, that's the technique. Kosterman: Yeah. And it's a different, it's a different breathing, yogic breathing. They tend to push you into your belly. They want to see a, a belly, belly breathing and mm-hmm. And this is very much chest Falempin: a bit higher in the, in the chest, in Kosterman: Yeah. And I didn't, I mean, I, I had gotten to the point with my own physical degradation, let's call it, where my, you know, I was so tight and stiff that my para, uh. Kosterman: Intercostal, which are the really dense, the dense tissue between the ribs so tight. Like, you know, I just, I couldn't do the expansion. Falempin: There was probably your diaphragm being quite tight as well, right? And Kosterman: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because on the, and the spiritual side of things that's linked to Falempin: to Kosterman: your, uh, solar, you know, solar plexus and the, the will. Kosterman: And I had this, you know, still have this very like, we're gonna do it this way. I don't care what you say, universe. Falempin: no flexibility here. We're doing it. Flexibility. Kosterman: And so that manifests in the body. Falempin: Yeah, no, definitely. Kosterman: Um, Falempin: I think we'd be surprised how many people don't breathe efficiently. Kosterman: Yeah. Falempin: And that diaphragmatic that, yeah. That diaphragm is probably more people than we can imagine. Kosterman: There's re, I mean, there's, in the yoga tradition, there's reasons to do the belly breathing. Like I just, I did a haha class with Grace on Sunday, and, and, and it clears things out and, but it, it's, you're also, the chest never moves. The belly's just moving in and out. You're not getting Falempin: yeah. You're not getting anything higher up. And also the reason why it has to be higher up in your rib cage is that imagine if you are, um, doing some core work or ab work. Falempin: Imagine you're laying down on your back and your legs are tabletop, you know, when they're bent just over your hips and you are crunching up, you're doing a chest lift. Well, you can't breathe down in your belly. Kosterman: You can't breathe in your belly. No, it's impossible. Falempin: So you need to use the, the rib cage in that expansion. Falempin: Yeah. Uh, to connect to the, to the core Kosterman: muscles. I mean, I was, as I've been astounded at, you know, w where muscles actually exist in my body that I didn't, I didn't know before. I used to do a lot of like high intensity interval training. Kosterman: You know, just the cur, you know, crazy crunches and mm-hmm. Um, burpees and all of that. Falempin: all the burpees. Falempin: Oh, don't tell me Kosterman: Oh, terrible. Especially as you get older. And, and what I've found so fascinating with Pilates is that I, I seldom come out every once in a while I'll, is if I haven't, if I've been traveling and I haven't had a class, um, I'm not sore. Kosterman: Like I, I I've gotten stronger and stronger, but it's not through the, the, the aching, the terrible soreness pushing. Yeah. What's that? Falempin: The pushing. Kosterman: pushing and, and, and being stiff and just the next, for the next, you know, two or three days and things being sore. And that hasn't, that's not the case with po It's like a, it's a like a gentler way to strength. Falempin: But I think, you know, my theory behind this, because I have more and more people telling me this, and to me it is when someone comes to class to come to see me after class and tells me, I'm just like, I've done my job. Falempin: I've done my job today, Kosterman: Uhhuh, Falempin: Uhhuh, uh, it got through to someone, like someone coming, I work in another studio here in Chicago, in River North, and I teach, it's math work. I, I teach my way. And most of the other classes that are on the program are on a schedule, are more like, you know, Pilates, sculpt and those chisel formats that are a lot more, um, aggressive. Falempin: Very fast paced. Yeah. Yeah. So it's a very young clientele in these studios that they're in their twenties. Um. Kosterman: but Falempin: More often than not, like more and more people come to see me after my husband be like, I, I, I could, I could feel my breathing today. I love the slower pace. Slower. It's not less challenging, but I actually feel that I, yeah, I can feel what I'm doing whilst I'm doing it. Kosterman: as opposed to Falempin: when it's too, too, too fast, I enjoy it because I enjoy the bird, I enjoy whatever. But I come out of the class and I feel a bit almost disconnected. Disconnected from my body. Yeah. Um, whereas now I feel like I had a workout. I felt quite relaxed the same time. And I think that's the breath, that's the connection to the breath, breath. Kosterman: the breath. Falempin: like that, it's, it's mindfulness. Right. To breathe is mindfulness. And you can also be mindful in movement. Kosterman: Yes. I mean, I've actually literally darn near fallen asleep in Pilates before. Oh, you mentioned. Yeah, yeah, yeah. With the bre, with the breathing. I'll just get in this sort of liminal state and my body's doing what my body's doing. And I think the other thing to point out for people is, I mean, Pilates, can it, it, the classes are expensive. Kosterman: They tend to be expensive. The mat class is less and less so. Less so. 