Welcome to this week’s Newsletter!

Enjoying the heat, the summer, the heat, the sunshine, the heat, the blue skies … and did I mention the heat!

Some of us love it, some of us like it for a couple of days, but then want to get back to being able to sleep, not get sweaty even when getting dressed in the morning … guess where I sit with this 🥵

Anyway, big thing is to keep hydrated, get your factor 50 on if you are out and about and find some time to sit and be, either in the sunshine or in the shade.

All Face-to-Face Classes are running as usual this week. I know it’s holiday time, so make sure you book in your Catchups — all the summer timetable dates are already available for you to check in on the Online Calendar (link always at the bottom of every Newsletter, and always at the bottom of the website). Jane has extra classes on Friday 22 August as replacements for missing the Friday classes at Old Woodhouse earlier this term through illness.

All Online Classes are running as usual, and we are heading into the last couple of weeks of my Pilates With Weights in June programme, Sundays 9.30am live in Zoom. Why work with weights? Well, just a little resistance can do wonders for:

• better bone health
• more strength and stability
• a gentle challenge that your body will love 

It’s a standalone programme so if you aren’t a member you don’t have to miss out, you can still get access — just reply to this Newsletter to message me for details.

See you in class.

This week I want to talk about wellbeing through stillness, and what I mean by stillness is rest.  

Rest can be seen as being an active practice. It seems we live in a world where being busy is trendy and mistakenly seen as being productive, and because of that we have been lead to believe that stillness can feel like an indulgence, and possibly a failure. 

But I want to take Pilates as a good example of stillness not being passive — when stillness plays a big role in the way we practice this method of movement and exercise. Stillness becomes an intentional part of the work, and an essential practice that supports recovery, focus and transformation.

When I am teaching, one of my favourite cues to use is the word ‘silent’ if we are focusing on moving one side of the body the other side is silent, still, but it doesn’t mean it’s not doing anything. It’s an opportunity to use the silence as a moment to absorb what you are doing. If for example we are in a ‘child resting position’ it’s not just a moment to recover, it’s a moment to reset the nervous system. It’s a moment to breathe, to re-centre and prepare for the next movement with clarity and control.

So if we apply the principles of control and precision, they don’t exist without stillness: it might be holding a balance, pausing at the top of a roll up, or finding a moment to breathe fully into the back of the ribs. They are all work, not breaks.

With this in mind, I want you to feel that stillness becomes strength, it can hold a level of power with intention. Think of all the things we can do with stillness — become more aware of posture, feel the breath, the balance and our emotions. It encourages that moment of presence, pausing, stopping, observing and listening. 

Wellbeing is not just about movement, it’s much more, it’s about encouraging stillness, because it doesn’t mean being absent, it means being present which uncovers a stronger, healthier self. 

Have a good week everyone, discover your moments of stillness and embrace them, and that way you will continue to keep looking, moving and feeling good.

With love and support,

Jane xxx