Weekly Wrap up. Week 43. 2024. Special offers, 48 CLASSES FOR £45 and a Thank you!

It is FOUR AND A HALF YEARS since I moved my business online.

Can you believe that?! 4 1/2 years from that dreadful Monday evening when Boris made his statement to lock us all up. 4 1/2 years since I stayed up with no sleep and a lot of adrenaline for 2 nights and 3 days, sitting at the breakfast bar in my kitchen, drinking a lot of tea and shedding quite a few tears and expletives, learning how to set up payment platforms, membership platforms, how to edit my own website, record and edit classes, how to store recordings, what video program to use, how to use Zoom, what microphones and external cameras to use...It still makes me shiver, just thinking about that time.

WHAT a long way we have all come.

I'll be honest. I had become a bit stale and was worn down with driving up hill and down dale (that's a Yorkshire saying - it's almost totally flat around here but I thought it added some theatre to the story) from one venue to another. I was starting to think about the "what next" options. Despite being asked many times over the years, I have never wanted to take on a commercial premises so what was I do to next? Maybe it was time for a total career change. Maybe I would even park up what limited common sense I had and go back to working with horses. Yes, I did give this serious thought... but then this coincided with a deeply unhappy time in my life and some"running away from it all" was also in play.

Then as we approached what we knew was on the cards and I was faced with losing almost 2 decades of hard work I became passionately protective of my business and was determined to keep it going. Hence not going to bed for 3 days and though I say so myself, I am very, very proud of turning it all around in a week and being one of the first to be up online and teaching.

6 weeks of live classes every single day, totally free on Facebook and Instagram live- those were exhausting days but we had HUGE classes, beaming all over the world and my goodness, did it teach me a lot very quickly. Friends and family could connect from different continents and work out together and we had people joining from midnight to midday their time. There are some wonderful memories from those experiences and I honestly treasure them.

Oh those early days of Zoom!! When none of us had a clue about mute, who could hear what... and the amount of people with me 4 years down the line who were "absolutely not doing online thank you".... my favourite story from those days is "Granny" doing a video call to her grandkids in Australia and telling them that as her wifi was playing up, she was hot spotting from her mobile, and mirroring their stunned expressions onto her tv screen!! Serious kudos to Granny on that one!!

Bertie the magnificent Labrador made regular appearances, sitting in front of the camera, or coming for a cuddle and knocking me off my roller mid class, and I ate my stress and unhappiness and became the fattest I have ever, ever been. A wonderful irony given that I was suddenly on such a big platform and being seen in homes all over the place. As my audience grew, so too did my worry about letting everyone down which sent me scurrying off to bury my head in the biscuit tin and as there's a Tesco express a mere somersault from my house, I was doomed.

We had The November challenge where I linked up with fellow local women in business (see photo above) and we did events live every day, We had an online "wear a hat" party, we had classes around The Olympics (lockdown version), the Jubilee, the Coronation, we celebrated the NHS.....we had guest teachers and speakers....we had socially distanced classes in the forest being attacked by donkeys and we have celebrated new babies, puppies, weddings, house moves.... we have discussed where to source hard to find wall paper, holiday tips and have shared so much as we have slowly built our online community and seen it grow year on year. I honestly cannot tell you the pride I feel in what we have achieved together.

True friendships have formed and the ease and convenience of being online continues. It really is a way of life for us now. However, while we appreciate that side of things (and the fact that I can work and you can join from anywhere in the world and you now have access to 8 classes for the same price you used to pay for one), the social side of things is so very important.

We have had walks and pub lunches, jolly's to London, we have been to Kefalonia to visit one of our members there and France to visit our member there (psst - Madrid and Hong Kong - watch out!) to name just a few events and this means so much to me.

Last year we had our second annual Christmas lunch which saw nearly 40 of us get together. Several of you travelled from far flung destinations on trains and motorways and it was a time of immense joy and pride for me, not least when some who were nervous about not knowing anyone, left telling me how many new friends they had made.

When I went home, I just sat on my sofa, looking at my cards and reflecting on the day and how much it had meant to me and all the wonderful things that had been said.

I would like you to know that that was a turning point for me. Things are not always as they seem and I have been running on empty for quite some time (well, and a fxxk load of biscuits!!) but that was a very special time that I reflect on regularly. Just what we have achieved and how far we have come and what we have created. So thank you all. I honestly treasure you more than you could imagine.

