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.
Note to Self - Will you be my Valentine? 💘
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.
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.
A message from me to you ❤️
What is cross pattern movement and why you need it for brain health
The term cross pattern also known as cross crawling involves using the opposite arm and leg at the same time. This cross lateral action integrates both sides of the brain for optimum learning and brain communication so it’s not just your body that benefits but your brain too. Essential to do as you enter midlife if not before as our brains and bodies need challenging to both maintain, and improve our health and wellbeing.
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.
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.
Feeling Overwhelmed? Maybe it's time for a Reset
One of the challenges of this world we live in is getting a healthy balance between work and life especially with a global pandemic stifling our usual lifestyles. Social and emotional connection is vital and with technology ever present it's tempting to quickly check those work emails and social media posts in our time off and then find yourself still looking at them an hour later. I'm as guilty as the next person of doing that so I decided I would schedule my time out from work and tech and keep to it. And it was so much harder than I expected to keep my digits off the tech! 😮
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.
Receiving my YouTube Silver Creator Award for 100,000 Subscribers
A momentous day today as I hold the physical manifestation of the mountain of work I’ve done over the pandemic. 😅 My #silverbutton award from @youtube for 100k subscribers. Absolutely thrilled and got to be honest enjoying a little rest over the summer 😂If you’d like to see my YouTube Video unboxing the award and please click here
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
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.