Weekly Wrap up. Week 3. 2025. Checking in and setting long term plans

but... what about what you are already doing so well?

I spent a really lovely 2 hours with great friend and fellow business owner Lou on Wednesday in our "Content planning" meeting.

We made short work of top quality coffees and cinnamon bun (me) and fruity flapjack (her) while brainstorming and bouncing ideas around. Lou's business is PR in the marine industry so we don't cross over work wise, but we both work for ourselves and have hugley busy work diaries so in addition to the company, it is a welcomed back up and support plus energy and inspiration.

I was working on structuring my day, week, month and beyond. Very grown up and quite scary ( I have already left her a voicenote today, dropping out of one of my agreed actions and am now fighting a bit of guilt/drop out failiure) which links me neatly to what I and all of us need to do.

CHECKING IN.

Have you set goals or resolutions for the year and as we hit "Quitters day" (cue Clare but more of that in due course) are you already chastising yourself? Or maybe you are that person in the class who is always thinking 'I can never do that thing... I am rubbish at this thing"....

How about you just stop and check in for a moment? Rather than what you haven't done, why not just tick off all the things that you HAVE done?

I was practically in tears one Friday before Christmas about allllll the things I hadn't done... and then I dipped into my metaphorical bag of tools and said to myself "what would you say if this was a dear friend, talking like this? You would give them a hug and direct their focus to all the things that they HAD done and ask them to give themsevles permission to let go of some of the things they had not done"....well! I had this little chat with myself as I was heading towards the stairs, and as I set off upwards, I said out loud to myself all the things I had done that day. By the time I reached the landing, I was terribly chuffed with myself. Crisis averted!

It is only a standard staircase - if I lived in something akin to Downton Abbey, who KNOWS what I might have felt ready to conquer?

How about, before the end of January, you make a note of how many classes you are doing, how many times you use the library, what weight you are lifting, how many steps you are doing daily... are you doing "that" exercise with single or double leg? How many reps did you do?

Make a little note, just for your own personal reference. Give it a couple of months or so and then check in... before you feel frustrated at what you CAN'T do, reflect on what you CAN do and perhaps, what you are doing more of or better than before.

It can be a very powerful and empowering tool.

You may choose to just use this as a check in to feel more postive but perhaps, if strength, fitness or mobility are your goals, then a monthly check in is a great way to stay on track, be accountable to yourself and see progresss or see where you need to make changes to enable progress.

"Make your mind your best friend" Jay Shetty.

Now to reconsider asking Lou to ignore that voicenote, and do what I said I was going to do.... or let myself off and focus on all the recording I have done!

What's coming up -

Monday 08.45am - focus on what we need to do to stop our head feeling heavy and our necks aching

ROLLERS - you asked, I deliver. Thursday 9am. Get in touch with any small equipment queries.

All details as ALWAYS are in your LIVE CALENDAR - please go the relevant class and open it to see what we are up to and what equipment you might need!

New in the library -

This week's Monday class - How to avoid a knee replacment part 1. Fortunately I am a physiology nerd and love researching plus have a wonderful physio client who has been really generous with her time so there will be a lot more still to come.

Please note this (and subsequent) classes of this theme will be found in the newly titled "Happy hips and Love your knees!"

I am planning a walk and hot chocolate for Saturday 22nd Feb. I will email you details and Clare and I hope to see as many of you as possible :)

RESET CHALLENGE.

Our very own Clare is offering a 15 day reset challenge starting today. For more info, get in touch with Clare or with me and I can direct you.

AND Finally

Health and fitness can be a "most of the time" thing. It does not have to be an "all of the time" thing.

Don't speak negatively about yourself, even as a joke. Your body doesn't know the difference. Words are energy and they cast spells - that is why it is called spelling.

Change the way you speak about yourself and you can change your whole life .

Bruce Lee.

Have a great weekend everyone x

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So, you ran the London Marathon.... what next?

By juliet • May 7, 2026

In the words of Holly Willoughby, "first of all, "how are YOU?".