'cause it's a group. But the reformer, but I haven't, I. I'll do one a week. I've been doing one a week for about three years on average. Sometimes now, lately more two. 'cause with beyond, I'll add that in. And it's not, it's not some, you know, it's, it's not cheap, but it's very, very effective. Falempin: is very effective. Yeah. Kosterman: for the hour that you take to do it. Mm-hmm. Once a week. I mean, I've completely untangled things in my body as a result of, of, of it. And it hasn't required this, you know, five, five days a week in the gym. Falempin: And I think that's what I like about it as well. It's just like, it doesn't have that spiritual dimension, but it has this deep connection to your body dimension. So when you do it, I like that it's not, you know, that's just me. But I like that it's not. Passive, you actually have to think about what you are doing right. Falempin: And you really put your mind into your body and, and, and you have that possibility. What am I feeling now? What, what muscles firing? Oh, oh, what am I, what is it that I'm filling in my left hip? It's like a bit of stiffness. Okay. That's interesting. Yeah. Like you, if you listen to it, it's, it's, you know, this is what I'm gonna say is valid for any physical activity, but I feel even more so in Pilates, if you listen to it, your body's constantly giving you feedback. Falempin: Yes. And pieces of information. Kosterman: Yeah. Kosterman: Yeah. So with the breath work, then you, so the, this platform that you've developed or this, this, these classes online. Yeah. Program, yeah. Project that you've developed. And I'll have the, we'll have the links in the, in the texts. Um, you said that there's Falempin: Pilates, Kosterman: breath work and, Falempin: And, uh, and a method Kosterman: And a method to put this Falempin: method I created, which is called the Empowered Body Method. Okay. Where I blend. So it's, it's a movement. It's a movement class. I blend Pilates, I blend, breath work, and fascia work. I fell in love with this, uh, a couple years ago. I love to learn. I'm always like doing short courses. Falempin: My husband is like, what? What are you studying again? Like, what is it? Like a pile of books on my bedside table. I can see you too, um, in your shelves. Um, and I, um, I don't even remember how I came across it in know, during an online course. Um, I'm, I'm, I, yes, I think during an online course I met, I virtually met Bonnie Crozer, who's, uh. Kosterman: a, Falempin: A teacher. Wonderful. I don't know, practitioner. I don't know Kosterman: Okay. Of fascial. Fascial, Falempin: yes. And I don't want to like diminish or limit any, everything she does. 'cause she does so much. She's based in New York City and she has this, she has this platform. She has a membership where you fascia floss Kosterman: Oh, this is the flossing that you sent me. Kosterman: Fascia flossing. Yeah. Yeah. Falempin: with her twice. Twice a week. And, uh, so I do that. I'm on, I'm actually on her membership and I do some flossing myself. And then I did my teacher's training. I did two, so like two levels. She's, she's offering two at the moment. And I did, um, I did both and it's fascinating. And that opened me up to the world of like, I was able to dive a bit more into the world of traditional Chinese medicine because in her flossing, like fascia is very much linked to, uh, the Meridians. Falempin: Meridians. Yeah. So then to the organs. And to the emotions. And here we go beyond the physical and we really tap into the emotions as well. And, and everything we store inside our bodies. Good or bad. Kosterman: Yep. It's in the fascia. Falempin: It's in, it's all in the Kosterman: this, because you had the, you had the anatomy with the Pilates, but it was primarily muscular and li muscular ligaments and Yeah. Falempin: I, I, I still don't, now I'm studying all this. I'm just like, why don't they talk more about fascia? It is just, it is, it's, it's all there. How shall body says the issue is in the tissue. Kosterman: in the tissue. