 Self-care should play a key role in everybodies daily routine. However, is something we often forget to do, being too busy looking after others, working through endless 'to-do' lists, rushing around for work, house chores, family and friends. At this time of year it is particularly important to look after ourselves, with the short days, long nights and impending Christmas madness.
Self-care is key to enhancing mood, reducing anxiety and producing positive feelings which improve confidence and self esteem. When you truly care for yourself you make sure you're eating a balanced diet, getting enough rest and setting healthy boundaries in your relationships. It means loving yourself enough to maintain overall well-being Food is a vital part of self care. Making slow cooked stews with seasonal root veggies, or warming soups is an easy way to boost the immune system and ensure your nutritional needs are met, giving the bod goodness and fuel. Giving yourself the time and space to connect the mind and body, through breathing exercises, meditation and giving yourself permission to rest, is also vital to balanced health. this allows the body to move from the sympathetic to the parasympathetic nervous system. The sympathetic nervous system is responsible for our 'fight or flight' response. The majority of us live our lives in this part of the nervous system, with stressful lives and hectic calendars. Extended living in this part of our nervous system can lead to high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke, anxiety, depression and other chronic conditions. The parasympathetic nervous system is activated when we take time to slow down and our bodies can stimulate 'rest & digest'. This gives our organs chance to repair and detoxify, strengthens the immune system, conserves energy, slows the heart rates and increases intestinal and gland activity. Activation of the parasympathetic nervous system is key in our self care, and promotes healing and management of conditions such as depression, anxiety, fibromyalgia and ME. Ways to activate you parasympathetic nervous system and take some time out to reduce stress include:
This November you can take time out to heal and self-care with our Restorative Pilates Workshop. This will teach you deep breathing techniques, and combine a series of deep stretches with slowed down, restorative movement from the Pilates mat work repertoire. This will be followed by a warming guided mediation to leave you floating home for the best nights sleep. Restorative and Relaxing Pilates Workshop: 15th November 2019
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 We all want skin that glows, and we know good skin comes with healthy eating, drinking plenty of water and regular exercise to increase the amount of oxygen to the skin cells (and hanging upside down!). But every now and again we need a little bit of a helping hand. I have had problem skin for many years, with scarring left from Roseacea, pigmentation from too much sun, and large pores. I have been looking for a treatment to help me address these issues – and I just may have found it! A facial which helps the improve the surface of the skin and it is non-invasive. |
 Before treatment |  |  After 3rd treatment |
Last week I was lucky enough to be taught be a wonderful BASI and Stott trained Pilates practitioner, at her studio in Turkey. I loved it, learning so much in just a couple of sessions, and realising I have so much still to learn - and my body has got so much more to gain (including pain!) from my personal Pilates journey.
Starting out on your Pilates journey can be daunting - coming to the first class, watching others, fumbling through the moves, and not really knowing what is going on. Everybody goes through this stage. There is a lot to learn in the early sessions, including the breathing, muscle recruitment, breathing, movement and more breathing. It is a challenging time, and the first few classes may leave you feeling muscles you perhaps haven't felt in a while.
Many new clients come into the class expecting to be able to work through the moves straight away - and some get frustrated, quitting before the magic has happened. Pilates is a journey, not a race, and is a path to be travelled at your own pace.
The movements and breathing need to be practised, refined and practiced some more, so try not to be overwhelmed, or put off by those around you, who may be more flexible or balanced, but who also started out in exactly the same place as you are now - and they are still learning, refining and progressing.
Our journey never stops - but it does start, so embrace this time and feel proud for taking that first step. Learn, drink in the highs and the lows, stick with it and in no time at all you'll be moving with fluidity and leaving classes energised and full of vitality!
"In 10 sessions you'll feel the difference, in 20 you'll see the difference, and in 30 you'll have a new body" Joseph Pilates
Whether you are starting out on your journey, or are seasoned in your practise, The Pilates Room offer a range of classes to suit all. Contact us at catherine@thpilatesroomstudio.co.uk or call 07788 969199 to find out more.
Starting out on your Pilates journey can be daunting - coming to the first class, watching others, fumbling through the moves, and not really knowing what is going on. Everybody goes through this stage. There is a lot to learn in the early sessions, including the breathing, muscle recruitment, breathing, movement and more breathing. It is a challenging time, and the first few classes may leave you feeling muscles you perhaps haven't felt in a while.
Many new clients come into the class expecting to be able to work through the moves straight away - and some get frustrated, quitting before the magic has happened. Pilates is a journey, not a race, and is a path to be travelled at your own pace.
The movements and breathing need to be practised, refined and practiced some more, so try not to be overwhelmed, or put off by those around you, who may be more flexible or balanced, but who also started out in exactly the same place as you are now - and they are still learning, refining and progressing.
Our journey never stops - but it does start, so embrace this time and feel proud for taking that first step. Learn, drink in the highs and the lows, stick with it and in no time at all you'll be moving with fluidity and leaving classes energised and full of vitality!
"In 10 sessions you'll feel the difference, in 20 you'll see the difference, and in 30 you'll have a new body" Joseph Pilates
Whether you are starting out on your journey, or are seasoned in your practise, The Pilates Room offer a range of classes to suit all. Contact us at catherine@thpilatesroomstudio.co.uk or call 07788 969199 to find out more.
Once upon a time, I actually said "the only good thing about feet is shoes!", referring to the too-high (but very beautiful) stilettos I’d kicked off next to me in pain. Oh, how wrong I was…..
