Locating the Sitting Bones

As I hurtle towards the end of my PhD journey, I find I am increasingly forced to sit for long periods of time. Writing, reading notes, teaching my online clients, sitting on long train journeys, sitting through presentations, writing this blog post... So often seen as a non-activity that erodes ... Read More

Welcoming The Autumn Equinox - The Tipping Point

At 7.19pm on Monday we hit the Autumn Equinox: the moment when day-light hours even out with darkness. It's a balance point before the shift towards winter, a tipping point. I've never really been one for spiritual thinking (I prefer to focus on the bones and muscles) but whilst I was on maternit... Read More

Wintering

To get me through this winter's freeze, I've been reading Katherine May's book 'Wintering' - the book of the season, describing 'winter' as a metaphor for life's 'fallow periods'. May writes: "We have seasons when we flourish and seasons when the leaves fall from us, revealing our bare bones. Giv... Read More

What is a Somatic-informed Pilates practice?

In the last few years I’ve noticed a distinct shift in the way that Pilates, and other movement teachers (including myself), describe their practice as ‘somatic’. As I was scrolling through facebook I came across an ad for a ‘somatic workout’ which showed a video of someone making their way throu... Read More

January Thoughts & Practising

I know that January is generally the time when everyone surges back into a weekly routine. After the lazy days of the holiday period, I too crave the regularity of weekly classes. As it turns out, my January has been up-turned by an unusually busy period of dance work. Unusual both for me general... Read More

Natural vs Habitual

A few weeks ago I was asked for some advice by a friend of mine who was experiencing some foot pain. I had a look at their legs, where the weight landed on their feet and how they shifted their weight as they stepped from one leg to the other. It seemed clear from my brief analysis that they were... Read More

Pilates and/ for Menopause

If the title of this article almost made you switch off and move on, I hope you’ll re-think and stay with me here. Menopause is a women’s health concern, but it doesn’t only affect women of a certain age. It affects society as a whole. Women work, have families, have partners, have parents, fulfi... Read More

What brought you to Pilates?

What brought you to Pilates? Whenever I put this question to other teachers and clients, there is normally some tale of searching for help with back/ hip / shoulder pain, finding inspiration (a great class or teacher) and getting hooked. Naturally, I’m speaking to the converted. But even so, wha... Read More

The Corners of the Circle

I have written previously about the emergence of 'exercise' from military training and the machinic attitudes towards the body that came out of industrialisation. As capitalism took hold, various 'techniques of the body' were developed to stream-line movement towards what was economically efficie... Read More

Moving from the Hip

Pilates has long been thought of as an effective 'treatment' for lower back pain. The most commonly cited reason, or even motivation, for someone to join a class in the first place, is back pain. Often clients rock up in a class after being told that Pilates is good for 'core stability'. They've ... Read More