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, my, my path was similarly through the fascia with Jonathan Trapi, who I've interviewed on here, and we've talked about the human garage people, I think that, have you gone to Human garage before? Kosterman: They, they, they have a whole program. They travel the world, training people in, in unwinding their fascia and moves that you can do yourself in the morning, which I'm assuming yours are. Yeah. Falempin: And that's so empowering, right? Yeah. Kosterman: Yeah. So you have, so the program is, is it a a, a set amount of time? It's a a, Falempin: so yeah, that's the first program I launched. Um, and it's, it was, it's of 21 days. Okay. Uh, restorative strength, uh, and yeah, you've got three weeks. It's 12 classes total, so four per week, A couple of breath work, one of Pilates in one of this, uh, method I created, and it's also something that. Is really, um, like really drew from my experience, from my own teaching, from my own practice of also living with an autoimmune disease, Kosterman: of your own. Kosterman: Of your, your own. Falempin: my own. Falempin: I have like Hashimoto's disease and it's just also open a new dimension to how I experience movement. And therefore how I teach is I just cannot, like, physically cannot go to any of those. And that's even mild cardio to go to a Pilates cup or pump or I just cannot do it. I will be, my energy will be drained Kosterman: be drained the two days. Mm-hmm. Falempin: Whatever I do. However well I sleep after that or eat after that. It's just the energy wise, it's not working. Kosterman: I used to do that. I would go and do these workouts, these crazy, these burpees and with these, these, these guys in my old neighborhood. Kosterman: And we'd split into groups and you know, the guys, the one group would stay and see how many burpees they could do while the other group took a 25 pound weight and they, they ran a half a mile and came back. And so the, you know, whoever, and, and, and I would just, I would go home and I would be in screaming pain and I would be exhausted. Kosterman: I'm like, I didn't go hard enough. I know, I, I, it's like Falempin: and I did that as well. It was before my diagnosis, but you know how many, you know, when it was like the flavor of the month, like the high intensity interval training. Falempin: I did them all. And Kosterman: Tabba Tabata and Oh yeah, exactly. Yeah. If Falempin: If I think about it, I hated it. I hated even at the, at the time was I was doing, but it was trendy. Right. And also they sort of like sold it as well. That's the real strength. If you can do that, that you are strong. I was just like, no, you're not. No. Falempin: It's all, you know, not necessarily Kosterman: for some people I think it it for it, it works for some people. But Falempin: for you, great. But it's just, I have a bit of a thing with like. The fitness industry in general and how like their messaging and how, you know, go hard, go home, all that mindset. I just, I, I just am so, so, so against it because it creates so many insecurities and if you can't actually do it because that's not for you, you just feel, oh, I'm lazy, Kosterman: I'm lazy. Right. I'm Falempin: good enough. Falempin: Well, I'm not strong or, and it's not true. It's just you're not, you've not found the right way, like the right movement Kosterman: for your body. Exactly. For your body. Yeah. For your body. Falempin: for your body. Kosterman: I find it interesting that Pilates seems to be on this stealthy, this stealthy sort of rise. Kosterman: There's more and more interest in it. I mean, even at the club now, since I've joined about almost 18 months ago, they've added, I don't know how many tons. Tons. I mean there's only three reformers, but they've added a lot of. Teachers in classes where there used to just be a few times a week. Um, and it, it, it really is. Kosterman: I was, I did it, I did it in place of, I had was my chiropractor that I was seeing had suggested, uh, pt, physical therapy. And, and this person, God bless him, he was trying to literally like wrench my hips back into place, you know, and pushing on things and pulling on things and having me do exercises. And I just thought, this, this, I don't think this is right. Kosterman: 'cause the, there's very big muscles down there. Mm-hmm. And I don't think that this is going to get them to do something different. And, and that was when I, I took a friend's advice to seek out Pilates. She had told me a couple of times and I