Hasn't the year flown by so far? It is officially May Day tomorrow already!
Of course, it's not the May Day Bank Holiday till next Monday, but the very thought of May is enough to bring thoughts of summer starting, getting out in the great outdoors, and enjoying the fresh air.
Here's to the May Day Bank Holiday long weekend. I hope you're going to be getting outside and making the most of the
weekend.
On the other hand, if you are not heading out this weekend, perhaps you would like to join me in an online live Pilates class, in celebration of the fact that Sunday 6 May is Pilates Day! All around the world, Pilates Coaches everywhere are celebrating Pilates Day with online classes.
My own online class will be live at 5.30pm on Sunday, and I formally invite you to take part — all you need to do is follow this link on Sunday to join the class and follow the instructions. I can't wait for you to join me on Sunday...
Congratulations A big welcome to the world for the latest of our Pilates babies: Lizzie Rose, whose mum Emily comes to one of Sue's classes in Gorse Covert Community
Centre. Emily brought her new arrival for a visit to class last week, and Sue tells us Lizzie Rose is just gorgeous!
Have a fantastic week ahead and May Bank Holiday weekend folks — keep looking, moving and feeling
great.
Jane, Keith and the team
xxxxx
As it is May this week — and hopefully the weather starts to improve — then inevitably we start to do things we haven't done in a few months and become more active.
Gardening; walking; sport;
decorating even. All these things, after a break in doing them of several months, can create extra stresses on our bodies — we might overdo the gardening and end up with our backs in pain, or we might even simply do too much leaving our muscles in agony with excess lactic acid muscle strain.
I passionately believe that's one of Pilates best benefits, because we do it year-round. We don't break off over the winter and only start again when the weather improves. But we
can improve on our regular Pilates classes by helping yourself at home, doing the Exercise of the Week for example.
And this week's Exercise of the Week is specifically given to you to help with all these extra activities we re-start when the weather gets better. Pilates is all about posture of course. This week's Exercise of the Week aims to help your upper body posture specifically — by helping you feel the position of your back when in correct upper body posture,
which in turn helps you to keep that posture in all things you do — work, rest, and play.
The particular part of the upper body we are going to isolate is the trapezius group of muscles.
Now, the trapezius muscles connect from the base of the head at the top, out to the end of the clavicle (the
collar-bone), and right down the back beyond the bottom of the scapulae (shoulder-blades).
You can see the area of the back which is covered by the trapezius muscles in the diagram on the right here. It should be fairly obvious — but needs stating nevertheless — if you understand the feeling of working the trapezius muscles to put yourself in good posture in isolation, then you will be able to keep that good posture at other times. This is very important when you are
doing those extra jobs you will be doing at this time of year.
The Exercise of the Week this week allows you to isolate your trapezius muscles, and get the feeling when they are working and in their best postural position. Do it! Once you've done it and understand that feeling of best posture, aim to keep that best postural position at all times, and in all things you do.
Work at the appropriate level for your body, and — feel the difference,
move differently, and look more balanced.
| |
There is nothing quite so calming as being outside to take in the fresh air and scenery. If you do nothing else this week, and particularly over the Bank Holiday weekend, make sure you take some time to enjoy the outdoors.
Get out of the house and get into the countryside if
you can. Take a hike through the woods, walk up a mountain, take a daytrip to the seaside, do some tidying up in the garden, anything — but do it outdoors.
The feeling you get when you are taking time outdoors to enjoy what is there is one of the best fillips you can have. It will blow away the cobwebs, it will give you some gentle exercise, and it will calm away all the stresses of your busy life.
|
|
|
Click the Calendar to View Larger
Most classes — matwork and Reformer — are running as planned, all in their correct venues, at the correct days and times. The exceptions are: the Thursday early morning Reformer classes, the Saturday 5 May matwork class in Quorn
Village Hall, and the Saturday morning Reformer class — all of which have a break this week.
You can view the above Calendar close-up by clicking or tapping on it above, but remember that you can also view our new test Calendar by clicking or tapping here.
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. Our Glamourous Assistant Karen runs the Catchups system, and this link is the quickest, most direct means (it's even faster than emailing her!) of letting Karen know.
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.
Finally, please don't just tell your class Pilates Coach you will be missing a class, as your Coach is not aware of Catchups spaces and has no means of registering your space. Karen needs to know, and the link
here (it's also at the bottom of our website too) is the best way to let Karen know.
Remember to follow us on Facebook — Twitter — Pinterest
|
|
|
