I have long respected my Vegan friends as being vegan to me (in the before times) seemed like a lot of effort.  And yes, from an ethical and moralistic standpoint I have always totally got it and slightly envied their commitment.

Unfortunately, in my teens; I had a severe eating disorder (anorexia), which doesn’t exactly ‘just go away’ as you continue your journey through life.  As an adult I have always had ‘rules’ about my food, not that you’d have known.  I never spoke about them.

Going out for dinner I would always choose the one meal that seemed like it might be the ‘lowest calorie’ option, rather than something I would actually enjoy.  Vegetarian food, with its heavy reliance on cheese, frankly terrified me.  If I did want something I liked e.g. Spinach and Riccotta Cannelloni (yum) I would ‘budget’ in the day i.e. not eat at all, or eat very little.

As a result of ‘the rules’ I would always opt for fish or chicken in the hope that it was the lighter alternative. Also because of ‘the rules’ I would have found that any change in my diet choices would have rocked the very precarious foundation on which I had built my ‘recovery’.

However, a chain of weird events started a couple of years ago which has led to my current ‘Vegan-ish’ situation. And I want to explain, because I think when people say they are vegan, there is an instant judgement about the reasons (fashion trends/needing to be different/self righteous etc) – not that it’s anyone else’s business of course!

It started with going for colonic irrigation, in order to share with my yoga students what it did for me health wise.  It is known as a Kriya, within the yoga community, a cleansing practice. In case you are interested; my skin glowed and I had much more energy and better sleep, I highly recommend it.  However,  you don’t want to hear the ins and *cough* outs…but suffice to say from that day onwards, I never ate red meat again and that’s all I’m saying. I mean it, do not ask.

About 9 months later, there was a breakfast in Dorset whilst on a mini break.  My husband and I had paddle boarded over to this particular beach the day before and spotted this cute café which looked out to sea, and we decided to visit the following day.  I chose a crab, bubble and squeak with eggs benedict.  It was DIVINE. Lick the plate good you know? I think I actually said something along the lines of ‘I want to take a taste picture of this so that I can remember how good it was  forever’. I can say, I HAVE never forgotten it; but not for great reasons.

After I’d finished eating, I visited the little shop to try and find some chutneys and started to have a numbness creeping down my arms, up the back of my neck and then into my mouth.  I’ll cut a long story quite short, there were paramedics on blue light training who had stopped for a coffee and so happened to be ‘on scene’. They escorted us to hospital where I was treated for anaphylaxis.

Unsurprisingly, I was feeling somewhat dreadful after all that so we decided to head home early.  I was pretty gutted for 2 reasons, 1 – I was loving the holiday and 2 – being Jewish I felt I had been thoroughly told off for eating shellfish, which is definitely NOT Kosher…  😉 Oops. Lesson learned.

As a result of that debacle, I started to be a b*** load more careful with my food choices (I was already allergic to citrus) and I had also started to feel uncomfortable about eating chicken.  I have a friend who owns a farm and I know how well the animals are treated there.   I then started to feel bad about eating a bird from somewhere that might not have been given as good a life as I know my friend would have given it.

When my husband then also started to have negative associations with eating meat (I think because I once said something about how we wouldn’t eat our dogs and what makes one animal more precious than another – something like that).  Anyway, I inadvertently, somewhat; traumatised him, and as a result we agreed to no more eating animals.

About a month later, I then I had a hospital appt for an issue that had been bothering me for some time, again – no details, but I was advised to give up caffeine, alcohol and carbonated drinks – more stuff I enjoy gone. I thought I’d give it up for a few days and then be able to say that it hadn’t helped and then the medical types would just be able to give me a magic pill or something.

Over the course of my adult life, I have pretty much used alcohol, caffeine and carbonated (think diet coke) drinks to get me through life so giving it up  was A LOT.  But I did want to improve my symptoms so I did it, aaaaaannd; it totally worked. Annoying and amazing at the same time.

Giving up alcohol was haaaaard.  I’m not saying I was alcohol dependent, but I also kind of was.   I’m sure you all know what I mean, a glass of wine to end the day, a few glasses to ‘take the edge off’ social situations, that kind of thing.  Giving up alcohol really sent me into a spin and my life kind of shrunk.   I couldn’t face going out, seeing people, doing basic activities I loved.  It was weird, it affected my WHOLE life not just the social stuff.  I felt like I lost myself and got quite depressed with the world too bright, the edges too sharp and nothing to soften it or make it easier to handle.

