Weekly Wrap up. Week 31. 2024. Away at the Show.

Weekly wrap up. Week 31. 2024

The New Forest Show week.

I have been away, playing hooky for a few days during what is one of my absolutely favourite weeks of the year. I love the New Forest Show and it has been a part of my life for my whole life. I remember walking round holding my mother's hand, already obsessing over the horses, I had a few minor appearances in the Prince Phillip mounted games teams before pushing my own children around in pushchairs and beyond. I still have a corn dolly standing in my office that my younger daughter made when she was very young and many, many memories.

We were standing ringside once, when my girls were around 6 and 8, watching the stunt riders. An elderly couple were chatting to my daughters as we watched the rider standing up on the back of a galloping horse, before leaping side to side to side over it's back and hanging upside down from it's neck. My eldest turned to the couple with a totally deadpan expression and with absolute conviction stated "We do all that at pony club"....

We had another time when my youngest aged around 6 or 7 was transfixed watching a portly, older gentleman take quite some time to set up his shooting stick, opening out the top and pushing it into the ground before slowly and with much deliberation, lowering himself down to sit. Unfortunately he missed and ended up flat on his back with his feet in the air and before I could even reach him to help him, youngest daughter gave a squeal, clapped her hands and said "That was so funny - could you do it again?"

I spent 10 years or more, standing for Naomi House Children's hospice and we had the year when the wind was so strong that we were all trying to stop the marquee blowing away and I had a very memorable year on the New Forest District council stand, as part or the team from the Recreation centre where I taught. Prince Edward was coming as our guest of honour and we were all on spinning bikes with the plan that we would all be pedalling full speed. We were in a marquee on a very hot day and he was running late. We were not allowed to get off and there were frequent shouts of "He's coming" and we would be madly pedalling again before being told it was a false alarm. When he did finally arrive, he came over to speak to me. I have a photo somewhere (can't for the life of me, find it atm) of me absolutely beetroot red, with sweat dripping off my nose, half collapsed off the bike after over one hour of spinning, while HRH comments on what a marvellous job we are doing...

Now I am part of a steward's team on the information and trade stands section. Can you believe there are over 500 volunteer stewards and we are all there because we love our New Forest, we love the show and we are all passionate about what we support.

To be fair, I have never been that passionate about directing people to Sandra's satins or advising of the timings on the bandstands and asking traders to get their vehicles off the showground before we open every morning can be tricky but I love every minute. I have had a week of 5.30am alarm calls and the only live Olympics I have seen thus far is the swimming in the evenings (and Andy Murray,... I know I was very tired last night, but I cried my eyes out, not least when Clare Balding cried too)!

On the Monday evening, around 8pm, before the show started on the Tuesday, I walked around the showground with Bertie and Gretl who had been there for the 3 set up days and it felt like Christmas Eve. The anticipation, everything spick and span and perfect, waiting for the onslaught.

We are there for emergencies (lots of faintings - the first two were very close together in front of the soft toys stand and I did wonder if perhaps the itmes were vastly over priced?) and answering queries and giving directions. Most people are charming and lovely but some are less polite and.. well.. my two favourite personal interactions are as follows -

Him - I want the dog show - is it in the canine area?

me - no, it's in the rabbit pavilion.

Him - really?

me - no. obviously not.

And...

Where are the pigs?

There aren't any pigs at the show

There aren't any pigs at the show?

No there aren't any pigs at the show.

No pigs?

(under breath - FFS) No, there are no pigs. We have horses, cows, sheep, poultry, rabbits, birds of prey, hounds, working dogs, ferrets...

But no pigs?

No, no pigs...

Any lamas?

My absolutely favourite closing memory is at the end of the last day, utterly exhausted. We were all sat around the table in front of our little hut and a man wandered over and demanded rudely to know where the nearest bar was. No-one managed to stand up and everyone pointed. It's just that everyone pointed in a different direction. So, so funny.

