We caught up with the brilliant and insightful June Chiang a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
June, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?
Developing resilience has been a process of understanding the relationship between the external world and where and how I fit into it. When life became the most challenging, it was an opportunity for transformation, learning and progress. At other times, business seemed calm and steady, but, beneath the surface I continued to search for ways to move forward with incremental improvements. Both scenarios of crisis and calm are very important for resilience.
In times of crisis, such as the pandemic, the most important thing to remember and the hardest thing to do is to stay calm and believe everything is going to be alright. Panic creates poor decision making and chaos. Equanimity under duress fosters hope for reaching your destiny. I work through emotions and use them as motivating forces to learn and create a more sustainable business model.
When the dust settles after crisis, I start making improvements. It can be as small as rearranging a shelf or writing notes on new exercises or setting up a line of credit. These little improvements add up and build resilience into the business so I can make big shifts when the time comes.
Equally important is to take time to laugh, rest and exercise. Doing Pilates and GYROTONIC© exercise transforms negative energy into positive energy. Setting aside time for physical fitness and mental relaxation help me stay physically and mentally resilient.
Lastly, the willingness to reinvent myself, be brave and be open to change has been very helpful. It is risky. But, resilience and wisdom grow from both making mistakes and having success. Overall, I try to focus on learning, laughing, letting go and believing in the mission to help others have better quality of life through Pilates and exercise GYROTONIC©.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
We have fun and never get bored, because I have a vast array of Pilates and GYROTONIC© equipment and movement modalities to provide challenging exercise routines. Progress is inevitable with time, consistency, focus, and commitment. Students become stronger, more flexible, balanced, connected, and probably most important of all, more confident in their bodies. Privates are the most effective, especially in the beginning stages. Semi-privates allow for more frequent weekly sessions and camaraderie.
Studying the sciences, in particular psychobiology and neurology, has made an immense impact. This background leads to each client encounter becoming a learning scientific experience. I gather data, observe, draw conclusions and make a plan. My training is science based work.
Having worked with children, neuro-divergent and brain injury populations taught me to think quickly and manage compassionately. Each client is unique and it is my job to decipher their physical and mental state and decide what exercises have the most impact.
The variety and novelty in our exercise sessions will stimulate more learning. Students see their own improvement by the end of three months and feel much better in their bodies. Our work goes beyond aesthetics. At Pilates On Robertson, we strive for lifelong changes in the mind-body connection.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
I’ve learned how to stay in the moment during each session and guide each person depending on their immediate performance level and needs. Each day is a new situation with new challenges and goals. This outlook keeps Pilates and GYROTONIC© training fresh, fun and exciting.
Observe, listen and apply, would be my advice to new instructors. Observe good teachers, really listen and be curious about the meaning of their methods. Then apply it to your own work. Keep studying anatomy and biomechanics. And be open and non-judgmental about the clients that approach you. EverBODY can benefit from Pilates and exercise GYROTONIC©!
Before we go, maybe you can tell us a bit about your parents and what you feel was the most impactful thing they did for you?
My Mom taught me so many things. She was a single parent and taught me to be self-reliant, ethical, considerate, generous, and hard working. She always spoke of looking for the silver lining in difficult situations and following your intuition. I have to give her credit for so many healthy attitudes she embodied and taught me. Probably, the most important thing she taught me was how important it is to be able to truly accept and appreciate oneself.
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