This ‘fog’ that descended and the desire to drink to deal with stuff lifted in time…kinda.  I must admit,  I’m still a little edgy about social things and anything that requires me to leave the house takes a lot of mental  effort, but I try.   But, I am OK at home ‘sans vino’, which I wasn’t for a long while, the house was VERY clean for a while; courtesy of my brain and body not having the cut off of which occurred through pouring that first glass.

I was just getting over those troubles and then…out of nowhere; eczema.  For the first time in about 25 years. WTAH. I mean, at this point, I thought I was pretty ‘clean’ in terms of eating but no, of course not.  There was one more thing that had to give, dairy – my favourite thing in the whole world.

I knew from an ex boyfriend circa 1998 that dairy was the trigger for his eczema and having given up most things (all meat, alcohol, caffeine. carbonated drinks and citrus) I was favouring quite a bit of ‘the dairy stuff’.  I experimented and started using alternatives like oat milk and vegan spread and  ‘ta daaah’ my skin cleared up.  Kind of annoying in one way; I have always adored cheese. I used to joke with my husband that thanks to my French heritage I cooked everything with garlic, cream, cheese and wine.  Oh the irony.

I have tested the dairy thing, in case you are concerned that I gave up on it without  fight.  Due to feeling absolutely shattered on Saturday, I had a single coffee at a client’s house, which had a splash of cow’s milk in.  The skin on my arm flared up so badly that for a brief moment, I considered cutting it off. But, on the plus side, if I hadn’t been sure if it was the dairy…the that little event confirmed it.

And so here we are.  I have become an alcohol free, caffeine free, carbonated drink free, accidental Vegan-ish (because I can still have eggs – free range of course) with an allergy to citrus.

Does anyone want to invite me for dinner? 

Years ago, as I said; I  thought that veganism was admirable but too hard.  Having been thrown into it unwittingly, I am delighted to say that eating plant-based is A LOT easier that I would have anticipated.  s

So if you’re on the fence; it really is very easy nowadays and for that I am extremely grateful.

I can recommend vegan cheese and vegan spreads along with the more commonly known milk substitutes. Thanks to these, I can still eat the meals that I used to, I’ve just replaced the things  I can’t have/don’t want to have, with alternatives.  And the choc chip vegan Maryland cookies are spectacular – trust me.

If you’ve held back from moving to plant based, I hope this gives you some confidence that it’s much easier than it used to be.  Get in touch if you can relate, or even if you just want to chat about anything like this. I may not love leaving the house,  but I do love a chat.

And the next time someone says they are Vegan, try not to judge.

 

Another little article with some input from me, take a look…

Click Here

Click on the link below to read this great article from  Companion Stairlifts, with a little input from me. 🙂

Click Here

 

By Claire Baker, Director YBFIT

It is so rewarding to see people move more freely from practicing and mastering the principles of Pilates.

Pilates really is one of those things where you don’t really appreciate how good it is for you until you stop doing it! As all the while someone is practicing Pilates exercises regularly they are often more mobile and pain free or in less pain than when they first started. Sometimes what happens is that when we stop doing these exercises our body soon reminds us of why we started doing them in the first place.

Back pain in one way or another effects so many of us these days and often is posture and lifestyle related for example if people spend long periods of time standing or sitting it can effect their posture and subsequent muscle imbalances.

As a Pilates instructor you will learn all about different posture types and how you can choose exercises that will help those with stiffness or a weakness related to that posture type and the way that person may move.

Remember our posture is often the way it is due to a habit we have formed or a movement pattern that has become habitual.

So as a Pilates instructor you will learn to recognize these faulty movement patterns and be able to give appropriate exercises to reduce stiffness, strengthen weak muscles and create more mobility in the body where needed.

There is also an element of someone coming to your class or 121 session and thinking you can fix them! (I mean I’ve even had people show me their x rays before and asking me for an opinion!) Be aware of that, we can do great things to improve our client’s function but ultimately we are not miracle workers and if it’s structural or mechanical within their body then medical intervention may be needed. Never be afraid to turn someone away or refer them to someone more qualified. Especially if you are not sure about any symptoms they have or even display symptoms of a specific spinal pathology that you are not qualified to deal with. Don’t worry this is rare (but can still happen) as most people will come with a case of non specific undiagnosed low back pain which is often due to muscle imbalances, over training and postural issues that we as Pilates instructors can deal with.

