Balance Finding Her

Mary Willis’ hands move deftly, guiding her client through the motions of each exercise.

Tuck in the stomach. Round your spine. Breathe in … and out.

As a Pilates instructor, Willis knows that good form is key to progress. Bad form leads to imbalances, and Pilates is all about balance.

New Albany resident Willis, 51, has been dedicated to Pilates – a physical fitness system designed to build core strength and flexibility – since she went to her first workshop in the late 1990s.

“I had heard about this method, but didn’t know much about it,” says Willis, who attended the class with a friend. “We ran, did all kinds of weightlifting, everything, so we felt like we were pretty well equipped to take what we thought was a stretching class.”

She had been an aerobics instructor, so Willis was stunned that she was unable to do some of the simplest Pilates moves.

“Boy, were we surprised!” Willis says. “(My friend) ended up dropping out before the end of the weekend, but I got hooked. … Not even being able to complete a one-hour class, I felt like something was missing in my body.”

It’s a surprising admission from the petite and trim Willis, who has made health a priority her whole life. She grew up on a farm in Galion, Ohio. On summer days, Willis and her sister would take a salt shaker and a con- tainer of sugar and head to the fields, where they would make lunch from fresh fruits and vegetables off the vine.

She developed an interest in anatomy from watching the horses on the farm –the way their muscles and joints moved and how it related to their health — and eventually majored in adaptive physical education at The Ohio State University.

For Willis, Pilates was a logical way to further her education. Once she came back from the workshop, she turned around and went to train in Pilates matwork with The PhysicalMind Institute. She has continued her training, completing courses in using Reformer machines and other equipment. She also took classes on how to work with special populations – for instance, those with Parkinson’s disease or multiple sclerosis.

“It just kept snowballing from there,” Willis says.

Currently, Willis is a partner at Body Pure Pilates in the Gahanna area, which opened in September. She considers training others in Pilates her personal calling.

“One of the things that I’ve learned is that every time you get a client you learn something more (about the system),” Willis says. “I learn not only from my education, but also from my clients. I love my clients.”

Among her list of clients is Donald Gorman, a fitness member of the New Albany Country Club. Gorman began training with Willis about three years ago and is now one of her most advanced students. As he moves from one piece of equipment to another, she explains the exercise, gently corrects any body parts that are out of place and encourages him when he’s doing well.

“I’m not a participant,” Willis says of both her private lessons and group classes. “I’m always watching what to correct. It’s not my workout.”

Most recently, Willis has been studying Gyrotonics and Gyrokinesis, and is looking forward to getting that equipment in the studio.

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“It’s kind of like being a painter and you just got a new color in or you just got a new brush,” she says. “It’s really exciting.”

Even with such an emphasis on balance in her job, it’s easy for Willis to get carried away with her passion for Pilates and forget to tend to other aspects of her life – hobbies such as gardening and cooking, and spending time with family.

Willis lives with her husband, Steve, and their 10-year-old son, Brandon, in New Albany, where they have a container garden in their backyard and a Reformer in their basement. She also has an adult daughter, Lindsey. Even Steve and Brandon spend time on the Pilates equipment, Willis says.

“My son and he both go down and get on the Reformer,” she says. “They will have the neighbors come over. Brandon is really proud to show his friends Pilates.”

And now that summer’s approaching, Willis is looking forward to continuing last year’s tradition of biking to Market Square for the weekly Farmers’ Market.

“I am so glad that it’s growing here and that more and more people are getting inspired,” Willis says. Visiting the Farmer’s Market and gardening –no matter how small the garden – cultivate a taste for fresh, nutritious food, she says.

Hopefully, she’ll be able to restore balance to her life again.

“It’s just so easy to go to work. It’s not work for me,” Willis says.

Lisa Aurand is editor of Healthy New Albany Magazine. Feedback welcome at editor@healthynewalbany.org.

By Garth