The weekend just gone...

kernackered!!!! woke at 4am on saturday to get ready for flight to gatwick that left at 7.20am...why am I always too early??? Fly Be plane was only half full..bliss...could snore for a short while, got to lecture in Old Street, London by 9.30am..how mad is that? sooooo easy.....
anyway, after that great lecture on Knee & Foot, it was off to Brighton to be fed and looked after by mother, who goes to yoga twice a week as her pilates teacher is dull..no jokes in class..yawnsville...so I did a 1:1 on her in the conservatory...whats neutral? whats the TA? why dont teachers tell them what they are doing??bless..shes nearly 70 and looks 50, but has arthritis in toes and thumbs, she still works 4 days a week in a Solicitors office and has spent all her life typing. She has claw toes, has had 2 bunion operations in each foot, but had a tattoo on her shoulder at 60 (!) makes me look frumpy and has her grey hair cut in a funky spiky style, no elasticated skirts from M & S for her!
Day 2 , Sunday, was a , so off to London again...this time the day was a workshop I had booked being held by a mid sixties chap, Alan Herdman, looked 20 years younger, very inspiring, motivating, thoughtful, works with rehab people a lot, has modifications for all types of people, and I had a great day, I didnt feel useless as was expecting a load of posh pilates london type teachers in expensive exercise gear attending, and I actually had a dream the night before that they were putting me down as being scruffy and messy and there was no way I should be there and hoisted me out of the building!!! fears were unfounded of course, though one woman was a bit full of herself and didnt stop talking about how great she was, god she was dull...anyway, i have learned heaps, and even though the classes tonight were quite busy, i changed a couple of things, and hope they all benefit eventually...bless....x

Pilates Workshops

Very Excited...I have a lecture day Saturday 27th on the Knee & Foot, in London again....Fly Be staff all know me now!...then the following day Ive paid quite a bit of hard earned pennies to go to a workshop by a guy who was Pilates trained by Carola Trier & Bob Fitzgerald..(who????) well, sweetie, they were trained by none other than Mr Pilates himself, so you know that what you get at this workshop is the real thing! so very excited, as he is highly regarded in the mad world of Pilates, his names Alan Herdman, and now lectures around the world. I think the workshop I am on is about Scoliosis, Osteoporosis and how they fit into Pilates, recognising it in someone who doesnt know they have it, and how to stablise and strengthen the muscles concerning these 2 issues. so i shall watching all the ladies very carefully on Monday...! and no, Jo, thats not a pic of you out shopping in Tesco....hairstyles not the same...!

Pilates Information in one web site, get clicking!

http://pilatesblog.com/
The Pilates Blog as mentioned in the above link is a nice site for loads of Pilates Info .....
On a different subject though, all the exercises in this pic above are on the pilates equipment, (all designed originally by Joseph Pilates) that course is for next year though! I need a bigger house! Though all the exercises on the equipment can be transferred to the mat as the mat is the original style and the most portable obviously, so the most widely used, equipment workouts are great though, it really helps for those with serious back issues or mobility issues that simply cannot get to the floor, or those who have mastered the matwork and have amazing core strength...keep practising! Im off to do an hour this morning in the front room whilst listening to Terry on radio 2! Then must find the time to decorate the bedroom......maybe....

New Times

Ok, so have succumbed to adding a 5.15pm class on Monday...already got 3 who have changed from their 6.30 and 7.30 slot. Also going to add a Wednesday class at 5 - 6pm (cant do later as theres in the Hall table tennis from 7pm!!! how very dare they!!) also considering a Saturday morning class for August, not every saturday, but occasionally, using the Pilates Rings and the Bands so working with resistance throughout the class, hard work but quick results!! Isnt that what we want?
Saying that, my back was aching last night , probably a combination of sitting through 2 days of Pilates lectures (they know sitting for hours on ends bad for your back so why do the lectures like it??? nightmare...) and then sitting on a plane home, sitting in car to get home...and an early morning teaching session in Wheal Rose at 8.45am...was a blessed relief to get home and do Pilates on myself for an hour I can tell you!
Lectures were on Shoulder & neck...fascinating how posture around this area can affect your lower back & SIJ (Sacroiliac Joint to you & me)...did you know no muscles are attached to the Sacrum (5 fused vertebrae) and it only moves about 2 degrees..to strengthen it you have to work the muscles that make a sling across your body...dont look confused and think of a bandage on a broken arm...I mean, from the rear your Latissimus Dorsi (mid to lower back to your upper arm!))and your Gluteus Maximus (bum) and from the front your Adductors(inner thigh) and TA (abs), also outer thigh to help stablise pelvis, well thats more or less the whole body then...off to work!

London!

Off to London this weekend for Lectures on Shoulder and Hip..very excited! Going to a Pilates class tonight by London Bridge run by a very outrageously camp chap...should be hilarious, then having a 1:1 with my course tutor who's been teaching Pilates for years and years, so hope to learn heaps from her that will pass onto the ladies in class on Monday.

Pregnancy & Pilates

Bumped into a friend in Tesco this afternoon, shes 8 weeks pregnant & wants to start Pilates, of course says me...all smiles!! Eekk, come back home to do a programme for her, but then realised, that as long as she keeps at Level One, thats beginners to you & me, shes fine, and practices it at least 3 - 4 times a week at home...which, by the way, wouldnt go amiss to anyone really!! 10 mins of Pilates in front of Eastenders , give your hip flexors a rest and stop sitting in that sofa and sort your posture out whilst watching Dot Cotton getting more wrinkles around her lips as she drags on the fags...nice...