Another job is to distribute parcels. Stalls may get new stock delivered and we collect it in a buggy and it is driven around the ground to find it's relevant stall. It really brought it home to me, how beneficial our strength classes are. I was perfectly happy lifting and loading the boxes and was quite shocked at the lack of strength in so many people who struggled with the weight. The other thing that was really brought home sadly, was the obesity situation. Sitting watching Joe Public walk by and my goodness, we have a major obesity crisis. Not overweight, not plump but obese. We have to keep moving - make better food choices and keep moving. It really is very worrying.

One thing I would really like to share with you is the story of the Lumberjills. There is a vintage area for farming and last year we had a lovely Land Girls stand. This year I met Joanna Foat. She works for the Forestry Commission and discovered the story of the Lumberjills and before you ask who were they, that is exactly the point. Thanks to Joanna, their story is now heard and they were finally recognised.

In WW2, these amazing women - nurses, hairdressers and such like, were climbing and felling trees, chopping and logging. They had to learn this very complex and dangerous trade and learn it they did. Did you know that at the start of the war we imported over 95% of our wood and it was for this reason that the Forestry Commission was set up shortly after the war ended, in order to be better prepared. We were played an archive BBC clip where the commentator jovially remarks on how the women are now swinging axes where as before all the had swung "were their handbags".... there was one story of a lumberjack challenging the ability of a lumberjill - she took up the challenge and refused to give up and between them, going head to head, they felled ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY trees. In one day.

Thanks to Joanna, these ladies were finally recognised in 2008 by Gordon Brown but sadly the medals they were awarded were those of the Women's Land Army and not the two crossed axes and fir tree of the Lumberjillls but it was a start and since then, they have been documented on Women's hour, Countryfile and more. If you are interested, do buy the book "Lumberjills" by Joanna Foat.

Our very own Judy was in the Bees and Honey tent and I learned from her about the Asian hornet problem and why it is a risk for our bees. I will write about this and ask Judy to check before I share next week and how we can all help.

I finished the show watching the Heavy Horse drive and it always makes me well up... I just love the grace and the pride they show. As soon as I hear those familiar tunes, I get a lump in my throat.

What else?

The August Challenge is in the library and to support it, I am adding more bite sized, exercise snacks to the Snack bar in the library. There are lots of different options to choose from and include stretch, mobility and cool down as well as more challenge.

LIBRARY

The classes are loaded in the library in date order with the newest at the top. If there is a class you particularly like, I suggest you make a note of the date it was put up (as I know some of the class names are similar) and that way, you will be able to easily find your favourites. I hope this will make it much easier to work around.

Other stuff.

How amazing are our equestrians? 3 Day eventing GOLD, Showjumping GOLD.... (perhaps best not to mention the Dressage) and our wonderful rowers and isn't Alex Yee unstoppable.

After our wonderful divers, I am going to have get a bit more creative to include this as I am preparing my humble little Paris Olympics on the Mat class for Carfest and will be inviting you to join me for a practise run through soon!

I flicked the tv on to watch the games while I write this and all I had on offer was the BMX racing. I don't really have any more to say about that to be honest (apart from, I mean honestly, does anyone take it seriously? )

A post I saw and wanted to share with you..

Want stronger bones? Lift weights

Want a better physique? Lift weights.

Want to avoid type 2 Diabetes? Lift weights

Want a better mood? Lift weights

Want to protect your brain? lift weights

Want to burn fat? Lift weights

Want to be strong? Lift weights

Want to reduce inflammation? Lift weights

Want better balance? Lift weights

Want better posture? Lift weights.

Please note no live classes on Thursday. There are masses of new classes for you to choose from in the library.

Finally

When you are younger, it is easy to underestimate how fleeting the days can be. Each choice matters Each day matters.

When you are older, it is easy to underestimate how much opportunity you still have. Don't talk yourself out of it. It's never too late to start.

One of these weeks, I will finally learn to write our weekly wrap up before Friday but in the meantime here we are!