thought. Because my, my core was so sore, like everything in the pelvis, pelvic floor was, so I thought the last thing I want to do is anything that's gonna strengthen my core. Falempin: Work my core. Kosterman: But it, I was exactly wrong because that was what I needed was, the deep core was not strong, but everything on the surface was overdeveloped and, and like hardened. And it needed to get loosened in the breath and the opening of the chest and, and everything. So, um, I really applaud that approach that you're taking Falempin: taking. Falempin: Thank you. Kosterman: with, with, with teaching people all, all of these things. Kosterman: And, and it's, you said it's self-paced, right? It's everything's re prerecorded. Falempin: Yes, it's prerecorded. So, you know, I suggest, I suggest an, an order. Mm-hmm. Uh, for the, you know, I set it up. So there's week one, week two, week three. They'll have like, they're slightly different. The first week is to reconnect, so a lot of breath work or gentle movement. Falempin: Um, second week is to reclaim, so we tap a bit more into core work, energizing breath. Uh, and the last week is, um, regulate. Kosterman: Regulate, okay. So Falempin: we stay in that energy and, uh, through, through movement as well and through different breathing techniques. Um, so there's like, there's a natural natural order and, you know, that's the way I created the program. Falempin: But then I wanted these to be, um, new tools for people to just then, oh, I, I quite like that breath work practice because it helped me, you know, regulate or extend my exhalation or I like this one because I did it in the morning and I felt like that burst off energy. So I want those little classes also to be like tools for people to, oh, today I'll just do the breath work. Falempin: Once you've done the program, just like use them here and there. Kosterman: Yeah. So want, so you, you have great, so that's self, self-paced and then you can go back and do. Falempin: Exactly. Kosterman: Repeat whatever you want to repeat Falempin: 'cause the program, you've, the classes are yours forever. Kosterman: Forever. Once you subscribe, Falempin: uh, there's no, uh, Kosterman: recur. Recurring monthly. Kosterman: You don't have to continue Valid Falempin: valid for like six weeks and then, yeah. Kosterman: Beautiful. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I love that. I love that. Um, and then you do, do you do, um, private instruction over the internet, like the through, through Zoom? Falempin: teach, I teach online thanks to the pandemic Kosterman: actually. Falempin: I actually have, uh, uh, Kosterman: uh, Falempin: private clients, uh, that I teach over the world Kosterman: all over the world. Time Falempin: difference allows and, and, uh, since 2020. Falempin: So it's, it's incredible. Kosterman: Yeah, that's great. The nomadic Falempin: Pilates. Yeah. Kosterman: Instructor, Falempin: I feel like for exercise, this has opened a new dimension to people. Now my, my clients, whenever, even when they go on holiday, they're like, well, we'll, we'll keep training, right? Because it's online and they're used to the online modality, so there's no problem to just, yeah. Falempin: So it just never stops when, you Kosterman: or before where they had the, Falempin: it's just like, well, the studio is closed, or Yeah, maybe I'll do a class on YouTube or whatever. But it was just like, oh, now I'm on holiday. I am not doing at least that kind of exercise. Maybe people would go for a run or something, but sure. That would sort of stop and now it's just, Kosterman: they just keep doing it. Just keep doing it. Falempin: keep doing it. Kosterman: Yeah. Falempin: Yeah. Kosterman: Very cool. Falempin: Beautiful. Kosterman: Um, so in terms of the target market for like the, the type of person who are you tar, are you targeting a particular like type of person age group? Kosterman: Uh, fitness level? Falempin: Well, fitness level is. There's no requirement. No Kosterman: No requirement. It's just really Falempin: come where we, wherever you are at, it's, it's good enough because that's what I wanna do. Falempin: I wanna show people that you don't have to be at this level. You don't have to. Uh, because, because that, that's it. Most people, it happened to me like the other week again, and someone that, it really touched me because someone, a woman who has an autoimmune disease and she's like, you know, I used to be very active. Falempin: It's now it's public, 15 years. And I, I don't do anything because I can't keep up with those classes. And I'm also very intimidated now. I don't wanna