The Zanzibar Yoga Festival

By juliet • April 28, 2026

Members news. Week upcoming : Bank Holiday Monday - class running as usual and this coming Wednesday, 2 x 30 min classes. Details in library. As I am away a few days here and there in May/June, I will continue to put in extra classes now and then to keep everyone topped up. It's all about give and take! Following on from requests this week, upcoming we have a Roll over/Control Balance workshop (Thursday 8am), Back care (Thursday 9am) and Body Conditioning, sculpt and tone style (Wed 8am). All updates will always be in your live calendar. We welcome 4 new members this week and can't wait to see you on the screen! We can now add Portugal to our community! That means that currently, we are beaming into the UK from Cornwall to Yorkshire, Spain, Italy, Greece, France, Germany and now Portugal! We are so much more than Pilates and our community continues to support in so many ways. While a couple of our treasured members are going through some hefty challenges, I am so pleased that you use our online connection as a form of support and to use the friendship of your fellow members. Don't forget you can log in 15 mins early for a natter before class and on Thursdays, I will leave the meeting open after we finish the 9.45am class for anyone to stay on and have a chat. Grab a coffee and log back in even if you weren't in the class. If you would like to join our "Friends of JP's" what's app group , let me know - we are slowly growing and it is a friendly place for a chat and check in, (and a grumble about how tough the class was!). Have a lovely weekend, Jx

Sitting in Southampton airport and other stuff

By juliet • April 9, 2026

I want to keep it as on point and brief as I can and here are some cold, hard facts. Doing SOMETHING is a lot better than doing NOTHING! Whatever equipment you use and program you follow is far less important than the fact that you show up. Regularly and consistently. Only 30% of adults meet the resistance training guidelines and this drops to as low 10% for older adults. What is required? Training all major muscle groups at least once a week Aiming for 2 - 3 sets per exercises Using a weight that is getting challenging by the end of the set Moving through full range of movement. Now, why this is good news is that this can be acheived in whatever form of exercise takes your fancy and over here on our Pilates mat, we tick a lot of those boxes. Going into the 100 and wishing for the end, sitting tall in your Spine Twist and pushing for JUST ONE MORE rep is meeting this! We go through full range of movement, we use bodyweight as well as small equipment, so even if you are not lifting weights, you are doing your bit. (N.b. provided this is min. 3 times a week and you are pushing yourself to max ability in each of those sessions in one way or another and bringing in bands, small weights etc for additional resistance) WHAT COUNTS BODYWEIGHT EXERCISES AT HOME BANDS, BALLS, BODY WEIGHT, LOOPS A QUICK EXPRESS SET WHEN YOU GET BACK FROM YOUR RUN/WALKING THE DOG 15 MINS IN THE KITCHEN - YOU DON'T NEED TO COMPLICATE IT IT DOESNT NEED TO BE FANCY, STRUCTURED OR ELABORATE. IT JUST NEEDS TO HAPPEN Generally ALL types of resistance training work, as long as they are performed with high efforts which means that you get to a point where you are almost at failure. In other words, choose what you enjoy as you are more likely to stick to it and work harder at ut. CONSISTENCY IS KEY and the BEST exercise programme to do is the one you enjoy and will be more likely to stick at! MEMBERS. We have multiple classes involving strength and resistance every week. NON MEMBERS - I am just putting dates together for another 4 week strength program. Please email me if you are interested. More details to follow (I am delighted to be starting a 4 week strength training session with my local running club so I really am doing my best to share the love! )

Why runners need to lift weights

By juliet • April 8, 2026

Let's start with Improves balance and coordination Improves bone density Boosts metabolism and weight management Enhances mental health Helps with daily activity A few more?! Improves posture by strengthening your core and back muscles Reduces risk of injury by strengthening joints, ligaments, and tendons Helps regulate blood sugar levels and lowers risk of type 2 diabetes Improves sleep quality and helps you fall asleep faster Enhances athletic performance (speed, power, endurance) Slows down age-related muscle loss (sarcopenia) The ACSM (American college of Sports Science) is the bible of the fitness world with regards to fitness and exercise prescription and has recently done a huge survey, publishing it’s findings in a new report which has got the fitness world very excited as it is the first survey of it’s kind since 2009.