Have a wonderful weekend.

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By juliet • May 19, 2025

What does being healthy mean to you? I don't suppose any of us set out to be deliberately unhealthy. We may continue a behaviour that we know is not good for us, but we don't actively choose poor health. We may grumble that we ought to do more exercise of make some changes to our diet, but I am asking you to stop for a moment and just think - what does "being healthy" or "living a healthy life" mean to you? I know for most of us, our default opinion will be towards diet, exercise, relaxation and sleep and yet is it not so much more vast than that? What about the term "unhealthy relationships" or working "in a toxic environment" to name just two examples of things that affect our health but have nothing to do with what we eat or how much we move. I had an insanely "healthy" weekend this one just gone. I did a couple of really good training sessions, I had an afternoon nap, walked in the forest in the late afternoon sun with the dogs and ate so well that if you cut me I would probably bleed raw vegetables. When I sat down to watch some t.v. I flicked over to a true crime documentary on Netflix. Now, I am the QUEEN of crime dramas, be it reading them, watching them... I would probably be quite an asset to the SOCOS, truth be told with my eagerness to establish who last saw the victim alive and protecting the crime scene, (although the waste of single use and throw rubber gloves is of some concern - can we find something more environmentally friendly?). When I was running one of my retreats in Turkey, one of our guest's husbands was a detective actively working a murder case that week and I was only too willing to offer my extensive knowledge on procedures (not taken up, bizarrely!). Yet here I was watching this hideous documentary and finding my peaceful, happy mode deteriorate towards something quite dark and I just stopped it to wonder what on earth I was doing. I had to flip it around and instead go full immersion into a podcast on The Archers, itself quite dramatic but in a much less gruesome way (although Peggy's will is a worry but so too is her entire family's attitude - poor woman has not yet gone cold in the ground and they are doing their sums). I talk to people a lot about health and wellness. Of course I do. It's my business, a passion and interest of mine and I always feel privileged when someone chooses to discuss concerns with me and I reiterate - what does being healthy mean to you? We need consistency in our lives in order to carry us over the lows as well as the boring bits - the highs can often take care of themselves but they will always have a downhill or at least a flat bit to follow. Sometimes, the boring is good - some familiar, chugging along, recharge and just hum drum normality but the lows are what are going to be the challenge. So maybe for a change, think further away from the immediate - if you are still not sleeping well, or have that growly digestive issue or are more irritable or anxious or emotional, maybe your diet and exercise choices are not to blame but there is something else staring you in the face. I am not suggesting you choose divorce (worked for me but hey! may not be your first option) but maybe that friend is actually draining you more than you realised. Maybe work is taking up too much from you and you just haven't seen it because it has been like this for so long. We adapt to what we do and then it becomes the norm and perhaps we then don't see when it is no longer servicing us, or we forget that we change as we age and want and need different things. I am not big into meditating per se, but I am into mindfulness, gratitude, recognising what I have rather than what I don't . Those are things that have helped me. Well that and stepping away from a few relationships that were not nourishing me and were taking up a lot of battery power. What other things might enhance your life? What might your changes be? Perhaps your book club just isn't right for you anymore or actually you really do not want to continue Tuesday morning walking group- it might seem so trivial but if you are thinking and worrying about it, it clearly is not trivial. What is one thing you could cut loose and what is one thing you could replace it with? If you are fed up, sad, stressed, exhausted, cant sleep, can't stop sleeping, get bloated or gassy, have no energy... then apart from any genuine medical concerns, maybe you need to look at your global health. As the motivational speaker Mel Robbins says - "No-one is coming to rescue you". You have to fix it. Take a good look, have a good think and perhaps it is something that diet and exercise are not a part of. psst... but keep going on the exercise!

Weekly Wrap up. Week 20. 2025.

