Happy Spring! 

You can imagine why "Spring" is my favorite season of all! We've had an amazing March here at the studio with all kinds of projects underway.  I'm just about to head out on our family's' official Spring Break but wanted to leave you with a compelling message I received this past week. Our monthly theme was "Alignment".  As a health care professional, it can become hard to keep track of why we came to this craft in the first place. Keeping a clear perspective on our goals for our clients and for ourselves can get a bit muddy over time as business and ministerial duties overwhelm the teaching process.  And then, out of the blue, you get a letter like the one below.  Suddenly you are reminded of the most important aspect of your job. Priorities become clear and everything falls into .... well, alignment.  I am so grateful to have been part of a process that inspired one man to write this:

Hey there from Canada. Remember sending me your DVD? I hurt my back and found out I had three lower crushed disks and pain. I was 50 at the time or younger. I have been doing Pilates everyday since and today at 56 have no pain and can run. The thing is I weighed 240, wore 40 pants and xxxl shirts. I was on medications too, which accounted for the weight gain because they were for Bipolar. I'm off the meds and am a healthy 174, 32-34 waist, and rock hard abs. I'm doing other exercises I could not do before. For anyone reading this it takes time, so if I can do it so can you. It helps when the Pilates instructor has Madonna in her class. I advocate self healing with natural methods and eating a healthy diet just like Alycea says in her book. I have the original I got for free at Mont Tremblant bookstore the day they had to carry me off the mountain and I drove to the hospital. Alycea changed my life and I will always be forever grateful. 

Hugs Alycea. - Michael

And a big Thank you back to Michael and to each of you that give your body over to us each and every day in the name of health and wellness. May you all have a wonderful kick off to a fantastic season!

 ~Alycea

What to do with those over-ripe bananas?

We always have bananas in my house and for some reason or another one or two always go brown and my kids refuse to eat them. So, instead of throwing them away, I add them to my muffin recipe, allowing me to add tons of flavor, some extra antioxidants (the more ripe the banana the more they have) and cut down on some of the fat called for in the recipe. I usually toss in a handful of dark chocolate chips (> 60% cocoa ensures more antioxidants and less sugar) and make them in mini muffin tins to allow for instant portion control and easy finger food for all age groups. A great at home staple or super cute to bring on play dates or to family brunches. Always a crowd pleaser!

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins (makes 24 mini muffins or 12 regular)

Ingredients

2 brown bananas
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
3 TBS melted butter
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/3 cup dark chocolate chips
canola oil cooking spray or silicon muffin liners

Instructions:  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Peel the bananas and mush in a medium sized mixing bowl.  Add sugar, egg, and butter and mix well.  Stir in baking soda, powder, salt and flour.  Mix well (I used a fork). Fold in chocolate chips.  Spray the cups of a mini muffin tin or line with liners.  Fill 3/4 full with batter and bake 13-15 minutes, until just golden.  Turn the muffins out onto a cooling rack.    

**To make muffins vegan or for egg allergies: use Earth's Balance Buttery spread for butter and 1 TBSP ground flax seed + 3 TBSP water in place of the egg (let sit 10 minutes).

It's finally time to Spring Forward and what better way to jump into the new season than by rocking our new Spring-amajig collection with our flower logo made completely out of springs! This new collection has everything from mini wallets, IPhone cases, notebooks, and more! Stay refreshed this spring with these oh so adorable Real Pilates Spring drinking glasses!  

Check out the entire Spring-amajig collection on our CafePress site by clicking here!