I have been teaching Pilates since 2009, I am not going to lie, back then I was a cardio & weights queen. There was nothing more I loved than getting a sweat on or lifting weights. Teaching Pilates (or even participating in a class) was the last thing on my mind. The woman I worked for at the time was keen to get all her staff trained up to teach Pilates and add more classes to her studio timetable and that is how I came to teach it.
Over the years I have studied many different elements of health, wellbeing and fitness. I am fascinated by the human body and it’s capabilities. I have a BSc in Sport & Exercise Science, I have been an Indoor Cycling Master Trainer, personal trainer, presented at fitness conferences around the UK. Now I am teaching Pilates & Yoga classes and one to one online (thanks to the 2020 Covid-19 situation),
I also have an online health coaching programme The Healing Rebel, I am author of a book 9 Rules to Sort Your Shit, a massage therapist (Swedish, Sports, Dynamic Thai, & Ayurvedic Yoga Massage), an NLP Master Practitioner and all things going to plan, in 2021 I will be educating future generations of Yoga & Pilates teachers.
It could be quite easy to turn up to a Pilates class (in person or online) and leave thinking it was just lying on the floor, moving different parts of the body, and not feel much benefit. And it is, if you don’t have the fundamentals of participating. The chances of you injuring yourself in a Pilates class are fairly low, but it is always massively beneficial to go through the basics to make sure you get the most out of your session and are participating as safely as possible.
It can also feel really intimidating to go into a class where it looks like everyone in there knows exactly what to do and you feel clueless.
I LOVE teaching beginners and I encourage even my most seasoned participants to review and re-do the fundamentals course regularly. Even after all these years of teaching and participating in class I am always learning and feeling new things in my body.
Interesting additional point here about your body: You’re body is super smart, way smarter than us and it’s always looking for ways to preserve energy and go through the path of least resistance. That’s how habits are created. If you drive and have been for some time, you will likely get in the car and not even have to think about what you need to do to get from door to door. Your body just does what it needs to do. Exercise can get like that too, it remembers all the times that you have moved this way before and goes into autopilot.
When we automatically do our exercises without the midbody connection, without concentration, without focus and intention we don’t get the same benefits or results. The brain loves autopilot, your nervous system loves new stuff and stimulation. The nervous system is what feeds the information to your brain and needs to stay active and stimulated so your body can stay active and responsive (use it or lose it).
