Health and Fitness

Come with me and you'll be in a world of pure imagination.....❤️

Come with me and you'll be in a world of pure imagination.....❤️

Creative, functional workouts to sculpt, tone and give you a body that serves you well in life, because ultimately that's what we all need. It's not about how you look, it's about how you feel inside and out- full of confidence in your own skin. On my YouTube channel we celebrate all ages and levels of fitness with something for everyone. Every workout will teach you something new about your body and is rooted in over 50 years of experience in movement, dance and pilates. I am a Fully Certified Pilates Instructor with over 13 years of practice in many settings from Physiotherapy clinics specialising in Sports Injuries to Rehabilitation post knee, hip and shoulder replacement. I had my own boutique studio in London pre the pandemic and now I choose to share my teaching online for anyone in the world keen to learn more about their body and grow physically, emotionally and mentally through an intelligent, focused, movement practice.

The Top 5 Benefits of Pilates Breathing

The Top 5 Benefits of Pilates Breathing

5 Benefits of Pilates Breathing and 5 Health Conditions it can Help

1️⃣ Increases your lung capacity

2️⃣ Improves muscle activation and performance during exercise

3️⃣ Reduces anxiety and stress

4️⃣ The exhale activates the core muscles

5️⃣ Improves mental health by focusing your attention to the mind/ body connection

One Lung Breathing is an incredible tool for anyone as it focuses you on one lung and one side of your ribs at a time. I’ve found it very helpful for people new to Pilates in understanding HOW lateral breathing works.

My First book on Pilates will be out soon!

My First book on Pilates will be out soon!

I have exciting news for you. My first book on Pilates will be published this spring!

Last year I was asked by a publisher to write an easy to follow guidebook on Mat Pilates and I am thrilled to announce that it's now available for Pre-Order on Amazon UK and Amazon.com

I spent all last summer writing it and many a late night post YouTube broadcasts working on it to make it as easy to follow as possible. If you can I would love it if you could pre-order a copy on Amazon; pre-orders help push the promotion of books and I need the help to get it out there to everyone who needs it. It's very reasonably priced and a great little guide you can dip in and out of whenever you need to refer to an exercise or want to build your own little programme for home practice. It has all 34 of Joseph Pilates original exercises in with tips and cues to make the difficult exercises more accessible and the easier exercises more challenging- not that mat pilates isn’t challenging enough anyway 😊

A message from me to you ❤️

A message from me to you ❤️

Happy New year!

This year I plan to focus as much on keeping a healthy mind as well as a healthy body. It’s going to be an exciting year with lots of fun Pilates practice, new ideas to boost your mental and physical health and a deepening of our community connection.

My First Podcast!

My First Podcast!

I was invited to guest on popular podcast 5 Minutes to Change Your Life by broadcaster Joanne Mallon who was recently recommended by UK magazine Woman and Home as the podcast to listen to in August. I am beyond thrilled and honoured to be invited. Joanne asked me to come up with a way to improve posture in just 5 minutes so do have a listen, let me know what you think and please share this link with any friends you'd like to help too.

What is TRE? And how does it help you lose weight and protect against chronic disease

What is TRE?  And how does it help you lose weight and protect against chronic disease

I have been experimenting with healthy lifestyle options now for many years and when I find something that works for me I can't wait to share it with you. Along with my recent conversion to a Keto-Green lifestyle I have been following the science on TRE- Time restricted eating and decided it was something to look into for myself.

The promise of giving your body some daily down-time from the work of eating and digesting to unlock powerful repair pathways that protect against chronic illness, ageing and obesity was the appeal for me. It's very simple to do - just ensure that for at least 12 hours in 24 you do not consume ANY calories. And it's not as hard as you think….

Keto-Green- A Great Way to Lose Weight and Balance your Hormones

Keto-Green- A Great Way to Lose Weight and Balance your Hormones

What do you know about Keto? Thanks to a great podcast where Hormone Expert Nicki Williams interviewed Triple certified Obstetrician and Gynaecologist Dr.Anna Cabeca - I now know quite a bit and it’s fascinating. Why? Because I’ve been struggling to shift a few pounds that have been hanging around my waistline despite a very active lifestyle and until the menopause, a completely flat tummy. I now know it’s not me, it’s my hormones! So after hearing about the benefits of a Keto-Green diet which balances the hormones and burns fat through ketogenic eating I decided to give it a go. The basic premise of this diet is very low carb, good fats and protein which changes the metabolism to create ketosis - where the body turns to utilising its fat stores for energy.

