Season 2, Episode 2: Why am I really doing this?

Tania Huddart: Somewhere along the line, we started using exercise as punishment. We do fifteen repetitions. We walk ten thousand steps. We do the numbers, and we push through, and we never stop to notice how it feels. To me, movement should feel joyful. More like an adventure. And if you're teaching it, I think it should feel like that for you too.

Host: Welcome to Build Confidence and Purpose with Pilates. I'm here with Tania Huddart: Pilates teacher, teacher trainer and author of Pilates & Purpose. Both voices you'll hear are made with AI. Every word Tania says is her own, and she's approved each one.

Last time, we talked about the gap between doing the exercises and teaching them. Today we go back a step, to the question underneath. Why am I really doing this?

Tania Huddart: It's the question that holds everything else up. And most teachers skip it.

Host: Why do they skip it?

Tania Huddart: Because it feels like a luxury. You've just qualified. You need clients. You need classes. Sitting down to think about your purpose feels like something you'll do later, once you're busy.

But it isn't a luxury. It's the foundation. There's a line I love from Nietzsche: "He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how." When you know your why, you find the courage to make decisions. You can set goals that excite you. And you keep going when things get hard, or when someone doubts you.

Host: Does it change the teaching itself, though? Or just how you feel about it?

Tania Huddart: Both. When you're clear on why you teach, you attract the clients who suit you. The ones who fit your personality and your strengths. And your teaching gets clearer, because you know what you're trying to give people.

A teacher who knows why she's there teaches differently. She isn't performing. She's paying attention. Clients can feel that, even if they couldn't tell you what it is.

Host: What does it look like when it's missing?

Tania Huddart: Teaching starts to feel like a chore. You know your stuff. You've done the training. But you're struggling to get across what you already know. And the temptation is to go and get more theory. Another course. Another certificate.

You don't need more high-level theory. It starts with getting your confidence back. And your confidence starts with knowing why you're there.

There's something freeing in that, too. When your clients are successful, you're successful. So your why doesn't have to be about you being impressive. It can be about them.

Host: So what's yours? Why do you teach?

Tania Huddart: I'm a teacher at heart. I always have been. I started as a dance teacher, and I've taught movement for more than thirty years.

Part of it is the puzzle. Every body is different. Every person hears things differently. I love working out how to reach someone.

And part of it is much simpler. I love the noises the springs make. They calm me down and bring a smile to my face. And I see that same reaction in my clients. That small moment of ease. That's a lot of my why, right there.

And some of it came out of my own body. I was getting injured teaching dance, and Pilates helped me. Then I met people who weren't dancers, whose bodies didn't move like mine, and I wanted to help them too. Your own story is usually where your why starts. Look there first.

Host: That's a very small thing to build a career on.

Tania Huddart: It's the small things that last. Pilates has given me relationships, and a community. Moving with other people is such a rich and rewarding experience. I've been lucky enough to learn from and teach so many people. I'd need an entire forest to thank all the teachers and clients who've taught me something. That's what keeps me in the room.

Host: How would a newer teacher find theirs? Because "I love Pilates" is probably where most people start.

Tania Huddart: It is. And that's a good start. But it's not quite a why yet. Your why will be different from mine, and different from the teacher next to you. You find it by asking yourself some honest questions, and writing the answers down.

There's a set of them in the book. Let me give you a few. What can you do to make other people's lives better? What do people ask you to help them with? What makes you forget about the time?

And the one I love most. Why do people usually thank you? Because that's often your why, hiding in plain sight. Other people can see it before you can.

There are others too. What would you teach, if you had the chance to teach anything? What makes you go the extra mile? Take them one at a time. Grab a journal and a quiet half hour. Don't rush them.

Host: And then what do you do with the answers?

Tania Huddart: You write a purpose statement. A sentence or two. Not for a website. For you. Something that makes you feel grounded and excited at the same time.

When you read it back, you should feel your feet on the floor. And you should want to go and teach. If it does one of those things and not the other, keep going. You're not there yet.

Host: You talk in the book about curiosity as part of this. How does curiosity connect to purpose?

Tania Huddart: Because your clients have a why too. And when you get curious about theirs, the whole class changes.

Why do people want to move better? Sometimes it's to sit on the floor and play with their grandchildren. Sometimes it's to keep walking, or keep playing golf, for as long as they can. Those are real goals. They're not "do the Teaser perfectly".

The most important thing is that your client feels heard and understood. Then you work out together what's possible.

Host: That sounds like it takes some pressure off the teacher.

Tania Huddart: It takes a lot of pressure off. When you're curious, you're no longer the expert standing at the front, alone. You're working as a team to solve their movement puzzle. Your expertise still shines through. You use what you know to guide them. But you don't need to know everything.

And you can't know everything. Knowing every condition a client might walk in with isn't realistic. It's crippling to even try. New research keeps coming. Our knowledge keeps moving. You learn as you go. Clients came to you for help, and you can give that help in your own way.

And curiosity helps them, too. It helps them take ownership of how they move. They start finding ways to move better in their everyday lives, when you're not there. They learn to trust themselves, instead of getting stuck on what they can't do. That's what you want. A client who doesn't need you in the room to move well.

Host: You said in the cold open that exercise has become a kind of punishment. Can you say more?

Tania Huddart: Our culture is very focused on doing. We do fifteen repetitions. We do ten thousand steps. We do the numbers, and we push through, and we never think about what it felt like. And all the time, we think we're doing something worthwhile.

There's a difference between doing an exercise and experiencing movement. When you're curious, you don't have to make yourself move. It isn't a thing on a list any more. You choose to move because it makes you feel alive.

I love exploring different ways my body can move. Being stuck in set routines or numbers feels restrictive and boring to me. And I've never once wished a client would just count better.

Host: So what does that look like in an actual class?

Tania Huddart: Three things. The first is choice. Give people a couple of options for the same movement, and let them pick the one that feels best. Change your words, too. Say "I wonder what would happen if…" rather than "Can you…" or "You should…". It's a small shift, and people feel it.

The second is that it doesn't have to look pretty. Exploring a new way to move can look a bit unflattering. That's OK. How it feels matters more than how it looks. There's no wrong way to move.

And the one people forget is judgement. Clients compare themselves to you, and to the person on the next mat. Make it a place where they can stop doing that, and just notice what their own body needs.

Host: Let's come back to the teacher. What if you find your why, and then realise your week doesn't look anything like it?

Tania Huddart: That happens a lot. And it usually comes down to values.

Your values are your heart's deepest wishes about how you want to live. They're not your personality, or what comes easiest to you. They're the compass you use to make decisions.

So if family is your top value, but you're teaching early mornings and late evenings six days a week, something will start to hurt. You might feel anxious, or unsettled, and not know why. Your values and your reality have drifted apart.

Host: How do you work out what your values are?

Tania Huddart: There's a simple exercise in the book. You look at a long list of values. Love, freedom, family, adventure, calm, honesty, humour, and plenty more. You pick the ten that matter most. Then you rank them. Then you keep looking until you've got five that feel true.

And then, this is the brave part, you ask three people who know you well to rank them for you. Sometimes they see you more clearly than you see yourself. Does their list change how you see your own?

It also helps to notice where your values came from. Your mother's. Your father's. Someone you respect. The world around you. Some of them you'll keep. And some you'll realise were never really yours.

Host: And once you know, then what?

Tania Huddart: Then you can see which parts of your life need more attention. You can plan what to put first. You might say no to some things. That's allowed. Sometimes your values ask you to choose.

And your purpose statement sits on top of all of it. It tells you why you teach. Your values tell you how you want to live while you do it. Write it in pencil. It's allowed to change as you do.

Host: And how do you turn a why into something you actually do on a Tuesday?

Tania Huddart: Small steps. Write down the big goal. Then break it into little ones, and ask a few questions of each. What do I want, in plain words? How will I know I'm getting there? Do I have the time and the energy and the skills, and if not, what comes first? Does this step lead where I want to go? And by when?

Then review them, tick them off, and celebrate. Decide on your reward before you start. It doesn't have to be big. A coffee with a friend. A bubble bath. Something that lights you up. You'd do that for a client. Do it for yourself.

Host: So for someone listening on their way to teach, three things to take away?

Tania Huddart: One. Your why is not a luxury. It's what holds you up when the teaching gets hard.

Two. Find it with honest questions, and write it down. Start with the easy one: why do people thank you?

Three. Your clients have a why too. Get curious about it. They're not there to do numbers. They're there to live their lives.

Host: And a question to sit with?

Tania Huddart: What makes you forget about the passage of time? Notice it this week. That's usually a clue.

Host: If you'd like all six of the questions Tania uses to find your why, they're free on her website, taniahuddart.com. It's one page, with room to write your answers and your purpose statement underneath.

Next episode, we take on the feeling a lot of teachers don't say out loud. I feel like a fraud.

Tania, last word?

Tania Huddart: You don't need a perfect answer. You just need an honest one. Find your why, and the rest gets a little easier to carry.