High Performance Pilates

I’d introduce myself and tell you a little about why and how I ended up teaching Pilates. I was dance trained originally, and after an interesting few years, I embarked on a 20 year career as a trapeze artiste working mainly in Europe with large-scale touring circus shows. Along the way, I injured my back quite badly a couple of times, once early on in my career (in my dancing days) and again much later on in the circus. The latter injury was the one that caused me to take pain-killers on a regular basis just to get through the shows every day. Between contracts I would visit my osteopath and try to ‘get fixed’ as much as possible – in fact, I credit the longevity of my career to those regular osteopathic treatments. It was also my osteopath who recommended Pilates to me. Although I’d done a little before I wasn’t totally convinced that it was ‘hard-core’ enough for me. I finally retired from performance in 2008, aged 42, at a time when my back was once again causing me severe pain. It took me a little while to re-discover my physicality through Pilates, but after just a few weeks of doing it again I could really feel the difference. Since 2010 I haven’t had any problems with my back. And I haven’t taken those pain-killers for years. Pilates helped me to recover from a snapped Achilles tendon in 2011 too. Post-surgery I was weak and lop-sided and used Pilates to regain my strength and develop good patterns of movement. And so I became interested in how I could apply this knowledge to my circus students (I teach aerial and acrobatic disciplines). And then I thought ‘why not become a Pilates teacher?’…and after qualifying with Body Control Pilates, here I now am. I am convinced of the benefits of Pilates as a re-hab tool. It also strengthens and tones without strain, focuses on correct skeletal alignment and produces efficient flowing movement, all of which can help to prevent the very types of injury that so often lead people to Pilates in the first place! It is something that can benefit anyone at any age. I became a teacher so that I could share this knowledge with you.
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