go and, and be completely be Kosterman: the new person and not Falempin: be the new person, and not know, and not, I not feel that I'm not good enough. And I feel, and, and as a result, she's not exercising. Falempin: And I think that's just such a shame. So I just wanna be start you, you start where you're at. Kosterman: Okay. Falempin: That's, and that's good enough. Yeah. And you first, I think you need to start connecting, reconnecting to your body. And for me the best is through breath. Kosterman: Through the breath. Falempin: And then breath and movement. And then you, you know, you continue, you take it up or you wait and just practice some more. Falempin: And, but there's no yeah. Age group as well. Okay. And it's Kosterman: Okay. And it's, and it's minimal sort of props and tools. You don't need any, Falempin: minimal props though. The program, at least I didn't want, I didn't want that. Maybe when, maybe for the next I'll add, uh, something else, but I just, yeah. I didn't want people to have to think, oh, I need to buy an elastic band or, so it's just nothing. Falempin: So we have blocks for the, for the movement, the empowered, uh, body method movement classes, because when we floss. Uh, yeah. Yeah. It's, it's nice to use the blocks to also, um, sometimes in certain positions it elevates you a little bit, so Kosterman: Your hands have Falempin: exactly a bit less mobility or less flexibility, and it's, it's all of a support. Falempin: Sure. But other, other than that, it's, and I created it like mostly for, um, people because I've seen something in that population, people with chronic pain or autoimmune conditions or chronic stress, that what happens is that one you develop a sort of like negative narrative towards your body. I'm not good enough. Falempin: I'm lazy. My friends are doing four classes a week. I can't do even one. Um, and also that negative narrative, but also, yeah, you, you just, you just stop moving. You just stop moving. You are afraid because you're like, oh, if I do a class, will it send me into a flare up? Right. And then I'm gonna be feeling terrible for like a whole week. Falempin: Yeah. What's the Kosterman: point? Yeah. Falempin: Yeah. Um, so that was my main, uh, I don't wanna say Target, but the main like community I wanted to create. But then I see that it's speaking to so many other people who are a bit, uh, who don't resonate with the more Fitnessy classes and the fast pace, fast pace classes. Sure. Because I see that, you know, every week at the studio people come to me, oh, I love the classes different. Falempin: And, you know, they're perfectly healthy, uh, doing a few classes a week, but they kind of like the change of pace. It's just speaks to them. Kosterman: speaks to them. Yeah. Little, little. I mean the movement is so important. I'm not always great about it, especially when it's nine degrees outside, but it's a lot. Go Falempin: to a heated class. Falempin: That's what getting me through this winter is that all my mat work classes are Kosterman: heated. They're all the heated 85 degrees. Yeah. They have lovely infrared heaters up in the ceiling at the club. It's quite nice. Yeah. We, in fact, the yoga class wasn't intended to be heated on Sunday, but it was, uh, it was very nice. Um, but yeah, just the, the, the movement. I know, I, I allow myself to fall out of it and get, you know, kind of turn into a hermit for a week or so and, but Falempin: know, it's fine too. Yeah. Kosterman: But it, it, but then when I start to move again, I'm like, my body's like, oh yeah, this is what we're supposed to be doing. Of course. Yeah. But, Falempin: you know, I also think it's funny because someone three weeks ago, um, who, um, I also teach, I, I've been teaching for four or five years for an, uh, a digital platform. Falempin: So I teach mat work. It's all online. Uh, it's, it's based in Italy. Kosterman: and Falempin: These girl's been doing my classes for a while. It was so interesting that conversation, because she comes to me and she's like, Scott, I wanted to ask your advice and your opinion because I've been Googling it, but I just wanted to make sure, and I, you know, I asked the internet and so many people and so many in my searches, everybody says, I, I must heavy lift. Kosterman: Heavy lift, right. Uhhuh. I Falempin: to do strength conditioning. I need to do strength training, um, for bone health. Um, what do you think problem is? I've tried many times, but I hate it. Mm-hmm. I don't like it. And as a result, I'm not consistent with it. Kosterman: Yeah. Falempin: So I said, okay. Truth is, it's a valid argument. Strength training is very, very important as you age, because from 30 years old, we start losing mus muscle mass, right? Falempin: So it's important to keep it up. Now, it's not the only thing for if your interest is. Solely bone health, doing Pilates, anything that's weight bearing. It's good for bone density. But now also, like the, the most interesting thing in that conversation is that don't do, even though it's very valid and all that, don't do something you don't like. Falempin: Right. You know? 