One of my lovely clients presented me with an amazing Christmas gift last year.  It was a custom made cut out wooden sign,  that said: "Breathe".  She said I was always talking about the importance of breathing,  so she thought this would be a perfect addition to my Pilates studio.  I was overwhelmingly touched by her thoughtfulness and her treasured gift is now on display in my Pilates studio as a constant reminder to everyone just how important breathing really is, not just at Pilates, but it's essential for life itself.  In these uncertain times, with a COVID-19 pandemic that attacks the respiratory system, sweeping the world, being in control of your breath has never been more important.  In this post, I will share with you, a very simple but effective breathing technique to help you maintain calm at this difficult time.

As Joseph  Pilates said 'Breathing is the first act of life and also the last.  Our very life depends on...

Recently I received a distress call from a client, "Help! I've rotated my cuff during my gym session.  When can I come to Pilates?  "  Unfortunately, my client had overloaded her shoulder joint when she lifted a weight that was too heavy for her. Fortunately, she put it back down when she realised,  minimising,  but still causing a minor injury to the rotator cuff muscles of her shoulder.
One of the most commonly occurring issues in my Pilates studio over the years has been injuries to the rotator cuff muscles.  It can affect everyone from young elite athletes to new mothers and the elderly.  Fortunately,  Pilates provides all the necessary tools for both rehabilitating these injuries and preventing further injuries in the future.

What Is The Rotator Cuff?

The Rotator Cuff is a group of 4 muscles, supraspinatus,  infraspinatus,  teres minor and subscapularis that surround and stabilise the shoulder joint.  Each muscle has...

Graham started his Pilates journey with me in May 2007 after his wife Joanna, who had already been practicing  Pilates with me for just over a year, started to experience life-changing results and you can read Joanna's story here.  When Joanna became pain-free with Pilates she began to envision her future filled with amazing experiences and travel adventures such as walking tours in various locations around the world.  I shared her enthusiasm for her new life filled with possibility but raised an important point with her  "What about Graham? He doesn't do any exercise and he has back pain.  You don't want to use your newly gained fitness to push him around in a wheelchair in your old age."  Joanna's face said it all as she realised Graham could prevent them from enjoying an active future of travel.  Less than a week later Graham booked in for an Initial Assessment with me,  and in February 2020,  as he is about to...

Joseph Pilates said "Change happens through movement and movement heals." Many people recovering from an illness, injury, or surgery are still following the outdated idea of "resting" or avoiding movement at all costs and genuinely believe they are giving their body the best chance of recovery.
In 2020 this is, unfortunately, a misguided approach and numerous studies have been conducted that have shown the enormous benefit that movement contributes towards healing.  There are of course some exceptions to this rule and movement should be avoided for conditions such as fractured bones and spinal cord injuries among others for example.  As always you should seek advice from a medical practitioner before commencing a movement program to ensure that movement is appropriate for your condition.

What Is Movement?

Movement is essential for our wellbeing and our survival as a species.  Once we have lost our ability to move through injury, for example, we become completely reliant...

As we leave 2019 behind and head towards a new decade in 2020, this is the perfect opportunity for a more detailed analysis of your health and fitness goals, not only for the coming year but for the entire decade ahead.
Many years ago now, a friend and colleague revealed to me that he was 4 years into his "10 Year Health Plan".   Initially,  I was quite amazed as I was used to setting goals with a 1, 2 or even 3-year timeline,  so 10 years seemed just a bit too organised for me.  Now, as a huge fan of mindfulness,  I'm all for living in the moment however after considering the benefits he received from his plan, I became convinced of the advantages.  There are some things in life you really don't want to leave to chance!

Why Do I Need A 10 Year Health Plan?
As maintaining our health and fitness is something that requires gradual and consistent efforts, you don't want to wake up one day and realise you are failing to maintain your health and rapidly...

Originally, during dissections of cadavers in the anatomy lab, fascia was regarded as little more than ‘packing material’ and discarded in order to get to the so-called “important structures” below.  The First International Fascia Conference was held as recently as 2007 at Harvard Medical school and since then ongoing research has emphasized the importance of the role fascia plays in the body. 

Joseph Pilates' dream was to have his method of exercise taught in every school and every hospital around the USA,  if not the world.  All these years later he could never have imagined how popular his unique method of exercise would become,  but in the modern world,  the need for children's  Pilates classes has never been greater.  Many of my clients who started Pilates well into adulthood have often commented that they wished they had the opportunity to learn these valuable Pilates skills and been educated on how to move their bodies more efficiently as children and their lives would have been so much easier.

"Civilization Impairs Physical Fitness" - Joseph Pilates
Unfortunately, many children are just as sedentary as adults now, due to their overuse of electronic devices.  Whether you are a parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, carer or a concerned friend, we all owe it to the younger generation to guide and encourage them to move as much...