Weekly wrap up. Week 26. 2025.

Why do YOU do Pilates?

I am asking! Why do YOU do Pilates?

In my humble opinion, Pilates attendees tend to fall into 1 of 3 categories. There are those who have heard about and researched what it can do and are totally invested in the results they know they will enjoy. There are those who have been advised from their physiotherapist or osteopath or similar to take some action to recover from or avoid an injury, Then there are those who do it maybe because they think they should or because it's in vogue or because they think it is a slow and gentle option.

The first group are of course, a joy to work with. As I am totally open to, you do not need to love Pilates in order to love what it does for you and how it improves and enhances all the activities that you do love.

The second group will sometimes be somewhat reluctant although these days pretty much everyone has heard of the benefits and many, many teachers have found their way to a new career in teaching this form of exercise from initially being prescribed Pilates to help with an issue or injury. This group (again, IMHO) quickly move into group 1.

The last group will hopefully benefit and learn to enjoy what Pilates can do for them and be converted! .

So which one are you? Do you come to Pilates in order TO DO PILATES or because the class fits around your schedule or because you know it helps you in so many other areas of your life or because your friends are doing it? Which one are you?

Exercise and movement is essential for a healthy body and provided you are moving, you are (let's hope) doing good. However many, many people who are doing Pilates are not doing Pilates! It never ceases to amaze me how many people expect to stretch and relax and are surprised and even complain when they have to work hard. An experienced teacher will be able to adapt and modify so that everyone can work at an appropriate level but lie down and stretch it is not and if you are hoping for that, perhaps you need to rethink what you book in to.

Results in any area take hard work, discipline, commitment and patience so in order to see the many gains that Pilates provides takes a regular attendance and commitment.

There are loads of exercise classes where you turn up, do your thing and leave. I have been to and still attend lots of exercise classes like this and love them.

However.... Pilates is more than that and I really do my best to convey that in my classes. That I want you to learn about your body, how it moves, where the weakness or imbalance is, where the focus is, how to breathe and so much more.

There are now SO many Pilates studios popping up and in the industry, we are all having discussions about the damage these "express qualifications" are doing. Having slogged for years and years to get to where we are, (and to continue in upskilling, refresher training and personal development not to mention ongoing R&D), we are not in support of a weekend course to give a certificate. The concern is that The Method, or the orginal work is slowly getting diluted.

The wonderful thing about Pilates is how it cross pollinates into so many areas of your life with regards to mind body connection, balance, coordintion. controlled movement, improved posture and so much more.

If your Pilates teacher is not explaining the principles, fundamentals and referencing The Method in one way or another, you are very possibly not doing Pilates. You may be having a fabulous class and be taken very good care of in a safe exercise environment but perhaps have a think about what you want and why. If you want to do Pilates, please make sure you are with a teacher who teaches Pilates!

And maybe, if you are not really interested in Pilates per se, then perhpas in the first instance try a different teacher as you may just not have connected and failing that, fair enough! It's just not for you.... I love pretty much all sports but I can never see me on a golf course as it looks duller than dull while friends of mine adore it. We are all so different.

What is coming up.

Our Summer lunch is going to be parked up as so many of you are busy or away BUT I have a fabulous event for you to look forward to in the Autumn. A day of wellness and relaxation on the Isle of Wight. Watch this space.

Our next Teatime Talk is on Tuesday 15th with Dr. Vix Manning. Please put the date in your diary and head to the relevant page on my website to see what you can look forward to. Vix will be talking about her recently published book about all things inflammation.

I am heading off to Athens for a refresher training week from next Friday with my guru Michael, so please remember some adustments to the timetable.

Thank you for your feedback regarding class catch up's. I hope you will appreciate that you have a very busy library to access whenever live classes are not running , but please see a couple of extra Monday morning classes later in July ( I will mention them again nearer the time) and I will be adding a few others here and there as we move into Summer.

In the meantime I have been very busy recording, editing and uploading new content to the library. New content is easy to find as it is all listed in date order with newest first and by this evening, members you can find the following FIVE classes added -

All levels - rollers

Mixed abilty - pure mat

magic circle and light weights

Strength - Functional strength all levels, Int/adv Arms and Abs strength training

(Don't forget to click on the drop down arrow , top left in each collection to open up all the content).

Finally... there is a really serious heatwave forecast so please stay hydrated and in the shade! I will update on beach classes next week as always and update the live calendar accordingly.

Lastly... "The gap between what you love and how much time you spend doing it will be the size of your unhappiness."

Have a great weekend,

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