By juliet • May 15, 2025

The sun is out which can only mean TEACH ON THE BEACH! (The picture above is one of the beauties who joined me this week!! ) We have enjoyed a week of classes down on the local beach and have dodged low flying and quite inquisitive seagulls, ponies coming to see what is going on and a very sweet but very annoying lost dog. I mean, I didn't think he was lost - 2 ladies were walking past and he was with them and as he continued to bounce about over us and our mats with his muddy paws, dropping his stick and waiting for us to throw it, I was glaring at the retreating backs of the aforementioned women, thinking how unbelievably irresponsible ... just you WAIT until they return... until someone in the class mentioned that perhaps he wasn't actually their dog and might be lost... which it turns out, was absolutely the case... and two other walkers passed by and said "Ohhhh he's Lara's dog".... and kindly took him with them... I don't think they actually planned to but as I said "oh MARVELLOUS, you know where is from because he has been a total pain" and they were sort of left with no choice. I hope Lara and he are happily reunited and all is well. Anyway, it continues to be an absolute treat to be able to throw a. mat down on the beach and have our classes in such a setting. I will never take it for granted and I just love seeing you walking down the beach to join me so let's hope this weather lasts (with regular overnight rain please - wouldn't that be the perfect solution). Welcome to some new members this week - I have already seen one of you on the beach and look forward to seeing you online too.

Weekly Wrap up. Week 19. 2025.

By juliet • May 8, 2025

So that was a busy weekend. As Lou and Clare were coming to the end of an epic 100km run around the Isle of Wight I was settling in for an early night before taking my bike over to ride the 100km the following day. I have never seen so many bikes - the ferry we were on had only 2 cars and otherwise it was wall to wall bikes with a lot of lycra in the lounges! Bearing in mind people were arriving on ferries from Portsmouth and Southampton as well as Lymington, that was A LOT of cyclists. The group I was in were faster than I would normally ride so it was quite the challenge. When we first sat down in the ferry and I saw one of our group wearing a "Team GBR Triathlete" I felt slightly doomed and to be fair, we were pretty fast straight from the onset.... I could see my 2 little energy bars were not quite going to cut it. This was going to take a lot of gritted teeth and hoping for the best. Very early on, Lou was driving (trying to avoid the thousands of cyclists) and overtook me, so she kindly pulled in and took a little video of us going past (pic above) and it was lovely to see her. Do you KNOW how hilly the island is? They just keep coming.. and you sort of can't really enjoy the downhill as you know it will only be short-lived before you start the climb again. I knew that I would do it. If I put my mind to something I will stick to it despite how much I may overthink and worry but I knew that I would finish it, no matter what. A small achievement to many but the start of something new for me and being in a group, God forbid I held anyone up. It was actually a year to the day... it was last year that I went over to the Island to watch Lou and Clare run 50km (although I did sort of wander off and find our island member Sarah and spent a very happy afternoon in her bluebell wood eating home made chocolate brownie but I was thinking of them) but I really missed being part of the event. After so many years of running, I realised how much I missed the build up and anticipation of an endurance event: the sense of camaraderie and being in something together . It was off the back of that that saw me come home and buy my first proper bike - I mean proper as in all the others have been acquired along the way and have been older and heavier than me. I have snuck off and done a few bits and bobs here and there and of course, had the shock of how much work I have to do to keep up with the clubs I have joined but here we are - one year later and a 100km ride around the island. The Military Road is forever etched in my memory - it was only 20 miles or so from the end and my legs were tired. Somehow for a short while, I found myself out of my group and riding alone and as I tried to ride up this endless hill, cycling slower than a toddler dawdling along, I was literally shouting out loud "WHY do I do this to myself? WHAT is this teaching me about myself?".....but keep peddling I did. You see we are funny creatures - the whole psychology behind a challenge is massive. Once I knew I was into the last few miles, I allowed myself to feel and acknowledge how tired my legs were - until we realised we could make the 5pm ferry at which point I found a new energy and powered on faster and stronger than ever - I was NOT going to miss that ferry! As I say, not a big deal to lots of people who did it and nothing like the achievement of Lou and Clare (I can't even begin to imagine how deep they had to dig) BUT I am chuffed and it is the first step on the ladder. It is all relative isn't it? What is not much to one person is a massive challenge to the next - whatever it is, be it physical or otherwise, to succeed in something that requires courage, discipline and commitment is worth celebrating. We have to dig deep to push out of our comfort zone but when we do, the feeling of achievement is so self rewarding. Sometimes I think we forget to reward ourselves or give recognition for when we have gone outside our comfort zone and achieved something and we deserve to remember - a pat on the back or a mental high five even if it is not shared with anyone else can really boost our mood and if we have tried, we ought to (even very quietly) give ourselves a "well done me!" For me, meeting and chatting to like minded people who are all there for their own reasons. Some built like professional athletes, some not, all doing their best - all encouraging and supporting each other. Mind you, the ones who whizzed by at the end while my legs were falling off, saying things like "nearly there".... not so keen on them to be honest! What next? I think I need to buy a road bike now to start the collection... this could become the new passion..... will I keep going... yes of course I will... I think....

