Jyoti Pilates Blog

St Margarets House

Saturday 3rd August 2019 11.30am - 1.30pm  £20

Fascia is the system of connective tissue that runs in continuous chains and spirals throughout the body, binding and separating organs, muscles and bones, and helping to create tensegrity.  When we move, the kinetic energy created is captured and recoiled with elastic force to enable a return movement that is relaxed, graceful and efficient. But if the fascia is tight or ‘stuck', or we are out of alignment, we lose that benefit, and this free movement is compromised. 

This workshop will explore different ways to release the fascia, and ease muscle tension, using small equipment and your hands, and incorporating this into pilates exercises.  We will begin with the feet, as pain and dysfunction in the knees, hips, pelvis, spine, shoulders or neck may originate in dysfunction or lack of mobility at foot level, which can also block free and efficient movement.  

Your feet have the potential for great flexibility, and the fascia tissue of the feet has many sensory receptors which can give your body so much feedback about your environment and where your body is in space, which impacts on how you move. By stimulating an area, we enable better communication between it and the brain, and this is particularly helpful for the feet, as they tend to spend alot of time in rigid shoes, walking on flat, hard surfaces, which makes them inflexible and unable to fully utilise this sensory system. 

We will work up the body, addressing tension in legs, hips, glutes, lower and upper back, shoulders and finally neck, which will allow you to find correct alignment more easily. This alignment will be of relevance in the last part of the workshop where we will explore your walking or gait technique, and how you can access the benefit of the recoil system of the fascia, for more efficient and easy movement, allowing you to float out of the class! 

This workshop is suitable for all levels of abilities.

Workshop Saturday 6th October 11am - 1pm

St Margarets House, £20

Our feet work so hard for us on a daily basis, but they can be one of the most neglected areas of our bodies, barely even given a second thought; that is until pain occurs. What is your relationship with your feet? Do you even like them, look at them, let alone give them the attention and credit that they deserve? Or do you just quickly stuff them into socks and shoes and go on your way?

Your feet are an incredible feat (no pun intended!) of engineering; complex, delicate and strong. Not only do they have the ability for great flexibility, but they can give your body so much sensory feedback about your environment and relationship to the earth, which impacts on how you move. But if you spend most of your time in rigid shoes walking on flat, hard man made surfaces you can never allow your feet to achieve their full potential.

But it obviously isn’t only about your feet – that is just where it all begins. Your whole body can’t move freely and efficiently if your feet aren’t moving properly. Pain and dysfunction in the knees, hips, pelvis, spine, shoulders or neck may well originate in dysfunction or lack of mobility at foot level.

In this workshop there will be lots of gentle releasing, stretching, mobilising and strengthening of the feet. Then we will explore how our foot position when standing affects the alignment of the whole body, and how this impacts on our movement potential, ability to perform different Pilates exercises effectively, and most importantly on walking. Which leads us to the role of the hips and glutes, so they will getting attention too. You can expect to leave having had a full body workout and given your feet some much needed TLC, and with a programme to follow to slowly and safely build up to more barefoot time. The rest of your body will be grateful too! Suitable for all levels of ability.

Workshop Saturday 25th November 11am - 1pm

St. Margarets House, £20

Fresh. Whole. Varied.  All words you might associate with a healthy food diet, but they also apply to healthy movement.  So if your daily movement diet involved walking, running, squatting, climbing, swimming, carrying loads, swinging, fighting, always facing the unpredictable and centred around finding your next meal, Pilates was probably not so essential! Although I’m sure Fred would have loved a Spine Curl…

To achieve and maintain your full movement potential, what you do outside your weekly Pilates class  - your daily habits - are fundamental.  For example, sitting on the ground in different positions, a natural human thing to do, may have become uncomfortable and difficult if it is no longer one of your habits.  This is where Pilates can help.

This 2 hour workshop will explore exercises that enable you to gain the stability, control, strength, awareness and flexibility to move more fully, in lots of different, and new ways.  We will release and stretch areas of tension that might be inhibiting full range of movement.  Alongside some Pilates favourites, expect the unexpected as we put our Pilates to functional practice with movements that are fun, sometimes challenging and very different to your usual class. (Making flints not compulsory!)  This workshop is suitable for all levels.

