The power of practice in solving back pain

Okay lets be honest here, back pain isn’t always solved, sometimes it is and sometimes it isn’t but what I do know for sure is that mindfulness Pilates ALWAYS helps people feel better. But it isn’t just about going to a one to one or properly taught lesson, it’s about the power of practice.

When someone has a weak back, a weak core stability, which they invariably do after suffering back pain, a back problem and something like a prolapsed disc. Having lessons alone will not fix it. You have to practice, not just practice, but practice the right exercises for you as well as with the right technique and the right level for you.

Some people find, like me that you keep progressing at Pilates, keep gradually improving muscle imbalances, and you gain more and more confidence, but it’s about maintenance for your back. The end of the day, there is damage to my back, and some of it isn’t going to disappear, as much as I believe in the power of positive thinking and doing everything exercise wise to help my back. What I’m personally glad about is that I have quality of life, I manage my back well, but I do really have to look after it. I can’t just be sat here typing and writing to you and having my legs crossed over, NO. That aggrevates my nerves. But what I love about it is it makes you feel better and makes life so much more comfortable and enjoyable.

Other days I teach people and quickly or with a lot of practice and dedication, they actually really do re-gain their quality of life one hundred percent, like my client David. I loved receiving this testimonial today:

‘Complications following a Hernia operation in 2017 meant a sustained period of inactivity from the gym and sport in general. Regaining this strength proved more difficult than initially anticipated resulting in subsequent back-issues being highlighted, namely a prolapsed disc & arthritis in my facet joints. Various stretching and strengthening exercises were recommended by physio’s without any sustained improvement throughout 2018 & 2019 meaning sport was limited specifically golf. Pilates with Bev was recommended to me late in 2019 as a possible route for permanent improvement. My first 1:1 with Bev in the Pure Chill Studio near Whitecliff was arranged in early 2020 with subsequent fortnightly sessions with daily practice in-between. Early March brought the first significant signs of improvement in strength and mobility but unfortunately Covid then brought us to a standstill. Bev encouraged daily practice during lockdown to enforce what we’d already built and by the time golf courses were open again I was able to play a few holes pain free. I am now able to participate in all sports of my choosing without pain, even completing a 36 hole event in early September. I continue to practice Pilates every day. Thank you, Bev” David Talbot

Want to do something about your back pain? You can. But be in no doubt it takes practice, every single day.

Love Bev

Beverley Densham Bsc (Hons) Pilates teacher of 22 years

Life is like the waves of the sea, how to de-stress and relax in 5 minutes

I think the year of 2020 has had everything hasn’t it? Stress and fear galore, in either every capacity or at least in some way for each and every person on this planet. I’m not here to talk about the world situation, but just how hopefully this weeks blog can help you with your mental and emotional fitness as well as your body. 

Life is like the waves of the sea is one of my favourite expressions, there are both good, challenging and sad times of life, am glad to say that mindfulness Pilates can help so much in our daily lives and yes it really is worth doing your Pilates practice daily. But why? Everyone comes to Pilates because of their backs, hips or something physical, it’s much more rare I find in my experience of teaching for 22 years that people come to Pilates to simply de-stress, relax, feel better. Occasionally they do. But something I know does happen is that clients feel better in body and mind, not just the body, and this is truly an exciting thing

This year has brought with it all sorts of challenges, for me extra challenges have been things like my brother Rich dying in the summer, having my work life turned completely upside down, but luckily my determination and ability to switch my business to mostly online has helped me breathe a sigh of relief, but it’s not been easy for anyone at times, for differing reasons. Whatever they are, Pilates and relaxation, meditation always helps.

Pic of my and my brother Rich when we were little.  

So here’s a little helping hand for you to enjoy this week, a 5 minute beach relaxation for you to enjoy at home. & 5 minute relaxation 

Hope this helps. Love Bev

Beverley Densham

pilates teacher of 22 years

Strengthen your core with pilates

The thing is Pilates is so well known for strengthening your core and having good core stability, but what does that mean? And how can you achieve this? Having core stability is all about having good abdominal strength, particularly in the deep abdominals, there is this deep muscle called your transversus abdominus which you use constantly in pilates and the wonderful thing is it also helps support your back too, giving you more back support, strength, the bonus is it makes you feel better and better too having more toned abdominal muscles. How to achieve good core stability?

Well it’s a long and short answer, the simplicity of it is to do the exercises regularly, as in do something every single day of your life is ideal, this doesn’t mean a whole hour. Yes it’s ideal to practice a properly taught one to one or class every week so that you are doing the exercises in a good alignment, posture, but not just that that you are working at a level that you can keep progressing with too.

The nice thing about Pilates is that at a basic and re-habilitation level the exercises are sometimes the same as Physio exercises, or exercises given by a Chiropractor or osteopath.

The thing that’s vital though is doing them with good technique, working the correct muscles, releasing the correct muscles and doing good lateral thoracic Pilates breathing at the same time will also increase your core. Plus you’ll achieve many other benefits too. If you don’t do any exercise or Pilates type exercise, your muscles will just become more and more weak and tight and very likely your posture will be all over the place and that can cause all sorts of aches, pains and problems down the line.

So this weeks exercise of the week is absolutely brilliant, however a LOT of people cheat on this exercise and do it wrong and twist their lower back and don’t recruit their buttock muscles and abdominals enough or properly. So really it is best learnt with a qualified teacher or practitioner.

But here it is the amazing core stability opposite arm and leg exercise for you.