Weekly Wrap up. Week 18. 2025.

By juliet • May 1, 2025

USE IT OR LOSE IT! I saw a post on instagram that I shared today. It is a video of a large family posing for a group photo, with many of them sat on the floor. Once the photo has been taken, they try to get up and that is where chaos happens (along with a lot of laughter) as they are clinging onto eachother, trying to get to their feet and getting into a total heap. Very funny... but also not... I was involved in a workshop today at Limewood and the phrase "Use it or Lose it" came up in the presentation. We all know the saying and can use it quite flippantly but how about acknowledging that if we no longer perform that particular activity, our body thinks it is no longer required and we find we CAN'T perform that movement. We need to condition our body and therefor when we first try a new exercise for example, we can feel quite unstable or uncoordinated and lacking in proprioception but as we repeat and practise, the move becomes more familiar and we grow in confidence and ability. Think of some of the sequences we do in Pilates or some of the more complex moves in our weights work - not for the faint of heart and performed only once we have built up the skills and have the coordination and understanding of what needs to go where. However as we stop doing those (or any other)moves they quickly become harder to reach. If you haven't seen it, do please watch "Secrets of The Blue Zones" on Netflix - about communities where people not only live beyond 100 but do so with good physical and mental health. It is a superb watch but the factors are the same in each community and one of them is of course, exercise, be it walking up a practically vertical hill to church or getting onto hands and knees to tend the garden daily. Whatever you do or don't do, please don't be the one rolling around because you cant get up from the floor!! Using it beyond all reason this weekend however are Lou and Clare - please join me in wishing them the very best of luck as they set off together at 6.45am on Saturday to run 100km around the Isle of Wight. If you recall, they did 50km last year and that achievement set them up for going the full distance this year. It also did something else as I went over to watch them and had a bad case of missing out, as I can no longer run and realised how much I missed the training and camaraderie of an endurance event and it was off the back of this experience that I came home and bought a new bike. So a year (and lots of cycling and joining a club) later, I am also off to the island on Sunday to cycle 100km on the IOW Randonnee. I respect that my challenge is nowhere near the scale of what Lou and Clare are undertaking but there are some big old hills over there... good job we have a Bank Holiday Monday to recover!!

Weekly Wrap up. Week 17. 2025.