The Autumn Term is on the horizon already, and although I will miss the (occasional) warmer days, I always love the turn of the season, and actually like that "back to school" feeling!  It feels like a time of year to focus on projects and explore new ideas.

So there are some exciting developments here, the biggest of which is that Susie Alexander is coming on board, and will be teaching 2 Beginners classes on Tuesday nights at 37 St Stephen Street, with new venues and classes on the cards for the future.  She is a fantastic teacher with a lovely friendly and sympathetic manner.  Read more about her below.

I will also be adding to my teaching schedule, with a 1pm Beginners class on Mondays at 37 St. Stephen Street, and will be available there on Monday afternoons for 1:1 sessions.  These are ideal if you want an hour tailored just to you, either to progress your Pilates to the next level or focus on any particular issues you have, and can be taken as a regular appointment or as a one-off to complement your matclass.

Susie Alexander

Susie Alexander is a Body Control Pilates matwork teacher with a passion for wellbeing, sport and healthy living. Firsthand experience of the positive effects that a pilates practice has on physical wellbeing, levels of energy and state of mind continues to inspire Susie to teach her clients how to move well. Susie believes that everyone can benefit from pilates; from long distance runners, to golfers and office workers. Susie has completed her Intermediate Matwork qualification and is certified in Pilates for Golfers and Pilates for Performance. She is delighted to be teaching at the St Stephen Street studio.

Autumn has arrived and its time for another Classical Mat Workshop!  If you have been wondering what comes before or after the Series of 5 in the Classical Matwork sequence, or would like to spend a bit more time perfecting your co-ordination and technique, this workshop will delve deeper into some exercises you may be familiar with, and introduce some new ones. The 2 hour workshop will start with a warm-up to; then look at a selection of the exercises in depth (with modifications and preps for those not yet ready for the full versions) and then we will run the sequence in its entirety.

The Classical Matwork consists of a dynamic and flowing sequence of over 40 exercises, linked by transitional movements, with the rhythm of the breath integral to the movement and pace.  Performed from start to finish, it develops physical strength, stamina, muscular endurance, co-ordination, and physical and mental control. 

Participants should already be comfortable working at an intermediate/advanced level (happy rolling up!) and be able to take responsibility for their own body by modifying any movements that might not be suitable for them.

This 2 hour workshop will explain what good alignment is, look at how you can assess and check it in your own body, and learn how to recognise when you are in (and out!) of it.  We will look at some of the exercises we frequently do in Pilates, and see how these movements are also excellent tools to help you find good alignment and set yourself up in the correct starting position for other exercises (particularly useful if you practise at home). Then we will work on releases and gentle stretches for areas of commonly held tension in the body, that may be keeping you out of good alignment, such as in the neck, shoulders, back, hip flexors, hamstrings, calves and feet.  The workshop is suitable for everyone, whether you have done one Pilates class or 1000!

Cost: £20

Book through booking link on website.

FREE introductory class held in conjunction with Stylist magazine and Body Control Pilates, at St Margarets House.

Come and make the most of your lunchbreak and find out about Pilates. The basics will be explored and explained, we’ll have a look at your posture  and introduce you to the foundations underlying Pilates -  Alignment, Breathing and Core Stability.  You’ll learn to connect with your body, and improve your balance and posture. Joints are gently mobilised, knots released, and you’ll gain the awareness to work your muscles in a deep and precise way.

Places must be reserved in advance through booking on my website.

I am running a 2 hour “Release and Restore” workshop to help you unwind your body and your mind and give you tips and tools to add a bit more active relaxation into your everyday life.

As my regular class goers will confirm, I love spiky balls, Hedgehogs and Foam Rollers, and could happily spend the whole class using them, as they are so beneficial in helping to release tight areas, so we will do lots of work with them, as well as gentle mobilisation moves, a detailed focus on posture and alignment and breathing and relaxation techniques.

Suitable for all levels.