However it’s best to have done a 6 minute pilates warm up first before doing this.  Core stability all fours opposite arm and leg exercise: ‘to strengthen your back muscles, upper body, improve balance, core stability’ Starting position: 

From all fours Hands beneath your shoulders and knees beneath your hips Check your back is in it’s natural alignment, with it’s natural curve of the spine, (most people poke their head to the floor! Don’t do this!).   Breathe in to prepare through the nose, as you exhale through you mouth, scoop your tummy muscles in and slide one leg away on the mat and opposite arm, if you are new to the exercise, just lift your opposite arm and leg an inch off the floor. If you’re a regular, had lessons before and know what you are doing, lift up to maximum hip and shoulder height. Listen to your body. Do what is comfortable for you.  - Hold it breathe in, as you exhale, slowly lower your arm and leg back to starting position - Repeat x 10 repetitions in total  

Afterwards enjoy a gentle back stretch for a few breaths in and out to relax your back and wrists - Lying on your back hug your knees into your chest one at a time,  - Take a few breaths in and out to recover and relax 

Keep moving, keep shining and ENJOY  

Love Bev

Beverley Densham

Pilates teacher of 22 years  To help you with your back and lifestyle

How pilates helps reduce stress levels

and relax

Most people start pilates to help their back or body in some way but more and more people are also loving the benefits pilates has on good mental and emotional wellbeing. Personally I always feel better when I’m either practicing or teaching pilates.

And it’s so nice seeing clients have this simple tool to help them lower their stress levels. More people than ever have felt fear this year due to the world pandemic. This has resulted in increased anxiety. Of course there’s so many approaches and things we can do about this, one is practicing daily pilates and meditation and having a weekly lesson or one to one. Through experience of teaching for over 22 years it works.

This week am treating you to a 5 minute relaxation to help you de-stress and deeply relax: 

enjoy

love Bev

Goodbye hunched shoulders and posture, hello strong confident Pilates posture.

So I just sat there slumped at my desk discovering yet another way I make my neck and shoulders tense, sat at my desk at the computer, about to write this blog. I thought it was time to commit properly to a blog again, why I’ve been resisting it I don’t know, I’m busy, or some other excuse!! Yes I am busy, yet in a good way these days. I realised I was sat there with my hands on the desk, shoulders rounded forward and neck slightly hunched forwards. This is not good posture!! Just being honest that I’m still imperfectly improving on this body and mind thing of mindfulness Pilates, it seems a forever journey of self discovery if you let it. Why not keep learning about yourself and improving to both make yourself feel better, as well as I hope me writing this will inspire you to enquire about your habits both good and bad. (My friend and fellow author Janey Lee Grace has this expression of to keep imperfectly improving!! Thanks Janey, you’re a star!) Now I’m sitting with my legs crossed, I like sitting with my legs crossed!! With my right leg crossed over my left. But sat here long enough sitting like that and my back and nerves will start to complain at me!! Luckily I had enough sense to put a soft pink cushion behind my lumbar spine low back. But then I realised I was sat away from the back of the chair and it wasn’t actually providing the support I was hoping for, so I’ve uncrossed my legs and now my feet have sneaked onto the feet of the chair!!, right… finally I’m going to sit with good posture. I’ve moved my back to the back of the chair next to the soft cushion, my feet are now hip width apart with my feet planted on the floor, my shoulders are as relaxed as they can be whilst I type. That’s better. Although…. I don’t like to sit down for too long as my back prefers to be moving, or sitting on a soft surface, lying down!! Standing or lying on my side.

Have you got some bad posture habits you could rectify in a flash?

Then I realised this morning that I was doing my Pilates on a thin yoga mat, that really is not a first class thing to do at all if you’ve had a back problem like myself. Here are my excuses, my favourite posh thick pink mat is at the studio that I teach at, my other thick mat I managed to leave in the back of a taxi the other day, it to be honest had seen better days so quite a good way to de-clutter it. So as I write, I’m going to pause and buy a new mat. It’s a bright pink thick 15mm pilates mat, extra comfy and now my personal mindfulness pilates practice I do every morning can bring me JOY, as my low back will be very happy about it. I find that especially those of us who have suffered past prolapsed discs have more of a tendency to need a softer and thicker mat. Right…

I’m back, I’ve just ordered a really nice mat. It’s really important you have a decent mat too. Look after your body.

Something clients were all saying this week is that although they’d still practiced regularly, they had lapsed a bit me not teaching them for 3 weeks and weren’t always doing their daily 6 minutes pilates before breakfast practice that they were doing before. Good news we are back this week to normal weekly sessions.

I must admit that I too didn’t do as much Pilates in august and actually a 69 year old client had come back to classes fitter than me!! Is that a shame? No because I’ve at least been doing my daily morning pilates, meditation and my essential spiky ball pilates stretches too, sometimes more with back strengthenings many times a week. But even so less than usual. So you’re not alone on this.

Having lessons definitely keeps up morale, progress and that all important word practice which gives you the results and maintenance we all need. It’s like having a weekly MOT and service Pilates is! For mind and body, for that I will always be grateful for. For me it’s like breathing, eating, sleeping, brushing our teeth, a daily essential tool I can’t live without. I dread to think how I’d feel without it. Thank god!!

By Beverley Densham

Pilates teachers of 22 years

To help you transform your back and body

Ps pic from a lovely outing to some beautiful gardens this summer! I’d just enjoyed a cappuccino, chocolate, read and meditation was bliss!