By juliet • April 24, 2025

Blink and you miss it. There went Easter. I hope you all had a lovely time doing whatever you got up to and we now enter the summer term. I mean we don't really have terms but if we did, this is it... exams, summer uniform, netball and cricket and dusting off the bbq's. Personally, none of that really applies to me... well perhaps the summer uniform as I drag my shorts blinking and yawning from the back of the drawer. As for netball - I used to absolutely love it. I was always in the school team, playing Centre or Goal defence and did briefly join Lymington as an adult. When my girls were at prep. school, they reinstated a teachers v parents netball match and we won by a country mile -none of us really knew how but me being me, I went full out to start a mum's netball club one evening a week. Before we knew it, "friends" had mentioned us to the Bournemouth and Southampton leagues. This was very, very scary as we were just running up and down shouting "is that allowed? what are we supposed to do here? did that count?" so clearly in our infancy and anyway, we didn't have any matching kit but we did have a lot of fun - well, until someone went over on her ankle which promptly broke and that was the end of that. I have been spared life as a cricket mum or widow but sitting in a deckchair for hours in the sunshine pretending to watch sounds wonderful to me. As I watch my nephews revving up for the start of GCSE's, I thank my lucky stars those hideous days are behind me. I have a vivid memory of sitting at the kitchen table trying to revise while my mother sat outside in the garden listening to Wimbledon on the radio and the two are forever linked for me. Wimbledon with exams not my mother. Apparantly we have wonderful weather next week so dig out your sunscreen and if you can make it, I will be teaching on the beach for Monday and Tuesday's classes. We went through the 34 Moves recently and the upside down/inversion moves are usually the ones that need the most practise. You can really get a deep dive into these moves on the studio equipment if you ever go to a studio but we have several in our mat work - Roll over, Rolling moves, High bridge, Control balance, High Scissors and Bicycle. Remember that Joseph Pilates' philosophy was to perfect on the studio equipment and practise on the mat, hence we use all sorts of equipment and creativity to recreate as close to the studio work as we can for the vast majority of us who do not have access to a fully equipped studio. Why inversion? Gravity can lead to compression of the spine and their little shock absorbers known as discs that can become dehydrated. When we tip our body upside down, we can reverse the gravitational pull. This can help to create more space between the verterbrae and studies suggest that this allows for the discs' soft tissue to absorb moisture and rehydrate and plump up. Exercises like Roll over or the rolling moves can provide a massage for the spine and fascia as well as improving spinal mobility and of course, abdominal strength. (please note in photo above, my right arm is not perfect - my wrist should be flat and my arms could be stronger and better connected to the floor but it was the best pic I could find for now and I wasn't sharing that space with anyone else so it was a mediocre me or nothing!!!) Want more? Well, it is widely believed that being upside down can stimulate the lymphatic system and help with lymph drainage. Also the action of being upside down can increase blood flow to the stomach and therefor help with digestion and digestive issues. You don't need to be performing an advanced Control Balance move - some of the rolling moves and spinal extension we have been working on do the job in a modified way and anyhow, high blood pressure, glaucoma and spinal issues are some of the reasons why full, advanced inversion is not ideal - there are always ways to adapt, modify and practise safely. What we established in our 8am class yesterday was how many ways we can break down, build up and practise. For example, consider the Roll up, Roll down and Roll over as exactly the same exercise but variations come from the position you start from, how you work against gravity and whether it is your upper or lower body that moves. Thinking about Roll over, and going into the inverted positions (where your hands support you from under your hips), we worked on how to open up the chest, the need for strength through the traps, lats and triceps, length in the hamstrings, strength in the core and so much more. So for example, to improve High Scissors, you could consider side lying chest opener, Roll down with arms behind you, Saw and upper body only double leg kick - all moves to open up the chest and strengthen the upper body. In addition, hamstring and hip flexor stretches. Focus on pelvic floor and deep core connection so lots of abdominal and core strengthening- we could (and do) a whole class on moves to prepare us for one single and seemingly evasive exercise. What we do know is that to get better, we need to practise - a few daily exercises relevant to what you need to build on will make ALL the difference so.... with that in mind, I am going to start planning some workshop style classes again as we haven't done this for a while so your input would be welcomed. What moves really challenge you and what would you like to work on? I will get my creative hat on and build a class around the strength, stretch and mobility we need to focus on. What I continue to hear from you (and feel for myself) is the benefit of building strength from lifting weights and how that really helps with your Pilates progess. Isn't it great!!

Weekly Wrap up. Week 16. 2025.

By juliet • April 17, 2025

Make it a lifestyle, not a duty.