From a little kid I could never sit still. I’d stand in the pram, sleepwalk at night and do every kind of activity I could rope my parents into. I found gymnastics at a very young age and that impacted me hugely. You’re saying I’m allowed?? to climb this and leap off backwards?? And you’ll show me how to make it pretty!? I was obsessed. My dad built me a gymnasium in the garden which turned into my whole world. My tree stump beam, home-made trapeze off the tree and the trampoline of course.
After a few years the discipline started. I had crippling perfectionism since I could speak so having body conditioning I knew I could do and become ‘perfect’ at was right up my alley. I’d spend hours in the garden doing sit-ups, push-ups, v-ups. Working up to 100+ of each daily. I went from last place at my first gymnastics competition to winning gold six months later. I was so proud of myself. Something I could physically get my angst out with and see my body transform too. Then puberty hit, I got moody, nothing was cool any more and I stopped all my sport. My body did not like that. My muscle started to cramp up on me during any sport. My glutes would completely seized and I would have to sit out of PE, sports days, school camps etc. I went to countless specialists and no one could help. Finally one osteopath told me I was very hyper mobile and a sudden lack in strength training had a huge impact on my fascia. He said I needed to strength train consistently forever. He was very sure of this. So I slowly built my training up. I did swimming again, a low load movement my body has always loved. I had only stopped swimming because I didn’t want to be seen wearing a swimsuit in front of people. Suddenly my mental health skyrocketed. I didn’t realise how sad I had become since my lack of sport. I isolated myself. I lost my community and my passion. Next I brought the gym back into the picture. I read every book I could get my hands on and worked 1:1 with personal trainers.
I worked my way up to my first painless run at around 17. It had been years. I got that same rush back that I got when I saw my body improve from gymnastics. I had done the same thing here. Since then, I’ve not stopped. I went onto university to study sport science and human nutrition. I got asked by my gym to become one of their trainers and my career in movement began. I was drawn to planks, mobility drills, holds, pullups, far more than heavy deadlifts and bench pressing. I tried out bodybuilding and heavy weights for about a year there but my body felt stiff and I knew it wasn’t right for me. Then a friend told me about reformer and a teacher training she was doing. She said that I would love it. I went along and as she guessed, I was obsessed. It felt so similar to gymnastics. It was fun, flowy, but hard. It brought out my inner child again. It wasn’t that high pressure training environment I had been in, it was pretty, calm, fun and light. I’ve been teaching
Reformer Pilates since. There’s been such a huge burst in Pilates at the moment. Although this is the trend right now I really hope it sticks. Having a space to go that feels safe girly and challenging all at once is very special. I was first drawn to physical aspect of pilates being so similar to gymnastics but now it’s a whole experience that I love. I love being an instructor for people. They know they are going to come in and see my face on a weekday morning and be in safe hands. They know they’ll be pushed but supported too. They know they can fail and it doesn’t matter, It’s expected. They can get completely into their flow, follow my voice and isolate from the world for that hour. It is so deeply nourishing on all levels. From physical angst and perfectionism to a peaceful loving kind of movement. It has completely changed my life. And I love that I have the opportunity to teach it and change others lives too.
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