A lot of people train in Pilates to purely specialise in that but it’s also a great compliment to a Personal Trainer to have the qualification and give their clients a little bit more rather than the typical personal training session they may be used to. Also group exercise instructors love to give their participants these exercises as a compliment to the faster more movement based studio based classes. Gaining a Level 3 Pilates qualification will enable you to teach group classes and 121 sessions so the scope for employment and setting up your own Pilates business is vast and very achievable.

I have been teaching Pilates for about 15 years now and still love everything it not only gives my participants but me as an instructor too

You will play a big part in seeing someone not only move better but look and feel better too…

For information on how you can get qualified as a Pilates Instructor check out the course page here: https://ybfittraining.com/courses/diploma-in-instructing-pilates-matwork/

While you are there check out the video with a lady that could be just like you, has qualified in Pilates and here what she has to say about the course

Claire J

How many of you include passive or active stretching in your teaching to ‘lengthen a muscle/muscle group’?  How many of you identify ‘short and tight’ muscles as precursors to inhibition of movement or pain?  Most of us do, right?

Here’s the thing; you can’t change the length of a muscle…

Muscles do not change length when ‘stretched’.  You are not physically changing the length of any fibre, not laying down more sarcomeres in a chain, you’re not ‘pulling it’; so, what are we doing?

To change the actual length of a muscle it would have to be immobilised for around 6 to 8 weeks like when you have an elbow in a cast, with the elbow kept in a flexed position.  In this instance the muscles detect a new neutral position of the joint and reduces sarcomeres from within the chain on the bicep, whilst laying more sarcomeres down in the chains in the triceps.

So, our 10 minutes of passive or active ‘stretching’ will do essentially nothing.  But we ‘feel’ something; it feels like it lengthens, doesn’t it?  This is sensitivity at the end of the joint range of motion (ROM).  When we initially pull into a stretch, the end ROM is sensitive and the nervous system responds with a ‘pain’ like signal.  When we hold the angle, we desensitise the nervous system and feel a reduction in that ‘pain’ signal so we can move further into the joint.

 

Why is this important?

 

It has far reaching consequences for managing pain in the sense that reduction of pain can be facilitated purely through the mechanism of desensitisation i.e. relaxation.  An overly stimulated nervous system will kick back pain signals even when there is no injury or even after an injury has recovered.  Most soft tissues will recover within 4-6 weeks; after that the pain sensation is a central nervous system issue and needs to be soothed.

 

Beliefs

Unfortunately, belief systems are very powerful and we live in a cultural dimension which dictates that, pathology leads to pain; that pain has to mean injury, and that injury means inhibition.  None of these things however, are related.

On viewing X-rays and scans from tens of thousands of participants in a study, it was found that individuals suffering pain in seemingly dysfunctional joints, had similar pathologies in other joints without any pain.  Therefore, it was not the pathology that was causing the pain, it may have been the trauma of an injuring event or associated stresses in an individual’s life at the time of initial injury, that maintained an overly stimulated nervous system and subsequent pain signals.

That being said, we must not ‘rubbish’ our clients’ long held beliefs in their bodies inhibitions, instead it has value to submit to their current beliefs systems and gently but purposely engage them in a new narrative over time.

 

So what do we do?

Taking joints to the end of the range and facilitating desensitisation is in itself, a relaxing activity that can reduce pain.  So, stretching isn’t redundant it just doesn’t behave in the way that we thought.  But, we can further encourage desensitisation by creating and facilitating an environment which calms the nervous system e.g. using a calm voice, encouraging release of tension, using gentle music, subtle scents etc.  We can also change our narrative and start using different language to re-educate our clients ‘e.g. Can you feel the sensitivity in that joint (not muscle)? Can you relax into it?  Let it melt away.’

It’s important that clients also understand that ROM gains made through practise can be 100% reversed after 4 weeks of inactivity, so encouraging home routines are important for their psychology; their need to feel that they are improving all the time and maintaining their physical well-being.  This in itself is important for calming a stressed nervous system, i.e. not getting annoyed with oneself for perceived ‘steps backwards’.

Try and introduce more life-based mindfulness into their practise like asking them to relate movement to things they do outside of their lesson, so that when they are not in class; they are walking down the street etc., maybe they focus for 5 minutes on lengthening their stride to open the hips like in knee stretches on the reformer etc.

