The way I teach Pilates isn’t bootcamp style, you certainly aren’t going to sweat and strain. That doesn’t mean you can’t reap huge benefits, in fact the opposite, you can, well with regular practice you can! And I’m certainly here to motivate you and be your cheerleader and help you progress in your Pilates, however in a gentle way.
My style of teaching is very much a gentle, kind, nurturing, very super relaxing, caring way of doing Pilates, with the smells of gorgeous essential oils in the background such as lavender essential oils so you really can switch off from the world for an hour, but not just an hour, to learn how to take this incredible form of exercise into your week, into your ethos and into your daily (hopefully!) practice.
Because I really do encourage you to practice inbetween your lessons, not just a bit but daily and to incorporate Pilates into your daily lifestyle.
When I say practice, I am realistic, is there anyone who actually does an hour at home. No. Do I? No, but what I do is practice daily and encourage you to do 5 minutes a day and 5 minutes relaxation and go from there.
Sadly, pain is a very motivating factor, so if you’re going through severe stress, pain or dis-ease in some way, more likely you’ll be more likely to be motivated to practice to receive a more positive change in your body, mind, mindset and happiness. Because Pilates really can be part of getting your life back or finding a new quality of life that it is rich with happiness. It might not be what you used to do, however you can find new things as well to enjoy and be grateful for.
My one to ones, classes and retreats are to help you feel good as a whole, I was excited this week that someone with chronic fatigue contacted me about Pilates, because I used to have that and it’s joyful that with a holistic approach you may find you can improve things a lot.
Pilates is not just about the body, although everyone seems to come along initially for their body, other benefits are huge or very good usually, especially when you learn to listen to your body in your lessons.
You don’t have to do Pilates at an advanced level to get super toned with Pilates. This is a myth. Most of the time I do beginners to intermediate pilates and I’m nice and toned, a great feeling, and this is achievable for you and everyone, it’s just about having a good teacher and practicing regularly! That’s it. Pretty simple really.
Of course it’s good to combine your Pilates alongside cardiovascular exercise, even if it’s just going for regular or daily walks. It all counts brilliantly. We aren’t designed to sit around all day! Definately not. Let alone the abundance of technology thats out there today!
Doing beginners to intermediate Pilates is enough, yes you can throw in some advanced ones too, in a safe way for you when you’ve built up to it. These days I just avoid a whole load of advanced exercises or ones that compress or load the discs in the spine, they are a no-no for me and equally I make sure my clients do the right ones, avoiding the ones that can aggrevate.
Listening to your body in relation to how your body is and how your life is going at the time mentally ,emotionally, in your life, work, body and everything is SO important. Just because you’ve got to a certain level doesn’t mean you do that level every week, of course you need to mix it up and enjoy variety, but also if you’re going through a period of big change, a loss or stress, this needs to be taken into account.
Look after YOU, listen to YOUR body and the rest will take care of itself.
Enjoy this gentle back stretch at home
Each day, each week, each month, each year and each decade you can get fitter and stronger with Pilates and perhaps and most likely much happier too.