Back to Back

Published: Mon, 11/28/16

Hello

It was our fantastic Healthy Backs Pilates Masterclass at the weekend. Organised as one of our events which we make free to all our clients, we all had great fun and I hope that everyone who came got lots out of it, to help care for their backs in the future.

Here I am with our newest staff member, Alfie, who's been on a diet recently. And no — before you ask — he didn't know what it's all about! ;-)

Here we are, starting off — as all the best back care Pilates classes should — sitting, and specifically setting up your ideal posture while you're doing that, and the movements between sitting and standing.

The free Healthy Backs Pilates Masterclass was incredibly popular, with all spaces going within about an hour of being announced, so I will definitely be organising another Healthy Backs Masterclass shortly.

Make sure you read the Newsletter every week to get information about the next one.

Have a wonderful week, full of health and wellbeing choices. Keep looking, moving and feeling great and remember that this Newsletter is sent to you with love.

Jane, Keith and the team
xxxxx

View this Newsletter (and, indeed every recent Newsletter) as a webpage

Exercise Of The Week

Following on from my Healthy Backs Pilates Masterclass on Saturday, here are three exercises you should be doing.

One is to gently move the lumbar spine.

Another focuses on beginning to strengthen the deep core muscles which will start to support your back.

But before you get to those, watch the video about thoracic breathing. Thoracic breathing is the breathing technique we use when performing Pilates exercise. This should be practised as much as possible because — purely by doing the breathing and pulling navel to spine you have started the process of using and strengthening those deep support muscles for your back.

Here is the thoracic breathing video.

Here is the video to get you moving your lumbar spine gently — remember to pull navel to spine first, try not to hold your breath just let the breath flow.

And finally, here is the video to get you strengthening your core — this is to strengthen the deep abdominal muscles, and this is where the tension should be felt when doing the movement.

All of these can be performed easily and without pain, so take a few minutes each day and choose to invest that time into your health and wellbeing. Your back deserves the investment!

Feel the difference, move differently, and look more balanced.

Your Whole Self

Last week I talked about sharing and the benefits of this to our wellbeing — because it stops us from suppressing our emotions, which could lead to depression. So sharing is definitely a healthy choice.

Other ways of investing in our emotional health and wellbeing is by meditating which can really help to combat stress. I believe that meditation is very much like Pilates exercise in that you have to practise consistently to make it work and feel the full benefits.

And just as I practise my Pilates daily, I also practise my meditation daily. I don’t play music when I meditate, but I also don’t like complete silence — music distracts me and silence allows my head to get full of thoughts that I am trying to switch off from.

With this dilemma I started to think about where I feel totally relaxed and where I feel I can switch off my brain. For me this was easy — I feel totally relaxed when I am by the sea, and this is where I can switch off my mind. So I listen to the sound of the sea — I have a two minute recording of the sea, I find a quiet spot, I sit comfortably, feet flat on the floor, I rest my hands in my lap and close my eyes, then I start to listen to the sea and I start to focus on my breathing.

It may not sound like very much, but for me I am practising my meditation, and it is definitely working. It relaxes my mind, it switches it off, albeit briefly, but this is enough to set me up for the day, and sometimes if I have had a challenging day I also repeat it in the evening.

Find your sound — the sound that allows you to start to relax and find the off switch for your mind — and choose to invest this time into your emotional health and wellbeing.

The Week's Classes

Click the Calendar to View Larger

All classes are running this week, all in their correct venues, and all at their correct times and days.

Book a Catchup

If you know you will have to miss a class in your course for any reason, and would like to book a space in another class instead, just follow the link to book it.

Simply tell us the class you will miss and —most important — please give us as many alternatives as possible. If you only give us one alternative, we cannot guarantee you will get a Catchup.

Please also let us know if you will miss your class but don't want a Catchup — the whole Catchup system relies on knowing when spaces will occur.

Book your Catchup by clicking here

Remember to follow us on Facebook — Twitter — Pinterest