Our feet are our roots - they connect us to the earth, they are our propulsion engine, our stabiliisers and our natural shock absorbers. Our feet have the ability to give us an indiciation of illness, and feature in absolutely everything we do, so why then, do they get a raw deal in our overall wellbeing?
The feet are highly complex machines, containing over a quarter of the bones in our body. with over 100 muscles and tendons. When they are misaligned, then the rest of our body becomes misaligned. The result is strained calves, knees, hips, spine and neck. With misalignment occurring in a huge percentage of the population, it is no surprise that we have an epidemic of back and neck pain, as well as health related issues with hips, knees, gait and balance. Over time, this results in decreased movement and lower body weakness.
The good news is, you can address these issue's with regular foot exercises. Some tips on how you can help yourself, include firstly drawing awareness to the way you walk. If your feet are turned out, then your knees and hips will follow. If you try and bring your feet parallel, you may feel the knees and hips rotate internally.
When you stand on a flat floor, try standing on tip toes for one minute, pushing into the big toe. This will help you find balance increase muscle strength in the feet, ankles and calves.
Then try spreading the toes as wide as you can (hint: you should be able to thread your fingers between your toes). This gives a wider base of stability, which in turn equals improved balance.
Foot health is directly linked to long term mobility, and as such we should exercise the feet daily.....and ditch the stilettos - although I have to admit, mine do make an outing every now and again! ;-)
For more information about how Pilates can help improve your foot health and posture, please contact The Pilates Room.
Our feet are our roots - they connect us to the earth, they are our propulsion engine, our stabiliisers and our natural shock absorbers. Our feet have the ability to give us an indiciation of illness, and feature in absolutely everything we do, so why then, do they get a raw deal in our overall wellbeing?
The feet are highly complex machines, containing over a quarter of the bones in our body. with over 100 muscles and tendons. When they are misaligned, then the rest of our body becomes misaligned. The result is strained calves, knees, hips, spine and neck. With misalignment occurring in a huge percentage of the population, it is no surprise that we have an epidemic of back and neck pain, as well as health related issues with hips, knees, gait and balance. Over time, this results in decreased movement and lower body weakness.
The good news is, you can address these issue's with regular foot exercises. Some tips on how you can help yourself, include firstly drawing awareness to the way you walk. If your feet are turned out, then your knees and hips will follow. If you try and bring your feet parallel, you may feel the knees and hips rotate internally.
When you stand on a flat floor, try standing on tip toes for one minute, pushing into the big toe. This will help you find balance increase muscle strength in the feet, ankles and calves.
Then try spreading the toes as wide as you can (hint: you should be able to thread your fingers between your toes). This gives a wider base of stability, which in turn equals improved balance.
Foot health is directly linked to long term mobility, and as such we should exercise the feet daily.....and ditch the stilettos - although I have to admit, mine do make an outing every now and again! ;-)
For more information about how Pilates can help improve your foot health and posture, please contact The Pilates Room.
What better way to start my blog than to offer you some free Pilates taster sessions??!
Pilates is great exercise for everyone - focusing on movement, with recruitment and isolation of specific muscles. Pilates helps to strengthen core muscles, whilst improving balance and self/special-awareness, whilst restoring harmony of the mind and body. The exercises will assist to improve back and muscular pain, and movement can be modified to cater for specific illness, such as me, fibromyalgia and Parkinson's disease, to name but a few.
Trybe hot yoga studio are hosting an open day, with free yoga and Pilates sessions as well as fabulous discounts on clothing, and they have kindly invited me to get involved by hosting some of my own Pilates classes.
I host many of my classes from the delightfully set studio 2, which is upstairs from the main hot studio, and caters for up to around 8 people.
I will be holding 3 x 30 minute taster classes on the morning of event, followed by a hot Pilates session at 5.30. I would like to invite you to come along, and bring friend if you want! If you would like to try one of the morning courses please drop me a line, or turn up on the day (but it is first come first served so reserving your space is advisable!)
Power Pilates: 10.30
beginners Pilates: 11.30
Pilates flow: 12.15
so come and join me on the 5th august 2018 and find out how Pilates can help you, whilst having fun! Xx
Pilates is great exercise for everyone - focusing on movement, with recruitment and isolation of specific muscles. Pilates helps to strengthen core muscles, whilst improving balance and self/special-awareness, whilst restoring harmony of the mind and body. The exercises will assist to improve back and muscular pain, and movement can be modified to cater for specific illness, such as me, fibromyalgia and Parkinson's disease, to name but a few.
Trybe hot yoga studio are hosting an open day, with free yoga and Pilates sessions as well as fabulous discounts on clothing, and they have kindly invited me to get involved by hosting some of my own Pilates classes.
I host many of my classes from the delightfully set studio 2, which is upstairs from the main hot studio, and caters for up to around 8 people.
I will be holding 3 x 30 minute taster classes on the morning of event, followed by a hot Pilates session at 5.30. I would like to invite you to come along, and bring friend if you want! If you would like to try one of the morning courses please drop me a line, or turn up on the day (but it is first come first served so reserving your space is advisable!)
Power Pilates: 10.30
beginners Pilates: 11.30
Pilates flow: 12.15
so come and join me on the 5th august 2018 and find out how Pilates can help you, whilst having fun! Xx
Author
Hi! Im Catherine, Pilates obsessive, nutrition junkie, and I enjoy reading, writing, learning and swinging upside down. x
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