I hope you have had a good week. As you know I have had some time out last week, so I am just getting my head back into work mode.

Absolute Beginners Course

Starting in September is a fantastic Absolute Beginners Face-to-Face Course, for those who have not done any Pilates before, or for those who have done in the past but feel they need some brushing up on correct techniques. More information and booking here. Following the Course you will be able to join us in regular face-to-face or online classes going forward. It is simply the best way to bring Pilates properly into your life.

Pilates, Mindset, and Mindful Retreat

There just two spaces left in my Pilates, Mindset, and Mindful Retreat, on Saturday 17 September. More information and booking here. Please don't miss out.

Here's some happy people from my last Retreat:

The retreat was a welcome opportunity for me to focus on myself for a whole day, something I don’t think I would have done otherwise.

I felt you created a welcoming, safe space where we could just ‘be’ together. Such a great skill!.

Thank you for your considered attention to detail, it really mattered. I slept like a log that night!

New Face-to-Face Class in September

I hope to take a new face-to-face class in September, in Quorn Village Hall on Mondays at 10.30am. I'm testing the waters if there is sufficient interest, so please reply to this Newsletter if you are interested.

The mid-section of our body can often tighten and stiffen up, particularly around the rib cage. This can be the result of anxiety or stress that we hold in the body physically, which can then affect our breathing. Once our breathing starts to be inhibited we aren’t taking in as much oxygen, and then this affects our energy levels. We tend not to think about the knock on effects in our bodies, so this short mobility and stretch for our thoracic spine will be really helpful to keep in your repertoire of exercises for your whole self.

As with every Exercise Of The Week, keep away from pain and work at an appropriate level for your body.

How are you? 

What is your automatic answer when someone asks you this question? 

Do you say, I’m fine, I’m ok, I’m good thank you.

Would you say this even if you felt better than ok, you felt great, amazing, fantastic?  We almost want to cover up the fact that we are better than ok, because it feels a bit risky if we say it out loud it could all change. Those sayings pride before a fall, counting your chickens before they’ve hatched, you may have even been told nobody likes a big head. 

If we admit to feeling really happy, or successful, we may feel we have to downplay it in order to protect ourselves in some way, just in case someone comes along and takes it away from us. And there are those people who will try to take your happiness or your sense of achievement away from you, but they are not the people you want in your life. 

It’s as if we are more fearful of success, happiness, feeling well, than feeling unhappy, sad, down in the dumps, and that these feelings are more acceptable to others. No-one will like us if we are successful, happy, fit and healthy, we are not worthy of feeling this good. 

Of course all these thoughts are coming from the ego, and when these thoughts turn into beliefs they become our experience, and when this happens our world shrinks.

The thing is if you are feeling happy, expressing this and knowing this doesn’t make someone else unhappy … your achievements, talking about them and knowing them doesn’t make someone else fail. Quite the opposite in fact. If you are expressing how amazing you are feeling this can often lift others, inspire others, motivate others. The people in your gang who matter will LOVE that you feel so good and want to share it, they will want a piece of it … and when this starts to happen your world gets bigger not smaller. 

We all hear the saying it's ok NOT to feel ok, and that is true and when we hear that we know we want to help, support and care. But I just want to remind you that it's also ok TO BE OK … it's ok to be better than ok, and when you are, don’t let your ego make you hide it away.