Loving Pilates
Claire kicks off our January #Wellness Month with an insight into her fitness journey through injury to recovery through the immense and incredibly inspiring leadership of Love Pilates. Follow her updates here in her regular blog on where she’s at and how it feels….
[Contact and social details for @lovepilates follow below]
Post 1:
I've never been one to vary the fitness regime but in a bid to finally work through the fenced plateau of decades of spinal misbehaviour, I have decided to switch things up from my usual HIIT hurt Blaze at @DavidLloyd/ weekly jog combo. Thanks to the happy serendipity of the universe, fate has seen fit to introduce me to Karen Wood @LovePilates and I am all in.
The basic plan is to use Reformer Pilates to work out the persistent neck, posture and shoulder pain from years of slumped spines and, frankly, the pressures of daily life. Is there really anything that can put a spring back into the step of a self employed mother of two with too many spinning (reformer) plates in the air to count?
So far, so flipping good. Went to my first beginner reformer class and what a stone cold REVELATION. I was walking on air afterwards and for the 45 minutes of during (when normally I can be counted on to be counting down the seconds, or thinking about what to make for tea), my mind was a blank. In a good way.
After a chat about the options, it looks like mat pilates will compliment the reformer work so onwards and upwards to a straight spine, my friends! Watch this space for more...
Post 2:
Welcome to week 2. This week I am levelling up and I don't mean Street Fighter. This week, we add the Barre class. Yes, ballet bar(re).
In this week's Reformer class, thanks to a smaller class number, Karen introduced some advanced moves which had me anxiously blinking rapidly at first sight. Imagine my fist pumping, sky punching delight then when it turns out, my body can actually replicate them. In small part thanks to the fact that our bodies continually amaze us with their capacity throughout our existence, but really in large part to Karen herself. Her calm, authoritative teaching and coaching manner made me believe I could just about do anything. Ever.
At the end of this week I'm seven classes into this fitness adventure and it's starting to feel a bit more like a lifestyle Marie-Kondo than just a fitness phase. The potential longevity of this activity is startling, even just in one week, and even after just four classes I had pretty much forgotten that my neck was ever in any pain. My posture is improving daily and I could swear that my shoulders are about an inch lower than this time last week.
I am starting to believe that this might actually be life changing and once your mind is on board, we all know that the body follows...
Stay tuned for see if that's true.
Post 3:
Hello excellent posture! Or at least, hello the makings of excellent posture!
Week 3 and I am now entering the evangelical stages of my Pilates Journey. Yes, if you sit beside me for longer than four minutes at any point this week, I’ll tell you ALL about it.
Simply put, I am being fixed. After years of shoulder and neck pain despair, it is @achilleshellclinic physio confirmed official – there is a visible difference in my upper body posture and physiology. I’ve been training with @lovepilates three or four times per week for the last three weeks and I can’t quite believe how quickly long-lasting improvements have set in. Posture, gait, alignment, everything. All leading, at the end of the day, to improved confidence. It’s true, if you hold your head high and shoulders square, you can take on the world.
Love Pilates
www.karenwoodpilates.com
Tel: 07736 731461
karen@karenwoodpilates.co.uk
IG: @lovepilatesglasgow
FB: /lovepilates
