About My Classes...

I get asked these questions a lot!

Are my classes stretching classes? No - You might get some length back in your muscles during this type of class but the effect will be temporary if you don't change your movement habits for the bulk of your day. When we do an exercise called a "stretch", it is with the intention of preparing the body for a particular movement. If you practise the calf stretch, it is to prepare you for a natural gait with the ability to keep your heel down behind you as you push off with the back leg to move you forward. It also prepares you for squatting and uphill walking - think of the angle between your foot and your shin.

Are my classes like yoga? No - we don't do "poses", although we do make "shapes". Yoga poses are very advanced for our sedentary bodies. Yoga was designed in a country where it is normal for people to walk barefoot, to squat and sit on the floor on a daily basis. We focus on smaller moves and learn to be aware of the alignment of the ribs and pelvis, and how moving one part means moving another if we are not mindful. We learn to release tension in our quads, instead of increasing it. We are mindful of avoiding hyper-extending our joints.

Are my classes like Pilates? No - they don't focus on muscular control and fitness. We let muscles engage just the right amount for the task by stacking our joints, focusing on alignment and small natural movements at each joint.

Are my classes like physio-led classes? No - they are not the types of exercises that physios teach. The corrective exercises I teach are designed to be easily transferable into daily life - how we sit, how we stand, how we walk, how we move throughout the day is important. They are designed to recover our ability to relax, align and move the way nature intended - before stiff, narrow shoes and comfy sofas, computers and mobile phones.
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Are my classes like keep-fit classes? No. They are not aerobics-type exercises with repetitions. They focus on smaller movements and are usually done slowly, although it is good to try different paces as muscles are challenged in different ways as you change the speed of movement, and the angle at the joint. We stop or change when our muscles start getting fatigued.

My classes are designed to help:
* move body parts that don’t get to move much (generally shoulder muscles, posterior leg muscles, hip muscles, feet muscles)
* stabilise body parts that are too mobile (for example pelvis, shoulder blades, elbows, ankles, knees)
* release tension (neck, upper back, quadriceps, abdomen) by learning to relax, breathe and align our skeleton (i.e. stack joints closer to neutral alignment).
My classes are movement education classes. I basically teach people how to move mindfully - stand, sit, walk and generally move in ways that have may be difficult: squatting, bending down, crawling, balancing, reaching, hanging, walking with hip extension, sitting on the floor, getting down to the floor and back up again – without compressing the spine!


My classes are Mondays 5pm and Fridays 1pm.