Curiosity & Inspiration

Curiosity & Inspiration - Some questions:

 
Are you inspired? Are you a curious person? Where do you look for inspiration? Does this have anything to do with Pilates? and finally… Did curiosity really kill the cat?

photo by NeONBRAND

Let’s start with the last question first - Did curiosity kill the cat?

I don’t think so - not at all!

In the no brainer category of research - that anyone who’s spent time with teenagers could have told you - studies show that young people remember factual information better on topics they’re curious about.

What’s also in the research is that in ageing adults curiosity helps contribute to better cognitive, mental and physical health. Hmmm, curious, no?

That’s great news however, here’s an observation - even though we know curiosity is intuitively a good thing it can get lost and ignored because we’re just too dang busy and caught up in the day to day of living/surviving to pay much mind to it.

I feel lucky 🍀

My life has simplified enough in the last 18 months giving me more space to rediscover things that I used to enjoy doing. Plus I have the time to check out new things that have piqued my curiosity (Animal Flow I’m talking about you!)

yes, that's my cat, Tish

Since we know that curiosity is good for our health it’s important to carve out some time to rediscover things that interest us.

Once we make the time how can we stimulate our curiosity?

Well I see it intertwined with inspiration.

So, where do we look for inspiration?

I don't know about you but things, events, people, ideas all inspire me, If something sounds interesting I might look into it and what I learn might cause me to expand my world view a little bit.

When I discover or hear of something interesting I can go right down some pretty deep rabbit holes but maybe rabbit holes is the wrong metaphor, maybe it should be rabbit warrens instead?

I randomly follow trails, or interesting things that pop up, in what feels like a million different directions getting excitedly curious about each new thing, person, or idea I’m discovering.

I tell myself that I’m expanding my horizons (which I think is mostly true but I do make sure that I'm using reputable sites 😉 ).\

photo by Mikołaj

This blog topic actually popped into my mind from a book I’ve been reading. After reading a review of it somewhere inside a rabbit warren I snagged it from my local library.

(if you didn’t know, I’ve had a love affair with the library pretty much my whole life but over the last several years had fallen out of the habit of having a book or two or five on the go; now I’m back at it and rediscovering reading has been so much fun)

So, the book. It’s not only about music; I’m finding many, many salient points about life and passion, being true and brutally honest with yourself, and the relationships between students and teachers - there’s so much wisdom between the covers (and I am only half way through).

I’ve started to check out some of the things mentioned in the book, for example pieces of music that I'm not familiar with, because they made me curious. I listen to them to see if they inspire me in any way.

I’m also inspired (which I know is twee) by those damn random quotes you find everywhere, especially all over social media. Some of them really resonate with me and here’s one of my recent favourites. It from a box of morning mantras from Lisa Messenger of Collective Hub: Seriously, isn't that great??

Okay, affirmations aside, my curiosity is mostly sparked by something I’ve read, heard on the radio, or been told about by a friend. 

This sends me down, down, down, into the warren where I can start exploring ideas, artists, or people that I wouldn’t naturally be drawn to and see what they have to say. These dives can offer up things to consider that are outside my natural sphere of influence.

(just to be clear, sometimes I'll look at something that I'm really curious about, find it amazingly meh or something I already know, and then try not to waste anymore time on it)

Now for the Pilates connection (finally!)

One thing I love about curiosity & inspiration is how they influence my teaching.

There are heaps of Pilates teachers out there that cause me to re-think what or how I’m teaching and tweak my information delivery or approach with my clients.

However, because I’ve been teaching for so long I’m past the time where I feel like I don’t know anything (although imposter syndrome was very real for a very long time).

I’m not compelled to adhere to any one person’s ideas or do a 180 on my teaching because I know and trust my own mind.

I’d call this overlay of curiosity & inspiration, Discernment.

I tap into my curiosity about the Pilates Method and how best to teach it to find inspiration and after I’ve rabbit warren-ed and researched, apply my discernment to what, if anything, I’m going to change.

BUT, Here’s a really exciting discovery and is maybe the best part of my teaching related curiosity...

Some of the ideas I’m most curious about have absolutely nothing to do with Pilates and the majority of people I discover and get excited about are not Pilates teachers.

So, What I find cool, amazing and inspiring, is that so many things can be applied to Pilates that seemingly have nothing to do with it.

That makes me happy, reminding me of my intertwining blog title: 

Pilates + Life + Health.

So, for your health here's two things to do... Stay Curious & Get Inspired!!!

The information contained above is provided for information purposes only. The contents of this blog are not intended to amount to advice and Rebecca Forde disclaims all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on any of the contents of this post

cover & social photo by moi'