'cause on the other hand, she does Pilates maybe like four times a week. And this, she really Kosterman: she enjoys Falempin: like, then keep doing. Because if I seen something, if I, that my big, like, uh, the main thing that I'm taking home, like from all these years of teaching is consistency is key. Yeah. Even if you do 15 minutes every day, but you're consistent, it's gonna do, you know, Kosterman: it, it does wonders. I was very, I was, for about a year, I was a year, maybe 18 months, I was very consistent with the fascial work every morning, like 30 minutes of, of movement and, and the human garage fascial stuff, and yeah, I felt fantastic. Kosterman: Yeah. Yeah, yeah. And then I allow my, I allow my crazy travel schedule to, to interrupt it. Falempin: To interrupt. Falempin: Well then, you know, you make plans and life Kosterman: and then life happens. Yeah. Falempin: not always, it's not always easy, but I feel Kosterman: begin again. You know, you begin, begin again. Yeah. Begin again where you Falempin: begin again where you are and it's, and, and it's fine. And it's never like a real, it's never a real setback. No, but I don't think we should. I don't know. It's this, it's, it's always like this fitness world messaging that I, that I know fully agree with. Although I recognize, and I know that strength ring is so important. Then if you, if you don't like it, then it's gonna be counterproductive because Kosterman: you, well, your body's trying to, something about is your body's trying to tell you something. Kosterman: Exactly. And Pilates is strength training. I mean, you're getting, and it is, you're getting stronger. Like you're, it's just very isolating. The, the, you can isolate the muscles Falempin: it's in a different way, but I remember I just, uh, I, I made a, an Instagram I'm not very present on, especially like, uh, talking on, on stories. I just, it makes me cringe to just hear and see myself. Falempin: But, you know, I'm trying to get myself out there a little bit more. And I made, um, after this, I made, I made a story about this and I thought, oh my God, all the PTs are going to Kosterman: jump, jump on you Falempin: and be like, what are you saying about strength conditioning? And that is not valid. I was just like, okay. Falempin: Just to say like, I think it's a very valid argument. I'm just saying that if it doesn't work for you, like the important thing is that you move your body every day and you tell me you do that four times a week. I, I think it's great. Right? Kosterman: Let it go. Let it go. Yeah. Yeah. If it doesn't work, let it go. Falempin: Yeah. It's like the cold plunge. It doesn't work for some people, it's fine. Kosterman: Right. Falempin: It's, you know, there's side, there's some like. Science behind it maybe, but then those are still like, quite like the trends and fads. Kosterman: yeah. I know for a while I, like a friend of mine who used to be my landlord, he was, he's 15 years older or so, and he was doing the really heavy lift, like to, to fail like super heavy weights to failure like you did very few times and just thought, oh, that sounds awful. Falempin: I know, right? Kosterman: Like Falempin: It's like pushing those, uh, Kosterman: the, the, the carts. The little, the sleds. The sleds, the sled. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Like the football players. Yeah. Yeah. Well, amazing. Thank you so much for coming over. I Thanks for Falempin: Thanks for having me. Kosterman: me. Yeah. I love these conversations, especially having 'em in person. And, um, I'll put the, um, what, why don't you just do tell us the, um, URL for the, um, for the program? Kosterman: Is it your, your website is what? Falempin: My website is. Uh, pascal fallin.com. Pascal, Kosterman: Pascal Pascal surname. Yeah. So it's P-A-S-C-A-L-E-F-A-A-L-L-E-M-P-I n.com. Com. And it'll be in the little text down below, hook up with Pascal and get your body moving and breathing. Falempin: and breathing. Exactly. And feel that that connection again. Kosterman: Yeah. Beautiful. Falempin: Alright, thank you so much. Kosterman: You're welcome.