To summarise, whilst we might not be changing muscle lengths when we ‘stretch’, it still has value overall to our wellbeing.   By holding stretches we desensitise that end ROM, calm the nervous system and that in itself promotes an overall feeling of release from ‘tension’ and its associated pains. Focus on relaxation into movement and promote the ethos of ‘taking time to relax’ in life by teaching; then leading by example. Include functional exercises for those inhibited by pain e.g. walking with intentional focus as previously suggested, or reaching for things in high places for shoulder inhibition; fundamentally…

 

…calm and soothe yourself and your clients for reduction of pain and release from inhibition.

Written for Balanced Body – April 2017

One of the most challenging periods of my life started on a rainy day in February 2014.  I was training with Yoga teachers at a leisure centre around 30 miles from my home when I slipped on a patch of water, carrying files through the facility’s entrance.  I landed on my left hip, essentially ‘squashing’ my Sacroiliac (SIJ) joint and fracturing T7 (one can only assume through vibrational shock or some kind of violent lateral shunt on landing).   I had been an exercise/Movement Professional for over 15 years at this point and felt that if anyone was able to rehabilitate themselves from such an injury, it was me.

I am writing this 3 years later having sold my fully equipped Pilates and Yoga studio, completely ceased Pilates and Yoga Teacher Training, re-trained to work with children in schools and am waiting (not very patiently) for an SIJ fusion operation to hopefully reduce the consistent pain I have suffered since that fateful day.  I changed my life to try and manage my symptoms but along the way, my entire perspective on movement (and life) changed.

I have a little room at the back of my house in which I can indulge my evolved approach to teaching movement and whilst I may only teach a few hours a week at the moment, my methods have allowed me to walk, work and function at a level that others in my situation may not be able to.  Allow me to explain…

As an experienced Movement Professional (and I do use this title as opposed to Pilates & Yoga Teacher as it more accurately describes my methods) I tried to bridge the gap between rehabilitation, functional movement and fitness training (strengthening and stretching).  I taught classes of 8 (never more) and ‘streamed’ my participants according to ability and background.  But as I struggled through life on pain relieving medication, trying to be the physically competent person I used to be as an example to my clients of why they came to me, I had a kind of ‘awakening’.  In order to manage my own body I needed to tune into it 100% and listen to what it needed in that precise moment, not yesterday, not last week, not last year…..

I looked around my small class one night and my heart sunk as I realised each of my participants needed something different from the next and I felt overwhelmed by the responsibility of needing to address each of their individual needs by first exploring their personal awareness.  I had deliberately kept my groups small so that I could individualise but in that moment, even 8 seemed too many.

Unfortunately in a group environment a degree of competition will always creep in between participants or even just within an individual who wants to achieve more than they did the previous session, but for them to progress and understand their bodies I needed that judgement to melt away, I needed them all to be in their bodies, in the moment, in their movements and be mindful in the way that I was learning that I needed to be.

I used to train my students (trainee teachers) to ‘teach’ rather than ‘instruct’ and prided myself on that specification but layering in mindfulness was a new challenge.  The deeper my research into the methods took me, the more complicated I found it to pass on the importance of individual mindfulness both in teaching and in practise.   I found many people just wanted to be ‘told what to do’ and my students wanted ‘rules’ based on ‘don’t do it this way, do it that way’.   Whilst a certain amount of structure is always valuable, I was personally moving on from biomechanics towards a blend of science, with an organic and spiritual understanding of human action.

It was perhaps a more mindful understanding of what my physical well-being needed that led to the very difficult decision to move away from the business and career for which I had fought so hard, fortunately; I do not regret the decision.  It is easier to manage my pain and the volatility of my condition when I am not teaching and moving all day.  However as with all endings there was a beginning.  The transition birthed my Pilates and Yoga manual, blending my understanding of human anatomy and biomechanics with Mindfulness methodology entitled, ‘Opposition in Pilates and Yoga, Newton’s Third Law meets Mindfulness’.

Thanks to positive reviews and sales, I started to think about using the Reformer I had at home (for my own use) to support others in my position and at the risk of sounding ‘fluffy’, the universe heard my thoughts almost immediately and the exact right amount and nature of clients got in contact and asked for my help.