That is why I am always looking at new ideas, new challenges and how to keep it fresh, current and entertaining so..... here goes... non members this involves you too

STRENGTH, MOBILITY, FULL BODY STRETCH, MAT PILATES, FUNCTIONAL WEIGHTS. 48 CLASSES FOR £45

I hate to be the one to use the C word BUT…. With just a few weeks to go, I have decided to dig deep and put up some more challenges to help us focus and see out the year stronger, fitter and determined to be sleeveless for the whole of Christmas just to show off our toned arms.

If you are already a subscribed member, you will have access to ALL this but if you are not yet online with me, please read below and see how you can join us for a special, early pre Black Friday, pre Boxing Day sales price just in time to finish the year.

I am a bit nervous as I have only just started to recover from the extra classes the other week (or to be honest, all the prep. behind it!) but hey!! Friends who workout together stay together and I know how much we are all going to benefit. So here goes.

The 6 week Christmas strength challenge.

Each Tues and Fri, I will deliver a strength class, built around the same format. Each week the class will be recorded and go straight into the library and I ask you to attend the class and then repeat the class on demand twice more that week before we have a new class the following week (Of course, if you cannot attend live, you can just access on demand but the key is to repeat x 3 times)

Tues 9am and Fri 8am starting Nov 8th. 6 weeks - all details will follow to subscribed members in the live calendar.

The Technique clinic. Thursdays 8am.

Working through Nov - All those moves that seem very complicated or that you just cant “get” - as well as finding out why your neck aches when you curl up, why you cant roll up from lying, how to open those shoulders for roll over - that type of thing. Let me have your requests and let's really nail some of those tricky ones.

THE 34 MOVES

It’s time! We are building up… in Dec., we will have part 1 on Tues 10th 8am, part 2 on Thurs 12th 8am and alll the way through on Tues 17th 8am. Put it in your diary! You know you love it and WHAT a way to wrap up all our hard work.

The Back clinic.

Thursdays 9am through NOV.

Addressing those common back problems -let's have a look at all the different ways we can improve our spines and how we move them. Let me have specific concerns or issues to work with. Bring all your props and let’s get smiley spines.

Finally where would we be without The 12 Moves of Christmas…. It never gets any easier and you will be required to wear sparkles but we LOVE it…. more of that in due course.

New in the library is this week's Functional Strength class... using weights to help us live well, strong and independently. This class includes lying on the floor to reach under the sofa, chopping wood (I don't know - you might!), Golf swings, doing up the top of a zip, undoing the bottom of the zip, lifting heavy bags, lifting heavy weights to do an overhead throw into a skip (it will make sense when you do it), putting luggage into an overhead locker, getting up and down from a low seat, lifting a heavy wheelbarrow, digging in the garden.... and lots more. Check it out in the "Mixed ability" collection.

So…. Now is the time to share the love.

48 CLASSES FOR £45!

Members -

If you gift/persuade/encourage someone to sign up for all we have on offer, on receipt of their subscription I will gift you 2 FREE weeks of membership as my thank you (please be sure to let me know when they subscribe).

Non Members -

If you subscribe to take advantage of all the above by no later than Nov 7th, I will offer you 6 weeks for the sign up price of 4. In addition you will of course have access to everything - 8 live weekly classes plus our ever growing library.

Please note - only one offer applies to every sign up. You can fight it out if your friend is already a member.

Just head over to my website to subsribe - it is very easy and your membership starts from the day you sign up. You can also give me a call if you would like to chat about any questions you may have.

In the meantime.....

Remember .... 7 days of no exercise makes one weak......

Im off for a few days next week. Updates and all class info in live calendar and see you for challenges, clinics and more w/c Nov 4 xx

< Older Post

Newer Post >

Weekly wrap up. Week 24. 2025

By juliet • June 12, 2025

The unlikely comparison between Battersea Power Station and Pilates!

Weekly Wrap up. Week 23. 2025. Reformer training.

By juliet • June 5, 2025

What is happening to Pilates? Is it in danger of getting lost in the rush?

Weekly Wrap up. Week 22. 2025

By juliet • June 1, 2025

A busman's holiday

Weekly Wrap up. Week 21. 2025. What does "being healthy" mean to you?

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.

Weekly Wrap up. Week 15. 2025

By juliet • April 10, 2025

On the beach, meeting our challenges and other bits and bobs