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.
February, the month of love, is not just reserved for showering affection on others. This Valentine's season, let's redirect some of that love inward and embark on a journey of self-love. Let's explore how taking care of yourself can be the ultimate act of love.
• Love Begins with Self-Care - In the hustle and bustle of everyday life, it's easy to neglect the most important person – yourself. Just as Pilates can strengthen and rejuvenate the body, a self-care practice will nourish the soul. Take time for activities that bring you joy, whether it's a relaxing bath, a walk in nature, or reading a good book. Treat yourself with the same kindness and attention you would give to a friend.
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.
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 😊
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.
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.
There is a great article on why a sports injury can harm your mental health in this months Psychologies magazine with some excellent advice. One piece in particular was ‘ if you can’t play your usual sport due to injury what can you do instead? And this is where Pilates comes in. Working as a pilates instructor for 10+ years now I’ve seen many injuries and pathologies that have affected peoples mental health and the first priority is always to get people moving in whatever way they can because movement in itself is healing. A comprehensively certified teacher can call on 600 + pilates exercises from both the mat and apparatus repertoire and adapt them to work with the injury and rehabilitate both body and mind. I’ve had many clients arrive as injured who’ve stayed with me post recovery and continue to use pilates to cross train and stay injury free. And it isn’t just injuries, age can play a big part in how we feel about ourselves and the same philopsophy applies, movement is healing so my advice to you is no matter your age, no matter your injury find a way to move to stay healthy in mind and body.
That’s the phrase I live by now but it wasn’t always so. Performing was all I had wanted to do but post a knee injury and a destructive relationship that dissolved any confidence I had in myself I retreated into a job where I was very much behind the scenes. It was only when a close friend gave me a key ring with this quote on a few years ago that I realised how far I’d come. 10 years ago I was on the brink of another career change, this time a chosen one as I was giving up a career as a stressed out, overworked Producer/ Director in Television to retrain as a Pilates teacher in California.
I've been practicing Pilates now for over 18 years and I cannot tell you how much my wellbeing, fitness and flexibility has improved from daily practice. I am fitter, stronger and less prone to injury than I was when I was a professional dancer and not only that I have more core strength now than I ever did when I was dancing professionally. Much has changed in the world of dance and sport in that time, so much so that it is now recognised that Pilates is an essential part of any dancer or athlete's cross training routine. But even if you practice Pilates regularly, are you aware of the original principles of this form of movement?
When Joseph Pilates developed his exercise regime in the early part of the twentieth century, it evolved over time as many forms of movement do, but he had a set of principles that he applied to all his work which are still taught today and I think it’s very useful to know what these are, and try and apply them to your own individual practice.
Be aware of your body - joints and muscles.
Work all your muscles in balance.
Breathe well to aid your exercise as well as relieve stress.
Concentrate on what you’re doing, be in the moment.
Control your movements in in a relaxed way to reduce tension.
Focus on your centre (core) at all times, thereby stabilising your body.
Be efficient in the ease & economy of your movement.
Flow by activating the muscles at just the right time.
Be in harmony with yourself, others and the environment.
Be precise & pay attention to the details of the exercise, enjoy the detail.
Written material and photograph copyright of Rachel Lawrence.
All Rights reserved
To Read more about the surprising benefits of Pilates, click the link below:
Ballet for most little girls is a rite of passage. You want to wear pink, dress up in a tutu and float around to music. When you are a child there are no inhibitions, no self consciousness about what you are wearing, you are just in the moment enjoying what you are doing. So where does all that go when you grow up?
Have you ever put the word 'Pilates' into google images and viewed what comes up? You'll be presented with endless photos of beautiful young women doing all kinds of gymnastic and acrobatic Pilates movements which is amazing to see but that's NOT what the originator, Joseph Pilates created it for. No, he was convinced way back in the 1940's that we were moving into an increasingly stressful world and that we all needed to devote far more attention to our fitness and wellbeing no matter what our age. And let's face it, we are all going to spend a lot more time being older rather than younger! Youth is fleeting and once we get past our thirties the wear and tear of an ageing body begins to take it's toll. And that's nothing to get worried about, it's just life, so what can we do?
This is the time of year when our thoughts turn to changing old habits and getting fitter and healthier. Inevitably, post the Christmas excesses I see an influx of new clients eager to lose weight, shape up and get fit for the New Year, and equally within 6-10 weeks many of them will have slipped back into old habits; missing classes or sessions because of work, children, not feeling well and generally feeling they don't have the time needed to do it. Why does this happen year on year I wonder? I think it's because we set our expectations way too high and when we don't reach those impossible heights, we simply give up.
It has been a momentous year at Rachel Lawrence Pilates and I wanted to thank you all for your continued support. Whether you read the blog, follow me on twitter or instagram, read my Facebook page or come to class you are all appreciated.
With more and more of you tuning into the benefits of Pilates and a healthy lifestyle the business has gone from strength to strength just as your wellbeing has. It's so rewarding to see and hear how you have created your own healthy lifestyle from what you've learned.
Well done!
There are exciting plans ahead for 2016; more health and wellbeing news, more classes and I will be adding Pilates films for you to view and take part in at home, so stay tuned for a bigger, better, healthier 2016!
Merry Christmas to you all,
Rachel x
Turning my back on a successful career in television to become a Pilates instructor was definitely a leap of faith for me. But it looks like the change of lifestyle is starting to pay off as my Chiswick based Pilates classes have just been voted the Best Pilates Class in West London by the West London Mum Live.Love.Local Awards. I'm overwhelmed and thrilled all at the same time!
Well I have hung up my ballet shoes for 12 days, after the last ballet barre class of 2014!
I'll still be inhaling and exhaling for one more day doing my Pilates personal training with private clients keen to hone their bodies on Christmas Eve, as well as those who I have been working with remedially this year.
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