Here’s the ‘thing’, human beings are not ‘mechanical’ we are ‘biological’ and it is not just our physical actions that dictate our muscle behaviour and habits.  Our emotions, nutrition, the weather (high tides/full moons) all impact on our biological condition making it almost impossible to plan for either my own practise or my client’s sessions.  As a result, when I get on the Reformer, I give myself 5 minutes to tune into what my body is telling me it needs.  I need to get in my body and in the moment, in the way I wanted to teach all that time ago.

I mentally scan from head to toe trying to remain ‘non-judgemental’ in the sense that I may know which muscle attaches to which bone but if I feel something different I will explore that through my session. I ask the same of my clients.  Often this leads to a very ‘lop-sided’ session with focus being on ‘how does it feel’ and less about doing the same number of repetitions of something on each side or balancing the body.  If someone comes to me with an imbalance, doing the same thing on each side maintains that imbalance. I we focus on training weaknesses and stretching tightness in an imbalanced way, we effectively create; balance.

This approach has seen me reduce my pain medication to a quarter of what it was, but I still have to be mindful of my body as I go through life, protecting it whilst it remains vulnerable.  My approach has seen one client evolve from an inability to walk to the shop at the end of her road, to being able to go to the gym (mindfully) twice a week (incidentally she used to attend my group classes and my work with her recently has far outweighed any benefit I thought I may have afforded her previously).  It has helped with the tendency towards Obsessive Compulsive disorder in one client and pain management in another; it has helped with fatigue and depression in a post-natal client and motivation in an elderly man.  And as for me, I don’t know if I would have coped with the last few years if I had not found value in practising mindfulness both in movement and in my day to day life.

My world was turned upside down by an accident that could have been prevented if someone had done their job properly.  I live in pain and everything I had, has gone.  But, practising mindfulness has stopped me from sinking into a depression; it has allowed me to value everything I have right now and to enjoy the changes that this different life path has offered me.  A good example of this is that alongside training to be a counsellor I am also currently exploring the possibility of teaching mindfulness in schools. I’m using my experiences to help others.

It is my hope, that after the operation later this year I can look to supporting even more individuals through either Pilates or Yoga methods, who perhaps find that the generalised group class or even private session is not managing their physical well-being sufficiently, for whatever reason.

I hope it is clear that I can highly recommend exploring mindfulness in terms of movement but also, for every human’s fundamental well-being.  It can ensure that all aspects of life can be enjoyed, even the darker times.

You will only remember this life, live ALL of it.

Well, I suppose that depends on how you are teaching movement and whether your teaching conforms to the 6 principles Pilates identified as being the key to his method of physical training.

For anyone who doesn’t know what these are, the principles are as follows:

Centring, Concentration, Control, Breathing, Precision & Flow

These components essentially make the difference between Pilates and something like, Body Conditioning.

An article I read recently attempted to claim differences between the Stott method of Pilates and Classical Pilates, making statements like, ‘The neutral spine is the primary difference between Stott and traditional Pilates’¹ and ‘Many people misinterpret the Stott technique and accuse instructors of advising their students to arch their back during the various exercises. The neutral spine, however, does not qualify as an arched position,’² plus ‘The Stott technique also uses the stability ball, the foam roller and the bosu, which is a half ball for some of the exercises. Pilates traditionalists are opposed to using these fitness tools.’³

¹In one respect, I agree completely with the principle of teaching people to work in a ‘neutral’ position, however; biomechanically speaking, one can be in a neutral pelvis and not in a neutral spine and vice versa due to postural anomalies and individuality. To force people into neutral is as counterintuitive as insisting on a lumbar imprint.   The imprint has for many years now been understood to be a major cause of Psoas shortening and thus facilitating the anterior tilt, but forcing someone into neutral, could potentially lead to overextension of the lower thoracic region and a loss of integrity between the ribcage and pelvis creating excessive tension in the lower back and weakened abdominals (in one scenario – there are many).

Stott Pilates, like so many other ‘brands’ have taken on board the scientific understandings that have evolved since Pilates’ time.  Encouraging a more neutral position of the axial skeleton, allows the muscles to lie evenly on both sides of the body, thus leading to balance between the agonist and antagonist and between strength and flexibility.  Body Control Pilates™, MK Pilates™, Alan Herdman Pilates™, Polestar Pilates UK™ et al, have also studied and allowed the Pilates method to evolve with the changes in the way that humans live their lives and the progressions made in research.  To claim that Stott is somehow unique in this approach is short-sighted and fundamentally, untrue.

