Tag: reformer pilates

Back to Term, Sept 2022 Classes

Priya Tew

What a glorious summer it has been, whilst the studio has remained open with our zoom classes running too, it has definitely been quieter. I’ve been practicising Pilates whilst camping in Dorset, on the paddleboard in the river and on the beach, you can see a few flows below.

Our classes are back full steam ahead from September, it is a perfect time to join us as a beginner as we will be going BACK TO BASICS and focusing on that all important technique again. So if you have never tried Pilates, now is the time to come along.

Classes are in person, over zoom and also recorded for you to do again, do an extra class or to catch up on. We’ve a huge screen in the studio so the teachers can really keep that eagle eye on you. Our class timetable is here. We have beginner, intermediate, advanced, pregnancy, postnatal and gentler classes with clients from 11yrs – over 70yrs!

If you are new to us or have been around for years, myself and the team cannot wait to welcome you back with big smiles and holiday tales. So if know you are going to need a ray of sunshine in your week as the Autumn approaches, pilates can help!

Pilates and the nervous system.

Priya Tew

You know those days you are buzzing with adrenaline, you are whizzing around like a busy bee, getting physical stuff done but your mind is in an anxious state? When you constantly feel tense, you can’t fully breathe and your heart rate feels pumping?

These are examples of your nervous system being on overdrive and I know is a place I tend to live my life in. However Pilates brings me an answer to this. Read on for more. We have 2 nervous systems:

Sympathetic – this is the fight or flight nervous system. When your body is faced with a sudden threat it tenses up, certain functions slow down (digestion) and others speed up:

  • pupil dilation
  • sweating
  • increased heart rate
  • increased blood pressure

Parasympathetic – the “regist and digest” nervous system. This system we need to be working to enable the body to recover, relax and heal itself. When this nervous system is fired up we get more:

  • constriction of pupils
  • decreased heart rate
  • increased digestion
  • more saliva and mucus
  • more urine production

Pilates for me brings me out of the craziness of daily life, away from the “to-do” list, the work deadlines, the family dynamics, the household jobs and into a place where I have to slow down, I have to think about my body and I have to concentrate on me. That is why it is more than exercise. It is a way to switch on the parasympathetic nervous system and calm your whole system so that your body can restore itself.

Personally I think most of us need time daily to destress, to calm our bodies and mind, to breath deeply and to let the body slow down. Mindfulness and meditation have been recommended for years for many mental health conditions and now this is coming into physical health too. Why? When our bodies are under stress one way this can be shown is through sickness. Our gut and brain are linked closely by the gut-brain axis via the nervous system. So if our brain is on overdrive and highly stressed it can definitely affect gut conditions.

If you are struggling with your physical or mental health then why not try Pilates as a way to help. Here is a beginners video that may be helpful: