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30 Minute Small Apartment Pilates Memoir

One of my earliest childhood memories is of my mother jazzercising away in her pajamas along with the local public TV aerobics instructors. Thanks to our relatively spacious family room, she could kick and high step as instructed without breaking the coffee table, or whacking her legs into the couch. I was 5, and I was mesmerized.

In my teeny New York apartment, finding space to exercise at all, let alone jazzercise, gets a bit more challenging. The closest I get to an open area is a spot I can create if I move my coffee table and my arm chair, and unroll my yoga mat half in my living room, and half in the walkway to my kitchen. When I lay down on the mat and extend my arms over my head as directed by Ellen Barrett, of the fabulous "Crunch: Pick Your Spot Pilates" DVD, (to be reviewed below in moments), my hands get a little extra exfoliation courtesy of the coir area rug by my front door.  And when I do my bicycle leg circles, I have to move my armchair all the way into my kitchen to avoid inadvertent injury.  I like thinking of it this way: The furniture rearranging is part of the workout.

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