²To claim that many people misinterpret the Stott method and accuse the instructors of teaching an arched back is as delusional as accusing the ‘Traditional Pilates’ teachers of not appreciating biomechanical norms and the value of using ³‘fitness’ tools to support training.  Joseph Pilates was a visionary, a man who evolved, developed and grew in terms of his understanding of physicality and as a person throughout his life.  If he was here today, he would absolutely be using as many bits of kit that he could find to assist his clients in finding the most functional and balanced body that they were capable of.

I have been trained by some of the world’s greatest Pilates experts in the U.K, Spain and the U.S.A and for a time, I worked in a studio in Florida alongside those ’Classical’ teachers trained by Romana herself.  My background is predominantly rehabilitation and biomechanics so my approach is extremely cautious and precise.  I also thought that there would be stark differences between my style and Romana’s graduates.  But, you know what; we all wanted the same things from our clients, we adhered to the principles and within that framework you are teaching the person that is in front of you, not the exercise.  (It just so happened that many of my clients were either injured or unwell). Every movement, every concept, every variation can be manipulated to suit the individual that is in front of you in order to develop functionality.  THAT is how to teach Pilates, because that is what Joe would have done.

So is there a difference?  The only difference is between teachers who ‘get it’ and teachers who ‘don’t’.  The ‘brands’ will always put their own spin on things and share their own ways of understanding the principles, but at the end of the day 2 things will always be the same; the principles and human anatomy.

‘Teach the person & the principles not just an exercise’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

• Our hobby, became our passion; which then became our career.

So, despite the fact that we love what we do, it is still work and some days, we feel the same way about going to work as you do. We would much rather curl up with a book on the sofa with a glass of wine and some chocolates or actually ‘attend’ a Pilates or Yoga class for our own pleasure!

• We go to work when you get home.

Which means that during the day, we are not ‘off’; we are actually doing all the things that you do in the evening.  We are putting the washing on, doing the shopping, ironing and planning for the next evening or day.

• We never see our partners.

When they walk in, we walk out and many of us work weekends too because we have to be available to work when others are not! We fill the work spaces in the day that are not occupied by the ‘9-5ers’.

• We struggle to spend quality time with our kids.

We drop them off at school, run around manically either teaching, planning our classes, planning and executing our marketing strategies, keeping our accounts and doing domestic admin or at least, trying to; before collecting children and taking them to after school clubs, dropping them home and going out to teach.

• It is not, ‘ok for us’.

With reference to our bodies, it is not ‘ok for us’ because we are ‘working out all the time’ and can probably ‘eat whatever we want’.  I refer you to point number 1!  We are working, which means that we demonstrate an exercise or a pose, and then spend the time that you are concentrating; making sure that you are in the right position for maximum gain and minimising the risk of injury.  Often we demonstrate on our ‘good’ side so that you can see the best possible example of perfect execution but that means that our ‘less good’ or ‘less strong’ side just gets weaker and eventually, we get injured. And no, we cannot eat whatever we want – we have to eat sensibly just like everyone else. Working in fitness is not a free pass to puddings and cheese.

• Owning a studio is not as much fun as you think.

As the boss, just like every other business; you have to be the manager, cleaner, data input clerk, marketing executive, mentor, counsellor, sales and tech support; and that’s before and after you’ve taught anything!  And no, we rarely get to ‘play’ on our kit; when the day is done (at 10pm) we just want to go home.

• Self-employment does not mean freedom.

Being self-employed means that you don’t have 1 boss, you have hundreds!  We have to be available and fit in around the timetables set by our clients, sometimes that means sitting in a car doing paperwork or answering emails because it’s too early to turn up for the next appointment and the last one finished and hour ago. Our classes are also carved into stone on the studio timetable, to change it means re-organising up to 12 individuals.

• We cannot just go on holiday whenever we want.

Our holidays, cost us double what they cost employed personnel.  Every day that we are not working, is a day’s pay lost.  No holiday pay here!  I can also guarantee that most teachers will be planning sessions either in their heads or in their notebooks while others around them sunbathe and read books.  (Our books, by the way; usually have something to do with our discipline too).

• Off sick?

If we cancel anything, you know that we are pretty much close to death.  We will work through most things because, guess what?  We don’t get sick pay!  Unfortunately, I’ve seen teachers get more and more poorly because they don’t give themselves time to recover and their immune systems become weak, which is why they constantly catch everything (so if you have a cold or feel under the weather, consider others before coming to class).

• We love what we do and could never do, or be; anything else.

There are lots of difficulties faced by teachers of Yoga & Pilates, but for most us; it’s a calling.  You don’t find many spinning teachers dedicating their lives to the art of indoor cycling, or Aquacise instructors travelling the globe to practise with the gurus of water-based aerobics. You will sometimes find ‘former’ fitness professionals finding ‘conventional’ work in an office or in sales, but Pilates and Yoga Teachers, are ‘lifers’.

Namaste 🙂

I work with people who are trying to improve their posture.  Most of the time, they are not sure why they want to, only that they may have been told that their posture is ‘bad’.  Maybe they are suffering from lower back pain or neck pain, or maybe they have been told they have round shoulders.  Occasionally, they have just looked in the mirror and come to the conclusion that their posture just isn’t ‘right’.  I also work with people who think they have ‘good posture’ until they come to me.  And that’s the problem here, isn’t it?  I find that most people, even fitness professionals; are not entirely sure of the implications and meaning behind ‘good’ posture.

I work with clinicians who for the most part, consider a lack of pain to be an indicator of good health and well-being.  They are probably right, but an individual with weak musculature and so called ‘bad posture’ can only stay pain-free for so long and it might be knee pain, or shoulder pain for ‘no good reason’ that alerts that individual to the fact that they may have a dysfunction. However, they may only think that they have a problem with the knee and/or the shoulder, not their entire way of holding themselves upright.

Our musculature, sits from one point of origin, to another point of insertion; on either side of the body, on every human being.  Each muscle is designed to have a particular function.  An imbalance in the strengths of these muscles can create a dysfunction; where the muscles pull against each other on the skeleton, pulling us into a different shape.  Habit, will maintain this dysfunctional/imbalanced shape and maybe continue to pull and upset the balance of muscles and joints elsewhere.

Consider the posture assumed whilst sitting at a desk all day.  The muscles on the back of the body, become longer if you sit ‘slumped’, the muscles on the front; push out around the abdomen and tighten across the chest.  The hips are sat in a shortened state, which makes them tight, pulling the pelvis into a forward tilt.  This is just one scenario, another person may find that the backs of the legs become tighter and the lower back long and weak, possibly tightness in the neck extensors (at the back of the neck) from jutting the chin forwards.

What about repetitive activity like sport?  Racquet sports player often create power from only one arm, one shoulder – creating an imbalance between the shoulders and pulling the body into a rotation, which affects the way that shock is transmitted through the pelvis legs and feet.

Whatever we do, however we do it; if it is repetitive – it will have an effect on muscle balance and our anatomical alignment i.e. posture.  This in turn, can impact on our efficiency in breathing and therefore our ability to perform basic physiological actions like; remove the waste products of metabolism from within our system, creating toxicity and other symptoms like hypertension and IBS.

To address the imbalance cause by long term dysfunction and ensure sound physiological and anatomical function, Pilates is probably the best and easiest option.  A generic group class will focus on creating balance between the muscles and improving alignment, for serious dysfunction, a course of private lessons is advisable.

If you plan on tackling the issue on your own, watch for these common and counter-productive mistakes.

• Lifting the ribcage

In an effort to ‘straighten that back’ people often lift the ribs to create the illusion of having a straight spine with shoulders back.  In truth, all that does is create weakness at the top of the (superficial) abdominals attachment and create tension in the middle of the back.   Individuals that I have worked with, who have favoured this ‘solution’ have ended up with chronic instability in the lower thoracic region leading to hyperextension and excessive tension and discomfort; plus an inhibition of movement in the upper spine and shoulder complex.

There is more value, if the ribcage stays low and calm, whilst the shoulders are gently trained into retraction at the same time as training the upper thoracic region to extend (speak to a Physiotherapist or Pilates Teacher for advice).

 

• Lifting the chin

To release the tension in a tight neck, lifting the chin is counter-intuitive.  Tension in the neck caused by desk work, is as a result of excessive contraction of the neck extensor muscles at the back of the neck.  Lifting the chin, shortens the back of the neck creating further shortening and discomfort.

Many years ago I read an article in a newspaper that shall remain ‘unnamed’, which showed pictures of people sat at desks performing such an ativity for the management of ‘Desk-based Postural Discomfort’.  I can assure you that this is not going to benefit you, instead; sit with your back against a wall and press the back of your head into it firmly.  Glide the back of the head up against the wall, as if you are giving yourself a ‘double-chin’.  This will lengthen the tight neck muscles, so hold it and breathe in and out a few times to let the stretch take effect.

 

• Forcing the legs into parallel

Have you ever stood with your legs in parallel, with the feet perfectly straight and relaxed your thigh muscles?  If you relax your legs with the feet in a perfect parallel, your knees will roll in.  That is true for everybody!  We are designed to function with our feet very slightly turned out, so that the knees face forwards.  Practice this; take a moment to feel how your knees internally rotate when your feet are straight.  Now turn the feet very slightly out and notice how the knees face forwards.

From this position, when you lengthen the spine, with the ribcage staying low and the shoulders gently drawn back; you will find a position that feels both comfortable and somehow ‘different’, it will feel ‘right’.

‘Good’ posture is found between the boundaries of balance, work and strain.  You want to your muscles gently connecting, but you do not want to feel like you are over-working anywhere.  The lower back in particular, should feel calm and long – as should the neck.  This will take training and commitment to ensure understanding.  I strongly recommend that you seek professional advice as you only have 1 body; it’s yours forever, take care of it.

 

There are many practises across the world, which range from staring without blinking into the flame of a candle, concentrating only on the candle; staring at a dot on a piece of paper, concentrating only on the dot to concentrating on breathing, concentrating only on the breath.

Many people in today’s world do not breathe fully, they only use the top part of the lungs, which lifts the collar bones up and down and creates tension in the neck and shoulders.  For this reason I favour teaching (and practising) meditation with the breath, to receive more oxygen into the blood stream to nourish the internal organs, the skin, teeth and hair; whilst maximising carbon dioxide removal from the body.  Deep breathing also mobilises the ribs and releases tension from the back and shoulders.

Step 1 Environment

It may not always be possible to find yourself a dimly lit room, with rugs and meditation cushions available for use any time you like.  But you may be able to find a quiet space somewhere, your bedroom, a disused office, your car?  Wherever it is that you choose to meditate, you need to be sure that you will not be interrupted.

Step 2 Sitting position

Whether you are sitting on the floor, or on a chair, try to be comfortable with a very straight (but comfortable) spine.  This is so that the diaphragm has plenty of room to move in your body, thus facilitating maximum benefits from the practise.

At this point, set a gentle alarm for 5 minutes. 

Step 3 Find your focus

Meditation means to be clear in the mind but remaining fully aware, so having only 1 point of focus eliminates the ‘noise’ that we often have in our minds about our worries, our fears, our desires.

Close your eyes and take a moment to relax your shoulders and face, particularly the muscles around your jaw.  Placing the tongue at the roof of the mouth can help. Close your eyes.

• Notice your breath as it travels in through the nostrils and down the back of the throat, gently lifting the collar bones. Notice the breath as it leaves your body, softening the collar bones and shoulders, releasing the neck.
• Notice the breath as it travels in through the nostrils and down the back of the throat, gently lifting the collar bones and widening the ribcage. Feel the ribcage widening.  Notice the breath as it leaves your body, drawing the ribcage in, softening the collar bones and shoulders, releasing the neck.
• Notice the breath as it travels in through the nostrils and down the back of the throat, gently lifting the collar bones, widening the ribcage and expanding the belly. Feel the ribcage widening and the belly softly releasing. Notice the breath as it leaves your body, drawing the belly in, drawing the ribcage in, and softening the collar bones and shoulders, releasing the neck.

Step 4 Meditate

Follow the path of the breath into the belly and out of the belly, softly…softly.  Keep your focus on the breath at all times.

Count how long it takes to inhale, count how long it takes to exhale.

Notice how the exhale is always longer than the inhale.  As you continue to focus on the path of the breath, notice how the inhale and exhale get longer and longer, deeper and deeper.

Step 5 Return to consciousness

When the alarm sounds, take a moment to settle your breathing.  Place your hands over your eyes and gently rub around the eye socket, the brow line and the cheekbones.  Keep your eyes covered as your blink your eyes slowly open.  When ready, take your hands away from your face.

 

Now, think.  What is it that you plan to do next?

Once your mind is focussed on your next move, you are ready to get on with your day.

 

Notice the feeling of calmness and gentle rejuvenation.