No Bake Peanut Butter & Dark Chocolate Energy Bites

This is my new favorite snack to throw together!  Thanks to our client Kelly Hall in Las Vegas for sharing the recipe and making some for me while I was teaching a certification course at The Green Room Pilates in Henderson, NV.  The best part about these (besides their deliciousness) is how easy it is to customize them to fit your preferences and needs.  I have made them using almond butter or peanut butter, agave syrup, dark chocolate chips,  pumpkin flax cereal, and I love to throw in a raw fiber mix from 'The Garden of Life' to get some extra fiber.  You can add protein powder, dried fruits, coconut, carob powder or cocoa powder, and anything else you can think of!  Just store them in the fridge and grab one or a few on the go.  So easy!

Ingredients 

Yields about 40 pieces, depending on how big you make them

2 cups oatmeal
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut
1/2 cup brown rice cereal 
1 1/4 cup peanut butter
1 cup flax seed meal 
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
1/2 cup honey
1 tablespoon dark chocolate powder, optional, I did not use this on this batch but I will on the next

Mix all of the ingredients in a bowl. Refrigerate for about 1 hour. Roll into balls about 1-2 inch in diameter. Store in an airtight container and keep refrigerated for up to 1-2 weeks.

Adapted from gimme some oven

Kelly shared the recipe from the blog 'Eat Good 4 Life'.

Mastering your Pilates cues

Scoop out your abdominals!  Make that 'C' curve with your spine!  Feel like you're tightening up a belt!  Imagine a fire under your belly and you have to pull your abs away from it!

Do you ever struggle to find a cue that resonates with your client?  I think we have all discovered that a cue that makes perfect sense to one client means nothing to another, or even seems confusing or ridiculous!  Imagery is extremely effective for many people in finding the right connection in their body, but how do we find the right cue for the right person?  I actually had one student in a course ask if there were any books completely made up of cues for different exercises in Pilates.  I did some research on the internet and found some great articles and even an online group where we can share our favorite cues with each other to try out on our clients or in group classes.

I also suggest making note of what cues work really well with your private clients.  I always try to keep a record when a client says something like, "Wow, that really helped when you said that", or if they suggest something on their own that they like to think about during a particular exercise.  If you're teaching a group class, think about writing down specific cues that you'd like to try out with certain exercises.  Consider asking your group class clients if that/those cue(s) helped them or made sense to them.

Many clients don't like to hear all the technical jargon involved in the exercises, which is why having a cache of cues is so helpful and important.  Then, practice using them!  Try these articles for more ideas about how to cue and why it is so important.  If you have any cues that you have found particularly effective, be sure to leave them for us in the comments.

http://www.pilatesdigest.com/the-art-of-cueing-oh-those-words/

http://pilates.about.com/b/2011/02/25/cues-and-images-that-lift-our-pilates-practice.htm

http://www.ideafit.com/fitness-library/successful-cuing-for-pilates

http://www.pilates-pro.com/pilates-pro/2008/5/15/the-art-of-pilates-cueing.html