Leslie B.'s story
The last ten years of my life has been focused on discovering my body and how it works. I was diagnosed with a plethora of illnesses due to an unidentified virus that systematically attacked my whole body. My main grievances were, and still are, pain and lack of energy which are attributed to Fibromyalgia and Rheumatoid Arthritis. Since these illnesses are degenerative the pain only got worse and my body only grew more exhausted. At one point I was taking upward of forty pills per day. I was not capable of doing more than was minimally required of me and was frustrated that I could not do more.
The worse the pain got, the harder it became to do daily tasks; exercise became stretching and walks that often resulted in taxi rides home due to exhaustion. My body could not function without the medications and I was in and out of the hospital several times per year. I tried many alternative therapies but many times the medication was the only thing to provide relief. I decided that there had to be a better way.
I had given some thought to Pilates, but it was not until Frog Temple and Pilates Studio moved to Damen Avenue that I decided to try Pilates. Quickly I realized that there were too many medications in my body but it was Pilates that showed me the damage the medication was doing to my system. I stopped doing Pilates and tried to get off some medications and stabilize my body. I loved the atmosphere of Frog Temple and the support that I had received and returned to the studio to take lessons with Tabitha.
After my first 9 am lesson with Tabitha I crawled in bed and did not get up until dinner time. My body had to regain movement that it had lost from years of illness. I pushed myself on bad days because I knew that Pilates movement was the only thing that would make me feel better and alleviate the pain.
The support I have received from everyone in the studio has been overwhelming. Everybody is so kind and helpful. Exercises are constantly altered or adjusted to maximize the benefit for my body. It is through Pilates and massage that I now am off my strong pain medication and take significantly fewer pills. I was able to purchase a town home and worked very hard, with Tabitha, to be stable and have enough energy to make it up all my stairs; I developed a true love hate relationship with the low chair. I have been able to accomplish many things in my life that I thought I would never be able to do again like golf, tennis, climbing stairs and going for long walks.
To many people Pilates is a form of exercise, but to me Pilates is a way of life. The staff at Frog temple is caring and understanding. The instruction is far superior. The movement is life-altering. I have not been in the hospital in almost a year and a half. . My life is mine again but it is a journey that I could have not made without Frog Temple.