Welcome to 2022! Let's start the year with kindness......

Welcome to 2022! Let's start the year with kindness......

Hello Pilates friends, family and buddies,

And a very Happy New Year! I am really looking forward to helping you continue your wellbeing journey in 2022.

This year I want you to focus on self care and kindness, taking care of yourself is the most important thing in your life because if you feel good, not only will you benefit but so will everyone around you. So as we move into the New Year let's start with a basic kindness; no guilt about what you ate or drank at Christmas and no punishing fitness goals. Let's just get moving and working on taking care of our health.

Standing Pilates to Correct Forward Head Posture

Standing Pilates to Correct Forward Head Posture

Forward Head Posture used to be an age related condition but not any more, with the advent of technology and 18 months of Covid I’ve noticed how every age group now has this posture to some degree- call it text neck or forward head- we all need to move more mindfully to stop this posture becoming permanent. Me included!

Whilst we don’t all have access to a pilates studio we do all have a wall at home so here’s a sample of what can be done to correct the posture.

Preventing Work-from-Home Pains

Preventing Work-from-Home Pains

Remote work has slowly been on the rise even before the pandemic, thanks to tech developments and more professionals wanting a break from the traditional 9-5. With the pandemic causing thousands of offices to close their doors, remote work has certainly become the new norm — and it looks like it's here to stay too.

After all, remote work provides people with more convenience, control over time, and savings. Of course, working from home comes with its own challenges, such as dealing with body pains from sitting all day. Some mindfulness, exercise, and proper breathing will help prevent and relieve these aches. With that, here are some specific things you can do to address the work-from-home pains:

Make time to exercise

Having a packed schedule might make it hard to stay active. However, exercising can build your core strength and create stability in the muscles that support your spine. Luckily, you don’t need a lot of time to work out, you just need to be sure to schedule it in. One way to motivate you to do this is to use a pilates playlist even with short workouts so you don't feel like you're doing it alone. You can also squeeze in some standing exercises with minimal equipment while you take a short break from work. This can improve your blood circulation after hours of sitting, which can also help you overcome mid-day slumps and give you a jolt of energy.

Reframe your Thoughts and Change your Day

Reframe your Thoughts and Change your Day

Isn’t it strange the difference between how other people see us and how we see ourselves? What I’ve learnt over the years is that we all have good and bad days, we all have something about us we’d like to change or improve, and we all have moments in our lives which are more challenging than we think we can bear. And the biggest life lesson I’ve learnt is that we CAN have more good days than bad if we choose to reframe our thoughts to positive ones, we CAN become the best version of ourselves if we accept truly who we are and not compare our lives to others. And we CAN overcome whatever life throws at us if we are kind to ourselves in our thoughts and actions, as well as to other people.

Sustainable Pilates - Taking Responsibility for the Planet as well as your Wellbeing

Sustainable Pilates - Taking Responsibility for the Planet as well as your Wellbeing

As I’ve got older certain things have become more important in my life, responsibility for the planet is one of them. Ok that sounds very grandiose I know but I’m trying to do my bit. I’m Flexitarian but eat more Vegan food now, I avoid as many single use plastics as I can and I do seek out eco-friendly and sustainable brands for everything from make-up to homeware, not to mention the most frequently used items in my wardrobe- namely my Pilates clothes. I live and breathe (literally!) Pilates and I have been actively looking for Pilates clothing that I can wear knowing that it has come from a sustainable and ethical source and looks good too. Most recently I was approached by a lovely Swedish brand called Pebbles Pilates who asked me if I’d like to try their product. I have to be honest it was great to be approached as most often, and I think if you’re older like me you will know this, sportswear brands only feature very young, very agile movers which can put you off if you’re older. We all need peers to connect with after all.