Welcome back after the festive break, everyone. I hope that you had a happy and peaceful Christmas and New Year.

This week I have decided to share a short stretch/mobility routine to help us get back into the swing of things. 

There’s a little bit of kneeling, but if this isn’t your thing, the movement can be done leaning into a wall or using a dining room chair for support. 

As with every Exercise of the Week, I encourage you to work appropriately for your body, be curious about how your body feels as you move, and keep away from pain.

Message me for more information.

During 2024 I spent most of my time — when not teaching, or looking after grandchildren — studying and updating my knowledge in areas such as Nutrition, Mindfulness, Self-care and Wellness practices so that I could create a more rounded experience for your Pilates practice during 2025. 

So, starting in January to help us begin a new year, I will be concentrating on our Everyday Essentials: the Foundations of Wellbeing, that will assist us as a community to build a healthy balanced lifestyle — and it starts here, today.

Beginning with my 5 pillars of wellbeing that I will be encouraging you to focus on throughout 2025:

• Rest & Mindfulness
• Core Stability
• Breath & Balance
• Nutrition & Hydration
• Mobility & Flexibility

I want us to strengthen our commitment to whole body health and I will be supporting you every week with some daily practices.

Throughout January I will be focusing on hydration and nutrition, and how essential this is for our bodies’ optimal functionality. This week’s Exercise of the Week — stretching and mobility — is assisted when we keep our muscles and joints well-hydrated, so let's be curious together about how we can make small changes and create new healthy habits.

For example, did you know how important our saliva is to our immune system? Or what the impact on muscle function, joint health, and energy levels is if we don’t stay hydrated?

Saliva contains several proteins with antimicrobial properties, which gives us the ability to kill or prevent the growth of microorganisms, such as bacteria, mould, viruses and protozoans. So you can see the importance of maintaining saliva flow, to ensure levels are kept up and keeping our bodies hydrated is vital to this function. 

I don’t know about you, but over a holiday period, I always feel like my water intake goes down due to being out of my regular routine — visiting people, having more cups of tea/coffee/hot chocolates, and the odd glass of bubbles (replace with your favourite tipple) — and I do notice a difference in how I feel. 

Throughout January therefore, hydration and nutrition is going to be our focus. I will be looking at the impact on our body, physically and emotionally if we don’t keep ourselves hydrated and fuelled. 

So this week’s essential daily practice is to DRINK MORE WATER. Water is the best fluid replacer as this is what the body loses, so this week I am encouraging you to drink between 8–12 glasses of water each day. Replace one of your regular caffeinated or high-sugar beverages with a glass of water, and if you feel like 12 glasses is too much, drink smaller amounts frequently throughout the day rather than large amounts just a couple of times a day.

To help you achieve this, have a tick list: 8-12 ticks a day — every time you finish a glass of water you can tick it off. Stick it on your fridge door, or have it by your side to remind you. 

And yes, you can include non-caffeine teas, such as fruit infusions — but check the labels. 

Have a great week, creating a new healthy habit so we can continue this conversation in next week’s Newsletter.

Keep looking, moving, and feeling good.

With love

Jane xx